Assessment - Guide to Teaching Computer Science: An Activity-Based Approach - page 182

The constructivist teaching-learning approach should be reflected also in the as-
sessment process, which, in order to be meaningful, can be tightly intertwined in the
teaching and learning processes. Thus, assessment is carried out as part of the teach-
ing process, for example, by observing learners' engagement in the learning process
in general, and in particular, during class discussion and problem-solving situations.
Such situations provide the teacher with an opportunity to explore learners' thinking
processes during the construction process of their knowledge.
Therefore, it is important to realize that assessment is not a target by itself; but
rather, it is a pedagogical means by which: (a) teachers improve their understanding
of the current knowledge of their learners, and (b) learners get feedback related to
their own understanding of the learned topic. Accordingly, the main target of as-
sessment should not be grading; alternatively, assessment should serve as a kind of
reflection both for teachers and learners with respect to the teaching and learning
processes and with respect to learners' knowledge and perceptions.
Educational practices distinguish between formative assessment to summative
assessment.
Formative Assessment Formative assessment should be regularly integrated in the
teaching-learning process. Its target is to monitor student learning and to provide
ongoing feedback that can be utilized by instructors to improve their teaching and
by students to improve their learning. Formative assessment helps learners iden-
tify their strengths and weaknesses, and at the same time help educators recognize
learners' difficulties and address them in the teaching-learning process. In the CS
class, formative assessment can be done regularly, for example, during lab exercises
or by development of small projects. It can be carried out also by presenting stu-
dents specific tasks for this goal, such as, to draw a concept map to represent their
understanding of a topic or to submit one or two sentences which encapsulates the
main ideas presented in a lesson.
Summative Assessment The target of summative assessment is to evaluate learner
knowledge and skills at the end of some learning process, such as the end of the
instruction of a specific unit by addressing the instructor learning targets, or at the
end of a project development. Summative assessment is usually used for grading,
and it enables to compare learners' achievements. Summative assessment methods
include exams, final evaluation of a project, and program checking by automatic
testing. Summative assessments can be then used for formative assessment when
learners or educators use it to guide their efforts and perform some subsequent
activities in the class course of study. For example, if a class fails in a specific ques-
tion in a test, it could be either because the question was not formulated clearly,
and the educator can learn about future formulation, or because the learners did not
understand some concepts, and the educator can reflect and teach these concepts
again perhaps by using different teaching-learning tools.
Two more assessment tools that can be used both as formative and summative
assessment are self-assessment and peer-assessment.