Improving Formative Assessments in Family Medicine: Strategies for Measuring Student Progress

Running head: FAMILY MEDICINE
Assignment 4.4
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1FAMILY MEDICINE
Task 1
Formative assessments- These refer to tests that are generally conducted mid-year, with
the aim of measuring the progress and advancement of student learning. Hence, formative
assessments help in guiding instructional decisions that are taken in future, for the remaining
academic year. Thus, it can be stated that formative assessments are not a direct measure of
snowballing product of learning, rather provide a snapshot of the student learning that is in
progress (Gronlund, 2006). This is in clear contrast to summative assessment that are
conducted in order to determine the sum of learning of a student, at the end of a year or upon
completion of a unit. While the formative assessments that are currently in practice help in
exploring progress of the students, the already existing summative assessments help in
determining the end point, thus enlightening more about consequences, instead of future
directions. Current formative assessment practices in the school comprise of conducting
surprise tests, where the students are typically not informed about the timings of future tests.
They are provided the indication that such formative assessments might occur at an
unexpected time. Hence, even if certain students have greater knowledge and grasp over their
course modules, taking a sudden and unexpected test often denies them the chance of
revision, thereby failing to correctly judge the progress of the student’s learning (Konopasek,
Norcini & Krupat, 2016). Another common practice is the conduction of online formative
examinations at the school, with the sole purpose of measuring, evaluating, and documenting
the learning progress, academic readiness, educational needs, and skill acquisition of the
examination takers. Although this type of formative assessment saves time, and money, a
large section of students do not have adequate computer literacy and there are high costs
involved in conducting such online assessments. The changes in formative assessment that
are required in current practice are given below:
 Student reflections- Creating the opportunity for all students to reflect upon their
learning helps them to gain an insight into their skill. This in turn can be
accomplished by the dissemination of formal journals, or informal Exit slip.
Reflection on the course outline and the skills that have been attained, with respect to
the learning objectives helps the students to determine their progress, and their areas
of academic strength and weakness. The students will be provided the opportunity to
conduct a reflection of the curriculum content, by retorting to a class activity, direct
instructions, or assignments (Konopasek, Norcini & Krupat, 2016).
 Traditional quizzes and homework- There are a plethora of quizzes and homework
that can be implemented in the curriculum. Prior to conduction of a formative
assessment, the students will be asked to undertake either practice exercises,
extension assignments, or preparatory homework. The practice exercises will enable
the students to implement their knowledge, reinforce or revise newly acquired family
medicine skills. While undertaking extension assignment they will gain the
opportunity to individually pursue their knowledge, thus facilitating forming a
connection between the curriculum and real-time settings (Gronlund, 2006).
Preparatory homework will allow them to gain a sound understanding on background
information through pre-tests or surveys, thus preparing them for any kind of surprise
tests.
 Discussion- Discussions can be initiated by informal means and will provide all
students the occasion to engage in conversation with another person, regarding the
course content. Hence, such discussions will facilitate determining how well the
course materials have been learnt and understood, thereby aiding gaining an insight
into the way the content is being processed (Amin, Chong & Khoo, 2006).