Student Evaluation and Assessment of Learning: Formative vs Summative

Course Description: 

This course provides physical therapy educators with an introduction toformative and summative assessment strategies and their application inphysical therapy education. Participants will explore the nuances,benefits, and challenges of both assessment types to create a balancedand effective approach to evaluation.

• Format: Asynchronous, on-demand
• Cost: Academy of Education Members $30, Non-members $75
• Earn CEU: .3 (3 contact hours)

Intended Audience:
New physical therapy faculty

Learning Objectives:
Upon completion of the Educational Session, attendees will be able to:

• Define formative and summative assessment.• Explain the essential purpose of each.

• Contrast formative and summative assessment using parallels to the patient/client management model.

• Differentiate formal instructor-driven assessments from informal learner-driven assessments while providing examples of each.

• Align instructional goals with appropriate formative or summative assessment methods, justifying why each choice supports learning.

• Evaluate examples of formative assessment strategies to determine when each is most useful.

• Evaluate examples of summative assessment strategies, identifying strengths and limitations.

• Analyze case-based teaching scenarios to decide when formative assessment is needed to guide learning and when summative assessment is needed to document achievement.

• Explain how formative and summative assessments together support progress monitoring and outcome measurement