Evaluation of learning as well as teaching - Essay Example

There are various ways through which student’s learning can be assessed, but the best way of assessing student learning is one that promotes learning. In this comparison essay, two assessment tools including the formative assessment and summative assessment tools will be assessed on the basis of definition, purpose, procedure and tools that are used while teachers use any of the two assessment criteria. Formative assessment tools are much effective as compared to the summative assessment tools as the formative ones encourage learning and development of students.

Body Definition Formative assessment tools used in educational settings are those that promote learning with the assistance of generation of feedback that is of ample amount of advantage to both teachers as well as students (Marzano 9). The feedback obtained from this tool is used for making alterations to the learning procedure of students. This definition of formative assessment tools clearly exhibit that these tools are used to help make changes to the learning procedure of students in order to advance their learning activities.

Student evaluation that is summative in nature is defined as conducting assessment of student learning for a particular time frame. This assessment tool is used to summarize the development of a student that has taken place in a particular frame of time period (Marzano 8). The definition of summative evaluation reflects that it does not help in advancing learning and is rather used to assess how well learning has already taken place and according to this evaluation student’s development is rated.

Purpose The main aim of formative assessment tools is to advance student learning by providing feedback regarding their learning practices. When teachers use formative assessment tools they do not rate or rank how well a student has learned what is being taught. They rather analyze the methods that are used by students to learn and then provide feedback that is used by the student to make alterations to his/her learning techniques. The very fact that student’s responses in formative assessment are not marked is evidence that this tool focuses on the quality of learning, rather than the quantity of learning that has taken place.

On the other end, the fundamental aim of summative learning is to rate the quantity of learning that has taken place. In summative assessment, the responses provided by students are rated and ranked by teachers which are sheer proof of the fact that this assessment focus on how much student has learned. Procedure There is ample amount of difference in which both these assessments are conducted. In case of formative assessment, first the assessment is conducted while learning is taking place, and teachers provide feedback during the process of learning, this feedback is then used during the process of learning by the student to make alteration to his/her method of learning or is used by the teacher to make changes to his/her method of teaching.

This procedure of conducting formative assessment clearly reflects that the procedure is helping students learn as feedback provided within the learning process can help in making changes to the process. In case of summative learning, tests are taken to assess the quantity of learning that has taken place over a time frame. Since these tests are taken after the learning has taken place, it is quite evident that students fail to make changes to their learning process. Tools Tools used for the purpose of formative assessment are mostly those through which teachers are able to provide on the spot assessment and reflection on the learning of a particular student.

For example: questions asked during classroom lectures can be