Instructors administer these assessments regularly to give feedback on progress up to that point.
Formative assessments help instructors establish what students already know about a subject. The feedback from these assessments gives students direction for understanding what aspects of a topic they need to continue studying in order to have a comprehensive grasp on the topic. Instructors administer these assessments regularly to give feedback on progress up to that point. At the end of a unit, an instructor administers a summative assessment to determine how well students understand and apply the material from the instructional unit.