Unit II: Formative Assessment

Before Unit II, assessment meant one thing to me: the mark at the top of the page. I never stopped to ask what those marks actually told me about my learning. Through this unit, I came to see that assessment is not only about measuring what a learner has accomplished. It is also about understanding the process and supporting the learner’s development along the way.

The part that made everything click was feedback. A number only shows how much I got right or wrong, while comments show me what I did and what to try next. We explored evaluative, non-evaluative, descriptive and prescriptive feedback, and I recognized the comments I have received over the years. Most were purely evaluative, and the few that were prescriptive were the ones I actually improved from. In a group task, my group studied dialogic feedback, which made me see feedback as a conversation: the learner must also respond with their own thoughts. I also learnt that feedback does not have to arrive at the end. Verbal, e-feedback and flipped feedback can happen while we are still learning, with students as part of the process.

Our tutor also designed a group presentation in which we tracked and marked each other’s contributions, giving us a taste of self and peer assessment. As a future teacher, I see the value of trusting students with some of the marking, while still revisiting those marks where necessary. Peer assessment felt uncomfortable at first because I did not want to upset anyone, but saying “nice work” every time helps no one. Clear guidelines and a respectful tone make honest feedback possible. Self-assessment felt just as awkward because it forces me to admit what I do not understand, yet that honesty is where real learning starts. These methods push students to reflect on their progress, strengths and weaknesses, and to take responsibility for their education.

Many of us worried that students might be dishonest to earn better marks. Our tutor addressed this through using summative assessment formatively: first help students understand and reflect, and only then grade their progress. A unit test can likewise reveal what the class still misses, becoming a teaching tool rather than a final judgement. Diagnostic assessment completes the picture, since starting a lesson without knowing where students stand is basically guessing.

Classroom Assessment Tools (CATs) were another turning point. Our tutor presented about 50, and I realized that checking understanding does not require an exam. Techniques like the muddiest point or the one-minute paper tell a teacher a great deal in minutes, and assessment can be built into daily teaching rather than coming only after a lesson.

What I take away most is something about myself. When someone points out my mistakes, I still become defensive. To give useful feedback as a teacher, I must learn to receive it better too, and treat comments as directions, not verdicts. Unit II has taught me that assessment is a continuous process that helps learners grow and helps teachers make informed decisions, showing learners not only what they have achieved but what to do next.

UNIT I: Concept of Classroom Assessment

Our lessons on Unit 1 centered on the concept of assessment, and by the end, my understanding had completely transformed. Early on, our tutor invited us to share our experiences of being assessed in school and college, some of us felt anxious, others saw it as a chance to grow. Common words kept coming up: fairness, growth, diagnosis of strengths and weaknesses. Then the tutor asked the question that stayed with me all unit: How would we ensure fairness when assessing students' work, and how would our assessment actually help them in the long run?

That question exposed how narrow my thinking was. Like many peers, I had always equated assessment with tests, assignments, and grades, doing well simply meant getting a high CA. I'd never questioned whether that kind of assessment was actually helping students learn. I later realized assessment is an active process: it gathers evidence of students' performance, guides learning, and helps teachers understand and support learners rather than just judge them.

This became clearer as we distinguished measurement (numerical outcomes), assessment (identifying what students know and where the gaps are), and evaluation (judgments based on that information). Learning about diagnostic, formative, summative, and assessment-as-learning showed me that assessment serves different purposes at different stages. Formative assessment stood out most, since it happens during learning and reveals what a student needs help with, much like my own experience of doing poorly not from lack of knowledge, but from needing a different explanation or more practice.

The hardest part was grasping the characteristics of good assessment: validity, reliability, objectivity, and discrimination. These blurred together at first, but class discussion and the tutor's input clarified things. Validity means measuring what you intend to measure, testing poem analysis through actual analysis, not memorized definitions. Reliability comes from consistent criteria applied to everyone. Objectivity means judging performance without personal bias. Discrimination. the trickiest for me, means designing assessments that can distinguish between different levels of student understanding, so those needing extra help can be identified.

One idea that will stay with me: a good assessment isn't necessarily a hard one. I used to think difficulty made a test better, but assessment should simply check whether learning goals were met, nothing more. My aim as a future teacher is to make assessments relevant and meaningful, not just challenging.

Linking this to continuous assessment practices in Bhutanese secondary schools made it feel even more real, assessment isn't confined to major exams but happens continuously through questioning, observation, activities, discussions, and feedback.

Overall, Unit 1 shifted my view of assessment from a grading tool to something that actively supports learning. What a learner takes from one test may not last, but what a teacher learns from the whole process can shape how both move forward. Going ahead, I want to build assessments that are valid, reliable, fair, and meaningful, not to create fear, but to guide improvement and genuinely support learning.