8 Summative Assessments
jordanepp
Create Final Assessments that Showcase Learning
Summative Assessments evaluate a student’s mastery of the competencies defined in your weekly learning objectives and of the course outcomes as a whole. Although traditional quizzes and exams have their place in formal assessment, testing your students’ competencies and comprehension can go way beyond simple recognition and regurgitation.
For the purpose of this course development guide we’re going to focus on building assessments that allow your students to showcase their learning. A project, performance task, or portfolio of course work can easily substitute the final exam. Depending on the types of goals you have, different forms of final assessments are more appropriate. Looking back at the outcomes and objectives in your CDP. What is it you want your students to be able to DO now that they have learned from the course material?
- “I want students to show me they understand and can link course concepts by writing about them” – read more on developing papers.
- “I want students to apply course concepts or show their skills in more real world settings” – read more on developing projects.
- “I want to see a range of smaller assignments or samples of work that show that students can apply or analyze or evaluate or even create something new using the course concepts and skills” – read more on developing portfolios.
Here are some more suggestions for assessment activities you can incorporate into a course.