Hi Omar,
Thank you for yet another well written and insightful post.
You wrote, “I often found classes that relied heavily on summative assessment to be quite difficult. I feel that as students our knowledge of the material shouldn’t all count towards one examination. By breaking up the learning into manageable blocks and taking a formative approach for assessment, I believe this is a much more efficient way in students retaining information.”
This is incredible insight. I also believe this is so important. It should not be about one exam, but the journey to get there and the knowledge gained throughout. When we formatively assess, we can see the learners where they are at and help them get to where they need to be. Because all learners are different and are at different stages in their learning, “conferences” and “check ins” allow instructors to guide individuals in their unique needs to their unique destinations.
I do still believe in a summative assessment in areas. However, that assessment can be engaging and exciting to the learners if it is created together and will inspire them to produce something meaningful. Therefore, I always try to make a final assessment a multimedia museum of learning. By that I mean, learners can demonstrate their learning in a way that best suits them and their needs, in a museum night where others can come to learn from them as experts. It is much like what we are doing for this course. We have learned the basics of the programs and tools, and now we can display our learning by creating something that is meaningful to us in hopes to educate others.
Thanks again for your thinking. I love reading your weekly posts and always gain something from them.