How can you balance formative and summative feedback for better student performance?

1 What is formative feedback?

Formative feedback is the ongoing and timely feedback that you provide to your students during the learning process. It aims to help them identify their strengths and weaknesses, clarify their goals and expectations, and guide them to take appropriate actions for improvement. Formative feedback can be given in various ways, such as verbal comments, written annotations, rubrics, peer reviews, or self-assessments.

2 What is summative feedback?

Summative feedback is the final and evaluative feedback that you give to your students at the end of a learning unit, course, or program. It summarizes their achievements and progress, and assigns them a grade or a mark. Summative feedback can be based on various criteria, such as learning outcomes, standards, benchmarks, or rubrics. Summative feedback can also include some formative elements, such as suggestions for future learning or development.

4 How to balance formative and summative feedback?

Balancing formative and summative feedback is not a straightforward process, but there are some general principles and tips that can help. Align your feedback with the learning objectives and assessment criteria, and make sure it is relevant, clear, and consistent. Provide frequent and timely formative feedback, using a variety of methods and sources. For summative feedback, focus on the student's strengths and areas for improvement, providing specific and actionable suggestions. Involve your students in the feedback process by teaching them to self-assess and peer-assess effectively. Create a supportive and collaborative feedback culture in your classroom or online community.

5 What are the benefits of balancing formative and summative feedback?

Balancing formative and summative feedback can bring many benefits for you and your students, such as improving their learning outcomes and performance, enhancing their engagement and motivation, developing their self-regulation and metacognition, and informing and improving your teaching practice. By providing timely and relevant feedback, you can help them identify and close the gaps in their knowledge and skills, recognize and appreciate their achievements, become more aware of their own learning, and develop their critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Furthermore, collecting and analyzing feedback from your students can give you valuable insights into their learning needs, preferences, and challenges.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?