Summative assessments are given to students at the end of a courseand should measure theskills and knowledge astudent has gainedoverthe entire instructional period. Summative feedback isaimed at helping students understand how well they have done inmeeting the overall learning goals ofthe course.
Effective summative assessments
Effective summative assessmentsprovide students a structured way to demonstrate that they have met a range of key learning objectives and to receive useful feedback on their overall learning. They should align with the course learning goals and build upon prior formative assessments. These assessments will addresshow well the student is able to synthesize and connect theelements of learning from the entirety of the course into a holistic understanding and provide an opportunity to provide rich summative feedback.
The value of summative feedback
Summative feedback is essential for students to understand how far they have come in meeting the learning goalsof the course, what they need further work on, and what they should study next. This can affect later choices that students make, particularly in contemplating and pursuing their major fields of study. Summative feedback can also influence how students regard themselves and their academic disciplinesafter graduation.
Use rubricsto provide consistency and transparency
Arubricis a grading guide for evaluatinghow well students have met a learning outcome. A rubric consists of performance criteria, a rating scale, and indicators for the different rating levels. They are typically in a chart or table format.
Instructors often use rubrics for both formative and summative feedback to ensure consistency of assessment across different students. Rubrics also can make grading fasterand help to create consistency between multiple graders and across assignments.
Students mightbe given access to therubricbefore working on an assignment. No criteria or metric withina summative assessment should come as a surprise to the students. Transparency with students on exactlywhat is being assessed can help themmoreeffectively demonstrate how much they have learned.
Types ofsummative assessments
Different summative assessments are better suited to measuring different kinds of learning.
Examinations
Examinations are useful for evaluating student learning in terms of remembering information, and understandingand applying concepts and ideas. However, exams may be less suited to evaluating how well students are able to analyze, evaluate, or create things related to what they've learned.
Presentation
A presentation tasks the student with teaching others what they have learned typically by speaking, presenting visual materials, and interactingwith their audience. This can be useful for assessing a student'sability to critically analyze and evaluateatopic or content.
Project
With projects, students will create something, such as a plan,document, artifact, or object,usuallyover a sustained period of time, that demonstrates skills or understanding of the topic of learning.They are useful forevaluatinglearning objectives that require high levels of critical thinking,creativity, and coordination. Projects are good opportunities to provide summative feedback because they oftenbuild on prior formative assessments and feedback.
Portfolio
With a portfolio, students create and curate a collection of documents, objects, and artifacts that collectively demonstrate their learning over a wide range of learning goals. Portfolios usually include the student's reflections and metacognitive analysis of their own learning. Portfolios are typically completed over a sustained period of time andare usually done by individual students as opposed to groups.
Portfolios are particularly usefulfor evaluatinghow students' learning, attitudes, beliefs, andcreativity grow over the span of the course. The reflective component of portfolios can be a rich form of self-feedback for students. Generally, portfoliostend to be more holistic and are often now done using ePortfolios.
