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Library Educational Services

One-stop clearinghouse of information for liaison librarians and all librarians who teach.

Summative Assessment

The goal of summative assessment is to evaluate student learning at the end of an instructional unit by comparing it against some standard or benchmark.

Summative assessments almost always have a point value. Examples of summative assessments include:

  • a midterm exam
  • a final project
  • a paper

Information from summative assessments can be used formatively when students or faculty use it to guide their efforts and activities in subsequent courses.

Summative Assessment Examples

Name

Description (How to do it)

Time to peform

Purpose

Class Size

Grade Level

Rubric

UL IL Rubric

Annotated Bibliography Rubric

See for example, http://www.assessment.uconn.edu/docs/How_to_Create_Rubrics.pdf

High

Allows for authentic assessment of student work

Any (but time to analyze may be prohibitive for large class)

Any

Concept Mapping

A form of graphical organization which allows students to visualize relationships between concepts by diagramming key words representing those concepts.

  1. Professor creates a focus question that clearly specifies the issue that the concept map should address, such as “What is the research process?”
  2. Tell students (individually or in groups) to begin by generating a list of relevant concepts and organizing them before constructing a preliminary map.
  3. If possible, students should have an opportunity to revise the map. Concept maps evolve as they become more detailed and may require rethinking and reconfiguring.

Encourage students to create maps that:

  • Employ a hierarchical structure that distinguishes concepts and facts at different levels of specificity
  • Draw multiple connections, or cross-links, that illustrate how ideas in different domains are related
  • Include specific examples of events and objects that clarify the meaning of a given concept

NOTE: Can also be formative.

Medium to High

Solidifies concepts for students and prof can easily see students’ thought processes and patterns of association

Small to Medium (because of time needed to analyze)

Any

Citation Examination Sample

Examine student bibliographies for credibility, application, citations styles, etc…Use of relevant literature to build an argument in a paper, or use reliable sources in a project or paper.

High

Allows for authentic assessment of student work

Any (but time to analyze may be prohibitive for large class)

Any

Course-Related Self-Confidence Surveys

Students answer a few simple questions aimed at getting a rough measure of the students’ self-confidence with a topic

Low

Since concretely demonstrating IL gains in a one-shot can be tricky – measuring self-efficacy can serve as a good substitute

Any

Any

Name

Description (How to do it)

Time to peform

Purpose

Class Size

Grade Level

Annotated Bibliography Rubric