Based from what I can remember from our very 1st module, the word ‘formative’ pertains to an

improving, on-going, reflective and diagnostic assessment. Moreover, the words ‘development’ and
‘progress’ do ring a bell here. This is a kind of assessment wherein a student’s learning is monitored all
throughout the instruction unit, but let us take note: not only monitored but also mentored. This
basically means that the teacher intentionally keeps his students close at bay, instructing them while
teaching them to be self-reliant, self-directing and less independent on him, in the realms of their
learning. Learning evidences gathered contribute to the decisions to alter/modify/improve the teaching
measures DURING the course of instruction and not at the end. This is effective because the students
are learning from their own mistakes. They are encouraged to exercise their inquisitiveness and their
curiosities. Thus, learning more deeply. These are usually low-risked, which means oftentimes they are
not graded. However, if we continually mentor our students in a way that they’ll start to LOVE learning,
it won’t even matter to them if a performance is graded or not. They’ll just simply excel one way or
another. The exchange of feedback here is what I can say, revolutionary. The teacher needs to know
whether his/her students are genuinely learning. The teacher should be able to ask and answer
questions such as ” Is my teaching effective?”,” Are my measures of teaching driven towards my
teaching goals?”, ” Can I confidently trust on the learning evidences I had gathered?

The ‘ chef’ or the ‘ cook’ in the above quote is us, by the way. We need to taste the soup or the sauce
which is the actual teaching-learning cycle first before we serve them to our customers, in this case, to
our students. Perhaps, we need to add more pepper or salt? We can’t deny them a hearty meal, right?

Summative assessment on the other hand, is when the ‘soup’ or the ‘sauce’ had been served to the
guest already. That means, it has passed the chef’s criteria and with full pride shall present it himself to
the guest straight from his kitchen. The word ‘summative’ denotes finality and conclusion. It talks about
the product, while formative assessment talks about the process. This is where a verdict is given, which
is oftentimes the basis for a student’s ranking, promotion/retainment and other future directions. This is
high-risked meaning this is graded and standardized and mostly observed using pen and paper exams
such as in multiple choice, true or false and fill in the blanks types of tests. A disadvantage of this is a
student’s learning is sitted inside a box, strapped in a certain level of rigidity.

I would also like to touch on the matter of formal and informal types of assessment. For a quick
overview, formal assessment are made up of quantifiable data such as percentiles, stanines and
standard scores. These are mostly administered to compare a class of students with others of the same
age group/grade. Its nickname is ‘standardized tests.’ According to Brenda Weaver from
wwww.scholastic.com, this is data-driven while informal assessment is not. Also called
‘criterion/performance-referenced measures’, it is used to inform the teacher about one’s proficiency
on a certain skill/task. It can easily be adapted in the classroom set-up and it encourages a student to
actively engage in the learning process.
To be honest, I have never known these types of classroom assessment until now. Thanks be to this
course EDUC 113, the University and the faculty! Now I know! If I could subject myself into time-
travelling, I would choose to go back to the 1990’s! I was still a student then, striving to be included in
the honor roll year after year after year! I admit I was a major ‘kabisote’ way way back. I was subtlely
taught the more appropriate (and more fun) way of learning in school, maybe because authentic
assessment wasn’t being practiced then yet. I can still recall a time when we were reviewing for our
NEAT/Achievement test, our teacher would require us to write all the questions in the reviewer on
sheets of yellow pad, and together with the correct answers, we were ought to write the other choices,
as well plus the circles to shade! Imagine! If I just had more knowledge on assessment before, I would
talk to my teacher face to face and tell her boldly that we can’t learn that way! It will be more helpful if
she’d hold quizbees, and other interactive games for the class! She could have better equipped us with
the right learning technique, something that is tangible, practical, in short, learning that is FOR LIFE.

But I can’t stop here of course. I can’t just wallow and dwell in the past. I have to make sure that the
soup I am prepping up is tasty and savory at its best, warm and soothing to the stomach, and most of all,
fortified with all the wonders and nourishment learning can ever bring!