Formative Assessment

An assessment used during learning to check understanding, identify gaps, and provide information that can help learners and instructors adjust before the learning experience is complete.

Check understanding while there is still time to adjust.

Formative assessment is used during learning to find out what learners understand, where they may be struggling, and what support may be needed next.

Its purpose is not simply to assign a score. The information gathered can help learners correct misunderstandings, practice again, ask questions, or change their approach before the learning experience is complete.

Formative assessment can be formal or informal and can appear in eLearning, instructor-led learning, coaching, simulations, practice activities, discussions, and workplace learning.

Use Assessment to Guide What Happens Next

The real value of formative assessment comes from the information it provides while learners still have an opportunity to improve.

Reveal Understanding Show whether learners are making sense of the ideas, tasks, or decisions they are practicing.

Identify Gaps Surface misconceptions, missing knowledge, or skills that may need more attention.

Support Adjustment Give learners or instructors information they can use to change what happens next.

Strengthen Practice Help learners improve before they are expected to demonstrate final or independent performance.

A formative assessment is useful when its results can influence the learning that follows.

It Can Be Much More Than a Quiz

Formative assessment can take many forms as long as it gives useful evidence about learning while improvement is still possible.

Knowledge Checks Short questions that reveal whether key ideas are understood before learners continue.

Scenario Decisions Choices that show how learners apply information in a realistic situation.

Practice + Feedback Skill practice followed by coaching, system feedback, peer review, or instructor guidance.

Questions + Discussion Conversation, reflection, or explanation that reveals how learners are thinking.

Demonstrations Learners show part of a task so an instructor or coach can identify where support is needed.

Self-Checks Prompts or criteria that help learners judge their own understanding or readiness.

The format matters less than whether the activity produces useful evidence about learning.

Do Something With What the Assessment Reveals

Formative assessment loses much of its value when the learner responds and then simply moves on.

Useful Question What should happen if the learner shows they are not ready yet?

Give Useful Feedback Explain what worked, what needs attention, and what the learner can do differently.

Offer Another Attempt Provide another opportunity to practice or apply the idea after feedback or review.

Adjust the Learning Revisit a concept, add support, change pacing, or provide another example when the evidence shows it is needed.

Look for Patterns Repeated difficulty across learners may signal that the instruction or practice itself needs attention.

The assessment creates evidence; the response to that evidence creates the learning opportunity.

Formative and Summative Assessments Serve Different Purposes

Both can measure learning, but the timing and purpose of the assessment change how the results are used.