Impact of Meaningful Summative Assessment Design and Formative Assessment on Student Performance

Assessment drives learning in higher education settings, where summative tests traditionally evaluate student achievement at the end of instructional units. However, the design quality of summative assessments varies widely, potentially affecting their validity and meaningfulness. Concurrently, formative assessments (ongoing evaluations meant to guide learning) may influence student performance on summative tests. Understanding how meaningful tests design and formative assessment practices interact to affect student outcomes might be of relevance for developing strategies that enhance learning and exam fairness in university settings.

This Research Topic aims to explore whether summative assessments that are potentially meaningful designed, aligned closely with learning goals and instructional activities, in higher education settings, result in higher student marks compared to less aligned assessments. Additionally, it intends to explore the effects of formative assessment on summative test results, including how feedback, formative scoring, and iterative assessment influence final performance. Contributions should examine empirical evidence, psychometric validation, and practical models that clarify the relationships between assessment design quality, formative assessment integration, and student achievement. This includes analyses across disciplines, educational levels within higher education, and assessment formats (traditional vs innovative).

We invite manuscripts that address themes such as, but not limited to:

• Designing potentially meaningful summative assessments and curricular goals.
• Empirical studies on the impact of formative assessment on summative outcomes.
• Psychometric analysis of assessment validity and reliability tied to the quality of design.
• Models and frameworks integrating formative/summative assessment for optimum learning.

Accepted manuscript types include original empirical research, methodological studies, theoretical reviews, and practical case reports focused on assessment design and effects on learning outcomes.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Conceptual Analysis
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Conceptual Analysis
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Registered Report
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Summative Assessment, Formative Assessment, Instructional Design, Student Performance, Educational Measurement, Academic Achievement.

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.