Title: Different forms and timing of assessment
Course: Digivisio - Assessment

Different forms and timing of assessment

Assessment during a course can be roughly divided into three categories by its timing:

1. Diagnostic or initial level assessment
2. Formative or continuous assessment
3. Summative or final assessment

Diagnostic or initial level assessment takes place either before the course starts or at its very beginning. It provides the student and the teacher with information about the student's current skills level. Various tools selected by the teacher as required by the situation can be used for the initial level assessment.  Diagnostic assessment tells the student how much work the future course will require of them. For the teacher, the diagnostic assessment gives an idea of the initial level of the student group and, if necessary, enables the teacher to consider how and in what areas more support for learning might be needed during the course.

Formative or continuous assessment takes place during the learning process. Its purpose is to provide the learner with feedback on their learning and to guide them in closing any competence gaps. Through formative assessment, the teacher can guide learning in the right direction, and the student receives feedback on their learning during the course.

Summative or final assessment focuses on the achievement of learning outcomes at the end of the studies, for example by means of a final exam. From the student's point of view, summative assessment takes place after the studies, which it why it does not have a similar guiding effect as continuous, or formative, assessment.

This video (7:15min) shows an example of how student-centred, continuous assessment can be conducted in physics studies for engineering students.

videossa

Assessment is a highly effective tool for guiding the student's learning and activation. The figure below describes the average activity of students during an online course based on the Moodle log. On this course, continuous weekly assessment and a final exam were used. A clear peak in the activity can be seen on the days before exams. Assessment and deadlines can be used to influence what and when the students study. An activity graph of this kind supports the idea of continuous assessment having beneficial effects.