Handbook Table of Contents > Preparing to Teach > Summative and Formative Evaluations
Indiana University Teaching Handbook
Preparing to Teach
Summative and Formative Evaluations
In conversations about the evaluation of teaching, one often hears several terms bandied about, describing different types of assessment. It is useful to clarify these terms and the purposes of these different techniques:
FORMATIVE EVALUATION is aimed at personal teaching improvement; it is designed to provide an instructor with information he/she can use in current and future classes. Our “Student Evaluation of Teaching” (SET) (and the accompanying consultation with TRC staff) is a kind of formative evaluation. One takes advantage of another kind of formative evaluation when inviting a TRC staff member to the classroom to observe what happens there and discuss it. Formative evaluation is best done before the semester ends, so that one has a chance to make changes that will directly impact the learning going on in the classroom. Such evaluation is confidential and not used for purposes of tenure or promotion decisions. It is conducted as a conversation with peers who are interested in helping you reach your teaching goals.
An instructor can do his/her own formative assessment by having students respond to a mid-term questionnaire about what is facilitating their learning and what they would like to see changed. Also look under Classroom Assessment Techniques for ways to get immediate feedback in order to make mid-course corrections.
SUMMATIVE EVALUATION is an after-the-fact assessment of a course. End of semester evaluations like BEST’s MultiOp, or departmental surveys which are used primarily for performance review, are summative. Summative forms should always include these two items: “This is one of the best courses” and “This is one of the best instructors” or some variation of these two items.
