Summative Assessment
Summative assessments, like that white string across the finish line of a race, are end-point checks. Did you set a goal for this week that your learners must achieve prior to moving to the next more complex goal (eg. demonstrate cause and effect of…, present your ideas to gather feedback for….)? Perhaps you have reached the end of your course. Summative assessments help you to determine the degree to which your learners are ready for what comes next (start their groups project, move to the next course in your program). It becomes extremely challenging when a learner is moving forward in a program when they are not ready to do so. Summative assessments help you (and them) be ready.
Oral examination
Benefit of oral examination:
- Students experiencing difficulties are given an opportunity to clarify unclear or ambiguous questions prior to answering
- Helps to assess the application of theory to practice, as well as ‘soft skills’ such as professional information delivery and effective communication methods.
- Assess the conceptual misunderstandings that often get masked by written exams
- Avoid common academic integrity issues by ensuring students must rely on their own work and their own words.
Useful Links:
- MIT - Open Courseware Online Written and Oral Exams (video, 4.45 m)
- University of Twente - How to design and execute an online oral exam
ePortfolio assessment
Benefit of ePortfolio assessment:
- Empower learners to provide authentic/performance-based evidence of what was learned
- Professional possibilities that a digital portfolio can provide to learners in and out of school.
- Help students to deepen and integrate their learning through reflection (core to ePortfolio assessment).
Useful Links:
- Five detailed, complementary, customizable, and downloadable ePortfolio Rubrics (Word file) from Carleton's Educational Development Centre, and
- 7 important questions to ask prior to implementing ePortfolio assessments
More information to help you develop assessment for/of/as learning in your teaching:
- If you would like to read further, beyond this overview, you can visit a detailed overview on the Teaching Commons Resources for Learning Assessment overview.
- If you would like to further your learning consider registering in the Online Activity & Assessment workshop. See this and other workshops coming up soon.
- Four takeaways for designing meaningful assessment in hybrid and online learning