Formative assessment编辑历史

# Formative Assessment

## 1 Introduction

Formative assessment is an ongoing process of gathering and interpreting evidence of student learning to inform instructional decisions during the teaching and learning cycle. Unlike assessments that simply measure final achievement, formative assessment is embedded in everyday classroom activities and is designed to provide immediate feedback that can be used to close gaps between current and desired performance. It emphasizes active learner participation, clear learning intentions, and continuous improvement through iterative cycles of feedback and adjustment.

### 1.1 Definition and Key Characteristics

Formative assessment is defined as a planned, ongoing process used by educators and students to recognize and respond to student learning in order to enhance that learning during the instructional period. Key characteristics include: (a) it is integrated into instruction rather than being a separate event; (b) it focuses on the learning process, not just the final product; (c) feedback is descriptive, timely, and actionable; (d) students are actively involved through self-assessment and peer assessment; (e) it uses low-stakes, informal methods to reduce anxiety; and (f) the results are used to adapt teaching and learning activities in real time.

### 1.2 Historical Development

The concept of formative assessment has deep roots in educational psychology and curriculum theory. Early influences include the work of Benjamin Bloom and his collaborators, who distinguished between the formative and summative functions of evaluation.

#### 1.2.1 Origins in Educational Psychology

The theoretical foundations of formative assessment can be traced to behaviorist and cognitivist learning theories. In the 1960s, researchers such as Robert Gagné emphasized the importance of learning hierarchies and the need for diagnostic feedback to ensure prerequisite skills are mastered before moving to higher-order tasks. The idea of using assess