Layon, Erika M.

MST101C
2015-07494 CD1

LEARNING TASK No. 1:

Formative and Summative Assessment

In learning and teaching, one of the most crucial aspects of the educative
process is assessing student learning. Biggs and Tang (2011) establish that
Assessment is the senior partner in the instructional process. Get it wrong, and
everything else collapses. As established by the quotation, assessment is the most
important aspect of learning and teaching, as it ensures that judgments are
made about student learning. In other words, assessment is the systematic collection,
review, and use of information about educational programs undertaken for improving
student learning and development (Palomba & Banta, 1999).
In assessing the students, teachers use several kinds of assessment to carry
out how well the students learn. Some of it are formative, diagnostic, and summative
assessment. First, formative assessment is also called the on -going assessment
because the teachers utilize the use of records of students performance, checklist and
observations. They use it to track whether they need improvement in their teaching
styles or instructional strategies. According to the article I read about this type of
assessment, the activities that can be given to students can be a form of regular
classroom activities like recitation/student participation, journals essays or class
work. On the other hand, summative assessment is a type of assessment use to
evaluate whether the students have mastered a certain skill or concepts. It is usually
administered to the students by the end of a teaching lessons or a unit/chapter. The
examples for this type of assessment are quizzes, periodical tests, or summative tests.
However, there are also different types of formal assessment that are given to
students to test their performance in comparison to peers. These includes norm-
referenced tests and criterion referenced tests which are used by district, state, and
nationwide assessment.
In my observation in UP Rural, specifically on Grade-7 Tindalo, I was given
a perfect time to observed how a teacher gives an assessment to her students. The
teacher used a traditional method to assess her students which is by using a test
questionnaire. I browsed the questionnaire and found out that the teacher
incorporated different styles on how to deliver the questions. The Math test was
consisted of a fill-in-the-blanks, matching type, and problem-solving type of
questions. Due to a limited time of observing to Rural, I was not able to go to other
sections but based on my past MST101 course, I observed that before the other
teachers dismissed her/his class, they would give a quiz that can be a big help for
them to know whether the students learn something from them.
As a future teacher, it is important for me to know how to assess my students
because, as I remembered on my EDUC courses, assessment is a great element in
a teaching-learning process. We assess the students not only because we need it for
Layon, Erika M. MST101C
2015-07494 CD1

making their grade at the end of a semester or year but because we need it to
improve our teaching styles. I believed that students should not just be measured
by numbers or grades. Learning is a continuous process and I know that it is in this
process wherein true learning occurs.

Biggs, J. & Tang, C. (2011).Teaching for Quality Learning at University (4th ed.).
Maidenhead:McGraw-Hill/Open University Press/Society for Research
into Higher Education

Palomba,C. & Banta, T. (1999). Assessment essentials: planning, implementing,

and improving assessment in higher education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-
Bass Publishers.