How Are Summative and Formative Assessment Different? Why Might Formative

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The Answer is While summative assessment (testing with the primary aim of measuring achievement) can also be formative as it helps 'form' skills and understanding, summative assessment's primary aim is evaluation whereas formative
assessment's primary aim is to assist learning. An analogy is that of an athlete using time trials to assess their progress towards the goal of winning the Olympic 1500 metre race. This is formative assessment; it measures the effectiveness of the athletes training and allows them to adjust their training accordingly. But ultimately the athlete will not be judged on these trials. Summative assessment is where they finish in the Olympic race.
Formative assessment takes various forms. Recent research has highlighted the value of testing ('retrieval-based learning') as a particularly effective way to strengthen learning (Karpicke, 2012), but other types are also useful, e.g. meetings where a tutor provides feedback on a draft of an assignment. Without formative assessments, a student has little or no objective basis for knowing whether she's learning the material adequately. An analogy is trying to find an address in a city where the streets aren't named and the buildings not numbered. Formative assessments guide you along the path to understanding, and by doing so, set you up for success in your later career.

How Are Summative and Formative Assessment Different? Why Might Formative

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