Assessment and Evaluation in Social Work Education: Formative and Summative Approaches

Abstract

Despite a wealth of tacit knowledge in academia regarding effective teaching strategies and a rich theoretical and empirical knowledge base on student learning, social work instructors wishing to identify appropriate ways to measure teaching and learning have little evidence to guide them. This article presents a framework for assessment of student learning and evaluation of instructor teaching that distinguishes between formative methods, which support an ongoing process of improvement, and summative methods, which represent a measure of competence or mastery. While summative methods are often used to meet institutional or programmatic goals, formative methods bridge assessment and evaluation and can result in a more reflective, constructive, and productive experience for both instructors and students.

Keywords:

• social work education
• formative assessment
• formative evaluation
• summative assessment
• summative evaluation