Revisit formative assessments as ways to gather information about your learners’ progress.
Assessments are your primary means of gathering information about your learners’ progression as they master the knowledge and skills you aim to teach. While there is a range of types of assessments, we are going to focus on the difference between two common types: formative and summative.
Formative assessments provide you with information about the learning process itself. These are the kinds of assessments you use to understand whether an activity or a material is helping learners master a discrete topic in the course. These are “just in time” as they tend to be applied in scenarios where learners present or demonstrate their learning before a major summative assessment. Alternatively, summative assessments tend to be implemented after the learning process, and evaluate whether learners successfully achieved the course learning objectives.
| Formative Assessments | Summative Assessments |
|---|---|
| Presentation or demonstration
Check-in quizzes Observation of in-class activities Feedback from students Reflection assignments |
Exams
Final exam Term papers Term projects Performances |
Our blog post from November further explains the benefits of formative assessments and how to incorporate them in your Canvas course.
This Wednesday James Butler, Digital Learning Strategist, led a presentation on using formative and summative assessments in Canvas. Check out the recording to learn the difference between these types of assessments, which one to use based on your course learning objectives, and how to use Canvas to deliver them effectively.
Ready to make your grading faster while also improving feedback for your learners? Then come learn about rubrics in Canvas! You will learn how easy it is to create rubrics, how to find and attach a rubric to an assignment, and how to leave quality feedback in a timely manner.
Register here for Quick Hits: Rubrics on February 9th.
Review Clemson Online’s Calendar of Events page for the instructional development events we will offer in Spring 2023.
Contact James Butler with any questions about these sessions.
Clemson Online – Where Tech and Teaching Meet
Using Canvas rubrics is a easy way to communicate expectations for assignments throughout the course.
Keep an eye on your learner's progress with analytics and let them know how they are doing through rubrics. From […]
Creating a poll or survey in Canvas is an easy way to gain feedback from your students.
