Formative
assessment is generally carried out by students during a course of study to
help them in the process of learning while Summative assessment is typically
taken towards the end of the study to provide an objective scoring of the
learning.
Black and
William operate an umbrella definition of "all those activities undertaken
by teachers, and/or by students, which provide information to be used as
feedback to modify the teaching and learning activities in which they are
engaged."
Formative
assessment helps them to improve their learning process rather than at the end
of the course. Moreover, students take responsibility for their own learning.
Students learn valuable lifelong skills such as self evaluation, self
assessment.
When I observed the cookery class then I
realized that the students are well motivated. Their teachers use various kind
of assessment to assess their knowledge. Some of them is summative and
formative too. No doubt, summative assessment is good to check their knowledge
but they can assess it in the end of the course but in the formative assessment
a teacher can assess their knowledge at the same point and they are doing well
in this part of assessment.
One
kind of formative assessment that I have observed during the teaching observation
in cookery classes is written below:-
Formative is 'when
the chef tastes the food.
During the cookery classes Stephen suggested them how can they improve their
dishes before serving them to guests. Firstly, he gave them tips such as taste
the food and then think, that is it tasty and hygienic? He also suggested them to find out their answer quickly and do their job according to their answer. If yes then they did
well. If no then do it again. He also kept an eye on their movements and tried
to remove their errors at the same point.
In this
way I think the teacher can get an idea who is doing well in his studies or who
is very creative. He can suggest the slower learners to do work hard and try to
learn. He can create the environment according to their needs. He can polish their knowledge, their skills.
On the other hand, students can boost up their confidence and can work freely.
This kind
of assessment gives them positive influence to take part in further studies
regarding their concept and also they can improve their confidence level in
their lower section. They can get time to remove their errors and can work well
before their final assessment.
A reflection on how can I use the
formative assessment in my teaching style:-
I really
appreciate the Stephen’s style of teaching and also like the effective use of
formative assessment. I would like to use this kind of assessment in my
teaching subject such as mathematics. I know that mathematics is quite tough
subject for few students but after observing the cookery classes now I realized
that if I can also use the formative assessment during my teaching session then
I can get an idea about the slower learners who find that this topic is
difficult and out of range of their mind.
Moreover, I can know about that on which level
they stand? To check their knowledge I can create a quiz competition on the
basis of their subject matter that they have done then at the same point I can
find the weak students who are slow learners and then I can do something for
them such as I can manage some extra classes for them and can find out their
difficulty in their concept. I think this idea will work if they want to learn.
On the other hand the bright students can get appreciation from their teachers
and classmates. This encouragement will work to increase their confidence level
and learn more about their subject matter. Other students can also get
attracted towards their study by using this method.
I think
this kind of assessment give them time to think about their capability to
learn. They can know about their result before entering in the exam. According
to my point of view, I can say that this kind of assessment is not only useful
for teachers but also for students because they learn unconsciously whatever
they want or not. It is the best way to revise the subject matter. Moreover,
during the quiz they can learn more about the concept and can clear their
doubts.
References:-
Kwan, F. (2011). Formative assessment: The one-minute paper
vs. the daily quiz. Journal
of Instructional Pedagogies, 5,
1-8. http://search.proquest.com/docview/863850443?accountid=39660
