Summative Assessment Using Interactive Worksheets

For almost 2 years now, teachers have been trying to implement effective and meaningful education in distance learning, and assessing skills and knowledge is part of that. Summative assessment has been subjected to rigorous changes many times. Still, the period of this evaluation is considered one of the most stressful and challenging for teachers and students. So how to make this period easier for everyone on Edform? Let's figure it out.  

What is summative assessment?

Summative assessment is a cumulative assessment carried out at the end of a particular school period (term, academic year) and after studying sections according to the syllabus.

The idea behind the final grade is different from formative grade. In the first case, a completed project is assessed to learn from the experience in terms of what worked and what didn't.

The final evaluation will include identifying all the benefits and liabilities during the project or activity. While the focus is often on direct benefits and drawbacks, estimates can also consider indirect results.

Summative assessment demonstrates specific learning outcomes to students, parents, teachers, and school administrators. This assessment aims to show the student's personal learning and extracurricular achievements.

Grading, in general, has become different from what it was in offline education. It is advisable to adapt the monitoring and assessment system for distance learning: 

• Reduce criteria and requirements. A strict approach will not help improve academic performance; on the contrary, it can give the opposite result. 
• Be sure to convey to the children in what form and by what parameters you will give marks. 
• Specify what you will demand of them. This will give students the confidence that they are well prepared for oral theory delivery and that the process will not be stressful.

Many teachers agree with the idea that summative assessment is too overrated. And it should not weigh as much in the final grade.

I’ve unlearned a lot about summative assessment recently.

I used to think it had to be a large, authentic task that evaluated the full complexity of outcomes.

Now, I understand it’s more often a moment when we have enough evidence to be able to summarize the learning.

— Natalie Vardabasso (@natabasso) November 3, 2021

However, a summative assessment still exists, and there are a few ways of how it can be carried out:

• End-of-term or a midterm exam;
• Final project\essay;
• End-of-unit or chapter tests.

How to use interactive worksheets for summative assessment?

The fact is that whatever the methodology, old or new, the teacher gets the maximum workload in the weeks when the tests are conducted. A lot of time is spent checking these assignments, and the final grade must be posted within a short time, so the teacher has to hurry and put aside sleep. 

Interactive worksheets are one of the working aids for teachers. 

After uploading an existing document with the test to the Edform platform, the teacher can add interactive elements that the system will automatically evaluate.

Matching, Drag&Drop, Dropdown, Multiple Choice, Checkbox, Hotspot, Fill-in-the-Blank are perfect elements to use for tests. 

However, the teacher can use the Edform platform not only for tests. There is also the option of adding open-ended questions, audio and video responses to be graded by the teacher. 

The Open-ended option is excellent for final essays. 

A huge plus is that the teacher can set a deadline and the time limit for the task. All results are transferred to the report section when the assignment is completed. They can be exported as an Excel page with statistics on each student. 

Effective management of assessments in an online learning environment can be especially challenging, but using all of Edform's features will make the process at least a little easier and less stressful.

Try making your interactive worksheet right now on Edform!