a comparison of formative and summative assessments on the learning retention of adolescents
School Name
Spring Valley High School
Grade Level
11th Grade
Presentation Topic
Psychology and Sociology
Presentation Type
Non-Mentored
Written Paper Award
4th Place
Abstract
Assessments are what allow educators to evaluate if the technique in which they taught the topic was effective amongst a sample, and it allows students to adjust their learning process as well. The purpose of the study was to improve upon previous research on the topic of educational pedagogy. Specifically, the study focused on assessments and their impact on the learning retention of students. The two types of assessments were given to see which was more beneficial, or in other words, which would allow them to keep the information in their memory more effectively. If students were taught the same topic but were given a different combination of assessments, the students that had an increased and consistent amount of formative assessments initially would show more retention of the content rather than the students who took just the summative assessment, based on the percentage increase of the scores. Two groups were both taught the subject with no difference in the original teaching style, information, or the teacher, but one group had a consistent exposure to formative assessments as they were taught the topic, while the other only took the summative at the end with less in class feedback. After two weeks, the participants were retested to determine the long term retention. The two groups were compared based on the percentage increase or decrease of the scores. The hypothesis was not supported. Results indicated that the summative only sample group had a more positive and significant percent increase than the other. An unpaired t-test indicated that the results were statistically significant and different because the p-value of 0.0453 was less than the alpha value of 0.05. It was concluded that the summative assessments may have provided as better motivator for the scores because of previous grades, however the formative enriched group had less variance because they did the assessments as a class.
Recommended Citation
Parise, Sarayu, "a comparison of formative and summative assessments on the learning retention of adolescents" (2017). South Carolina Junior Academy of Science. 251.
https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/scjas/2017/all/251
Location
Wall 305
Start Date
3-25-2017 10:45 AM
Presentation Format
Oral and Written
Group Project
No
a comparison of formative and summative assessments on the learning retention of adolescents
Wall 305
Assessments are what allow educators to evaluate if the technique in which they taught the topic was effective amongst a sample, and it allows students to adjust their learning process as well. The purpose of the study was to improve upon previous research on the topic of educational pedagogy. Specifically, the study focused on assessments and their impact on the learning retention of students. The two types of assessments were given to see which was more beneficial, or in other words, which would allow them to keep the information in their memory more effectively. If students were taught the same topic but were given a different combination of assessments, the students that had an increased and consistent amount of formative assessments initially would show more retention of the content rather than the students who took just the summative assessment, based on the percentage increase of the scores. Two groups were both taught the subject with no difference in the original teaching style, information, or the teacher, but one group had a consistent exposure to formative assessments as they were taught the topic, while the other only took the summative at the end with less in class feedback. After two weeks, the participants were retested to determine the long term retention. The two groups were compared based on the percentage increase or decrease of the scores. The hypothesis was not supported. Results indicated that the summative only sample group had a more positive and significant percent increase than the other. An unpaired t-test indicated that the results were statistically significant and different because the p-value of 0.0453 was less than the alpha value of 0.05. It was concluded that the summative assessments may have provided as better motivator for the scores because of previous grades, however the formative enriched group had less variance because they did the assessments as a class.
