SUMMATIVE EVALUATION: CHARACTERISTICS, TYPES AND EXAMPLES - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The summative evaluation is a process by which the results of a learning process are studied once it is completed. Its main objective is to check how much students have learned, so it focuses on collecting information and developing reliable evaluation methods.

The objective of this study of what students have learned is to compare it with a reference standard, in such a way that educators ensure that they have met the goals proposed by the educational system. On the other hand, they can also be used to modify the teaching approach based on the results obtained.

In the educational contexts in which it is used, summative assessment is generally of great importance. The results of this process are usually reflected in the form of grades or grades, which students will receive as a testimony of their performance in the learning process.

characteristics

Summative evaluation is responsible for studying how effective an educational process has been, through the process of measuring what the students have learned.

This runs counter to the purpose of formative assessment, which primarily aims to receive feedback from students to improve the teaching process.

Although there are several ways to carry out a summative evaluation, they all have certain characteristics in common. Next we will see the most important ones:

Time of realization

Due to its nature, this type of performance evaluation should be done at the end of a cycle in the educational process.

This can happen in different ways: taking an exam at the end of each topic, in the form of a final exam or by means of a test at the end of an entire educational cycle (such as selectivity).

Measurement of the achievement of educational objectives

In order to determine how effective an educational process has been, the people in charge of carrying out a summative evaluation have to be based on the objectives described for it.

For this reason, in all educational areas a series of competences is proposed that students are supposed to have acquired at the end of the process.

The more detailed these competencies are, the easier it will be to perform the summative assessment; In the same way, it will also be easier to focus on weaknesses in the educational program, if any are detected.

Focus on both students and the system

In general, the utility of summative evaluations is twofold. On the one hand, they serve to help students understand the fields in which they need to work more, and they help teachers decide whether their students are ready to move to the next level of the education system.

On the other hand, a good evaluation of this type will also be useful to determine whether the educational program is working well or not.

If the majority of the students have been unable to achieve the proposed objectives, it will be necessary to change the approach and try new things until the results improve.

May include qualitative as well as quantitative data

Although most information is obtained in summative assessments through the use of tests, exams, or standardized tests, educators can also contribute something to the grade of their students' work by observing how they have worked throughout. of process.

Thus, in certain educational contexts, effort and perseverance can slightly modify the objective results measured by the quantitative tests of the summative assessments.

They tend to be transformed into concrete data

Due to the specific objectives of summative assessments, at the end of them educators must have a concrete value that summarizes the performance of their students in the learning process. In general, this usually translates into a note.

Types

Everyone who has been through the educational system will be familiar with the different forms a summative assessment can take. Here we will see some of the most common.

Final exam

The most basic form of summative assessment is one that takes the form of an exam at the end of the school year. In this written test, students will have to demonstrate the knowledge they have acquired on a subject throughout the entire educational period.

Sometimes these exams can also assess somewhat shorter periods, such as trimesters or semesters.

Midterm exam

This type of test is carried out when the teaching of a certain topic has been completed, within the context of a broader subject.

The frequency with which the midterms are taken varies from subject to subject: they can range from daily tests to tests that are administered once every several months.

Practical jobs

The practical work seeks to measure learning about a certain subject in a more objective way, observing the knowledge acquired by students through the completion of a practical task.

The main difference of this type of evaluative tool with the previous ones is that it measures not only theoretical knowledge, but also the ability to apply it in a real context.

Oral presentation

This assessment tool has the peculiarity that it serves not only to assess the knowledge acquired by students during the course of the educational process, but also their communication and exposure skills.

Final project

At the end of certain educational periods -such as, for example, a university degree or a doctorate- it is necessary to present a project that condenses the knowledge acquired throughout all the previous years. This project is usually much more complex than simple practical work, and in many cases it can take months or years of work.

Examples

Here are some of the more common examples of summative assessment tools:

- The completion of a final exam for each subject studied in an institute at the end of each school year.

- Selectivity, a series of exams that measure the knowledge acquired in high school to assess whether or not a person can enter university.

- The final degree project, a project carried out in the last year of university degrees in which students must apply all the knowledge acquired.

References

1. "Types of evaluation" in: Department of Culture, Education and University Planning. Retrieved on: April 27, 2018 from the Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria: edu.xunta.gal.
2. "Differences between formative and summative evaluation" in: The Flipped Classroom. Retrieved on: April 27, 2018 from The Flipped Classroom: theflippedclassroom.es.
3. "Summative evaluation" in: The Guide. Retrieved on: April 27, 2018 from La Guía: educacion.laguia2000.com.
4. "Definition of Summative Evaluation" in: Concept and Definition. Retrieved on: April 27, 2018 from Concept and Definition: conceptdefinition.de.
5. "Key differences between summative evaluation and formative evaluation" in: Revista de Educación Virtual. Retrieved on: April 27, 2018 from the Virtual Education Magazine: revistaeducacionvirtual.com.