formative assessment of technology education

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Top Tech Tools for Formative Assessment

Through formative assessment, teachers check student understanding, get valuable data on student learning, and then use that data to modify instruction. When teachers know what students know (or don't know), they can adjust to meet students right at their level. The best formative assessment tools also help students  self-reflect and assess, figuring out where they are and where they need to go as learners. Browse the tools below to find one that meets your needs. There are formative assessment apps for everything from discussion to quizzing, polling, and student responses to interactive lessons and videos.

To find out what are favorite formative assessment tool is, read our article on The Best Quiz and Game Show Apps for Classrooms .

Interactive Lessons and Video

Powerful standards-based assessment tool tracks student progress

Bottom Line : An efficient platform -- especially for test prep -- that helps teachers track student progress on standards mastery.

Flexible interactive presentation tool engages kids at school and home

Bottom Line : It's great for creating customized and differentiated lessons, but it might not be accessible for every student.

Engage and assess students with media, videos, and interactive slides

Bottom Line : The teacher- or student-paced learning can improve 1-to-1 environments and the learning activities are top notch.

Interactive video creator has great question variety

Bottom Line : This tool strikes a nice balance, offering teachers an easy intro to interactive video mixed with a large set of features that can lead to increasingly sophisticated lesson design.

Crop, customize, and remix online video content with interactive tool

Bottom Line : A valuable tool that teachers can use to flip classrooms or support student-led creation.

Live presentation tool adds interactivity to stale slide decks

Bottom Line : This easy-to-use tool gets students more involved in presentations, but a lot of teachers might use similar tools already.

Interactive slideshows offer a variety of ways to engage and assess

Bottom Line : It’s an appealing platform that can improve formative assessment, particularly for teachers using Google Classroom.

Versatile polling/presentation tool boasts great question variety

Bottom Line : This tool supports student-centered teaching by pushing real-time participation/feedback beyond simple polls and multiple-choice questions.

Robust lesson creation and delivery tool aids assessment

Bottom Line : With some creativity, this interactive platform can support instruction and assessment.

Quizzing, Polling, and Student Response

Assign, assist, and assess with real-time, interactive classroom

Bottom Line : It's a great option for teachers who want to go paperless, provide specific feedback, and encourage collaboration among students in virtual or 1-to-1 classrooms.

Game-like student-response tool can spark competitive fun

Bottom Line : This is an effortlessly fun tool, but it shines best with creative implementation that tests its boundaries.

Call on everybody at once with flexible, interactive presentation tool

Bottom Line : This tool's dynamic presentations strike a nice balance between information and interaction.

ASSISTments

Functional, if not flashy, tool helps assess math skills

Bottom Line : With some purposeful planning, this tool can offer a simple and free way to gather critical data, but it won't dazzle students.

Superb real-time assessment tool a fit for 1-to-1, BYOD classrooms

Bottom Line : This smart tool helps teachers gather a variety of student response types and then offer targeted feedback.

Useful, low-tech rapid-response tool promotes formative assessment

Bottom Line : This can be a useful tool for getting quick feedback or snapshots of learning in tech-limited classrooms.

Fresh approach to assessment through concept maps shows promise

Bottom Line : This unique formative assessment platform's success will largely depend on teachers to keep content meaningful and relevant.

Increase student buy-in with interactive polls and Q&A sessions

Bottom Line : Engaging classroom response platform offers teachers and students real-time feedback opportunities.

Snapshot polls and quizzes offer formative and summative assessments

Bottom Line : This easy-to-use feedback and assessment tool might not dazzle students, but it can support responsive teaching.

Group game-show fun and independent study in one engaging tool

Bottom Line : This tool's unique spin on game shows could increase engagement, or offer classrooms burned out on other tools something new.

Customizable quiz tool harnesses data to steer learning

Bottom Line : From content delivery to assessment, this well-designed platform supports the whole learning process once you uncover all of its features.

Audience response tool gives instant feedback despite dated design

Bottom Line : It's an easy-to-learn, practical tool for online formative assessment and limited student interaction.

Poll Everywhere

Straightforward student-response tool engages kids with minimal setup

Bottom Line : Quick setup and interactive features allow students to engage and teachers to receive and provide immediate feedback.

Discussion and Feedback

Attach, translate, and transcribe audio comments in G Suite

Bottom Line : If you already use Google Workspace, this simple add-on can make it easier to send comments and feedback to students in the virtual space.

Collaborative feedback platform helps teachers target, students respond and revise

Bottom Line : Time-saving tool allows teachers to gain valuable insights into student learning while providing more personalized feedback and scaffolded supports.

Microsoft Teams

Collaborative LMS platform helps manage classes, groups, and projects

Bottom Line : Educators will likely find that the wide variety of features Teams offers is worth the time it takes to learn how to use it.

Comprehensive discussion platform develops critical-thinking skills

Bottom Line : A great tool in any subject or topic for teachers looking to make discussion a central part of their classroom.

Nifty add-on enables audio and text feedback in Google Docs

Bottom Line : If your classroom relies a lot on Google Docs, this might just be the feedback tool you're looking for.

Backchannel Chat

Real-time, moderated online discussions can engage and encourage

Bottom Line : This tools offers a fun, simple, and safe way to hold real-time online discussions that might just increase engagement, interest, and even learning.

Backchannel tool offers interactive polls, drawing, messages, and more

Bottom Line : Quick setup and multimodal features make this a great fit for a variety of carefully monitored classroom discussions.

Advanced Q&A tool compels collaboration, higher-order thinking

Bottom Line : Encourage collaborative, student-centered learning with this useful platform, but make sure it's the right fit for your students.

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5 Evidence-based formative assessment strategies using tech tools

By integrating evidence-based formative assessment strategies, educators gain a clear picture of student comprehension during lessons, allowing them to make timely instructional adjustments. Additionally, the inclusion of technology in the classroom has significantly enhanced the effectiveness of formative assessments. In this blog post, we’ll delve into formative assessment benefits and explore how digital tools can facilitate real-time evaluation, offering educators valuable tools to optimize teaching strategies.

Why is formative assessment important?

Formative assessment fosters active student participation and provides immediate insights into their understanding. Mastering formative assessment strategies will help your students showcase their knowledge of and reflect on the material taught while providing the teacher with insight into their understanding. When teachers ask students to demonstrate their understanding through formative assessment during a lesson regularly, students become active in the learning experience and are able to cement or apply their knowledge. Through this instant feedback, teachers can tailor their instruction on the spot to immediately meet the needs of their students based on these insights.

How to use technology for formative assessments

We know the instructional value of consistent formative assessment in the classroom, but it has become a demanding practice to implement regularly for teachers with competing priorities. That is… until smart devices came into the picture. In fact, Ian Beatty at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst was one of the first to illustrate how personal smart devices in the hands of teachers and students could dramatically transform the ability to deliver and analyze the results of formative assessment. The integration of technology in the classroom provides teachers with real-time feedback that can be used to inform instructional decisions. Teachers can create personalized learning experiences, get immediate feedback on student learning, and conduct data-driven instruction , which can result in an improvement in student outcomes and engagement. Nearpod provides real-time insights into student understanding through interactive lessons, interactive videos, gamification, and activities — all in a single platform.

The research and benefits of formative assessment in Nearpod

The original platform design of Nearpod was inspired by a growing body of research around the positive impacts of consistent formative assessment and best practices for implementing them (Engle & Conant, 2002). In the beginning, teachers could facilitate Nearpod lessons from their devices that synchronized informational slides and a few options for formative assessments (open-ended questions, multiple choice quizzes, or polls) on student devices. As the educational landscape evolves, Nearpod has consistently enriched its suite of formative assessment tools with evidence-based solutions, supporting educators in adapting to the changing classroom environment.

Nearpod allows teachers to monitor real-time formative assessment data and share individual responses with the rest of the class, making students more eager to demonstrate their understanding. Also, teachers can access formative assessment data after any session in their post-session reports or on their teacher dashboard during instruction to monitor student progress. Now, Nearpod offers nine types of formative assessments to check for understanding in any lesson!

New to Nearpod?  Teachers can sign up for free below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

1. Provide diverse assessment options to keep students interested

No matter how beneficial a formative assessment may be, doing the same thing over and over can get repetitive and have a negative impact on classroom engagement. Truly effective formative assessments should deploy a variety of tasks to measure student understanding (Ames, 1992). Diverse delivery of assessment is associated with strong cognitive and emotional gains in students (McLaughlin & Yan, 2017). This research inspired the Nearpod team to build out a more comprehensive suite of interactive assessments that could be added to a Nearpod lesson. Nearpod added Fill-in-the-blanks and Matching Pairs to better scaffold student work and responses for identifying and define-level assessments. 

2. Provide opportunities for collaboration and creation

The introduction of the Collaborate Board allowed students to see and interact with peer-written responses, recreating the concept of a digital instructional “parking lot” and updating responses in real time on teacher dashboards. One study from 2010 showed that opportunities to “doodle” during a learning experience increased the likelihood of information retention (Andrade, 2010). The Draw It tool was created as a way to empower students who prefer expressing their understanding creatively. Students can submit drawings on a blank canvas or a background image uploaded by the teacher. The feature quickly became a teacher and student favorite!

3. Use reference media to support and scaffold student learning

For each interactive assessment, we try our best to remove any potential impediments from answering a question. One study found greater access to requisite background knowledge enhances online assessment outcomes (Fuchs et al., 2000). Accordingly, Nearpod developed the ability for teachers to add reference media, such as an image, a video, a website, or even an audio recording of a teacher’s voice, as an attachment to interactive assessments to give more background information.

4. Promote inclusivity and reduce biases during instruction

Not every student is willing to raise their hand publicly, and this popular method of questioning means many are left behind during formative assessments. Student-response systems increase participation and draw out reluctant participants. (Graham et al., 2007) Nearpod developed the optional feature to make student responses anonymous in order to promote increased participation and reduce feelings of vulnerability (Caldwell, 2007). In Nearpod lessons, the barriers to entry for participating are reduced compared to raising your hand in class.

One study found that teachers can maximize learning outcomes and promote inclusivity by allowing students to submit audio recordings in lieu of written responses (Dalton, Herbert, & Daysher, 2003). Nearpod has a feature whereby students can submit audio responses to an open-ended question. Cheryl Staats argues that every educator enters the classroom with some degree of implicit bias, manifesting itself in who gets called on, who is believed in, and general classroom attitudes (2016). It can be a hard thing to spot in oneself, let alone curb entirely, but technology can play a pivotal role in democratizing classroom participation and formative assessment strategies.

5. Incorporate educational games

Educational games create engaging, fun, and valuable learning experiences for students. These types of formative assessment tech tools help build 21st-century social skills and problem-solving skills and build community, all while learning and boosting student achievement. Games are most effective when well-planned and integrated into learning objectives. With Time to Climb, you can include an existing Nearpod lesson or use it as a quick stand-alone activity. Students compete to get to the top of a mountain by answering a series of questions correctly and quickly to become one of the top three winners of the game. Teachers can choose a setting, and students select a character. It’s a teacher and student favorite!

Start using Nearpod’s formative assessments

Formative assessment, especially with tools like Nearpod, has transformed traditional teaching methods. Teachers have attested to the fact that more students participate and participate consistently in Nearpod lessons compared to traditional lessons. Nearpod’s evolution showcases its commitment to supporting teachers with effective tools. Embracing technology-driven formative assessment not only enriches learning but also fosters an inclusive and adaptable educational environment where each student can thrive.

Foster a love of learning in every student with Nearpod. Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Works Cited in Research Base

Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Assessment and classroom learning. Assessment in Education: principles, policy & practice, 5(1), 7-74.

Engle, R. A., & Conant, F. R. (2002). Guiding principles for fostering productive disciplinary engagement: Explaining an emergent argument in a community of learners classroom. Cognition and instruction, 20(4), 399-483.

Ames, C. (1992). Classrooms: Goals, structures, and student motivation. Journal of educational psychology, 84(3), 261.

McLaughlin, T., & Yan, Z. (2017). Diverse delivery methods and strong psychological benefits: A review of online formative assessment. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 33(6), 562-574.

Andrade, J. (2010). What does doodling do?. Applied Cognitive Psychology: The Official Journal of the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 24(1), 100-106.

Fuchs, L. S., Fuchs, D., Karns, K., Hamlett, C. L., Dutka, S., & Katzaroff, M. (2000). The importance of providing background information on the structure and scoring of performance assessments. Applied Measurement in Education, 13(1), 1-34.

Graham, C. R., Tripp, T. R., Seawright, L., & Joeckel, G. (2007). Empowering or compelling reluctant participators using audience response systems. Active Learning in Higher Education, 8(3), 233-258.

Caldwell, J. E. (2007). Clickers in the large classroom: Current research and best-practice tips. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 6(1), 9-20.

Dalton, B. D., Herbert, M., & Deysher, S. (2003, December). Scaffolding students’ response to digital literature with embedded strategy supports: The role of audio-recording vs. writing student response options. Paper presented at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the National Reading Conference, Scottsdale, AZ.

Adam is a Learning Experience Designer at Nearpod. He previously taught High School History teacher in Houston, Texas where he also served as the Social Studies Department Chair. Adam is currently in charge of the quality control of Nearpod’s learning experiences. He is also the manager of the Digital Citizenship and Literacy program.

Adam Franklin

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75 digital tools and apps teachers can use to support formative assessment in the classroom

There is no shortage of  formative assessment strategies, techniques, and tools  available to teachers who use formative instructional practice in their classrooms. Here is an extensive list of 75 digital tools, apps, and platforms that can help you and your students use formative assessment to elicit evidence of learning. We didn’t just add any old tool to this list. Here are the criteria we used for those that made the cut:

• Supports formative instructional strategies and ways to activate learners to be resources for themselves and peers
• Is free or awful close to it (under $10 per year, where possible)
• Allows both students and teachers to take the activator role when possible (sometimes teachers need to get things started)

Before you dig into the tools, I encourage you to spend some time thinking about exactly what you want to accomplish with your students.  “How to pick the right digital tool: Start with your learning goal”  by Erin Beard can help you wrap your head around goals and guide you in choosing the best tool for the task.  “27 easy formative assessment strategies for gathering evidence of student learning”  can help you decide what strategies work best for you and your students.

Record audio and video

• Animoto  Gives students the ability to make a 30-second video of what they learned in a lesson.
• AudioNote  A combination of a voice recorder and notepad, it captures both audio and notes for student collaboration.
• Edpuzzle  Helps you use video (your own, or one from Khan Academy, YouTube, and more) to track student understanding.
• Flip  Lets students use 15-second to 5-minute videos to respond to prompts. Teachers and peers can provide feedback.
• QuickVoice Recorder  Allows you to record classes, discussions, or audio for projects. Sync your recordings to your computer easily for use in presentations.
• Vocaroo  Creates audio recordings without the need for software. Embed the recording into slideshows, presentations, or websites.
• WeVideo  Lets you use video creatively to engage students in learning. Teachers and students alike can make videos.

Create quizzes, polls, and surveys

• Crowdsignal  Lets you create online polls, quizzes, and questions. Students can use smartphones, tablets, and computers to provide their answers, and information can be culled for reports.
• Edulastic  Allows you to make standards-aligned assessments and get instant feedback.
• FreeOnlineSurveys  Helps you create surveys, quizzes, forms, and polls.
• Gimkit  Lets you write real-time quizzes. And it was designed by a high school student!
• Google Forms  Part of the Google suite, Google Forms lets you create quizzes, polls, and surveys and see answers in real time.
• Kahoot!  A game-based classroom response system that lets you create quizzes using internet content.
• MicroPoll  Helps you create polls, embed them into websites, and analyze responses.
• Naiku  Lets you write quizzes students can answer using their mobile devices.
• Poll Everywhere  Lets you create a feedback poll or ask questions and see results in real time. Allows students to respond in various ways. With open-ended questions, you can capture data and spin up tag clouds to aggregate responses.
• Poll Maker  Offers unique features, like allowing multiple answers to one question.
• ProProfs  Helps you make quizzes, polls, and surveys.
• Quia  Lets you create games, quizzes, surveys, and more. Access a database of existing quizzes from other educators.
• Quizalize  Helps you create quizzes and homework.
• Quizizz  Guides you through designing quizzes and lets you include students in the quiz-writing process.
• Quizlet  Lets you make flashcards, tests, quizzes, and study games that are mobile friendly.
• Quizmaker  Helps you write quizzes quickly and easily.
• Survey Hero  Designed to build questionnaires and surveys.
• SurveyMonkey  Helpful for online polls and surveys.
• SurveyPlanet  Also helpful for online polls and surveys.
• Zoho Survey  Allows you to make mobile-friendly surveys and see results in real time.

Brainstorm, mind map, and collaborate

• AnswerGarden  A tool for online brainstorming and collaboration.
• Coggle  A mind-mapping tool designed to help you understand student thinking.
• Conceptboard  Software that facilitates team collaboration in a visual format, similar to mind mapping but using visual and text inputs.
• Dotstorming  A whiteboard app that allows digital sticky notes to be posted and voted on. This tool is best for generating class discussion and brainstorming on different topics and questions.
• Educreations Whiteboard  A whiteboard app that lets students share what they know.
• iBrainstorm  Lets students collaborate on projects using a stylus or their finger.
• Miro  Allows whole-class collaboration in real time.
• Padlet  Provides a blank canvas for students to create and design collaborative projects.
• ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard  Another whiteboard tool to check understanding.
• XMind  Mind-mapping software for use on desktop computers and laptops.
• Equity Maps  These discussion maps can help you ensure every student has a chance to share their ideas.

Present, engage, and inspire

• BrainPOP  Lets you use prerecorded videos on countless topics to shape your lesson plan, then use quizzes to see what stuck.
• Buncee  Helps students and teachers visualize, communicate, and engage with classroom concepts.
• Five Card Flickr  Uses the tag feature from photos in Flickr to foster visual thinking.
• PlayPosit  Allows you to add formative assessment features to a video from a library or popular sites, such as YouTube and Vimeo, to survey what students know about a topic.
• RabbleBrowser  Allows a leader to facilitate a collaborative browsing experience.
• Random Name/Word Picker  Facilitates random name picking. You can also add a list of keywords and use the tool to prompt students to guess words by providing definitions.
• Socrative  Uses exercises and games to engage students with a topic.
• Adobe Express  Lets you add graphics and visuals to exit tickets.
• Typeform  Helps you add graphical elements to polls.

Generate word or tag clouds

• EdWordle  Generates word clouds from any entered text to help aggregate responses and facilitate discussion. Word clouds are pictures composed of a cloud of smaller words that form a clue to the topic.
• Tagxedo  Allows you to examine student consensus and facilitate dialogues.
• Wordables  Helps you elicit evidence of learning or determine background knowledge about a topic.
• WordArt  Includes a feature that allows the user to make each word an active link to connect to websites, including YouTube.

Get real-time feedback

• Formative  Lets you assign activities, receive results in real time, and provide immediate feedback.
• GoSoapBox  Works with the bring-your-own-device model and includes an especially intriguing feature: a confusion meter.
• IXL  Breaks down options by grade level and content area.
• Kaizena  Gives students real-time feedback on work they upload. You can use a highlighter or give verbal feedback. You can also attach resources.
• Mentimeter  Allows you to use mobile phones or tablets to vote on any question a teacher asks, increasing student engagement.
• Pear Deck  Lets you plan and build interactive presentations that students can participate in via their smart device. It also offers unique question types.
• Plickers  Allows you to collect real-time formative assessment data without the need for student devices.
• Quick Key  Helps you with accurate marking, instant grading, and immediate feedback.

Foster family communication  

• Remind  Lets you text students and stay in touch with families.
• Seesaw  Helps you improve family communication and makes formative assessment easy, while students can use the platform to document their learning.
• Voxer  Lets you send recordings so families can hear how their students are doing, students can chat about their work, and you can provide feedback.

Strengthen teacher-to-student or student-to-student communication

• AnswerGarden  Gives you access to formative assessment feedback.
• Biblionasium  Lets you view books students have read, create reading challenges, and track progress. Students can also review and recommend books to their peers.
• Classkick  Helps you post assignments for students, and both you and your students’ peers can provide feedback. Students can also monitor their progress and work.
• TeacherEase Rubrics . This paid tool can help you ensure your rubrics are clear and accurate.
• Lino  A virtual cork board of sticky notes, it lets students ask questions or make comments on their learning.
• Online Stopwatch  Provides dozens of themed digital classroom timers to use during small- and whole-group discussions.
• Peergrade  Helps you create assignments and upload rubrics. You can also anonymously assign peer review work. Students can upload and review work using the corresponding rubric.
• Verso  Lets you set up learning using a URL. Space is provided for directions. Students can add their assignment, post comments, and respond to comments. You can group responses and check engagement levels.
• VoiceThread  Allows you to create and share conversations on documents, diagrams, videos, pictures, and more.

Keep the conversation going with live chats

• Yo Teach  A backchannel site great for keeping the conversation going with students.
• Chatzy  Supports live, online chats in a private setting.

Create and store documents or assignments

• Google Drive  Google Drive allows you to create documents students can collaborate on in real time using smartphones, tablets, and laptops.
• Piazza  Lets you upload lectures, assignments, and homework; pose and respond to student questions; and poll students about class content. This tool is better suited for older students as it mimics post-secondary class instructional formats.

There are several resources for learning more about formative assessment and responsive instruction strategies. Consider our  formative practices workshops , where school and district teams can gain a better understanding of the role formative practice plays in instruction and the four foundational practices to use in the classroom. Or for a quick start, download our eBook  “Making it work: How formative assessment can supercharge your practice.”

Jump in, try new tools and methods, and have fun!

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Rewriting your data identity and the role of self-reflection

Norm- vs. criterion-referenced in assessment: What you need to know

Making it work: How formative assessment can supercharge your practice

Formative assessment isn’t new. But as our education system changes, our approaches to any instructional strategy must evolve. Learn how to put formative assessment to work in your classroom.

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Formative Assessment of Teaching

What is formative assessment of teaching.

How do you know if your teaching is effective? How can you identify areas where your teaching can improve? What does it look like to assess teaching?

Formative Assessment

Formative assessment of teaching consists of different approaches to continuously evaluate your teaching. The insight gained from this assessment can support revising your teaching strategies, leading to better outcomes in student learning and experiences. Formative assessment can be contrasted with summative assessment, which is usually part of an evaluative decision-making process. The table below outlines some of the key differences between formative and summative assessment: 

By participating in formative assessment, instructors connect with recent developments in the space of teaching and learning, as well as incorporate new ideas into their practice. Developments may include changes in the students we serve, changes in our understanding of effective teaching, and changes in expectations of the discipline and of higher education as a whole.

Formative assessment of teaching ultimately should guide instructors towards using more effective teaching practices. What does effectiveness mean in terms of teaching?

Effectiveness in Teaching

Effective teaching can be defined as teaching that leads to the intended outcomes in student learning and experiences. In this sense, there is no single perfect teaching approach. Effective teaching looks will depend on the stated goals for student learning and experiences. A course that aims to build student confidence in statistical analysis and a course that aims to develop student writing could use very different teaching strategies, and still both be effective at accomplishing their respective goals. 

Assessing student learning and experiences is critical to determining if teaching is truly effective in its context. This assessment can be quite complex, but it is doable. In addition to measuring the impacts of your teaching, you may also consider evaluating your teaching as it aligns with best practices for evidence-based teaching especially in the disciplinary and course context or aligns with your intended teaching approach. The table below outlines these three approaches to assessing the effectiveness of your teaching:

What are some strategies that I might try? 

There are multiple ways that instructors might begin to assess their teaching. The list below includes approaches that may be done solo, with colleagues, or with the input of students. Instructors may pursue one or more of these strategies at different points in time. With each possible strategy, we have included several examples of the strategy in practice from a variety of institutions and contexts.

Teaching Portfolios

Teaching portfolios are well-suited for formative assessment of teaching, as the portfolio format lends itself to documenting how your teaching has evolved over time. Instructors can use their teaching portfolios as a reflective practice to review past teaching experiences, what worked and what did not.

Teaching portfolios consist of various pieces of evidence about your teaching such as course syllabi, outlines, lesson plans, course evaluations, and more. Instructors curate these pieces of evidence into a collection, giving them the chance to highlight their own growth and focus as educators. While student input may be incorporated as part of the portfolio, instructors can contextualize and respond to student feedback, giving them the chance to tell their own teaching story from a more holistic perspective.

Teaching portfolios encourage self-reflection, especially with guided questions or rubrics to review your work. In addition, an instructor might consider sharing their entire teaching portfolio or selected materials for a single course with colleagues and engaging in a peer review discussion. 

Examples and Resources:

Teaching Portfolio - Career Center

Developing a Statement of Teaching Philosophy and Teaching Portfolio - GSI Teaching & Resource Center

Self Assessment - UCLA Center for Education, Innovation, and Learning in the Sciences

Advancing Inclusion and Anti-Racism in the College Classroom Rubric and Guide

Course Design Equity and Inclusion Rubric

Teaching Demos or Peer Observation

Teaching demonstrations or peer classroom observation provide opportunities to get feedback on your teaching practice, including communication skills or classroom management.

Teaching demonstrations may be arranged as a simulated classroom environment in front of a live audience who take notes and then deliver summarized feedback. Alternatively, demonstrations may involve recording an instructor teaching to an empty room, and this recording can be subjected to later self-review or peer review. Evaluation of teaching demos will often focus on the mechanics of teaching especially for a lecture-based class, e.g. pacing of speech, organization of topics, clarity of explanations.

In contrast, instructors may invite a colleague to observe an actual class session to evaluate teaching in an authentic situation. This arrangement gives the observer a better sense of how the instructor interacts with students both individually or in groups, including their approach to answering questions or facilitating participation. The colleague may take general notes on what they observe or evaluate the instructor using a teaching rubric or other structured tool.

Peer Review of Course Instruction

Preparing for a Teaching Demonstration - UC Irvine Center for Educational Effectiveness

Based on Peer Feedback - UCLA Center for Education, Innovation, and Learning in the Sciences

Teaching Practices Equity and Inclusion Rubric

Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM (COPUS)

Student Learning Assessments

Student learning can vary widely across courses or even between academic terms. However, having a clear benchmark for the intended learning objectives and determining whether an instructor’s course as implemented helps students to reach that benchmark can be an invaluable piece of information to guide your teaching. The method for measuring student learning will depend on the stated learning objective, but a well-vetted instrument can provide the most reliable data.

Recommended steps and considerations for using student learning assessments to evaluate your teaching efficacy include:

Identify a small subset of course learning objectives to focus on, as it is more useful to accurately evaluate one objective vs. evaluating many objectives inaccurately.

Find a well-aligned and well-developed measure for each selected course learning objective, such as vetted exam questions, rubrics, or concept inventories.

If relevant, develop a prompt or assignment that will allow students to demonstrate the learning objective to then be evaluated against the measure.

Plan the timing of data collection to enable useful comparison and interpretation.

Do you want to compare how students perform at the start of your course compared to the same students at the end of your course?

Do you want to compare how the same students perform before and after a specific teaching activity?

Do you want to compare how students in one term perform compared to students in the next term, after changing your teaching approach?

Implement the assignment/prompt and evaluate a subset or all of the student work according to the measure.

Reflect on the results and compare student performance measures.

Are students learning as a result of your teaching activity and course design?

Are students learning to the degree that you intended?

Are students learning more when you change how you teach?

This process can be repeated as many times as needed or the process can be restarted to instead focus on a different course learning objective.

List of Concept Inventories (STEM)

Best Practices for Administering Concept Inventories (Physics)

AAC&U VALUE Rubrics

Rubric Bank | Assessment and Curriculum Support Center - University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

Rubrics - World Languages Resource Collection - Kennesaw State University

Student Surveys or Focus Groups

Surveys or focus groups are effective tools to better understand the student experience in your courses, as well as to solicit feedback on how courses can be improved. Hearing student voices is critical as students themselves can attest to how course activities made them feel, e.g. whether they perceive the learning environment to be inclusive, or what topics they find interesting.

Some considerations for using student surveys in your teaching include:

Surveys collect individual and anonymous input from as many students as possible.

Surveys can gather both quantitative and qualitative data.

Surveys that are anonymous avoid privileging certain voices over others.

Surveys can enable students to share about sensitive experiences that they may be reluctant to discuss publicly.

Surveys that are anonymous may lend to negative response bias.

Survey options at UC Berkeley include customized course evaluation questions or anonymous surveys on bCourses, Google Forms, or Qualtrics. 

Some considerations for using student focus groups in your teaching include:

Focus groups leverage the power of group brainstorming to identify problems and imagine possible solutions.

Focus groups can gather both rich and nuanced qualitative data.

Focus groups with a skilled facilitator tend to have more moderated responses given the visibility of the discussion.

Focus groups take planning, preparation, and dedicated class time.

Focus group options at UC Berkeley include scheduling a Mid-semester Inquiry (MSI) to be facilitated by a CTL staff member.

Instructions for completing question customization for your evaluations as an instructor

Course Evaluations Question Bank

Student-Centered Evaluation Questions for Remote Learning

Based on Student Feedback - UCLA Center for Education, Innovation, and Learning in the Sciences

How Can Instructors Encourage Students to Complete Course Evaluations and Provide Informative Responses?

Student Views/Attitudes/Affective Instruments - ASBMB

Student Skills Inventories - ASBMB

How might I get started?

Self-assess your own course materials using one of the available rubrics listed above.

Schedule a teaching observation with CTL to get a colleague’s feedback on your teaching practices and notes on student engagement.

Schedule an MSI with CTL to gather directed student feedback with the support of a colleague.

Have more questions? Schedule a general consultation with CTL or send us your questions by email ( [email protected] )!

References:

Evaluating Teaching - UCSB Instructional Development

Documenting Teaching - UCSC Center for Innovations in Teaching and Learning

Other Forms of Evaluation - UCLA Center for Education, Innovation, and Learning in the Sciences

Evaluation Of Teaching Committee on Teaching, Academic Senate

Report of the Academic Council Teaching Evaluation Task Force

Teaching Quality Framework Initiative Resources - University of Colorado Boulder

Benchmarks for Teaching Effectiveness - University of Kansas  Center for Teaching Excellence

Teaching Practices Instruments - ASBMB

• Grades 6-12
• School Leaders

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What Is Formative Assessment and How Should Teachers Use It?

Check student progress as they learn, and adapt to their needs.

Assessments are a regular part of the learning process, giving both teachers and students a chance to measure their progress. There are several common types of assessments, including pre-assessment (diagnostic) and post-assessment (summative). Some educators, though, argue that the most important of all are formative assessments. So, what is formative assessment, and how can you use it effectively with your students? Read on to find out.

What is formative assessment?

Source: KNILT

Formative assessment takes place while learning is still happening. In other words, teachers use formative assessment to gauge student progress throughout a lesson or activity. This can take many forms (see below), depending on the teacher, subject, and learning environment. Here are some key characteristics of this type of assessment:

Low-Stakes (or No-Stakes)

Most formative assessments aren’t graded, or at least aren’t used in calculating student grades at the end of the grading period. Instead, they’re part of the daily give-and-take between teachers and students. They’re often quick and used immediately after teaching a specific objective.

Planned and Part of the Lesson

Rather than just being quick check-for-understanding questions many teachers ask on the fly, formative assessments are built into a lesson or activity. Teachers consider the skills or knowledge they want to check on, and use one of many methods to gather information on student progress. Students can also use formative assessments among themselves for self-assessment and peer feedback.

Used to Make Adjustments to Teaching Plans

After gathering student feedback, teachers use that feedback to make adjustments to their lessons or activities as needed. Students who self-assess then know what areas they still need help with and can ask for assistance.

How is formative assessment different from other assessments?

Source: Helpful Professor

There are three general types of assessment: diagnostic, formative, and summative. Diagnostic assessments are used before learning to determine what students already do and do not know. Think pre-tests and other activities students attempt at the beginning of a unit. Teachers may use these to make some adjustments to their planned lessons, skipping or just recapping what students already know.

Diagnostic assessments are the opposite of summative assessments, which are used at the end of a unit or lesson to determine what students have learned. By comparing diagnostic and summative assessments, teachers and learners can get a clearer picture of how much progress they’ve made.

Formative assessments take place during instruction. They’re used throughout the learning process and help teachers make on-the-go adjustments to instruction and activities as needed.

Why is formative assessment important in the classroom?

These assessments give teachers and students a chance to be sure that meaningful learning is really happening. Teachers can try new methods and gauge their effectiveness. Students can experiment with different learning activities, without fear that they’ll be punished for failure. As Chase Nordengren of the NWEA puts it :

“Formative assessment is a critical tool for educators looking to unlock in-depth information on student learning in a world of change. Rather than focusing on a specific test, formative assessment focuses on practices teachers undertake during learning that provide information on student progress toward learning outcomes.”

It’s all about increasing your ability to connect with students and make their learning more effective and meaningful.

What are some examples of formative assessment?

Source: Writing City

There are so many ways teachers can use formative assessments in the classroom! We’ve highlighted a few perennial favorites, but you can find a big list of 25 creative and effective formative assessments options here .

Exit Tickets

At the end of a lesson or class, pose a question for students to answer before they leave. They can answer using a sticky note, online form, or digital tool.

Kahoot Quizzes

Kids and teachers adore Kahoot! Kids enjoy the gamified fun, while teachers appreciate the ability to analyze the data later to see which topics students understand well and which need more time.

We love Flip (formerly Flipgrid) for helping teachers connect with students who hate speaking up in class. This innovative (and free!) tech tool lets students post selfie videos in response to teacher prompts. Kids can view each other’s videos, commenting and continuing the conversation in a low-key way.

What is your favorite way to use formative assessments in the classroom? Come exchange ideas in the WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook .

Plus, check out the best tech tools for student assessment ..

You Might Also Like

25 Formative Assessment Options Your Students Will Actually Enjoy

Get them excited to show you what they know! Continue Reading

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14 Examples of Formative Assessment [+FAQs]

Traditional student assessment typically comes in the form of a test, pop quiz, or more thorough final exam. But as many teachers will tell you, these rarely tell the whole story or accurately determine just how well a student has learned a concept or lesson.

That’s why many teachers are utilizing formative assessments. While formative assessment is not necessarily a new tool, it is becoming increasingly popular amongst K-12 educators across all subject levels. 

Curious? Read on to learn more about types of formative assessment and where you can access additional resources to help you incorporate this new evaluation style into your classroom.

What is Formative Assessment?

Online education glossary EdGlossary defines formative assessment as “a wide variety of methods that teachers use to conduct in-process evaluations of student comprehension, learning needs, and academic progress during a lesson, unit, or course.” They continue, “formative assessments help teachers identify concepts that students are struggling to understand, skills they are having difficulty acquiring, or learning standards they have not yet achieved so that adjustments can be made to lessons, instructional techniques, and academic support.”

The primary reason educators utilize formative assessment, and its primary goal, is to measure a student’s understanding while instruction is happening. Formative assessments allow teachers to collect lots of information about a student’s comprehension while they’re learning, which in turn allows them to make adjustments and improvements in the moment. And, the results speak for themselves — formative assessment has been proven to be highly effective in raising the level of student attainment, increasing equity of student outcomes, and improving students’ ability to learn, according to a study from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). 

On the flipside of the assessment coin is summative assessments, which are what we typically use to evaluate student learning. Summative assessments are used after a specific instructional period, such as at the end of a unit, course, semester, or even school year. As learning and formative assessment expert Paul Black puts it, “when the cook tastes the soup, that’s formative assessment. When a customer tastes the soup, that’s summative assessment.”

14 Examples of Formative Assessment Tools & Strategies

There are many types of formative assessment tools and strategies available to teachers, and it’s even possible to come up with your own. However, here are some of the most popular and useful formative assessments being used today.

• Round Robin Charts

Students break out into small groups and are given a blank chart and writing utensils. In these groups, everyone answers an open-ended question about the current lesson. Beyond the question, students can also add any relevant knowledge they have about the topic to their chart. These charts then rotate from group to group, with each group adding their input. Once everyone has written on every chart, the class regroups and discusses the responses. 

• Strategic Questioning

This formative assessment style is quite flexible and can be used in many different settings. You can ask individuals, groups, or the whole class high-level, open-ended questions that start with “why” or “how.” These questions have a two-fold purpose — to gauge how well students are grasping the lesson at hand and to spark a discussion about the topic. 

• Three-Way Summaries

These written summaries of a lesson or subject ask students to complete three separate write-ups of varying lengths: short (10-15 words), medium (30-50 words), and long (75-100). These different lengths test students’ ability to condense everything they’ve learned into a concise statement, or elaborate with more detail. This will demonstrate to you, the teacher, just how much they have learned, and it will also identify any learning gaps. 

• Think-Pair-Share

Think-pair-share asks students to write down their answers to a question posed by the teacher. When they’re done, they break off into pairs and share their answers and discuss. You can then move around the room, dropping in on discussions and getting an idea of how well students are understanding.

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• 3-2-1 Countdown

This formative assessment tool can be written or oral and asks students to respond to three very simple prompts: Name three things you didn’t know before, name two things that surprised you about this topic, and name one you want to start doing with what you’ve learned. The exact questions are flexible and can be tailored to whatever unit or lesson you are teaching.

• Classroom Polls

This is a great participation tool to use mid-lesson. At any point, pose a poll question to students and ask them to respond by raising their hand. If you have the capability, you can also use online polling platforms and let students submit their answers on their Chromebooks, tablets, or other devices.

• Exit/Admission Tickets

Exit and admission tickets are quick written exercises that assess a student’s comprehension of a single day’s lesson. As the name suggests, exit tickets are short written summaries of what students learned in class that day, while admission tickets can be performed as short homework assignments that are handed in as students arrive to class.

• One-Minute Papers

This quick, formative assessment tool is most useful at the end of the day to get a complete picture of the classes’ learning that day. Put one minute on the clock and pose a question to students about the primary subject for the day. Typical questions might be:

• What was the main point?
• What questions do you still have?
• What was the most surprising thing you learned?
• What was the most confusing aspect and why?
• Creative Extension Projects

These types of assessments are likely already part of your evaluation strategy and include projects like posters and collage, skit performances, dioramas, keynote presentations, and more. Formative assessments like these allow students to use more creative parts of their skillset to demonstrate their understanding and comprehension and can be an opportunity for individual or group work.

Dipsticks — named after the quick and easy tool we use to check our car’s oil levels — refer to a number of fast, formative assessment tools. These are most effective immediately after giving students feedback and allowing them to practice said skills. Many of the assessments on this list fall into the dipstick categories, but additional options include writing a letter explaining the concepts covered or drawing a sketch to visually represent the topic. 

• Quiz-Like Games and Polls

A majority of students enjoy games of some kind, and incorporating games that test a student’s recall and subject aptitude are a great way to make formative assessment more fun. These could be Jeopardy-like games that you can tailor around a specific topic, or even an online platform that leverages your own lessons. But no matter what game you choose, these are often a big hit with students.

• Interview-Based Assessments

Interview-based assessments are a great way to get first-hand insight into student comprehension of a subject. You can break out into one-on-one sessions with students, or allow them to conduct interviews in small groups. These should be quick, casual conversations that go over the biggest takeaways from your lesson. If you want to provide structure to student conversations, let them try the TAG feedback method — tell your peer something they did well, ask a thoughtful question, and give a positive suggestion.

• Self Assessment

Allow students to take the rubric you use to perform a self assessment of their knowledge or understanding of a topic. Not only will it allow them to reflect on their own work, but it will also very clearly demonstrate the gaps they need filled in. Self assessments should also allow students to highlight where they feel their strengths are so the feedback isn’t entirely negative.

• Participation Cards

Participation cards are a great tool you can use on-the-fly in the middle of a lesson to get a quick read on the entire classes’ level of understanding. Give each student three participation cards — “I agree,” “I disagree,” and “I don’t know how to respond” — and pose questions that they can then respond to with those cards. This will give you a quick gauge of what concepts need more coverage.

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List of Formative Assessment Resources

There are many, many online formative assessment resources available to teachers. Here are just a few of the most widely-used and highly recommended formative assessment sites available.

• Arizona State Dept of Education

FAQs About Formative Assessment

The following frequently asked questions were sourced from the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), a leading education professional organization of more than 100,000 superintendents, principals, teachers, and advocates.  

Is formative assessment something new?

No and yes. The concept of measuring a student’s comprehension during lessons has existed for centuries. However, the concept of formative assessment as we understand it didn’t appear until approximately 40 years ago, and has progressively expanded into what it is today.

What makes something a formative assessment?

ASCD characterized formative assessment as “a way for teachers and students to gather evidence of learning, engage students in assessment, and use data to improve teaching and learning.” Their definition continues, “when you use an assessment instrument— a test, a quiz, an essay, or any other kind of classroom activity—analytically and diagnostically to measure the process of learning and then, in turn, to inform yourself or your students of progress and guide further learning, you are engaging in formative assessment. If you were to use the same instrument for the sole purpose of gathering data to report to a district or state or to determine a final grade, you would be engaging in summative assessment.”

Does formative assessment work in all content areas?

Absolutely, and it works across all grade levels. Nearly any content area — language arts, math, science, humanities, and even the arts or physical education — can utilize formative assessment in a positive way.

How can formative assessment support the curriculum?

Formative assessment supports curricula by providing real-time feedback on students’ knowledge levels and comprehension of the subject at hand. When teachers regularly utilize formative assessment tools, they can find gaps in student learning and customize lessons to fill those gaps. After term is over, teachers can use this feedback to reshape their curricula.

How can formative assessment be used to establish instructional priorities?

Because formative assessment supports curriculum development and updates, it thereby influences instructional priorities. Through student feedback and formative assessment, teachers are able to gather data about which instructional methods are most (and least) successful. This “data-driven” instruction should yield more positive learning outcomes for students.

Can formative assessment close achievement gaps?

Formative assessment is ideal because it identifies gaps in student knowledge while they’re learning. This allows teachers to make adjustments to close these gaps and help students more successfully master a new skill or topic.

How can I help my students understand formative assessment?

Formative assessment should be framed as a supportive learning tool; it’s a very different tactic than summative assessment strategies. To help students understand this new evaluation style, make sure you utilize it from the first day in the classroom. Introduce a small number of strategies and use them repeatedly so students become familiar with them. Eventually, these formative assessments will become second nature to teachers and students.

Before you tackle formative assessment, or any new teaching strategy for that matter, consider taking a continuing education course. At the University of San Diego School of Professional and Continuing Education, we offer over 500 courses for educators that can be completed entirely online, and many at your own pace. So no matter what your interests are, you can surely find a course — or even a certificate — that suits your needs.

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27 Formative Assessment Tools for Your Classroom

July 6, 2021 by Kasey Bell

In this post, you will find 27 Formative Assessment Tools for Your Classroom!

Let’s make sure we are all on the same page when it comes to formative assessment, or what I like to refer to as, “Assessment FOR Learning,” as a follower of Rick Stiggins ‘ work over the years.

“Teachers who use, “Assessment FOR learning,” involve their students in ongoing self-assessment in ways that reveal to those learners (a) where they are headed in their learning, (b) where they are now in relation to those expectations, and (c) how each student can close the gap between the two.” – Rick Stiggins

Formative assessment is such an essential part of the learning process and student success, and many digital tools can help support this process.

This list has a wide variety of features and options to help you solidify your formative assessment strategies! Many of the tools below are great for both formative and summative assessments.

Listen to this article.

(in alphabetic order)

1. ASSISTments

ASSISTments is a forever free online math platform that makes it easy for teachers to assign online from their curriculum, and assess student progress in the classroom or remotely. When working on assignments within ASSISTments, students get immediate feedback as they go and teachers get actionable data, which they use to focus instructional time where students need the most support.

Related: 85+ Apps That Integrate with Google Classroom

2. Edpuzzle

Edpuzzle allows you to turn videos into a quick assessment. Choose a video on YouTube, Khan Academy, Crash Course, or upload your own. Trim the video, insert a quiz anywhere and track your students progress. (Freemium, basic account is free, additional features available with paid accounts.)

3. Edulastic

Edulastic is a complete assessment dashboard. Teachers can create and track assessments, and even align with CCSS. They also offer a district wide-platform for sharing district-wide assessments. (Free for teachers, district-sharing requires a paid license.)

4. Explain Everything

Easy-to-use online whiteboard program that can be used on any device. Students can quickly create video summaries in which they can present the most important things they learned and what questions they may still have. (Free and paid versions)

5. Flipgrid

Flipgrid is a video discussion platform, that allows students to respond to questions, topics, and reflect using video. Students can also respond to each other, leave comments, and more. (Free!)

Related: Flipgrid: The Go-To Remote Learning Tool

Some have said that Gimkit is Kahoot on steroids. Gimkit is another fast-paced quiz game, but with an extra element. Students earn in-game cash to spend on game upgrades. Check out Leslie Fisher’s review and video to learn more .

7. Google Classroom Question Tool

Inside Google Classroom, you have the option to create a question and share that with students. You can make this collaborative, or just have the answers viewable for you the teacher. This is not a robust threaded discussion tool like I wish it was, but it can be handy for formative assessments and to check for understanding.

Related: The Google Classroom Cheat Sheets for Teachers and Students (FREE)

8. Go Formative

Formative is a free online assessment tool that is very robust. Formative allows teachers to choose pre-made assessments and edit to fit their needs, create their own from scratch, or even upload a PDF or doc to create. They also offer some fantastic data that you can track and intervene when needed. (FREE and integrates with Google Classroom!)

9. Google Forms

Google forms is a survey and quiz tool that is very easy to use. You can feed your form or quiz data into a Google Sheet for analysis and evaluation. Both Google Forms and Sheets also have many “add-ons” that give users even more capabilities that can power your formative assessments. (FREE)

10. InsertLearning

InsertLearning is a Chrome extension that lets you turn any webpage into an interactive lesson. InsertLearning has this fantastic toolbar that will allow you to highlight text, add sticky notes, insert questions, videos, or even a discussion all inside the webpage! Learn more about InsertLearning here: 4 Ways to Blend Learning with InsertLearning . (InsertLearning is a freemium application, but you get your first five lessons for free.)

11. Jamboard

Jamboard is a cloud-based, whiteboard application that can be used for collaboration across multiple devices. Students can use this application to collaborate, create presentations, and bring together resources from other Google apps and the web.

12. Kahoot!

Kahoot! is a game-based learning and trivia platform that allows you to create very engaging quizzes for your classroom. Kahoot! is super fun and addictive. You can create your own kahoots, or choose from their library of games. Play live kahoots, in groups, issue challenges, or assign as homework. (FREE)

13. Mentimeter

Mentimeter is an interactive presentation tool that allows you to poll your students, check for understanding, or ask students to vote. There are several different types of questions you can create, image-based, multiple-choice, scales, open-ended, questions from the audience and more. You can even generate word clouds out of responses! (Freemium, some features are free.)

Mote is a FREE Chrome extension that allows you to leave voice notes and feedback, and much more! Improve feedback and formative assessment with voice recording.

Related: 15 Ways to Use Mote in the Classroom

15. Nearpod

Nearpod is an interactive classroom tool for teachers to engage students with interactive lessons. Nearpod allows you to create and share lessons that sync across devices and encourage student participation, and evaluate student responses through comprehensive reporting. (Freemium, some features are free.)

Padlet is a super easy way to create an online bulletin board that allows teachers and students to share and collaborate. What’s great about Padlet is that it offers so much flexibility! It works on any device, and you can share just about any type of information–text, links, upload files, photos, videos, just about any kind of response. There are also many different ways you can design your pages. Customize the background, organize information in new ways. (Free trial available)

Parlay is a discussion-based learning tool and global community of educators who are reimagining class discussions for the 21st Century. (Free trial available)

18. Pear Deck

Pear Deck is a web-based formative assessment tool that allows you to create interactive lessons using G Suite tools. The Google Slides add-on has quickly become a favorite of mine. (I even teach it in my Google Slides Master Class !) Pear Deck offers a library of free templates that you can use to created interactive assessments in your slides. Pear Deck is also a freemium tool, some features are free, but you can get a 3-month Premium Membership with this special link for Shake Up Learning readers !

19. Playposit

PlayPosit is a web- and Chrome-based tool that lets teachers create and edit interactive video assessments from streamed or uploaded content. (paid)

20. Plickers

This assessment tool allows teachers to collect on-the-spot formative assessment data without the need to have students use devices or paper and pencil. Teachers create and print specially coded cards that students hold up in class as their responses. The teacher uses the Plickers app to scan the cards and collect the data. (Free)

21. Poll Everywhere

Poll Everywhere is a live audience polling tool that integrates into your presentation. You can ask questions during your lessons, see live data, and reports. (Freemium, free accounts are limited to 25 responses per poll.)

22. Quizizz

Quizizz allows you to conduct student-paced formative assessments in a fun and engaging way for students of all ages. Quizizz works on just about any device and offers a library of public quizzes that teachers can use in their classrooms. They also provide detailed class and student reports. (FREE)

23. Quizlet

Quizlet is a study tool that uses flashcards, games, and other “study sets.” to help students. Quizlet Live is a collaborative quiz game where students are placed into teams to work together to answer the questions and learn together. (FREE)

24. Quizalize

Engage your class with fun, standards-tagged quizzes. Get instant data on student mastery. Automatically assign differentiated follow-up activities. (Free basic teacher accounts)

Seesaw is a digital portfolio and communication tool that many teachers love! Seesaw works on any device shared or 1:1. Free for teachers. Teachers create activities for students. Students draw, take pictures and video, and capture their learning in their portfolio. Parents can view their students work and leave comments. (Freemium, some features are free.)

26. Socrative

Socrative is a web-based formative assessment tool that allows teachers to create quizzes, ask questions, collect exit tickets and feedback. You can also create a competitive quiz bowl game, called, “Space Race,” where students compete to get the most answers correct. (Freemium with up to 50 students per session.)

27. Spiral.ac

Spiral.ac is an interactive learning platform with a suite of collaborative applications. Deliver quickfire formative assessments, discussion, teams of students can work together to create presentations, and turn any public video into a live chat with questions and quizzes. (Freemium, some features are free.)

Did your favorite assessment tool make the list? If not, let me know in the comments!

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Formative and Summative Assessment

Assessment helps instructors and students monitor progress towards achieving learning objectives. Formative assessment is used throughout an instructional period to treat misconceptions, struggles, and learning gaps. Summative assessments evaluate learning, knowledge, proficiency, or success at the conclusion of an instructional period.

Below you will find formative and summative descriptions along with a diagram, examples, recommendations, and strategies/tools for the next steps.

Descriptions

Formative assessment  (Image 1, left) refers to tools that identify misconceptions, struggles, and learning gaps along the way and assess how to close those gaps. It includes practical tools for helping to shape learning. It can even bolster students’ ability to take ownership of their education when they understand that the goal is to improve learning and not apply final marks (Trumbull and Lash, 2013). It can include students assessing themselves, peers, or even the instructor, through writing, quizzes, conversation, and more. Formative assessment occurs throughout a class or course and seeks to improve student achievement of learning objectives through approaches that can support specific student needs (Theal and Franklin, 2010, p. 151). In the classroom, formative assessment centers on practice and is often low-stakes. Students may or may not receive a grade.

In contrast,  summative assessments (Image 1, right) evaluate student learning, knowledge, proficiency, or success after an instructional period, as a unit, course, or program. Summative assessments are almost always formally graded and often heavily weighted (though they do not need to be). Summative assessment can be used to significant effect in conjunction and in alignment with formative assessment, and instructors can consider a variety of ways to combine these approaches. 

Examples of Formative and Summative Assessments

Formative: l earn and practice.

• In-class discussions
• Clicker questions (e.g., Top Hat)
• 1-minute reflection writing assignments
• Peer review
• Homework assignments

Summative: Assess performance

• Instructor-created exams
• Standardized tests
• Final projects
• Final essays
• Final presentations
• Final reports
• Final grades

Formative Assessment Recommendations

Ideally, formative assessment strategies improve teaching and learning simultaneously. Instructors can help students grow as learners by actively encouraging them to self-assess their skills and knowledge retention, and by giving clear instructions and feedback. Seven principles (adapted from Nicol and Macfarlane-Dick, 2007 with additions) can guide instructor strategies:

1. Keep clear criteria for what defines good performance

Instructors can explain criteria for A-F graded papers and encourage student discussion and reflection about these criteria (accomplish this through office hours, rubrics, post-grade peer review, or  exam/assignment wrappers . Instructors may also hold class-wide conversations on performance criteria at strategic moments throughout the term.

2. Encourage students' self-reflection.

Instructors can ask students to utilize course criteria to evaluate their own or peers’ work and share what kinds of feedback they find most valuable. Also, instructors can ask students to describe their best work qualities, either through writing or group discussion.

3. Give students detailed, actionable feedback

Instructors can consistently provide specific feedback tied to predefined criteria, with opportunities to revise or apply feedback before final submission. Feedback may be corrective and forward-looking, rather than just evaluative. Examples include comments on multiple paper drafts, criterion discussions during 1-on-1 conferences, and regular online quizzes.

4. Encourage teacher and peer dialogue around learning

5. promote positive motivational beliefs and self-esteem.

Students will be more motivated and engaged when assured that an instructor cares for their development. Instructors can design assignments to allow for rewrites/resubmissions in assignments to promote learning development. These rewrites might utilize low-stakes assessments, or even automated online testing that is anonymous, and (if appropriate) allows for unlimited resubmissions.

6. Provide opportunities to close the gap between current and desired performance

Related to the above; instructors can improve student motivation and engagement by making visible any opportunities to close gaps between current and desired performance. Examples include opportunities for resubmission, specific action points for writing or task-based assignments, and sharing study or process strategies that an instructor would use to succeed.

7. Collect information to help shape teaching

Instructors can feel free to collect useful information from students to provide targeted feedback and instruction. Students can identify where they are having difficulties, either on an assignment or test or in written submissions. This approach also promotes metacognition, as students reflect upon their learning. 

Instructors may find various other formative assessment techniques through  CELT’s Classroom Assessment Techniques .

Summative Assessment Recommendations

Because summative assessments are usually higher-stakes than formative assessments, it is especially important to ensure that the assessment aligns with the instruction’s goals and expected outcomes. 

1. Use a Rubric or Table of Specifications

Instructors can use a rubric to provide expected performance criteria for a range of grades. Rubrics will describe what an ideal assignment looks like, and “summarize” expected performance at the beginning of the term, providing students with a trajectory and sense of completion. 

2. Design Clear, Effective Questions

If designing essay questions, instructors can ensure that questions meet criteria while allowing students the freedom to express their knowledge creatively and in ways that honor how they digested, constructed, or mastered meaning.

3. Assess Comprehensiveness. 

Effective summative assessments allow students to consider the totality of a course’s content, make deep connections, demonstrate synthesized skills, and explore more profound concepts that drive or find a course’s ideas and content. 

4. Make Parameters Clear

When approaching a final assessment, instructors can ensure that parameters are well defined (length of assessment, depth of response, time and date, grading standards). Also, knowledge assessed relates clearly to the content covered in course; and provides students with disabilities required space and support.

5. Consider Anonymous Grading. 

Instructors may wish to know whose work they grade, to provide feedback that speaks to a student’s term-long trajectory. If instructors want to give a genuinely unbiased summative assessment, they can also consider a variety of anonymous grading techniques (see hide student names in SpeedGrader Canvas guide ).

Explore Assessment Strategies and Tools

Instructional strategies.

CELT’s online resources are organized to help an instructor sequentially work through the teaching process.

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Explore the following approaches and methods which emphasize prevention and education.

• Nicol, D.J. and Macfarlane-Dick, D. (2006) Formative assessment and self‐regulated learning: a model and seven principles of good feedback practice. Studies in Higher Education 31 (2): 2-19.
• Theall, M. and Franklin J.L. (2010). Assessing Teaching Practices and Effectiveness for Formative Purposes. In: A Guide to Faculty Development . KJ Gillespie and DL Robertson (Eds). Jossey Bass: San Francisco, CA.
• Trumbull, E., & Lash, A. (2013). Understanding formative assessment: Insights from learning theory and measurement theory . San Francisco: WestEd.

Formative and Summative Assessment, by the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) at Iowa State University is licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 . This work, Formative and Summative Assessment, is a derivative of Formative and Summative Assessment developed by the Yale University Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning(retrieved on June 23, 2020) from https://poorvucenter.yale.edu/Formative-Summative-Assessments.

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Formative and summative assessments: How the right technology enhances learning

What’s the best way to assess your students?

Formative and summative assessments are both crucial tools for measuring student learning. Each serves a specific purpose in the learning process, explains teacher and education writer Tracey Derrell .

But collecting data has often been difficult for teachers. Designing the assessments, extracting the data, and analyzing the information are time-consuming tasks, unless you use the right technology .

Digital tools simplify the process of administering tests and analyzing data, which makes it easier for teachers to assess a student’s progress.

For an insightful look into the future of higher education, explore “ 8 Top Trends in Higher Education to Watch in 2024 ” on Jotform’s blog.

Formative assessments measure progress

When teachers need to assess how well students grasp concepts as the material is being taught, they administer formative assessments. Through these assessments, teachers can recognize where students need help, and then they can adjust their teaching to immediately address those problem areas, notes the Eberly Center at Carnegie Mellon University.

This type of assessment creates a feedback loop between the student and the teacher so they can work together to improve learning.

The great thing about formative assessments is that they are more flexible than summative assessments. You don’t have to administer a typical quiz to gather your data. Teachers can use student reflections, discussion sessions, homework, quizzes, and collaborative activities as formative assessments, says Jordan Catapano , an assistant high school principal in the Chicago area.

Assess students on any device with Jotform’s powerful online education forms .

Formative assessments: Tailoring lessons based on real-time data

The flexibility of formative assessments makes them perfect candidates for high-tech  administration.

For example, Alexis Roesser , English department chair for a high school in Salamanca, New York, advocates using entrance and exit tickets to gauge student progress. An entrance ticket asks about a student’s level of understanding before class begins, while an exit ticket asks students to recap a day’s lesson. Each gives the teacher a quick peek at a student’s current level of understanding.

To administer these assessments, Roesser suggests using discussion forums or shared online surveys to take advantage of the instant insights these platforms provide. The option for using paper and pen is there, but you lose the instantaneous data gathering.

Monica Burns , an educator and founder of ClassTechTips.com, likes to embed questions in her presentations to get instant feedback from students. She creates her presentations in Nearpod , an interactive presentation builder.

If you’ve already built your presentations in another program, you can use clickers, such as iClicker , to record student answers to embedded questions. This allows you to collect immediate data and track individual student progress.

The quicker teachers can gather their data, the better. Technology has made it possible for them to adjust their teaching in real time based on data gathered during a lesson.

Summative assessments measure mastery

Summative assessments are given at the end of a lesson unit or course to measure students’ mastery of the standards. The most common types of summative assessments are end-of-unit or -chapter tests, midterm exams, final exams, state assessments, portfolios of work, and research reports.

In contrast to formative assessments, summative assessments are high-stakes tasks. These are typically graded to tell you whether the student has learned the material. Such assessments are delivered too far down the learning path to be used in making instructional adjustments, explain Catherine Garrison and Michael Ehringhaus, Ph.D. , at educational professional development company Measured Progress.

The data gathered from summative assessments, instead, can be used to help guide teacher decisions, such as assigning grades, promotions, graduation, and class credits, writes Kathy Dyer , a manager at assessment company NWEA.

Summative assessments: Moving beyond multiple choice

Technology tools can help teachers get creative with summative assessments while still collecting valuable data to measure mastery.

As part of her summative assessments, English teacher Jayme Cook uses poster-making app Posterini for student projects. The app lets students create virtual posters by cutting and pasting images and text. She also uses The Tweeted Times for students to create an original newsletter of learned materials using their Twitter feeds as content.

Each of these tools puts a different spin on an end-of-unit project.

When going the more traditional route of an exam, teachers can also use digital forms to create, score, and track the data from these exams. The great thing about digital exams is that you can move beyond multiple choice or true/false questions into more creative and interactive questions.

Assessment-building technology company Learnosity explains that some of those potential question types are being used in Common Core digital testing, which includes drag and drop, text and essays, visual questions, and match and order.

These different question types can help students explore their mastery and teachers test their students’ understanding via the most appropriate assessments.

The cumulative nature of summative assessments means teachers don’t need the real-time feedback of formative assessments. Therefore, you can create multifaceted assignments and questions that really test a student’s knowledge. Technology gives you the resources to easily collect and analyze the data from these assessments.

While these types of assessments are very different by design, they both work toward the same goal: measuring student learning. Both assessments are crucial for teachers , and both can be more efficient through the use of technology.

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Formative and Summative Assessment

Definition of   formative and summative assessment and what is the difference between them?

Assessments allow both teacher and student to (a) monitor progress towards achieving learning objectives (b) improve the teaching and learning progress.

As both formative and summative assessments have a distinct purpose, they are used simultaneously in educational settings.

See also: How to align assessments, learning objectives, and instructional strategies

The goal of assessment is to evaluate the progress achieved towards a learning goal. This can be monitored in a variety of ways by both the teacher and the student. Formative assessment is ongoing and serves as a benchmark of progress towards the learning objective. Identifying common misconceptions, using strategies, and closing gaps in understanding help students experience growth. Formative assessment is generally low stakes, commonly known as ‘assessment for learning,’ as it is used to improve student understanding and encourage personal accountability.

In comparison, summative assessment is used as ‘assessment of learning,’ or more commonly, what we would consider a test or evaluation. A summative assessment is usually performed in a more formal manner, such as at the end of a course or unit, and seeks to outline the extent of students’ knowledge. They may be weighted more heavily for that program, which means that the summative assessment would be worth more of the total grade. Generally, instructors seek to incorporate both formative and summative assessments in their evaluation as they can be combined in effective ways.

See also: How to use Wiki in education

Formative Assessment

Providing feedback is one of the greatest advantages of formative assessment. Feedback can be used on both sides of the learning process by helping both instructors and students improve. Formative assessments are used specifically in:

• identifying the strengths and weaknesses of students
• addressing the areas of need for each student
• helping teachers identify gaps in learning
• working to close those gaps

One of the reasons that formative assessments are so valuable is because they are not time-consuming and are perceived as low-risk from a student standpoint. Some examples of formative assessments include:

• submitting a presentation early for teacher feedback before submission
• in class discussions
• low stakes group works
• Peer review
• outlining the main ideas of a lecture using a two-sentence thought exchange
• demonstrating their understanding of a topic using a concept map
• Clicker questions

See also: Just in time teaching

Formative Assessment Recommendations:

In an ideal situation, formative assessment would simultaneously benefit both teachers and students. Teachers could provide guidance in the form of clear feedback and next steps while students reflect on their areas of need and what strategies they could implement in their learning journey. There are a few recommendations for instructors when implementing formative assessment:

• Encourage students to reflect on their best work – Using the program’s learning objective or criteria, students are encouraged to reflect on what was successful and what wasn’t. As a teacher, it is important to foster discussions on what feedback proved to be the most valuable and helpful to the students.
• Offer clear, concise feedback – Formative assessment is used to improve student work while helping them move towards the learning goal. Providing actionable steps allows them multiple opportunities to meet the success criteria of the program. Some examples of providing feedback could be a discussion or 1-on-1 conference, a multiple choice quiz online, or comments left on a draft of a project.
• Encouraging relationships and positive self-esteem – Making connections with your students is still widely considered to be a key factor in their success. If students believe that you care about them, they are more likely to be motivated and engaged in their learning. In terms of formative assessment, this may resemble multiple chances to resubmit an assignment or anonymous quizzes online. These may have a low value towards their grade, but the goal is to highlight the opportunity for learning itself.
• Closing learning gaps and meeting the learning objective – Similar to the point above, teachers are encouraged to specifically target gaps in understanding by allowing work to be resubmitted, recommending next steps, and providing strategies to achieve success. Offering a pathway to success also builds on that positive relationship with students and helps them remain motivated and engaged.
• Using information gathered to direct teaching – As outlined above, formative assessment is used as assessment for learning, which means that much valuable information can be gathered from it. Evaluations will highlight where students are struggling, which lessons may need to be re-taught, and which topics some students may excel in. Formative assessment helps determine the next steps for teachers to address either in class or with a just a small group of students.

Summative Assessment

Summative evaluations are often high stakes and used to assess student learning at the end of the learning journey, and usually compares their progress to the course criteria or learning goals.

Generally, summative assessments have a high value, which means that they account for a large portion of the grade or mark. Some examples of summative assessments are:

• a final paper
• a final test / project / essay
• a research project
• a recital or presentation
• a midterm exam
• Standardized tests

The information gathered from summative assessments is often used when applying to the following grade or course. Both teachers and students may use summative assessments guidelines for the next steps in the learning journey.

Summative Assessment Recommendations:

It is imperative that summative assessments align with the learning objectives and success criteria of the course as they are generally weighted more heavily in terms of total grade. Some summative assessment recommendations for instructors are as follows:

• Using a rubric to outline performance range – Rubrics or tables can be used to outline expected criteria for the assignment, including details on what below expected level, meeting expectations, and exceeding expectations would look like. Giving the rubric to the students before the assignment would offer guidelines to completion and allow them to evaluate their own work.
• Concise essay questions – As the formative assessment would stem from the question itself, it is important that they are well-structured, clear, and allow students the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge. Good essay questions would offer them the ability to be creative while expressing their understanding of the topic.
• Prioritize comprehension – Summative assessments should offer the opportunity to demonstrate a broad understanding of the course, including making connections, synthesizing information, and expanding on the main ideas of the course’s content.
• Clear guidelines and criteria – The framework for a final summative assessment should be clearly defined, including the date, time, and criteria for grading. It should also include how long and how deep the responses to the questions need to be, and how students who require support will access it.
• Blind grades – A common technique to reduce marking bias is to offer blind grading, which can be done in a few ways. Having the students write their name on the back of the last page, marking the same question for all students, or assessing the same section all at the same time helps the instructor focus on the quality of the answer and keep grades fair.

See also: How to use blogs in teaching and learning 

I am a professor of Educational Technology. I have worked at several elite universities. I hold a PhD degree from the University of Illinois and a master's degree from Purdue University.

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Empowering Teachers With Tech-Friendly Formative Assessment Tools

By locating the right tool and building data collection into your routine, you can easily have the formative assessment data you need for responding to student understanding.

Formative assessment is an important part of effective instruction. Teachers can use observations, checklists, and quick quizzes to gather data that will inform their instruction. Formative assessment identifies areas where students are excelling and struggling so that teachers can best alter their instruction to meet the needs of all students. Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to work with a school looking to strengthen its formative assessment data collection by leveraging the power of tech-friendly tools.

Technology can make formative assessment a seamless part of everyday activities. Online tools and mobile devices can help teachers stay organized when collecting data that will make analyzing information easier and more meaningful. Formative assessment can take place throughout a unit of study during daily lessons that incorporate technology. As you examine the systems that work for you in your classroom, technology tools can make this process easier and seamless when used effectively.

Choosing the Right Tool

With the abundance of technology options available for teachers, it can be intimidating to search for and locate the right one. The correct choice for you, your students, and your school will depend on a variety of factors. One important thing to consider is when you plan to collect formative data. You may decide to embed questions into a lesson presentation using a BYOD-friendly tool like Nearpod , or to pause the whole class while taking a read of the room with a polling website like Kahoot!

When choosing the right tool, you will also want to take into account the age and ability of your students. Elementary students can "show what they know" at the end of a lesson when you capture and annotate their work using an app like Seesaw . Older students might answer quiz questions or post a short response on Schoology at the end of a class period. The goal for this type of formative assessment would be to gauge student understanding at the end of the lesson. The technology tool that you choose will depend on your goal as well as characteristics of your classroom, such as workflow and student composition.

Gathering Formative Assessment Data

Tech-friendly tools can make data collection seamless during classroom instruction. The embedded tools mentioned above can be integrated into lessons so that a quiz or poll can provide teachers with immediate feedback. They can then shift the direction of their lesson to address misconceptions or student questions. Formative assessment data gathered by teachers at the end of a lesson can also benefit from the ease of tech-friendly tools. Teachers can provide a few minutes for their quiz questions posted on Socrative .

Formative assessment data is often collected on checklists attached to clipboards or sheets of paper in a binder. There are also tech-friendly solutions for gathering formative assessment data that leverages the portability of mobile devices and the ability to enter data easily. Google Forms are one of my favorite formative assessment tools because they are completely customizable. Teachers can quickly create a data-entry form for a whole-class checklist, or individual and small-group conference notes. All of this collected data is automatically organized in a Google Spreadsheet, making it easy to keep track of student performance.

Planning With a Purpose

Once formative data has been collected, teachers can plan with a purpose. The tools mentioned above (including Kahoot!, Socrative, and Nearpod) organize student responses to questions for item analysis and review after a class period. Teachers can use this information to plan their next lesson and make decisions for individual students.

It may become clear, based on formative assessment data, that an entire class has misconceptions on a topic or has already mastered course content. Teachers might also find patterns in the data that can help them make decisions on how to address individual needs or how to group students. In addition to data collected on Google Forms, tech-friendly tools like Explain Everything —which lets students record their voices and explain their thinking—can go beyond just submitting a correct answer to help teachers figure out where students need help.

As you begin to develop a strategy for gathering and utilizing formative assessment data in your classroom, take a moment to think about how technology can support this work. Locating the right tool, building data collection into your routine, and making a plan based on student understanding are important steps to follow. Technology tools can elevate these best practices and make it easier to stay organized as you collect formative assessment data.

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Assessment of campus technology needs

2024 UW Tools for Teaching & Learning Survey

The Teaching & Learning Systems team in UW Information Technology is conducting a survey of educational technology needs. We invite instructional designers, educational technologists, and other IT support staff across UW to share their experiences and feedback and help inform the tools and services we offer for the next few years.

It’s been nearly ten years since UW Information Technology (UW-IT) conducted a comprehensive survey of educational technology needs . In that time, educational technologies have evolved, and the pandemic ignited a growing interest in teaching strategies and modalities for meeting the needs of a diverse student body.

The 2024 UW Tools for Teaching and Learning survey will help UW-IT

• Identify emerging needs and priorities for tools and/or services
• Update our understanding of user satisfaction with our current set of instructional technologies and support services
• Create a curated, streamlined collection of tools that serve a broad variety of instructional practices across all UW campuses

Your participation in the survey will ensure that your feedback, needs, and the teaching practices within your department are considered in our findings. This is a valuable opportunity for you to shape UW-IT services and strategies for the coming years.

The survey will open on May 7 and close on May 28, 2024 .

Take the survey!

If you have questions about the survey, please send an email to [email protected] , with 2024 UW Tools Survey in the subject line.

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Curriculum and expected learning outcomes

The development, dissemination, and implementation of relevant and effective curriculum and expected learning outcomes can improve teaching and learning..

The curriculum framework, including the expected learning outcomes, communicates what teachers and learners should know and do. Curriculum is a description of what, why, how, and how well students should learn in a systematic and intentional way.(14) Expected learning outcomes define the totality of information, knowledge, understanding, attitudes, values, skills, competencies, or behaviours a learner should master upon the successful completion of the curriculum.(14) To improve education quality special efforts are needed to align the intended curriculum (the official guidance), the implemented curriculum (what teachers and learners actually do), and the attained curriculum (what students actually learn).(14) An extensive collection of resources on improving the quality and relevance of the curriculum, as well as its linkage to teaching, learning, and assessment processes, is available through the  International Bureau of Education (IBE-UNESCO) .

Issues and Discussion

Curriculum organization: Curriculum frameworks reflect the political and social agreements of education and aim to guide regulation, implementation, and evaluation of curricula.(1) They can be organized by competencies, disciplinary subjects, learning areas, and interdisciplinary or cross-curricular topics.(1) They also define the appropriate learning objectives, or expected learning outcomes, for successive levels of learning. Competency-based curriculum focuses on learners demonstrating mastery of certain interconnected knowledge, skills, and attitudes. In addition to subject-specific competencies, curriculum frameworks may address cross-cutting competencies such as communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity, and principles such as personalization, inclusive systems, sustainable development, and social justice.(1)

Curriculum development: The development of curricula and expected learning outcomes is a dynamic cyclical process requiring reassessment and adaptation over time.(5)(11)(23) Because it involves deciding what knowledge is legitimate and important, it can be a highly political process.(26) In some countries, curriculum is defined primarily at the national level, while in other education systems curriculum is more a matter for local and even classroom-based decision-making, often guided by a framework of learning standards.(9)(23)(26) In today’s context of global education goals and international assessments, questions of universality versus contextualization are becoming increasingly important.(3)(5)(7) While some learning goals may be universally appropriate, there are also specific national, local, and minority concerns that the curriculum needs to take into account. At all levels of curriculum development, relevance is improved when teachers are involved—as long as they are given chances to develop their curricular literacy, and are provided the required resources, time, and incentives for extensive deliberation.(17) New curricula can be tested and refined through feasibility studies and by piloting in select schools.(13)

Ensuring effectiveness and relevance: Effective curriculum is based on backwards planning, which starts from the identification of desired learning results and how these can be measured, and then determines the learning experiences that can lead to these outcomes.(24) There has long been a debate about the relative merits of traditional didactic approaches, versus constructivist or student-centred approaches to curriculum. However, research on learning shows that this is a false dichotomy: for curriculum to be effective, it needs to include a balanced and integrated use of teacher-led guided learning, student-led action learning, and whole context-dependent experiential learning.(18) To be relevant, the curriculum also needs to connect to learners’ daily lives, interests, and motivations, and allow for differentiation of learning experiences to meet different students’ needs.(1)(21)(24) In addition to stating what should be learned, the curriculum therefore needs to give teachers guidance on how to structure teaching and learning activities and how to assess learning achievement.(22)

Dissemination: Specific plans must be laid for the dissemination of new curricula and expected learning outcomes, in order to make educators aware of their existence and of the needed changes in teaching practices. Alignment of textbooks and other pedagogical materials is also a special concern, and the distribution and adoption of any new or revised materials should be addressed as part of the curriculum planning process. Curriculum dissemination plans should also take into account the development of curricular literacy at the level of districts, schools, and individual teachers.(4)

Implementation :  The implementation of the curriculum framework is a complex process which occurs over time and through many mechanisms.(10) Some policy levers to facilitate implementation include: teacher training, providing incentives for school districts, providing external facilitators to assist in implementation, encouraging demonstrations, and sharing ideas, information, and expertise between educators.(17) Education planners may need to decide on the relative importance of fidelity—precise application of the curriculum in its original form—versus allowing teachers to make adaptations that meet their learners’ needs.(17) Planners can monitor implementation to understand how to support the process, by asking four essential questions: what are teachers doing?, what are students doing?, how are materials being used?, and what kind of data should be collected to answer these questions? Potential methods for data collection can include direct observation, checklists, self-reports, and student portfolios.(17)

Teacher professional development: In order for changes in curriculum and expected learning outcomes to be carried into practice, ongoing teacher development must be central to curriculum policy. Teachers’ commitment to change can vary from committed to resistant, due to differences in teachers’ curricular literacy, competence, and confidence, as well as whether the curriculum development process included teacher perspectives.(16)(17) Pre-service teacher training systems will often need to be revised to reflect new curriculum frameworks. In addition, interactive professional development is necessary to build understanding of learning outcomes, curriculum, and teaching practices while allowing multiple cycles for assimilation of knowledge, practice, and reflection on experience.(16)(20) Teachers also need to learn how to use learning outcomes and curriculum frameworks to develop formative assessments that can provide evidence of student understanding and skills and allow teachers to interpret evidence and change classroom practices, closing the gap between desired and actual understandings.(2)(12)(25)

Inclusiveness Considerations

Participation of indigenous and minority populations in creating curriculum: Contemporary forms of education are strongly based on a Western model of schooling that spread along with missionary activity and colonialism, in many cases irrevocably altering or replacing indigenous forms of education and socialization. With this legacy in mind, it is important to give indigenous and minority populations new opportunities to decide what knowledge and abilities are to be valued and included in the official curriculum.(19)

Gender: Learning outcomes, curricula, assessments, and teaching practices should be either gender neutral or gender inclusive and non-discriminatory.(8)

Language Minority Students: Providing a quality education to all students means taking special considerations for learners whose mother-tongue is not the language of instruction. Curricula should support teachers in understanding and implementing appropriate practices for these students.(6)

Plans and policies

• National Curriculum Framework in England [ PDF ]
• A National Curriculum Framework for All in Malta [ PDF ]
• National Curriculum Framework in Mauritius [ PDF ]

1. Amadio, M. Opertti, R., and Tedesco, J. C. 2015. The curriculum in debates and in educational reforms to 2030: For a curriculum agenda of the twenty-first century. Geneva: UNESCO IBE.

2. Black, P. 2001. ‘Formative assessment and curriculum consequences.’ Curriculum and Assessment . Westport, Connecticut: Ablex Publishing.

3. Chapman, D.W., Weidman, J., Cohen, M. and Mercer, M. 2005. ‘The search for quality: A five country study of national strategies to improve educational quality in Central Asia.’ International Journal of Educational Development. 25.

4. Chrispeels, J.H. 1997. ‘Educational policy implementation in a shifting political climate: The California experience.’ American Educational Research Journal. 34 (3).

5. DeBoer, G. 2011. ‘The globalization of science education.’ Journal of Research in Science Teaching. 48 (8).

6. Echevarria, J., Short, D. and Powers K. 2006. ‘School reform and standards-based education: A model for English-Language Learners.’ The Journal of Educational Research. 99 (4).

7. Ertl, H. 2006. ‘Educational standards and the changing discourse on education: The reception and consequences of the PISA study in Germany.’ Oxford Review of Education. 32 (5).

8. Essuman, M. A., Osei-Poku, P. 2015. ‘Evaluation of Selected Textbooks from Ghanaian Primary Schools.’ International Journal of Innovative Research and Development. 4 (6).

9. Ferrer, G. (2006). Estándares de currículo: algunas tendencias internacionales e implicancias para su implementación en América Latina . Lima: PREAL-GTEE.

10. Fullan, M.G. 1982. The Meaning of Educational Change . New York: Teachers College Press.

11. Gysling Caselli, J. (2007): Currículum nacional: desafíos múltiples. Revista Pensamiento Educativo , Vol. 40, Nº 1 (pp. 335-350).

12. Hunt, E. and Pellegrino, J.W. 2002. ‘Issues, examples, and challenges in formative assessment’. New Directions for Teaching and Learning. 89.

13. IBE. ‘ Processes of curriculum implementation .’ Training Tools for Curriculum Development. UNESCO IBE. 

14. IBE. 2013. IBE Glossary of Curriculum Terminology . Geneva: UNCESCO IBE.

15. IBE. ' Training Tools for Curriculum Development '. UNESCO IBE. 

16. Maccini, P. and Gagnon, J.C. 2002. ‘Perception and application of NCTM standards by special and general education teachers.’ Exceptional Children. 68 (3).

17. Marsh, C.J. and Willis, G. 2007. Curriculum: Alternative Approaches, Ongoing Issues. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

18. OECD, 2012. The nature of learning. Using research to inspire practice. How can the learning science inform the design of the 21st learning environments? Paris: OECD.

19. OEI (2015). Miradas sobre la educación en Iberoamérica: Educación de los pueblos y comunidades indígenas (originarios) y afrodescendientes. Madrid: Organización de Estados Iberoamericanos para la Educación, la Ciencia y la Cultura (OEI).

20. Penuel, W. R., Fishman, B. J., Yamaguchi, R. and Gallagher, L. P. 2007. ‘What makes professional development effective? Strategies that foster curriculum implementation.’ American Educational Research Journal. 44 (4).

21. Renzulli, J.S., Gentry, M. and Reis, S.M. 2004. ‘A time and place for authentic learning.’ Educational Leadership. 62 (1).

22. Shavelson, R.J. et al. 2008. ‘On the impact of curriculum-embedded formative assessment on learning: A collaboration between curriculum and assessment developers.’ Applied Measurement in Education. 21.

23. Tapo, M.F. 2004. National Standards/Local Implementation: Case Studies of Differing Perceptions of National Education Standards in Papua New Guinea. Unpublished Dissertation: Queensland University of Technology.

24. Tomlinson, C.A. and McTighe, J. 2006. Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design. Danvers, Massachusetts: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

25. Wiliam, D. 2001. ‘An overview of the relationship between assessment and the curriculum.’ Curriculum and Assessment . Westport, Connecticut: Ablex Publishing.

26. Wixson, K.K., Dutro, E. and Athan, R.G. 2003. ‘The challenge of developing content standards.’ Review of Research in Education. Washington, D.C.: American Educational Research Association.

Related information

• UNESCO International Bureau of Education (IBE)

• Open access
• Published: 07 August 2024

Assessment during clinical education among nursing students using two different assessment instruments

• Nilsson Tomas 1 ,
• Masiello Italo 2 , 3 , 4 ,
• Broberger Eva 3 &
• Lindström Veronica 5 , 6  

BMC Medical Education volume  24 , Article number:  852 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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Metrics details

Assessment of undergraduate students using assessment instruments in the clinical setting is known to be complex. The aim of this study was therefore to examine whether two different assessment instruments, containing learning objectives (LO`s) with similar content, results in similar assessments by the clinical supervisors and to explore clinical supervisors’ experiences of assessment regarding the two different assessment instruments.

A mixed-methods approach was used. Four simulated care encounter scenarios were evaluated by 50 supervisors using two different assessment instruments. 28 follow-up interviews were conducted. Descriptive statistics and logistic binary regression were used for quantitative data analysis, along with qualitative thematic analysis of interview data.

While significant differences were observed within the assessment instruments, the differences were consistent between the two instruments, indicating that the quality of the assessment instruments were considered equivalent. Supervisors noted that the relationship between the students and supervisors could introduce subjectivity in the assessments and that working in groups of supervisors could be advantageous. In terms of formative assessments, the Likert scale was considered a useful tool for evaluating learning objectives. However, supervisors had different views on grading scales and the need for clear definitions. The supervisors concluded that a complicated assessment instrument led to limited very-day usage and did not facilitate formative feedback. Furthermore, supervisors discussed how their experiences influenced the use of the assessment instruments, which resulted in different descriptions of the experience. These differences led to a discussion of the need of supervisor teams to enhance the validity of assessments.

The findings showed that there were no significant differences in pass/fail gradings using the two different assessment instruments. The quantitative data suggests that supervisors struggled with subjectivity, phrasing, and definitions of the LO´s and the scales used in both instruments. This resulted in arbitrary assessments that were time-consuming and resulted in limited usage in the day-to-day assessment. To mitigate the subjectivity, supervisors suggested working in teams and conducting multiple assessments over time to increase assessment validity.

Peer Review reports

Introduction

During undergraduate studies to become a registered nurse (RN), the assessment of clinical competence includes an assessment of both theoretical knowledge and practical skills [ 28 ]. The importance of high-quality clinical education for students that provides constructive and adapted feedback is a key factor affecting the student’s learning process and should not be understated [ 28 , 30 ]. Historically, different assessment instruments have been designed aiming both to support the clinical supervisors and to provide standardised, fair assessments of students’ achievement of the learning objectives (LOs) [ 10 ]. However, the assessment of nursing students’ skills and competence using assessment instruments is known to be complex and affected by several varied factors [ 29 ]. The assessment instrument, Assessment of Clinical Education (ACIEd), that is used in this study context, is used in a summative fashion to verify that the students earn a passing grade during clinical education. Formative assessment aims to support the students through continuous feedback. To support the student’s development towards becoming a RN, an assessment instrument that facilitates both summative and formative assessment is needed [ 1 ].

A well-educated RN is essential to achieve good health care. To realise this, supervisors, as well as students, need support during clinical education in facilitating student learning [ 12 ]. Nevertheless, supporting, and supervising students is known to be complex since learning in the clinical setting is affected by several factors, such as the clinical context, the student’s own strengths, workplace challenges, expectations, and the student’s social network and prior knowledge and skills [ 3 , 4 ]. For the students to succeed in their learning, an un-bias assessment with LO`s that are relevant for the student’s progression is necessary.

Assessment in clinical education

Assessment is a vital part of clinical education and should include both skills and theoretical knowledge reflecting the requirements of the RN everyday work and having a close connection to the university curriculum [ 17 ]. The assessment of nursing students can be accomplished in a formative or summative way. The formative assessment is meant to guide the nursing students in their learning progress and is a joint discussion between the student and the supervisor where strengths and areas of improvement are identified and addressed [ 6 ]. The summative assessment’s prime objective is to ensure that LOs are achieved, and it commonly occurs on one or two occasions during a period/session of clinical education with a university teacher present [ 15 ]. However, clinical assessment is sometimes hampered by the clinical supervisors’ lack of training in assessing students’ nursing skills and competence and/or the supervisors’ lack of competence in using a standard assessment instrument [ 17 ]. In addition, a heavy workload and staff shortages in the clinical setting make it difficult for the clinical supervisors to find time to assess students properly. It is also known that the relationship between supervisor and student can affect the assessment [ 11 ]. To aid the assessment of students’ nursing skills and competence, assessment instruments need to be reliable, valid, easy to use and adapted to the clinical setting [ 7 ]. Today, several different assessment instruments exist which all have strengths and weaknesses and focus on various aspects of the student’s learning. These instruments utilize different approaches to assessment where for example Observed Structural Clinical Examination (OSCE) uses checklists and Assessment of Clinical Education (ACIEd) uses more complex LO`s that require subjective assessments [ 22 , 26 , 27 ]. ACIEd, is used by several universities in Sweden for assessment of LO`s during clinical education. The ACIEd was designed for a mid and final assessment, where the mid assessment results in: “In line with expected achievement” or “Plan of action is needed”. The final assessment results in a “Pass” or “Fail” grade on each LO. In clinical education, every LO needs to be passed to get a final pass grade [ 26 , 27 ]. Criticism has been raised in the ambulance services in Stockholm, Sweden, towards ACIEd, claiming that it is ill adapted for daily use and has a summative character where progression is hard to visualize. Therefore, a new assessment instrument was developed from the ACIEd and named the Ambulance Assessment Instrument (AAI). The intent of the construction of AAI was to provide alternatives to the existing assessment instrument that was designed for digital use in the clinical setting.

The AAI was constructed with more distinct and phrased LOs listed one by one, instead of using complex LOs with several sub-LOs imbedded in one. A seven graded Likert scale facilitated formative assessment. The rationale for clarifying LOs was that earlier research has shown that complex LOs lead to interpretations and inconsistencies in assessment [ 17 ]. Therefore, this was considered when the AAI was developed, resulting in one-sentence LOs without sub-criteria. The assessment instruments can be found in appendix 1. However, to incorporate a new assessment instrument in clinical education, it needs to be validated. In this case the research group choose to validate the developed AAI instrument against the existing instrument ACIEd. The aim of this study was therefore to examine whether two different assessment instruments, containing LO´s with similar content, results in similar assessments by the clinical supervisors and to explore clinical supervisors’ experiences of assessment regarding the two different assessment instruments.

Clinical education in the ambulance service

The clinical setting in this study was the ambulance services in Stockholm, Sweden. Care in an ambulance is characterised by short patient encounters, ever-changing environments, and patients seeking care for all varieties of complaints [ 19 , 25 , 31 ]. Typical is also a lack of preparation time and little or no chance for the students to pause and step out of the care encounter to discuss strategies or reflect on care situations that have occurred. The ambulance service has similar challenges to those faced in ambulatory care [ 9 ]. Historically, the ambulance service is an uncommon placement for clinical education in undergraduate nursing education due to the environment and lack of RNs working in the service. At present, every ambulance in Sweden is staffed by at least one RN [ 16 ], and it is stated that nursing students have the possibility to learn nursing skills in the ambulance services [ 17 , 18 , 20 , 21 ]. In the region of Stockholm, the nurses have at least one year of additional training which, for example, could be prehospital care, anesthesiology, emergency care, psychiatric care, or midwifery. The amount of work experience can vary greatly. Among the employed nurses its almost an even split between males and females.

Material and method

A mixed-method study design was used [ 23 ]. Quantitative data was generated from supervisors when assessing pre-recorded, simulated patient encounters performed by students. Individual interviews, conducted directly after the assessments, were completed in accordance with a mixed-method design.

Assessment instruments

The ACIEd used in this study consists of five LOs with sub-criteria concerning what the student needs to achieve to receive a Pass grade during a course in emergency care. The LOs are designed to cover all aspects of the six-week clinical education in relation to the course objectives resulting in LOs with several goals embedded in one, for example, LO 1, which translated reads:

Approach and support patients and their relatives in respectful consultation and perform nursing care based on the patient's experience of the situation.

To clarify this LO and reduce the risk of inconsistencies in assessment one-sentence LOs without sub-criteria was reconstructed in the AAI, and one example of this reads as follows:

1.1. To what extent was the patient treated with respect?

1.2. To what extent was the patient allowed to describe his or her situation?

1.3. To what extent did the student create a safe care situation?

The complete list of LO´s used can be found in appendix one. To enable formative assessment by displaying progress using the assumption that students’ performances will generate higher grades as their clinical education progresses, the AAI has a seven-point Likert scale with a pass grade marked as 5, meaning that scores 1 to 4 results in a fail grade. The Likert scale was given descriptions from 1 = “ Not at all” to 7 = “ To a great extent”. Furthermore, the ACIEd separates midterm assessment from final assessment, where grades in midterm are referred to as “In line with objective” or “Plan of action is required”. The final assessment using ACIEd results in a pass or fail grade. The AAI provides a formative assessment, which is meant to be repeated frequently but can also act as a basis for grading in an equivalent way as the ACIEd.

Simulated patient encounters

Four different recorded simulated scenarios were used in the study (recorded time: 6min 58 s, 3min 14s, 5min 58s, 2min 32 s). The scenarios had variations of student performances with the intention of generating variations in supervisor assessments. Differences were seen in both students’ assessments of the patient and in their treatment strategies. Two scenarios included a student interacting with a standardised patient, while two scenarios had a student interacting with a patient simulator manikin. The standardised patient was a middle-aged woman with fatigue and dizziness. The patient simulator manikin was a young man with abdominal pain. The nursing students participating in the simulation scenarios were recruited from the fifth semester of the nursing study programme at one university in Stockholm, Sweden, after they had finished their six-week clinical education in the ambulance services and all grades had been made official. Both male and female students participated in the simulations.

Participants

A convenience sample of 50 clinical supervisors, all RN in the ambulance service, participated in the study, having varying experience of supervisorship. The participants were recruited at three different emergency departments by the main author. By selecting different emergency departments, it was possible to include participants with different ambulance service employers (private and public). The clinical supervisors from the ambulance service were asked to participate in the study after they arrived at the emergency department and the hand-over of the patient was completed. The convenience sampling of clinical supervisors was used due to the difficulty in recruiting participants at the ambulance station, as they were constantly mobile during their shifts. The supervisors were provided with both written and oral information about the study as well as a letter of consent for participation in the study. No participants were excluded due to experience, gender, educational level, or other factors.

Data collection

In total, 50 clinical supervisors from the ambulance service assessed and graded four recorded simulations in accordance with the LO described in the ACIEd and the AAI instrument. No supervisor declined the offer to participate in this part of the study. Before the assessment started, a randomisation process was conducted. Firstly, the order of the simulations was randomised using a lottery (standardised patient vs. patient simulator manikin.). Secondly, the two scenarios were randomised using lottery (scenarios 1 and 2). No power calculations were performed. The recorded simulations were watched in one sequence without time to reflect or discuss the assessment and grading with others. All supervisors had prior knowledge of the assessment instrument ACIEd but had never used AAI.

The qualitative data consisted of interviews, conducted after the participants had assessed the simulated patient encounters. The interviews started with the open question “What are your thoughts about the assessment instruments?” Probing questions were then used to explore the participants’ experience of using the assessment instruments when grading the student's performance in the recorded simulations. The interviews varied in length from a few minutes up to 30 min. In total, 28 interviews were conducted (Female: 11 Male: 17). Fieldnotes were used during the interviews and after every finished interview the fieldnotes were summarized and reviewed. Theses reviews were used to make changes to the probing questions in relations to the aim of the study. In 22 cases there were no interviews conducted due to participants’ shortage of time. The supervisors were not informed about the questions prior to the interview.

Data analysis

The data was analysed in two parts, a quantitative and qualitative. The quantitative data was analysed by compiling the assessments generated by the two assessment instruments and compared in a simple figure where the difference was described from the perspective of how many pass grades the assessment instrument generated. Secondly, a logistic binary regression analysis was used to examine whether the grades generated by two different assessment instruments was affected by the supervisor’s gender and/or experience. To explore whether work experience as an RN affected the grading of student’s performance, a dichotomisation of the work experience variable was carried out. The variables were dichotomised into \(\le\) 6 and 6 > years of working experience as RNs (Dichotomised 1 for \(\le\) 6 and 2 for 6 >). This dichotomisation was based on the theory by Benner, that experienced nurses can use their experience, knowledge, and additional perspectives instead of relying on standardised guidelines, tests, and regulations [ 2 ] to assess the students according to the LO`s. A gender dichotomisation was also performed to investigate if there was any difference in grading related to gender which was defined as male or female with no consideration to other gender definitions (Gender was coded 1 for males and 2 for females). This dichotomisation was based on the diversity of the staff in the ambulance service. The independent variables for both instruments were coded as 1 for a pass grade and 2 for fail. After considering the number of included supervisors in the study the p value was set to 0.05. The data was analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 24, Chicago, IL, USA in combination with Microsoft Excel 2010 (Microsoft Corp, Richmond, WA, USA).

The interviews were analysed using a thematic analysis approach [ 5 ]. The method was chosen due to its flexible nature. The themes constructed was done in a “theory driven way” meaning that the research question was clearly present in the coding in contrast to an inductive analysis approach. First, in the analysis the field notes were read several times to gain familiarity with the content. Secondly, codes were identified that described clinical supervisors’ experience of using the two different assessment instruments were identified. Thirdly, the codes were examined, and by identifying broader patterns of meaning, potential themes were constructed. Fourthly, a thematic map was constructed, and the themes were checked on two levels. First the codes were checked against the theme making sure that the codes formed a coherent pattern. In the second level the themes were checked against the entire dataset and in relations to the other themes to ensure that the themes did not intertwine with each other and finally, the themes were named.

In the fifth step the themes and sub-themes were related back to the narrative making sure that the themes captured the full story and that each theme was unique and contained valid information. The “story” that the themes and sub-themes were checked against, was the researcher’s contextual knowledge and experience. Lastly, the report was written up using the themes and the sub- themes. The first author initiated the analysis and the corresponding author participated in the analysis process.

Quantitative results

In total, 34 (68%) male and 16 (32%) female clinical supervisors participated in the study. The work experience as an RN ranged from four months to 19 years, with a mean of 7.95 years. The work experience from the ambulance services ranged from 2.5 months to 35 years with a mean of 6.63 years (missing data n = 5). All participants had experience of clinical supervision and assessing nursing students during clinical education. The logistic binary regression analysis showed that there was no significant difference in 23 out of 24 LOs as displayed in Tables 1 , 2 , 3 and 4 . One significant difference was found in the ACIEd LO 2 ( p  = 0.021) when the length of experience among the clinical supervisors was used as a dependent variable (Table  4 ). LO 2 assessed the students’ knowledge of the technical equipment and how they interacted with the patient while using the equipment.

Qualitative results

The thematic analysis used to explore clinical supervisors’ experience of assessment in relation to the two different assessment instruments resulted in three themes: Learning objectives , Assessment and Supervisorship.

• Learning objectives

Supervisors described a variety of experiences relating to the LO`s in the two sub-themes: Phrasing of the LOs, subjectivity in the LOs, Complexity of the LO`s. The subthemes describe the supervisors’ view of the learning objectives in relation to how the LO`s are constructed and how they are interpreted as well as how they are used in the daily activities.

Phrasing of the learning objectives

The supervisors discussed the language used in the ACIEd to describe the LO`s and that the academic writing created confusion and was complex and hard to understand. They also discussed the lack of clear definitions, and difficulties using the ACIEd with several sub-criteria embedded in one LO, which resulted in individual interpretation of the LO and a risk of subjective assessment. According to the supervisors’ reasoning, several sub-criteria in the same LO complicated the assessment when students performed well according to some of the sub-criteria and poorly according to others. The supervisors expressed that the LOs used in AAI had a clearer phrasing making it easier to use. LO`s related to communication and patient relations were considered complicated to assess using the ACIEd in contrast to LO`s regarding medical procedures where right and wrong was clearly defined. Medical procedures were considered easier to assess in both instruments.

Complexity of the learning objective

When assessing the students’ nursing and care skills in the simulations, the supervisors claimed that the complexity of ACIEd made it challenging to explaining why they assessed as they did. In the clinic setting the supervisors said that the complexity of the LO`s made the usage of ACIEd time-consuming and poorly adapted to everyday work, which resulted in limited use, and only used in a summative way right before mid and end assessments. Altogether, the ACIEd was considered by the supervisors to be time-consuming, and leading to subjective interpretations and sometimes, conflicting assessments. The AAI was considered more relevant due to the “simplified” LO`s. However, AAI was thought to be difficult to use due to the Likert scale ranging from 1–7 were lack of clear definitions of the grading steps increased the complexity of assessing the LO`s.

Supervisors described assessment from different perspectives as presented below in the following sub-themes: Summative Vs Formative assessment, Subjectivity in assessment, Pass/Fail or Likert scale, and Supervisors experience related to assessments. Within the sub-themes there were variations in how the supervisors described their experiences.

Summative Vs Formative assessment

The supervisors discussed if and how the assessment instruments could be used for formative or summative assessment and concluded that both instruments could be used for both purposes. However, the supervisors discussed whether ACIEd was harder to use as a formative instrument due to the sub-criteria in the LO`s and that the pass/fail scale were less useful then the 7 graded Likert scale when it came to displaying progress. The supervisors discussed whether displaying the student’s progression had a positive pedagogical value and they concluded as preferable relating it to formative feedback. Supervisors also discussed the frequency of formative assessments. Some supervisors raised concerns related to the increased workload generated by daily documented, formative feedback.

Subjectivity in assessment

To decrease the subjectivity, the supervisors discussed involving the patients in the assessments of students’ performance. They argued that the only persons who could assess the LOs concerning the patients’ own perception were the patients themselves. The supervisors concluded that more care encounters, with assessments between every encounter would probably produce a more accurate assessment of the student’s nursing skills. The supervisors also discussed the risk that the students would only be assessed according to the supervisor’s interpretation of what is a pass performance in relation to the assessment instrument.

The supervisors found that the assessments with a Likert scale could be beneficial but that the grading steps needed to be carefully defined to avoid subjective assessments. The definitions could be made clearer by using examples in relations to the grading steps and the LO`s where requirements could be listed for each step.

Supervisors said that assessments using a Pass/Fail grading was too definite. Supervisors described that assessing the care encounters became complicated since student’s performances may contain good and bad performances and with Pass/Fail grading the nuances did not become clear.

Supervisors experience related to assessments

Supervisors’ description of their relationship to the LO`s varied where some had more issues than others. Supervisors with less experience were more critical towards the LO`s then experienced supervisors. Furthermore, supervisors with less experience discussed that the student were obligated to display skills and knowledge and that supervisors were obligated to assess in accordance with the LO`s, meaning responsibility for demonstrating knowledge and skills fell on the student.

The more experienced supervisors argued that the LO`s were more like guidelines than specific goals to achieve, and that they used LO`s as a basis for discussions with the students. They argued that their clinical experience and understanding were the basis for the assessment, making the challenge with the LO`s less important, which contrasted with the view of the less experienced supervisors who interpreted the LO´s more literally. Furthermore, the more experienced supervisors discussed that complex care encounters offered scarce opportunities for the students to display knowledge and skills and that several care encounters were needed to assess knowledge and skills over time.

Supervisorship

The supervisorship was described by the supervisors in the following two sub-themes: Relationship with the students and Teams of supervisors.

Relationship with the students

All supervisors said that a relationship with the student could be a confounder when assessing students. They discussed whether a good relationship with the student would probably result in a more favourable assessment. The supervisors also claimed that a troubled relationship with the student might result in disinterest from their perspective which could result in diminishing feedback and lowered clinical education quality resulting in higher risk for failure. The supervisors discussed that formative feedback could help detect a lack of progression at an early stage and that measures could be taken to improve the situation for the student. Among the female supervisors a recurring statement was that it was difficult to assess the student negatively in the simulations because it felt harsh or even cruel to fail a student. Among the male supervisor’s similar feelings were described, but they related to the fact that assessments are not carried out on single occasions but over time, making the assessment instrument unfit for this kind of assessment. Male supervisors argued to a greater extent that it was hard to assess the student in the simulation due to lack of information about both patients and students. They argued that although some simulations were not as described in “textbook” examples, guidelines were bent daily and therefore it would be unfair to expect “textbook” care from the students. Hence, the male supervisors argued that the assessment instrument was a tool used for discussion and could not stand alone which it did in the simulations.

Teams of supervisors

The supervisors highlighted continuity as something important for the student’s learning, but it could also complicate their assessment since they may develop a relationship with the student. The desire for continuity in supervisorship could also create a problem when working schedules changed. This could result in the involvement of other supervisors, and disruption in the individual learning plan. The supervisors with longer experienced argued that it could be favourable with more than one supervisor involved in the assessment of the student, due to different perspectives. They argued that a supervisor team with different combinations of knowledge could be beneficial for the student, but that such teams must be coordinated and documented to ensure that the student’s learning progress was not hindered.

The findings showed that there were no significant differences in pass/fail gradings using the two different assessment instruments with the same content in the LOs, meaning that no matter what instrument was used the grade was the same when supervisors assessed the students in the simulated scenarios. However, there were significant differences within the assessment instruments, but the differences were consistent between the instruments, meaning that the quality of the assessment was considered equal. The differences within the assessment instrument can be explained by supervisor bias. Chong et al. showed in their study that seniority was a source for bias in LO`s related to communication but that the bias did not persist in LO`s related to physical examinations which is in line with the findings in this study [ 8 ]. The interviews with the clinical supervisors provided a more vivid picture of the complexity of assessments. Firstly, the intention of the assessments must be made clear for everyone. If the objective is formative assessment, the data indicates that using Likert scales is preferable to display progression. The complexity, phrasing and definition were recurring in the interviews, and it is a worth discussing why this is an issue. Supervisors rarely had any training in how to use the assessment instruments and as described, the more experience supervisors did not excel in their knowledge of the instruments but used their clinical experience to assess students from their own perspective. With this logic it would be wise to invest in training the supervisors rather than simplifying the LO´s. Prior research has shown that support from the supervisors during the clinical training is crucial to create a positive learning environment and to improve assessments [ 31 ].

However, the need for supervisor training and support does not mean that improving the assessment instrument is unnecessary. If a Likert scale is used, a clear definition of the grading steps is important as well as the layout of the instrument. As described by Immonen et al., it is important that the instrument is adapted to the every-day work, and fast and easy to use without losing its reliability and validity [ 14 ].

Subjectivity and complexity were reoccurring statements during the interviews. The supervisors highlighted this in all aspects regarding the clinical education. The supervisors’ own experience’ and expectations play a vital part in the clinical education as well as the relationship between the supervisor and the students which is supported in prior research [ 24 ]. To decrease subjectivity, an increase in the number of assessments made by more than one supervisor could be beneficial. Assessments after every care encounter in the ambulance service would generate a good basis for an overall assessment of the students’ performance. By organising the supervisors in teams, the different knowledges of the supervisors could be effectively utilized and possibly decrease subjectivity resulting in an improvement of the validity of the assessment. In contrast to this, prior research has shown that the relationship between the student and the supervisor is important to build trust and thereby a positive learning environment [ 30 ]. With documented, formative assessments accessible for both students and supervisors, continuity could be created through communication between supervisors. By using digital devices with LO`s and a Likert scale prepared in a mobile application, the assessments could be made easier to access, faster to use and the results could be displayed as a progression curve visible for students and supervisors. Digitalization of the assessment instrument also holds advantages concerning student possibility to argue for their grades. Without documented progress the students are in the hands of the supervisors as the only source of information about their performances. To further strengthen the validity of the assessments, other sources of feedback could be used. The supervisors discussed involving patients in the assessments and concluded that this could reduce subjectivity in the assessments and add other perspectives to the assessment. Further research is needed to fully understand the complexity of assessments and what methods to use to improve the quality of the assessment and strengthen the students learning.

Methodological considerations

There are several limitations to this study. The number of supervisors included in the study was decided in discussion with the research team and a statistician after considering the availability of clinical supervisors and the extent of data needed for analysis. No power calculations were performed. Using standardised patients and simulation for assessing and grading students’ ability to care for patients may not reflect the clinical reality. However, since every care encounter is unique it would have been difficult to conduct a similar study in a clinical setting. Another limitation concerns the qualitative data collection. The interviewer is well known in the ambulance service, and this may have affected how the participants’ discussions concerning their experiences of using the assessment instruments in both a positive and negative way and increase the risk of bias. Conducting interviews between ambulance missions may also be considered as a limitation since the time for interviews was limited which could have resulted in participants not being able to develop their reasoning. The interviews were documented through field notes, and important information could have been missed. Field notes limit the possibility of quotations, which could have strengthened the validity of the findings in the interviews. Lastly, a limitation regarding the definition of experience needs mentioning. Experience in describe according to Benner but no data was collected regarding the supervisor’s experience of supervisorship. To supervise students is a natural part of the nursing profession but in hindsight, data concerning the quantity of students supervised during the supervisor’s clinical career would have offered clarity on the supervisor’s experience.

The findings showed that there were no significant differences in pass/fail gradings using the two different assessment instruments containing the same LOs. However, the qualitative data suggests that supervisors struggled with subjectivity in the assessments as well as phrasing and definitions of the LO´s and the scales used in both instruments. This resulted in arbitrary assessments that were time-consuming and resulted in limited usage in the day-to-day assessment. The supervisors argued that the AAI was better adapted for formative assessment due to its Likert scale and simplified LOs, but a clear definition of the grading scales was considered important. Further research is needed concerning the validity of the assessments and how teams of supervisors can utilize different perspectives to improve the quality of the assessments. Digitalization could play a vital role in documenting feedback from multiple sources to enhance the formative feedback given to students during their clinical training. Transparency of documented feedback from multiple sources using a Likert scale provides an opportunity for the students to monitor their progress in situ. More research is needed to fully understand the mechanism behind the subjectivity of assessments and what methods could be used to strengthen the quality of the assessments and improve the quality of the clinical education.

Availability of data and materials

The dataset generated and analysed in this study is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

Ambulance assessment instrument

Assessment of clinical education

Observed structural clinical examination

Registered nurses

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Acknowledgements

I’ve would like to send a special thanks to my family for their never wavering support and to all participants how made this paper possible. I also wanted to extend my gratitude’s towards Ambulansen I StorStockholm AB for facilitating my studies and this paper.

Open access funding provided by Karolinska Institute. Funding for this study was provided by the Karolinska Institute.

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Department of Clinical Science and Education, Södersjukhuset, Karolinska Institutet, 11883, Stockholm, Sweden

Nilsson Tomas

Department of Pedagogy, Linnaeus University, Växjö, Sweden

Masiello Italo

Department for Neurobiology, Care Sciences, and Society, Division of Nursing, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden

Masiello Italo & Broberger Eva

Department of Computer Science and Media Technology, Linnaeus University, Växjö, Sweden

Department of Nursing, Division of Ambulance Service, Region Västerbotten, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

Lindström Veronica

Department of Health Promotion Science, Sophiahemmet University, Stockholm, Sweden

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All authors contributed significantly to the study design in terms of the choice of analytic methods and interview design. All authors played an active role in reading and providing feedback about the material throughout the entire process. TN, EB and VL were involved in carrying out group interviews of the students and contributed significantly by reading and providing feedback about the manuscript. All authors reviewed and approved the submitted manuscript.

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Tomas, N., Italo, M., Eva, B. et al. Assessment during clinical education among nursing students using two different assessment instruments. BMC Med Educ 24 , 852 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05771-x

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Received : 02 February 2024

Accepted : 11 July 2024

Published : 07 August 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05771-x

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