Chapter 1: Digital Formative Assessments in Higher Education: Faculty Recommendations for Overcoming Barriers to Effective Implementation

Formative assessments are generally low-stakes assessments used to monitor student learning and provide corrective feedback with expansive benefits for both students and faculty. Ultimately, these assessments give students the opportunity to improve their skills and recognize any misunderstandings before a summative, high-stakes assessment (Deeley, 2017). Though the original primary goal of formative assessments was for students to achieve self-regulated learning, digital convergence and transformation has allowed for an evolution of that goal and a variety of assessment outputs today, while still preparing students for summative assessments (Panadero et al., 2018). These can include self-paced modules, content-based tutorial sessions, reflections, simulations, mini-quizzes, skill-building activities, and practice drills. Faculty can use these digital formative assessments to improve the teaching and learning experience across modalities.