Formative assessment checks learning while there's still time to change it—quizzes, muddiest-point, mid-course pulses and the feedback loop.
Formative assessment samples learning during instruction, when the result can still change the teaching: low-stakes quizzes, exit tickets, muddiest-point prompts. No grade pressure, fast turnaround, feedback in both directions.
Frequency high, stakes low: score → adjust → re-check within the same program.
A mid-cohort pulse shows 40% stuck on scoring logic; the facilitator re-runs that module live next session—summative results lift 11 points.
Every program longer than one day, and every curriculum you plan to run again. Build the check into the calendar, not the crisis.
Formative fails when results get graded or delayed past the decision point—then it's just a low-stakes exam nobody learns from.
Only if the result changes something this cycle. Same quiz at the end with a grade attached is summative.
One-question polls, exit tickets, pre/post mini-quizzes—anything with a 48-hour feedback loop.
Turn the concept into a live assessment：Formative Assessment
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