Research Article | Open Access
‘RELATIVE COMPARISON ON FORMATIVE VS SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT ON COGNITIVE LEARNING IN THE SPHERE OF HIGHER EDUCATION’ – A RELOOK
Dr. Masuma Mehta, Joydeb Bhattacharyya
Pages: 2947-2953
Abstract
This paper, as a concept note, primarily focusses on some dimensions of academic measurements, its pros and cons along with its relative effectiveness. As we know that there are two fundamental techniques, viz., Formative Assessment (FA) and Summative Assessment (SA) that are applied to gauge the holistic progress of a student in the sphere of any tire of learning. As both the methods bear its unique merits and demerits, each has its different impact as well. It all depends on a choice in terms of a pedagogical-measurement point of view.
The approach being different altogether, they call for separate pre-condition for implementation and also lead to a different set of outcomes once implemented with correctness. A whole lot of factors do actually ascertain as to which assessment techniques is best suitable for a set of objectives or outcomes of assessment? At a common parlance, the two techniques seem to be mutually exclusive though, however, application of a combination of the two is not also totally ruled out.
This paper, tries to bring about some comprehensive insights onto the applicability of the two assessments under different situations, through sketching a theoretical modelling approach with an idea of measurement of the model and also discusses the major impediments in implementing such measurements. Now, as Formative Assessments, being mostly a qualitative assessment, normally do not carry any grade and on the contrary Summative Assessment, being a quantitative one to a great extent and is all about students’ evaluation of the learning at the end through a comparison with some benchmark standards, do possess a widespread departure from each other in their own merits and demerits. This paper of ours attempts to bridge the two in a bid to propose a joint assessment process to measure the students’ learning in a holistic manner. A theoretical model, depending upon the suitability of an additive or a multiplicative one, will be proposed along with some insights over its measurement’s aspects.
The work is a theoretical yet an innovative approach of the researcher to model a fundamental concept in the areas of performance measurements in the sphere of higher academics.
Keywords
Formative Assessment, Summative Assessment, Learning Goals, Evidence, Feedback, Standardization, Higher-Order Questions, Outcome, Interactive Discussions, Spot-Performance Test, Quiz, Fairness, Flexibility, Validity, Reliability, Self-Directed Learners.