Formative and Summative Assessment

Formative and Summative Assessment

Introduction

Over the years, the field of academia has and continues to grow and diversify in our contemporary world. As a result, the formative and summative assessments have been largely considered as the main types of assessments at literally all the levels of the learning and learning processes (Dixson & Worrell, 2016). For the case of Informative assessment, testing is done at different levels of learning to test the learners’ realization of the given objectives (Dolin et al, 2018). It is usually a continuous process and more of an informal diagnostic tool (Dolin et al, 2018). Contrarily, summative assessments concentrate on the outcome of a given program where learners are evaluated on how much they have gained (Dixon & Worrell, 2016). Therefore, formative and summative assessments are effective learning tools.

Outline of the Subject, Year and Topic

The subject is the Humanities and Social Sciences for the year 7 group in the Western Australian Curriculum. From this subject, topics are selected to cover three weeks. Each week will have two lessons bringing a total of 6 lessons by the end of the three weeks. In week one, for instance, the first lesson which takes one hour will discuss the introduction to economics, which covers aspects such as the meaning of economics, scarcity, and choice, the concept of opportunity cost, the scope of economics, economic methodology and the distinction between microeconomics and macroeconomics.

The second lesson in week one will also take one hour and will concentrate on The Price Theory, which involves the theory of demand, the theory of supply, the concept of equilibrium, and the application of price theory. In the second week, the two lessons available will be entirely discussing a topic on the Theory of the consumer. In the first lesson which takes one hour, the sub-topics to be covered will include The cardinal utility theory, the ordinal/indifference curve theory, and substitution and income effects. The second lesson in week two which also takes one hour will discuss sub-topics which include the Revealed preference hypothesis, the consumer surplus, and the derivation of a household’s demand curve. In the last week, the first lesson which has a maximum of one hour will be used for the discussion of the theory of the firm as the main topic and divided into two sub-topics of the theory of production and the theory of costs.

The last lesson in week three which will also be the end of the syllabus will also take one hour. This will be used for the study of Market Structures as the main topic, but it will incorporate sub-topics such as the perfect/pure completion, monopoly, monopolistic competition, and finally the oligopoly. In totality, the teaching will take 6 hours or 360 minutes which are divided into two hours per week.

Achievement Standards

Introduction to Economics

By the end of this lesson, the learner should:

1. Understand various definitions of economics.
2. Understand the concept of scarcity, choice, and opportunity cost.
3. Understand the scarcity and methodology of Economics.
4. Distinguish between microeconomics and macroeconomics.

The Price Theory

At the end of this lesson, the learner should:

1. Define demand and supply.
2. Identify the factors affecting demand and supply.
3. Distinguish the concept of movement along and shift of the demand and supply curves.

The Theory of the Consumer

By the end of this lecture:

The learner reveals an excellent knowledge of the cardinal utility theory, the ordinal/indifference curve theory, substitution, and income effects, revealed preference hypothesis, the consumer surplus, and a perfect derivation of the household’s demand curve.

The Theory of the Firm

By the end of this lecture:

The learner depicts an excellent understanding of the production theory. He also shows a perfect comprehension of the theory of costs and the good articulation of the graphs involved.

The Market Structures

At the end of the lecture:

The learner demonstrates a consummate apprehension of the perfect/pure competition, monopoly structures, monopolistic competition, and oligopoly market structures. Additionally, he displays a perfect grasp of the relevant graphs, and excellently gives a critical analysis of the topic.

Learning Intentions

Upon successful completion of the three-week teaching and learning period, the learners should comfortably be able to:

1. Demonstrate an understanding of the fundamental methodology and principles of microeconomic theory and practice.
2. Comprehend and critically appraise economic decisions taken by governments, businesses as well as the households.
3. Use and apply a wide range of skills to access, effectively interpret, and employ economic information in the real world circumstances and apply mathematical skills as appropriate in data analysis, graphs among others.
4. Develop a strong foundation for further studies in the field of economics and business.

Summative Assessment Tasks

Administration of end of unit or chapter tests

After the end of every topic, students will be tested on the ending topic to measure their understanding and grasp of knowledge. This will also help in the determination of whether the learners can effectively apply the knowledge they gained from the topic (Sireci &Greiff, 2019). These tests will be delivered in the form of both short-answer questions and essay questions. For instance, the short-answer questions will enable a faster and easy to grade process so that students can get back their results on time (Sam et al, 2018). It will also test the students’ creativity to think and give summarised responses to the questions (Sam et al, 2018). On the other hand, the essay questions will play a critical role in providing the students with opportunities to display knowledge, skills, and capacities from a diverse perspective (Sam et al, 2018). Additionally, Sam et al (2018) confirm that it will test the students’ abilities to formulate critical arguments that are effectively supported by appropriate reasoning and verification.

Projects and Portfolios

After the end of the three-weeks learning period, the students will be asked to develop projects regarding what they have learned. The learners will be grouped into a maximum of 5 members and a minimum of three. I will then come up with projects and assign students into their respective groups, each group having a different project from the others. All these projects will be related to Economics and Business and the application to real-world scenarios. The objective of the projects will be to measure the students’ capabilities to employ the necessary skills for doing research.

Fundamentally, the project work will measure the abilities of students to work in groups and build teamwork and group skills. In consequence, these skills are projected to go a long way in developing and nurturing the students’ abilities to communicate effectively with others and improve their social relations and skills (Burga, Leblanc &Rezania, 2020). Moreover, the project assessments will help develop and increase the efficiency among groups, and as such, it will help to merge the attention of different brains on identical complications.

Achievement Tests

Learners will be given achievement tests both in the course of learning and at the end of the unit. This being an Economic and Business topic, the achievement tests will measure the learners’ abilities to effectively draw and make an effective analysis of graphs while linking them to real-world situations. Importantly students will be tested on the computations such as the mathematical derivation of equilibrium for the consumer, the cobweb theory, point, arc, income, and cross elasticity of demand, total utility, marginal utility as well as the budget line constraint of the consumer, and the income effect. Additionally, computations involving the production function, isoquant analysis, marginal rate of technical substitution, the law of returns to scale, profit maximization among others will be examined. These tests will be beneficial in the determination of and the appropriate score of student records of performance (Borghans et al, 2016). It will also bring in action the accountability of the teacher.

Borghans et al (2016) argue that these tests will be useful in the collection of important data that will help trainers, curriculum developers, and programmers as well as the government departments to come up with efficient budgets for effective running and management of educational institutions. Fundamentally, these tests will help identify trainers who could be probably falling short of their responsibilities and hence making their students perform dismally (Borghans et al, 2016). As a result, these tests will help in the realization of the highest standards of the achievements realized by the students.

Standardization Tests

After the completion of the learning in the three weeks, students shall be given standardization tests. These tests shall be provided in a consistent procedure such that all students are subjected to the same tests, at the same time, and under the same conditions of marking. This will ensure that unbiased comparisons can be drawn among students.

Teaching outline

Since this is an Economic and Business unit, the SCSA demands that the concepts, knowledge, understandings, and skills are interrelated. Like it is proposed by Chapman, Wright & Pascoe, 2018), I will employ the SCSA suggestions of teaching which include drawing the student’s personal experiences and interests, explore a variety frame of reference and different perspectives, critical incorporation of the past, present and future and using a span of scales from the local environment to regional, national as well as global areas. Just like Chapman, Wright & Pascoe (2018) suggest, I will also engage the learners in effective problem-solving tasks and inquiry to develop evidence-based arguments or proposals on the developing events and issues to epitomize the content. I will also involve the students in learning away from the classroom through exposures such as visiting the Stock Exchange Authority. This will help students to build and develop a connection with the outside world (Chapman, Wright & Pascoe, 2018). In so doing, the learners will be well-equipped and knowledgeable on emerging issues and trends in the corporate world.

The teaching will also be geared towards the development of resourceful conduct and transferable skills among students. This will give the students effective learning experiences that will be beneficial not only to them but also applicable in the general society and by extension, solve societal problems. Assessment strategies will effectively be tailored to meet the objectives of the syllabus. These assessments will involve both formative and summative assessments. The mode of delivery will be in the form of lectures, group work, and online teaching.

Week 1

Diagnostic Assessment

I will survey the learners’ assumptions on the concepts that I will be teaching them. Such concepts will include definition and meaning of economics, equilibrium, demand, supply, micro and macroeconomics, perfect competition market, monopoly among others.

Formative Assessments

I will provide a conducive room for students to actively participate in the learning process by asking them questions. They will also be allowed to pose relevant questions which I will respond to them.

Week 2

Formative Assessments

I will give students small pieces of paper and ask them to record their thinking of what they have learned.

For computational works, the learners will be working out questions on the board after I show them an example.

Week 3

Formative assessments

I will ask students to draw the graph showing the short-run supply curve of a perfectly competitive firm.

Students will also be required on an individual basis to draw the graph showing the short-run equilibrium under the monopoly.

Conclusion

Formative and summative assessments have proved to be efficient tools of learning. This is because the testing is done at different levels during the learning process to capture the achievement of students and compare it with the necessary objectives of teaching and learning. Additionally, the testing shows the learner’s achievement based on the desired outcomes and therefore easy to measure the gains and developments by students. This report discussed both the formative and summative assessments in detail. Importantly, the script developed an assessment architecture to support teaching and learning to maximize the impacts on the topic of Economics and Business and the general corporate society. The architecture gives the learning objectives of each topic and the general learning intentions. It also gives a clear teaching outline, summative tasks, and diagnostic assessment.

Rubric Template

Developing assessment criteria and standards rubrics CLASS    SUBJECT                             Unit                                                   

References

Borghans, L., Golsteyn, B. H., Heckman, J. J., & Humphries, J. E. (2016). What grades and achievement tests measure? Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(47), 13354-13359.

Burga, R., Leblanc, J., & Rezania, D. (2020). Exploring student perceptions of their readiness for project work: Utilizing social cognitive career theory. Project Management Journal, 51(2), 154-164.

Chapman, S., Wright, P., & Pascoe, R. (2018). Arts curriculum implementation: “Adopt and adapt” as policy translation. Arts Education Policy Review, 119(1), 12-24.

Dixson, D. D., & Worrell, F. C. (2016). Formative and summative assessment in the classroom. Theory into Practice, 55(2), 153-159.

Dolin, J., Black, P., Harlen, W., & Tiberghien, A. (2018). Exploring relations between formative and summative assessment. In Transforming assessment (pp. 53-80). Springer, Cham.

Sam, A. H., Field, S. M., Collares, C. F., van der Vleuten, C. P., Wass, V. J., Melville, C., … & Meeran, K. (2018). Very‐short‐answer questions: reliability, discrimination, and acceptability. Medical education, 52(4), 447-455.

Sireci, S. G., & Greiff, S. (2019). On the importance of educational tests.