What is Summative Assessment?

For instructors, assessment is essential to gauging student understanding and mastery of content. It can also be used as a component for us to evaluate our own instructional decision-making, methods, and practices. 

Summative Assessment or assessment of learning, evaluates students’ comprehension or mastery of material presented in any unit, activity, or course. Simply put, it “sums up” what a student has learned in a given period on a given topic or series of topics. These are the tests, quizzes, presentations, or performance tasks we tend to think about first when we think of assessments.  

Why Summative Assessments? 

Summative assessments are familiar to students and instructors. They provide a standardized way to determine to what extent students are meeting learning outcomes, and where they might need additional support. These assessments also provide important data for instructors, students, departments, and other stakeholders when looking at student success and/or evaluating our instructional effectiveness.  

Using Summative Assessment Effectively 

While summative assessment is a valuable tool, relying solely on a few high-stakes tests (e.g., mid-terms and finals) has potential to overshadow the learning process, and provide flawed or limited insights into students’ actual understanding of the content. To make the most of summative assessments in your courses, there are some important strategies to keep in mind. 

  1. Alignment. Summative assessments should be aligned with student learning outcomes outlined in your course. Alignment ensures that the assessment measures what you intend to measure.
  2. Balance. The use of summative assessments should be balanced with other assessment methods such as formative assessments–the more frequent, ongoing, and informal checks for understanding. Formative assessments allow students to monitor their own learning so they may feel more confident and prepared for summative assessments.
  3. Feedback. Feedback is essential to the learning process. When instructors provide constructive and actionable feedback, students may better understand their strengths and areas of need-allowing them to make informed decisions on their own learning process. 

Read More About Summative Assessment

Direct and Indirect Assessment of Student Learning

Programs typically collect both direct and indirect evidence/data of student learning. Using both kinds of  assessments can support a more complete picture of what students are learning, how well they are learning, and how students perceive their learning. Direct measures

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Creating and Using Rubrics for Assignments

What is a Rubric? A rubric is a guide that articulates the expectations for an assignment and communicates the level of quality of performance or learning. As an assessment tool, a rubric sets the criteria for evaluating performance or work

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Selected Resources

Teaching Effectiveness Framework — Summative Assessment (Link directs to TILT Website)

Banta, T. W., & Palomba, C. A. (2015). Assessment essentials: Planning, implementing, and improving assessment in higher education (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass.