What mechanism allows a teacher to evaluate whether students are achieving learning objectives?

Formative assessments are designed to monitor student learning and provide ongoing feedback that can be used by instructors to improve their teaching and by students to enhance their learning. These assessments occur during the instructional process and help educators identify areas where students may be struggling, allowing for timely adjustments to teaching techniques or curriculum.

The primary goal of formative assessments is to gather data on student understanding and mastery of concepts. This can take many forms, such as quizzes, class discussions, or informal observations, enabling a teacher to gauge whether students are meeting learning objectives in real-time. By using this information, a teacher can adapt their instructional strategies to better support student needs, essentially shaping the learning experience as it unfolds.

Other mechanisms, like standardized testing, performance assessments, and summative evaluations, serve different purposes. Standardized tests measure student performance against a consistent set of criteria, while performance assessments evaluate how well students can apply their knowledge in practical scenarios. Summative evaluations, on the other hand, occur at the end of an instructional period to assess the overall effectiveness of teaching and learning outcomes. While each of these approaches has its place in education, formative assessments specifically focus on continuous feedback and improvement throughout the learning process.