Introduction
Assessments are a vital tool in the workplace. It is a process of collecting information about learners’ prior knowledge, understanding, and skills to determine what they know, understand, or can do. They can be used to measure how well an employee is performing or to see if they need more training to achieve a specific outcome.
Assessments, in addition to a well-planned training plan, are equally important if they are correctly created and implemented in order for successful learning to occur. There are two types of assessments: formative assessment and summative assessment. We are all very familiar with summative assessments from young, such as sitting for the year end examinations in schools. In training, a summative assessment is usually given at the end of a course. Other than to determine the learning achievements, it is also conveniently used to convert a learner’s knowledge into a numerical grade that is less likely to be subjective. Formative assessment, on the other hand, is used to monitor the employee’s progress and identify areas for improvement during the training, such as chapter quizzes and group discussions.
Summative Assessment to Measure Learning
Typically, a summative assessment is a comprehensive test that is given at the end of a course. A summative assessment’s goal is to convert a learner’s knowledge into a numerical grade that is less likely to be subjective. However, the disadvantage of a summative assessment is that learners are unable to use the input from the assessment unless it is linked to future courses. Furthermore, by putting a group of grades on a scale, the measurement becomes comparative (and competitive) rather than focusing on the absolute performance level for which the assessment was designed for.
"Assessments, in addition to a well-planned training plan, are equally important if they are correctly created and implemented in order for successful learning to occur"
Ultimately, the learning goals of mastering the topic are jeopardized by such summative assessments and the learner’s primary motivation is passing the assessment and moving on.
Formative Assessment as Part of Learning
On the contrary, formative assessment is designed to generate feedback and improve the employee’s performance during the learning process. Assessment should support active, high-quality learning, and not just a form of measurement. A form of formative assessment is feedback. Feedback is a form of scaffolding that allows learners to engage in more advanced thoughts and activities that may not happen without such support. When learners receive frequent feedback, they are better equipped to self-regulate and track their own learning progress. As scaffolding is gradually removed, timing is crucial. For example, do employees receive immediate or delayed feedback? An interesting study concluded that delayed feedback was particularly useful in facilitating conceptual tasks and knowledge transfer, whereas immediate feedback was more efficient and suitable for procedural skills, according to another study. Nevertheless, feedback should be specific, direct and unambiguous. Often, one-liner feedback is insufficient and generates more noise to the learner than being constructive.
Conclusion
Assessment is an essential part of the learning process. As employees today are increasingly becoming savvier and more self-directed in taking charge of their career, they need constant feedback as they are learning new skills and knowledge so that they can improve their performance as they grow, akin to building the airplane as they fly. Therefore, assessment should be used as a tool for formative learning in the workplace rather than as a summative evaluation of competencies that we are accustomed to.
