A wide variety of methods that teachers use to conduct in-process evaluations of student comprehension, learning needs, and academic progress during a lesson, unit, or course. Formative assessments help teachers identify concepts that students are struggling to understand, skills they are having difficulty acquiring, or learning standards they have not yet achieved so that adjustments can be made to lessons, instructional techniques, and academic support. (Definition taken from online education glossary EdGlossary). Formative assessments allow instructors to collect low-stakes information about student learning in the moment so that they can revisit topics that students may need spend more time on in order to master the content or skill.
