Formative assessment, assessment for learning that occurs during a unit of instruction, is dynamic assessment. It gives teachers the opportunity to find out what students are able to do on their own or with adult help and guidance (Shepard, 2000).

By making students’ thinking visible and open to examination, it can reveal what a student understands and what misconceptions they hold (Trumbull & Lash, 2013). It also provides opportunities for scaffolding steps between one activity and the next, for each individual student (Shepard, 2000).

Guided by Rubric 3.0, my third iteration of a rubric to assess other assessments, I have created the first draft of a formative assessment. Formative Assessment Design Version 1.0 is meant to be used during a fifth-grade robotics module that I teach. During a typical school year, I teach this module four or five times, so I look forward to revising this formative assessment over time to make it the best it can be.

References

Shepard, L. (2000). The role of assessment in a learning culture. Educational Researcher, 29(7), 4-14.

Trumbull, E. & Lash, A. (2013). Understanding formative assessment: Insights from learning theory and measurement theory. San Francisco: WestEd. Retrieved from www.wested.org/online_pubs/resource1307.pdf