53 Formative Assessment Ideas

Formative assessments help educators to gauge learner understanding in the middle of the learning process, as opposed to summative assessments which test for understanding at the end. A nice analogy is that formative assessment is when the chef tastes the soup, while summative assessment is when the guests do. That analogy comes from an Edutopia article titled “Dipsticks: Efficient Ways to Check for Understanding” which details 53 different formative assessment techniques. The ideas are geared towards classroom teachers who may have longer-term access to learners, but many could be modified for library instruction. Take a look for creative ideas on checking for your learners’ understanding mid-process.