Formative Assessment: Scholarly Opinions and Approaches towards Classroom Assessment

Running head: TESTING AND EVALUATION
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TESTING AND EVALUATION
Introduction
Assessment is necessary in every field for measuring the effectiveness,
appropriateness and feasibility of the steps taken for conducting the business operations. In
the field of education, assessment is necessary for gaining an insight into the extent to which
the employees can grasp the lectures (Timmers, Walraven & Veldkamp, 2015). This essay
focuses on formative assessment, where diagnostic testing is one of an important component.
As a matter of specification, the essay peeks into scholarly opinions regarding approach
towards classroom assessment.
Discussion
Literary and empirical studies on formative assessment
Formative assessment or assessment for learning is effective both for the students and
the teachers. This is in terms of ensuring the effectiveness, appropriateness and feasibility of
the pedagogy. According to the opinions of Decristan et al. (2015), learning is essential for
the students in terms of upgrading the preconceived skills, expertise and knowledge. Here,
intervention of the teachers is assistance for taking the learning process of the students in
right direction. In-process evaluations help in measuring the extent to which the teachers have
been successful in guiding the students towards the academic establishments. On the other
hand, these in-process evaluations are also beneficial for the students in terms of ensuring
their efforts towards making practical application of the learnt skills.
As per the arguments of Keeley, (2015) formative assessment plays an important role
in enhancing the awareness about promoting design thinking of the students. The focus of the
teachers needs to be on strategic planning for upgrading the learning process. Designing or
modification of the lessons act as a wise step in terms of fulfilling the need analysis for the
students. Integration of formative assessment within the course materials eases the process of
evaluating the feasibility of the adopted pedagogy.
However, Black, (2015) opines that formative assessment is optimistic in the field of
education. It is incomplete in terms of executing the assessment for the learning process. The
previous research on formative assessment have proved successful in shedding light on the
implementation of formative assessment and securing the benefits. Using a framework help
the teachers and the students to conduct the evaluation of the learning process in a proper
manner. Effective use of the framework helps in developing correlation between the current

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pedagogical practices. Black proposes three main components in this direction: The first
involves theoretical consideration for conducting the assessments. This is irrespective of
formative or summative assessments. The second component is that of feedbacks, which
helps the teachers in conducting the assessments according to the capability of the students
(Wiliam & Thompson, 2017). The third component is that of recommendations for the
teachers for improving the adjustability skills of the students within the classroom.
As per the opinions of Tsai, Tsai and Lin, (2015), different gaming models finds
significance for assessing the learning process. The propositions of the articles grabs the
attention of the readers towards online learning environment, which has enhanced the virtual
skills of the students. Herein mention can be made of the online learning platforms, which
inculcates the values of group study within the studies. According to the results, it was
established that game based learning creates interest within the students. Along with this, if
the assessment is done in the form of games, it is helpful for the teachers in gaining an insight
into the grasping capacity of the learners. Scores of this assessment is effective in terms of
conducting the evaluation (Andersson & Palm, 2017).
In the opinions of Graham, Hebert and Harris, (2015), meta-analysis gains importance
for conducting formative assessment. For determining formative writing assessments, meta-
analysis was conducting for the students from grade 1 to 8. Feedback from the adult, peers,
and computers, it can be said that there are separate values for writing skills and quality. 6+1
Trait Writing Model was used for enhancing the writing quality of the students. The findings
of the meta-analysis states that formative assessment directly enhances the knowledge of the
students regarding the learning process. The major drive behind this is the feedbacks, which
help in improving the standards and quality of the learning process. However, Kleij et al.
(2015) opines that consistency in the provision of feedbacks is effective for both the students
and the learning in terms of upgrading the standards of their learning processes. Evaluation in
this aspect is productive for detecting the drawbacks, which needs to be modified for
reaching to the benchmark level of performance.
As stated by Yan and Cheng, (2015), Theory of Planned Behaviour gains an
important position for determining the approach of the teachers towards using the
frameworks for formative assessment. As a matter of specification, instrumental attitude,
subjective norms and self-efficacy contributes in projecting the intentions of the teachers
towards conducting the formative assessment. Affectation on the attitudes and controllability

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does not contribute in the predicting the approaches towards formative assessments. Rasch
analysis is effective in terms of conducting subjective journey mapping for the pedagogy.
On the other hand, Furtak et al. (2016) is of the view that formative assessment can be
categorized into four abilities; designing the tasks, asking questions for broadening the
thought horizons of the students, interpreting the ideas generated by the students and
providing feedbacks for forwarding the thoughts of the students. All these aspects have
proved positive in terms of ensuring the academic establishment for the students. Designing
the formative tasks help the teachers to gain awareness about the instructions regarding the
pedagogical instructions. One of the main components of the arguments of Furtak is
Formative Assessment Design Cycle (FADC), where the main actions revolve around
designing, enacting and reflecting upon the evaluations conducted.
Interpreting the learning ideas is effective in terms of making estimates about their
learning. The results states that on an average, the ability of the teachers increased towards
deducing relevant ideas from the learning of the students (Hooshyar et al., 2016). Herein lays
the effectiveness of open ended questions. Feedbacks enhanced the awareness of the teachers
regarding the effectiveness and appropriateness of the undertaken pedagogical theories. As a
matter of specification, conducting evaluation at year ends proved effective in terms of
reviewing the feasibility of the learning process. This review helps in ensuring whether the
learning is in right track for guiding the students towards their academic establishment.
On the contrary, the opinions of Dolin, J., Black, Harlen and Tiberghien, (2018)
projects the transformation, which the students attain through learning. Theoretical aspect
towards transformation can be correlated with cognitive learning theory and Great Man
Theory. There goes a saying. “Learning makes a man perfect.” Within this, evaluation act as
an agent for assessing the effectiveness of the adopted learning methods. Evaluation is
beneficial both for the student and the teachers for detecting the drawbacks within the
performance. Maintaining consistency in the execution of evaluation helps both the students
and the teachers to upgrade the standards and quality of their performance. Teachers play an
important role in this evaluation (Wylie & Lyon, 2015). Conducting need analysis of the
students helps the teachers to gain information about the support, which the students need for
enhancing their learning process. Herein lays the appropriateness of Maslow’s Hierarchy of
Needs. According to the needs of the students, it is the need for increasing their self-esteem
through education.