summative essay meaning

• How it works

How to Write a Summative Essay – Guide with Example

Published by Jamie Walker at March 18th, 2022 , Revised On October 9, 2023

Summative essays are formal assessments or tests developed to compare and evaluate students and assess their aptitude as compared to other students. Summative essays are used to test the results of learning and knowledge over time and are usually criterion-referenced.

A summative essay is a comprehensive piece of writing and will need quite a lot of class time to revise, complete, instruct, edit and draft. This is not a type of assignment that can be revised or improved by students after grading.

The complexity and length of the summative essay will vary depending upon the academic level of the students. Students must comprehend the style and purpose of the assignment to write an effective summative essay.

The summative essay is usually longer than 5 pages. One page comprises of introduction and the rest of the pages have arguments that support the topic. Like other essay types , it ends with a conclusion and a list of references.

Also read: How to write an academic essay

Types of Summative Writing

Different types of summative writing have unique requirements which must be carefully checked for comprehension before starting the summative assessment. Adequate time must be allocated for clearly comprehending the requirements of the summative writing, drafting, reading, editing, and revising before submitting it for checking or grading.

Here are the six key main types of summative essays

Information/Explanatory

This type of writing is a common choice in most social science curriculums. It is mainly the collection of the main points, key ideas, and domain-specific theocratic ideas taught inside of the unit plan.

Even though the opinions and persuasive arguments are sometimes used interchangeably, they are different from each other. An opinion simply requires you to state your thinking and back it up with facts and logic. Students in this type of writing are expected to show steady improvement throughout their degree programme, so their teachers could evaluate them for grading. Opinion writing is introduced to students in the 5th grade.

Argumentative

Argumentative type of writing needs the establishment and development of a claim made by the student in the introduction which is supported by the details containing resources and information in the main essay body . On the other hand, the opposing claim is used to present the exact opposite and contrasting point of view with supporting evidence.

Also read: How to write an argumentative essay

Compare & Contrast

This type of comparison writing attributes itself to the themes and backgrounds that have various aspects to them including individual personalities and specific geographic locations. The compare and contrast summative essays must be comprised of a set of attributes and qualities that the student can compare and contrast using text and research evidence. They do not ask the writer to prioritize one choice on the other, however, they do requires the writer to demonstrate comprehension of both and make a comparison.

The evaluative type of summative writing asks the writer to take a particular element, idea, or individual discussed during the unit and evaluate it using particular criteria. Students should take a stance on the theme and support it with text evidence and unit materials.

Theorising is a form of writing that gives answers to questions such as “What if?”. A theory is put forth on a particular theme that reflects reality or contrast to reality. The writer is expected to take an event, era or an individual.

Elements of a Good Summative Essay

If you want to write an effective summative essay, the following are the elements that you should consider:

Reliability: The writing delivers alike results throughout settings of classrooms, daily conditions and student groups.

Validity: The writing appropriately reflects what has been taught to students in the period of instruction.

Authenticity: The writing reflects a variety of skills related to the real world that are appropriate outside of the context of the classroom.

Variety: The essay reflects the usage of different words and views. Make sure to use different words and views to bring variety into the essay.

Stuck on a difficult essay? We can help!

Our Essay Writing Service Features:

• Expert UK Writers
• Plagiarism-free
• Timely Delivery
• Thorough Research
• Rigorous Quality Control

Tips to Write an Effective Summative Essay

Here are some of the tips while writing a summative essay:

• Look for authentic academic material that is relevant to your essay topic
• Develop an outline before writing an essay.
• Make sure the essay is organised in the form of good paragraphs.
• Before starting the essay, make sure that you have some knowledge about the topic. Do some reading regarding the topic, before initiating the writing.
• Lastly, proofread the essay to avoid grammatical errors

Writing a good introduction: For a good start begin your essay with an introduction . It should briefly provide the general ideas presented in the original text. The introduction should involve the author’s name, some contextual information about the author and work title. While in the paragraphs of the main body write the ideas that you have chosen while reading.

Use the rubric: Rubrics aid in setting a certain standard for the performance of a class on an assignment or test. They outline the key requirements and criteria you will be evaluated against.

Relevant to real-world: When writing a summative essay make sure that you are making it relevant to the real world.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to write a summative essay.

To write a summative essay, start with a clear thesis statement, organize your points logically, support with evidence, and conclude by summarizing key ideas. Edit and proofread for clarity and coherence. Follow the required format and citation style for a polished final draft.

You May Also Like

Having trouble writing an exceptional assignment? 10 pro-level tips on how to write, plan, and research an assignment, its format and how to start it

The essay writing process involves finding a suitable topic, preparing notes or outlines, research, and revisions. So how long will it take?

What are the aims and objectives in a dissertation….examples…principles of writing aims and objectives…common mistakes to avoid…

USEFUL LINKS

LEARNING RESOURCES

COMPANY DETAILS

• How It Works

How to Write a Summative Essay

Published by Boni on November 3, 2022 November 3, 2022

Have you ever been asked to write an essay about a book, movie, article, speech, or other reading material? Perhaps your teacher gave you a prompt and asked you to respond to it in an essay. If so, that was most likely a summative essay. A summative report is a short piece of writing about someone else’s work. It explains the main ideas of the reading material and evaluates them. Such essays are often assigned to test your ability to understand what you read and articulate your thoughts. This post will explore valuable tips for writing a successful summative essay.

Elevate Your Writing with Our Free Writing Tools!

Did you know that we provide a free essay and speech generator, plagiarism checker, summarizer, paraphraser, and other writing tools for free?

What is a Summative Essay?

A summative essay is an academic paper that requires students to evaluate and synthesize information learned over a unit or semester. It summarizes, describes and evaluates the main ideas of the reading material. A summative essay can be written about almost any topic. It can be based on a book, a speech, an article, or other reading material. To report a good summary essay, you must read the material carefully, take notes, and think about what the author is trying to say.

Then, you should organize your notes and use them to write a summary. A summative essay is not the same as a book review. While both summarize reading material, book reviews focus on quality. They give an evaluation of the book based on a set of criteria.

Types of Summative Writing

There are different types of summative writing a student can handle. Understand that every style is unique and has other requirements. That means you must understand the summative writing asked before handling it. Allocate adequate time to the essays since you have to read, draft, edit and revise the paper before submitting.

Below are the main types of summative writing:

Persuasive and opinions arguments may be used interchangeably. However, you should understand that they are pretty different. In an opinion essay, you have to state your ideology and then back up your side of the story with logic and facts. In this type of summative writing, students should show some improvement throughout their studies for evaluation from the teachers. This type of summative writing is given to students in 5th grade who must write a persuasive speech based on their opinion.

2. Explanatory

This summative essay is quite common in social science curriculums. Here the students focus on the unit plan’s key ideas, main points and domain-specific ideas such as a reaction paper .

3. Argumentative

The argumentative summative essay requires developing and establishing a claim the student makes during the introduction. The claim has to be supported by details such as information and resources in the essay’s body. There should also be an opposing claim where the student should state the contrasting point of view and add supporting evidence.

4. Evaluative

In this summative essay, the writer is supposed to take a given idea, element or individual in the curriculum and evaluate them in a specific criterion. Here students have to have their theme and stand by it using unit materials and text evidence. A good example is a cause and effects essay .

5. Compare & contrast

This essay has diverse attributes to the backgrounds and themes, such as specific geographic locations or individual personalities. These essays comprise a set of qualities and characteristics that students should compare and contrast using research evidence.

These summative essays do not require the student to pick a side. However, they are asked to cover both sides in comprehension and compare them thoroughly.

6. Theorizing

These essays will answer critical “what if” questions. The student is given a theory that contrasts or reflects the society today. The writer should take an individual, era or event to work on.

Elements of a Good Summative Essay

An effective summative essay ought to have the following crucial elements:

• Validity – the report should reflect what the students have learned during the term or semester.
• Reliability – the writing should deliver similar results throughout daily conditions, settings of classrooms and student groups.
• Authenticity – the summative essay should reflect the skills in the real world outside the classroom context.
• Variety – this essay should reflect the usage of different views and words to make the diverse.

Here is a summary essay with a response on how to tame a Wild Tongue that you might be interested in reading.

Format of Summative Essays

The summative essay formats are almost similar to any essay you have written. These essays will typically follow the standard format for writing an essay. An effective summative report must include an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.

• Introduction

The introduction should be clear, interesting, and engaging. It should also be written so that a reader who has never read the material can understand what it is about. A good introduction gives the reader a preview of what you will discuss in the rest of the essay. It hooks the reader and makes them want to read more.

The body is where you discuss the reading material and support your argument with evidence. The body should be well-organized. You can use various strategies to organize your essay, including a chronological order, a compare-and-contrast order, or a topical order.

The conclusion is the final part of the summative essay. The conclusion should restate your main point, summarize the paper, and bring the reader back to the introduction.

A standard essay is usually between five and ten double-spaced pages long. The introduction should be between one and three paragraphs long. The body of the paper should be between two and five paragraphs long. The conclusion should be one paragraph long.

Tips on How to Write a Good Summative Essay

Before writing a summative essay, you should read the reading material carefully. Remember to highlight or take notes while reading so you don’t forget important points. Here are some of the tips to keep in mind when writing this essay:

• Create an outline before you begin writing the essay
• Get authentic academic material and only use that for the essay
• Organize your paper in paragraphs
• Gather more information and knowledge on the topic of discussion
• Proofread the article before submitting it to ensure everything is okay, and there are no grammatical errors
• Curate a superb introduction – your introduction should be catchy and precise. It should invite your readers to keep reading.
• Relevant essay – as you create your summative report, ensure it is relevant and meaningful to the real world. A typical person should resonate with your paper.

A summative essay explains the main ideas of the reading material and evaluates them. To write an excellent summarizing essay, you must read the reading material carefully and take notes. You should also clearly understand the reading material and write your essay based on the material, not your opinion.

Need Help Writing Your Summative Essay?

Writing an summative essay is difficult, especially if you don’t have much experience writing such essays. Even if you read the material carefully and take notes while reading, summarizing it right in your own words may not be straightforward. Supporting your thesis statement with evidence from the reading material can be even more challenging. If you are having trouble writing a summative essay, you could seek professional speech writing help .

Most students do not have enough time to complete their essays, and that is where the speech writing help comes in. These services are efficient since they use professional writers and tools to produce high-quality papers. You could talk to us at Gudwriter, and we will help you with the summative report.

Explore the best tips on how to write an explication essay .

Special offer! Get 20% discount on your first order. Promo code: SAVE20

Related Posts

Free essay guides, how to write a graduation speech.

What is a Graduation Speech? A graduation speech is delivered at the graduation event to congratulate the graduates and provide them with advice and motivation. The speaker could be a student or professor. Your chance Read more…

Free TEAS Practice Test

Study and prepare for your TEAS exam with our free TEAS practice test. Free ATI TEAS practice tests are valuable resources for those hoping to do well on their TEAS exams. As we all know, Read more…

How to Write a Profile Essay

To learn how to write a profile essay, you must first master where to begin. Given that this is a profile essay, it will be much simpler for students who have previously read autobiographical articles Read more…

• Place order

Writing a Summative Essay - A Guide with Tips and Examples

Summative essays are among the most common ones academic tutors and lecturers use to assess their students' analytical and learning abilities. This type of essay is normally used to examine the students’ comprehension and knowledge of certain concepts or course material. And just like other essays, summative essays have three main sections: the introduction, body, and conclusion.

Summative assessments synthesize students’ understanding and learning of specific academic content and are often administered at the end of an academic year or term. These assessments usually establish the overall comprehension and proficiency of the evaluated topic.

This, however, leaves a lot of students uncertain of where to begin and what to do. But do not fuss! You do not need to panic; this comprehensive guide will break down everything you need about summative essays.  That said, keep on scrolling to find out more.

What is a Summative Essay?

Summative essays require students to assess and synthesize the information learned and knowledge gained over a semester or a particular unit.

A summative essay is often written at the conclusion of a semester or unit, permitting learners to display the knowledge gained over that duration.

To write an excellent summative essay, you should be able to identify the most important points from your coursework and arrange them into a rational argument.

Note that summative essays often assume the form of argumentative essays, whereby you should take a position on the issue being discussed and then support these claims using relevant proof.

Nonetheless, summative essays can also assume other forms like explanatory essays, personal narratives, and compare-and-contrast essays. No matter what form they assume, summative essays offer great opportunities for students to ponder on their learning and display their comprehension of the course material.

Remember that the length and complexity of a summative essay depend on the student’s academic level. The students must have a great understanding of the style and aim of the assessment to come up with an effective summative essay.

Types of Summative Essays

There are different types of summative essays. Below are the main types of summative essays.

Explanatory/ Information

This is the most common type in social science programs. It primarily collects key ideas, main arguments, and domain-specific hypothetical ideas taught within the unit plan.

Opinion essays require students to state their thinking and then support it with logic and facts.

The evaluative kind of summative writing usually requires you to take a specific idea or element discussed during the unit and evaluate or assess it using a particular criterion. For such essays, you should take a stance on the chosen theme and back it with unit materials and textual evidence.

Argumentative

This kind of writing requires establishing and developing a claim made in the introduction of the essay, and reputable resources should support this claim in the essay’s main body. Conversely, the opposing claim illustrates the opposing point of view with relevant supporting proof.

Theorizing is a type of writing that answers questions like “what if? “Here, a theory is presented on a certain theme that depicts or contrasts with reality.

Compare and Contrast

Compare and contrast summative essays comprise qualities and attributes the student could compare and contrast using text and research evidence. They do not require the student to prioritize one choice over another, and it, however, does require you to display an understanding of both and then make a comparison.

Structure of a Summative Essay

A summative essay takes shape and structure of the typical academic essay with an introduction, body paragraphs, and concluding paragraphs.

The Introduction

The introduction is among the most critical parts of the paper, given that it offers a brief overview of its topic and main argument. It should immediately grab the reader's attention and give them a general feel of the remainder of the paper. And if you struggle to develop a good introduction for your essay, try using an anecdote or hook to engage the reader from the word go. The thesis statement , where necessary, is also included here.

The Main Body Paragraphs

For this section, it is vital to concentrate on key points and provide proof to support your thesis. Every paragraph should focus on an individual point. In addition, each paragraph should conclude in a sentence that links it back to the thesis.

By concentrating on different key arguments and providing relevant proof to support your thesis, you can effectively convey your position to the reader. Also, concluding all your body paragraphs with a sentence that links back to your thesis will remind your reader of your essay’s overall argument.

Related Reading: Parts of a body paragraph .

The Conclusion

The conclusion of a summative essay briefly summarizes the main points and clarifies how they support the overall argument. Additionally, the conclusion should offer the reader a sense of closure by answering any pending queries or concerns that might have surfaced in the essay.

A brief and precise summary of your essay’s main points ensures your reader completely comprehends your standpoint. In addition, tackling lingering concerns or questions gives your essay a sense of conclusiveness. All in all, the aim of your essay conclusion should be to provide your readers with a proper understanding of your argument.

Steps for Writing a Summative Essay

Here is a simple step-by-step guide on how to write an excellent summative essay.

Step one: Know your essay topic

Though this appears to be the most straightforward process, many people often disregard it. Many writers look at different topics and then pick one because it seems to be the simplest or has found enough content.

Having some level of understanding for your lecturer’s or tutor’s opinion is vital here. What do they expect and want from you? This is an important step in producing relevant content for your summative essay. If you are somewhat confused about the topic, you can discuss it with your professor or colleagues.

Step two: Conduct research for the relevant content

Now that you clearly understand your summative essay’s topic, you can go through your lecture notes or any available academic sources. Skim over the most important points. You can even refresh your brain with your course syllabus or study material.

And if you are lucky enough to have attended a workshop, seminar, or training course on the chosen topic, you’ll have ample knowledge to put down.

Step three: Prepare an Outline

While going through relevant material, you can divide the literature into small paragraphs, giving you a quick overview of the literature. Most importantly, when skimming through the material, have the essay topic at the back of your head to note any valuable and relevant information.

Take note of any critical points that you feel may support your essay. Make sure you re-read all paragraphs and highlight all vital points. Mark those areas that you will want to refer to in your essay and those points you do not wish to include.

Step four: Come Up With A Thesis Statement for Your Essay

A thesis statement is simply a brief statement that recaps your essay’s main argument. Your thesis statement should be brief and precise. It should also be specific enough that it is easily supportable by evidence from your research.

Step five: Write the Introduction

Your essay’s introduction should quickly introduce the reader to your essay’s main points. Also, remember to keep the intro short, not more than seven sentences. The thesis statement should be the final remark of your introduction.

The best sentence starters for summative essays include present tense verbs that adopt an active voice. For instance, “the aim of this essay is to” or “this paper will argue that.” You develop an engaging and livelier writing style by opening your sentences using an active voice and in the present tense.

Moreover, good sentence openers for summative essays can also incorporate strong statements or rhetorical questions. For example, you can start your summative essay with a question like “What’s the real value of friendship?” or a sentence like “It is the little things in life that matter.” Opening your essay with such attention-capturing sentences ensures that the reader is hooked from the start.

Step six: Write the Body Paragraphs

Each body paragraph should highlight one main point that should be stated clearly in the first sentence. Use the rest of the paragraph to support the main point with proof from your previous research. Ensure all sources are referenced using the appropriate format (APA, MLA, Harvard).

End each body paragraph with a statement summarizing the main point and supporting your arguments.

Step Seven: Write the Conclusion

Your conclusion should briefly summarize the main points of your essay and have a strong conclusion sentence that leaves the reader with something to think about after reading your paper. Once again, this should not be too long; five to six sentences are enough.

The Outline Format for a Summative Essay

Below is what a five-paragraph summative essay outline looks like, together with the critical elements that it features:

Paragraph one: Introduction

• Hook sentence (attention grabber).
• Concise background information to give the reader a small preview of what is being discussed in the rest of the essay.
• Thesis statement.

Paragraph two: Body paragraph one

• Topic sentence: The first main idea of your essay clarifies the topic.
• Support proof.
• Analysis of the proof.
• Final remarks and then moving to the next point.

Paragraph three: Body paragraph two

• Topic sentence: It is the essay’s second main idea.
• Supporting proof.

Paragraph four: Body paragraph three

• Topic sentence: It is the essay’s third main point.
• Final remarks.

Paragraph five: Conclusion

• Restate your thesis statement.
• A summary of the entire essay.
• Address unanswered questions or lingering concerns.
• Call to action.

Example Outline for a Summative Essay

Below is an example of an explanatory summative essay outline that discusses how modern technological improvements have transformed human behavior and facilitated progress.

• Improvements in technology have transformed the universe into a global village.
• Background information on the low productivity levels before the improvements in technology.
• Thesis statement: Technological advancement enhanced human learning, thus paving the way for reformation.

Paragraph two: Situation before technological improvements

• Describe the low productivity levels before advancements in technology.
• Discuss how technology has impacted infrastructure, economies, education, and communication.
• Illustrate how this has promoted global change.

Paragraph three: Development and spread of technology

• Discuss the foundation of algebra and how this has helped to transform the technological world today.
• Demonstrate the consequences of this new technology on transport and production.
• Discuss the quick spread of technological advancements.
• Link this information to reformation.

Paragraph four: Impact of technology on reformation

• Discuss how ease of access to information globally has helped individuals.
• Discuss how technology has aided humans during the reformation period.
• Discuss the significant impacts these technological advancements have had on the planet.
• Restate the thesis statement: Technological advancement enhanced human learning, thus paving the way for reformation.
• Provide a summary of the main points in the paper.
• Highlight the value of technological improvements to the world today.

Sample Summative Essay

A compare and contrast summative essay comparing the economic system of Canada and that of the USA.

Both Canada and the USA are capitalist countries with a capitalist economic system. While these two North American countries use the same economic system, there are several differences in their approach to capitalism. Canada’s capitalist economic system is highly regulated compared to the American one. There is more state intervention in Canada to ensure the citizenry has access to crucial services like education and healthcare. In contrast, the USA’s capitalist economic system is more laissez-faire, and the government plays a relatively smaller role in the market.

Both capitalist economic systems have their advantages and disadvantages. Canada's highly regulated economic system ensures that most citizens get high-quality and affordable education and healthcare services from the public. However, the system also tends to lead to greater government bureaucracy. On the other hand, the laissez-faire approach employed by the USA ensures more innovation and private sector investments. Nevertheless, it also leads to increased inequality as it puts more money in the pockets of the rich.

While both economic systems have advantages and disadvantages, Canada's highly-regulated approach to capitalism is better than the American system. This is because it ensures the public enjoys high-quality and affordable essential services.

How to start a summative essay?

Summative essays are short. While they are short, an introduction is still necessary. And the introduction better contains everything you would expect in a typical introduction for it to be considered complete. A typical essay introduction starts with an attention-grabbing statement, followed by background information, and then a thesis statement. Ensure your summative essay introduction has all these things if you want it to be considered complete.

How to end a Summative Essay?

A summative essay ends with a conclusion. The perfect way to write a conclusion for a summative essay is to start with a restatement of the thesis and then provide a summary of the main points. If the essay is too short (less than 250 words), nobody will expect you to dwell on restating the thesis or summarizing the main points. A short concluding sentence will suffice. Nevertheless, you must restate the thesis and the main points for a proper conclusion. You also need to finish a powerful concluding statement that captures what you hope the impact of your research will be.

Tips for writing the best Summative Essay

Follow the tips below to become an expert summative essay writer.

• Brainstorm after reading instructions. After reading the instructions provided by your instructor for your summative essay, you should brainstorm; you should think about what the instructor wants for a couple of minutes. Doing this will help you to settle on a good topic. It will also help you to decide early what you want to do or to prove in your paper. Of course, this will make it easier for you to conduct research.
• Always use an outline. Before you start writing any essay, you should always create an outline. An outline is very important because it gives an essay structure and flow. Writing your summative essay without an outline may miss good structure and flow, resulting in a low or average grade.
• Credible sources only. It is absolutely crucial to use only credible sources in your research. Because if you don’t, you can easily be misled in your essay. Furthermore, you can get an average or low grade. Instructors do not like learners who use non-credible sources such as blogs, random websites, and social media, as they think it is lazy and non-professional. So ensure you strictly use credible sources if you want a high grade on your essay.
• Do not forget to proofread your work. You must proofread your work when you are done. Nobody writes a perfect essay in their first draft. Therefore, it is vital to proofread your work after you finish it. Proofread it to eliminate grammar errors, typos, sentence errors, and so on. Ensuring it is flawless will increase your chances of getting a high grade in your final exams.
• Cite your sources. An essay without cited sources is not a complete essay. You will not get top marks in an essay if you don’t provide in-text citations and reference page references. You are a learner, so when you are asked to write an essay, you are essentially being tested on your ability to find the correct information from experts and analyze it. Do not make the mistake of presenting a paper without references, and you will be penalized.

And with all that, what next?

Summative essays are fun to write, and you have everything you need to know to write a brilliant summative essay. The ball is in your court. If you have an assignment, it is now time to put what you have learned into practice.

If writing a summative essay is still confusing and you have an urgent summative essay, do not worry. Filling out the order form on our homepage signals that you want us to fulfill your “ write my essay ” order a summative essay on any topic. The moment you do so, we will quickly assign your paper to one of our expert writers, and they will produce an excellent quality paper ASAP.

If you choose to use our academic writing services , you can confidently expect speed, quality, free revision, and 100% confidentiality.

Need a Discount to Order?

15% off first order, what you get from us.

Plagiarism-free papers

Our papers are 100% original and unique to pass online plagiarism checkers.

Well-researched academic papers

Even when we say essays for sale, they meet academic writing conventions.

24/7 online support

Hit us up on live chat or Messenger for continuous help with your essays.

Easy communication with writers

Order essays and begin communicating with your writer directly and anonymously.

Eberly Center

Teaching excellence & educational innovation, what is the difference between formative and summative assessment, formative assessment.

The goal of formative assessment is to monitor student learning to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by instructors to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning. More specifically, formative assessments:

• help students identify their strengths and weaknesses and target areas that need work
• help faculty recognize where students are struggling and address problems immediately

Formative assessments are generally low stakes , which means that they have low or no point value. Examples of formative assessments include asking students to:

• draw a concept map in class to represent their understanding of a topic
• submit one or two sentences identifying the main point of a lecture
• turn in a research proposal for early feedback

Summative assessment

The goal of summative assessment is to evaluate student learning at the end of an instructional unit by comparing it against some standard or benchmark.

Summative assessments are often high stakes , which means that they have a high point value. Examples of summative assessments include:

• a midterm exam
• a final project
• a senior recital

Information from summative assessments can be used formatively when students or faculty use it to guide their efforts and activities in subsequent courses.

CONTACT US to talk with an Eberly colleague in person!

• Faculty Support
• Graduate Student Support
• Canvas @ Carnegie Mellon
• Quick Links

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

• Knowledge Base
• Working with sources
• How to Write a Summary | Guide & Examples

How to Write a Summary | Guide & Examples

Published on November 23, 2020 by Shona McCombes . Revised on May 31, 2023.

Summarizing , or writing a summary, means giving a concise overview of a text’s main points in your own words. A summary is always much shorter than the original text.

There are five key steps that can help you to write a summary:

• Read the text
• Break it down into sections
• Identify the key points in each section
• Write the summary
• Check the summary against the article

Writing a summary does not involve critiquing or evaluating the source . You should simply provide an accurate account of the most important information and ideas (without copying any text from the original).

Table of contents

When to write a summary, step 1: read the text, step 2: break the text down into sections, step 3: identify the key points in each section, step 4: write the summary, step 5: check the summary against the article, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about summarizing.

There are many situations in which you might have to summarize an article or other source:

• As a stand-alone assignment to show you’ve understood the material
• To keep notes that will help you remember what you’ve read
• To give an overview of other researchers’ work in a literature review

When you’re writing an academic text like an essay , research paper , or dissertation , you’ll integrate sources in a variety of ways. You might use a brief quote to support your point, or paraphrase a few sentences or paragraphs.

But it’s often appropriate to summarize a whole article or chapter if it is especially relevant to your own research, or to provide an overview of a source before you analyze or critique it.

In any case, the goal of summarizing is to give your reader a clear understanding of the original source. Follow the five steps outlined below to write a good summary.

Scribbr Citation Checker New

The AI-powered Citation Checker helps you avoid common mistakes such as:

• Missing commas and periods
• Incorrect usage of “et al.”
• Ampersands (&) in narrative citations
• Missing reference entries

You should read the article more than once to make sure you’ve thoroughly understood it. It’s often effective to read in three stages:

• Scan the article quickly to get a sense of its topic and overall shape.
• Read the article carefully, highlighting important points and taking notes as you read.
• Skim the article again to confirm you’ve understood the key points, and reread any particularly important or difficult passages.

There are some tricks you can use to identify the key points as you read:

• Start by reading the abstract . This already contains the author’s own summary of their work, and it tells you what to expect from the article.
• Pay attention to headings and subheadings . These should give you a good sense of what each part is about.
• Read the introduction and the conclusion together and compare them: What did the author set out to do, and what was the outcome?

To make the text more manageable and understand its sub-points, break it down into smaller sections.

If the text is a scientific paper that follows a standard empirical structure, it is probably already organized into clearly marked sections, usually including an introduction , methods , results , and discussion .

Other types of articles may not be explicitly divided into sections. But most articles and essays will be structured around a series of sub-points or themes.

Now it’s time go through each section and pick out its most important points. What does your reader need to know to understand the overall argument or conclusion of the article?

Keep in mind that a summary does not involve paraphrasing every single paragraph of the article. Your goal is to extract the essential points, leaving out anything that can be considered background information or supplementary detail.

In a scientific article, there are some easy questions you can ask to identify the key points in each part.

If the article takes a different form, you might have to think more carefully about what points are most important for the reader to understand its argument.

In that case, pay particular attention to the thesis statement —the central claim that the author wants us to accept, which usually appears in the introduction—and the topic sentences that signal the main idea of each paragraph.

The only proofreading tool specialized in correcting academic writing - try for free!

The academic proofreading tool has been trained on 1000s of academic texts and by native English editors. Making it the most accurate and reliable proofreading tool for students.

Try for free

Now that you know the key points that the article aims to communicate, you need to put them in your own words.

To avoid plagiarism and show you’ve understood the article, it’s essential to properly paraphrase the author’s ideas. Do not copy and paste parts of the article, not even just a sentence or two.

The best way to do this is to put the article aside and write out your own understanding of the author’s key points.

Examples of article summaries

Let’s take a look at an example. Below, we summarize this article , which scientifically investigates the old saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.”

Davis et al. (2015) set out to empirically test the popular saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Apples are often used to represent a healthy lifestyle, and research has shown their nutritional properties could be beneficial for various aspects of health. The authors’ unique approach is to take the saying literally and ask: do people who eat apples use healthcare services less frequently? If there is indeed such a relationship, they suggest, promoting apple consumption could help reduce healthcare costs.

The study used publicly available cross-sectional data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Participants were categorized as either apple eaters or non-apple eaters based on their self-reported apple consumption in an average 24-hour period. They were also categorized as either avoiding or not avoiding the use of healthcare services in the past year. The data was statistically analyzed to test whether there was an association between apple consumption and several dependent variables: physician visits, hospital stays, use of mental health services, and use of prescription medication.

Although apple eaters were slightly more likely to have avoided physician visits, this relationship was not statistically significant after adjusting for various relevant factors. No association was found between apple consumption and hospital stays or mental health service use. However, apple eaters were found to be slightly more likely to have avoided using prescription medication. Based on these results, the authors conclude that an apple a day does not keep the doctor away, but it may keep the pharmacist away. They suggest that this finding could have implications for reducing healthcare costs, considering the high annual costs of prescription medication and the inexpensiveness of apples.

However, the authors also note several limitations of the study: most importantly, that apple eaters are likely to differ from non-apple eaters in ways that may have confounded the results (for example, apple eaters may be more likely to be health-conscious). To establish any causal relationship between apple consumption and avoidance of medication, they recommend experimental research.

An article summary like the above would be appropriate for a stand-alone summary assignment. However, you’ll often want to give an even more concise summary of an article.

For example, in a literature review or meta analysis you may want to briefly summarize this study as part of a wider discussion of various sources. In this case, we can boil our summary down even further to include only the most relevant information.

Using national survey data, Davis et al. (2015) tested the assertion that “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” and did not find statistically significant evidence to support this hypothesis. While people who consumed apples were slightly less likely to use prescription medications, the study was unable to demonstrate a causal relationship between these variables.

Citing the source you’re summarizing

When including a summary as part of a larger text, it’s essential to properly cite the source you’re summarizing. The exact format depends on your citation style , but it usually includes an in-text citation and a full reference at the end of your paper.

You can easily create your citations and references in APA or MLA using our free citation generators.

APA Citation Generator MLA Citation Generator

Finally, read through the article once more to ensure that:

• You’ve accurately represented the author’s work
• You haven’t missed any essential information
• The phrasing is not too similar to any sentences in the original.

If you’re summarizing many articles as part of your own work, it may be a good idea to use a plagiarism checker to double-check that your text is completely original and properly cited. Just be sure to use one that’s safe and reliable.

If you want to know more about ChatGPT, AI tools , citation , and plagiarism , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• ChatGPT vs human editor
• ChatGPT citations
• Is ChatGPT trustworthy?
• Using ChatGPT for your studies
• What is ChatGPT?
• Chicago style
• Paraphrasing

 Plagiarism

• Types of plagiarism
• Self-plagiarism
• Avoiding plagiarism
• Academic integrity
• Consequences of plagiarism
• Common knowledge

A summary is a short overview of the main points of an article or other source, written entirely in your own words. Want to make your life super easy? Try our free text summarizer today!

A summary is always much shorter than the original text. The length of a summary can range from just a few sentences to several paragraphs; it depends on the length of the article you’re summarizing, and on the purpose of the summary.

You might have to write a summary of a source:

• As a stand-alone assignment to prove you understand the material
• For your own use, to keep notes on your reading
• To provide an overview of other researchers’ work in a literature review
• In a paper , to summarize or introduce a relevant study

To avoid plagiarism when summarizing an article or other source, follow these two rules:

• Write the summary entirely in your own words by paraphrasing the author’s ideas.
• Cite the source with an in-text citation and a full reference so your reader can easily find the original text.

An abstract concisely explains all the key points of an academic text such as a thesis , dissertation or journal article. It should summarize the whole text, not just introduce it.

An abstract is a type of summary , but summaries are also written elsewhere in academic writing . For example, you might summarize a source in a paper , in a literature review , or as a standalone assignment.

All can be done within seconds with our free text summarizer .

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

McCombes, S. (2023, May 31). How to Write a Summary | Guide & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved April 3, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/working-with-sources/how-to-summarize/

Is this article helpful?

Shona McCombes

Other students also liked, how to paraphrase | step-by-step guide & examples, how to quote | citing quotes in apa, mla & chicago, the basics of in-text citation | apa & mla examples, "i thought ai proofreading was useless but..".

I've been using Scribbr for years now and I know it's a service that won't disappoint. It does a good job spotting mistakes”

• Summative Assessment: Definition + [Examples & Types]

From end-of-term examinations to teacher-designed quizzes , summative assessment is one of the most effective ways to grade a student’s performance. It typically involves assessing students’ knowledge of the course material using specific criteria. 

Summative assessment requires a considerable investment of time, both from students and instructors. In this article, we will discuss the major characteristics of summative assessment and show you how to conduct a summative assessment with Formplus. 

What is a Summative Assessment?  

Summative assessment is a type of course evaluation that happens at the end of a training or program. It is the process of assessing the student’s knowledge, proficiency, and performance by comparing what they know with what they should have learned.

Unlike formative assessment which evaluates the student as he or she engages in the learning process, summative assessment is all about measuring outcomes using predefined standards or benchmarks. Summative evaluation only directly monitors the student’s ability but does not pay attention to how the student uses knowledge to solve practical problems. 

One of the most common examples of summative assessment is the end-of-semester college examinations. For these examinations, the college professors select questions that touch on different topics in the course curriculum. Students are asked to respond to these questions within a specific period of time. 

The structure of summative assessment makes it difficult for the instructor to provide one-on-one feedback on the student’s performance. Summative assessment methods are high stakes which means they have a high point value. The results are usually defining; for instance, it can determine whether a student passes the course, gets a promotion, or secures an admission. 

Characteristics of Summative Assessment  

Summative assessment measures a student’s competence in a specific subject matter in line with the learning goals and objectives of the course or training. For instance, a science course will use experiments and other practical tests to evaluate a student’s knowledge at the end of the course.

• Reliability

Summative evaluation is a standardized method of knowledge-based assessments. It has well-defined processes that reveal the student’s competence in a field. These processes produce accurate and consistent results when they are used in similar contexts.

• Practicality

Summative evaluation has a flexible process that is practical and scalable. It is well-aligned and this makes it easy for the instructor to implement it as part of training.

Summative assessment respects clear teaching and learning boundaries. Before the instructor implements any summative assessment methods in the classroom, he/she must obtain informed consent from the students.

• Easily reported

Since the key element of summative assessment is to evaluate what someone has learned up to that point in time, it always ends in having a concise summary of the outcomes of the assessment. This allows the teacher to compare the student’s current performance with past performances, external standards, and other learners.

Summative evaluation prompts students to exhibit skills and demonstrate knowledge in different ways.

Other things you should have in mind when it comes to summative assessment are: 

• It takes place at the end of a defined learning period such as a training or program.
• It is limited to the information that was shared during the course or training. Summative assessment does not test students on what they have not been taught.
• Summative assessment aligns with the learning goals and objectives of the course.
• Summative assessment certifies a student’s competence in a specific subject matter.
• It is used for one clearly identified purpose.

Examples of Summative Assessment  

• End-of-term Examination

A final examination or assessment is one of the most common methods of classroom evaluation. Examinations have a simple framework—the teacher curates relevant questions and the students respond to these questions within a timeframe.

Instructors conduct examinations as some sort of final knowledge review of the program. Examinations test the student’s knowledge of the subject matter and they produce quantitative results that help you to grade your students and know how well they have performed. 

To eliminate the workload that comes with paper assessment, you conduct the evaluation via an online test platform, examination software, or create a quiz on Formplus. The examination questions can be close-ended, open-ended, or a mixture of both; depending on the type of data you want to gather in the end. 

• In-class Chapter Tests

These are mini-examinations that happen at the end of a topic or section of a training. They are used to determine how well a student understands key chapter concepts and help them prepare for the final examination at the end of the course. Quizzes, midterm assessments, and practice tests are common examples of chapter tests.

• Standardized Admission Tests

These tests qualify candidates for a specific program; for instance, IELTS and TOEFL are standardized English proficiency exams that demonstrate a candidate’s competency in the use of the language. These tests are organized on a large scale and they make use of explicit scoring criteria for grading.

Create Computer Based Tests for free with Formplus. Get started now

• Creative Portfolio

Instead of an end-of-term examination, ask students to build a creative portfolio. A creative portfolio showcases the student’s creativity, knowledge of the coursework, and how they have uniquely applied that knowledge.

Depending on the learning areas, a student’s portfolio can include images, infographics, and small to medium-length texts like essays or one-pagers. As the learners build their portfolios, they also have the opportunity to reflect on how much they have learned. 

Add the file upload field to your Formplus form to receive portfolio submissions from your students. Students can submit files of any type and size including images, multiple document formats, and spreadsheets, in the file upload field. 

Oral summative assessments are used to get real-time and spontaneous responses from learners at the end of a course. The instructor can embrace structured, semi-structured, or unstructured interview methods to grade the students and evaluate their overall performance. Students may also partake in oral classroom presentations.

The type of interview method you choose determines the kinds of questions you will ask during the process. A structured interview follows a defined conversational sequence that dictates its questions and structure. 

Semi-structured and unstructured interviews embrace flexibility. In a semi-structured interview, the instructor can veer off the conversational sequence and ask spontaneous questions. Unstructured interviews do not follow a defined conversational sequence—the instructor can ask questions as they come, within the course’s context. 

• Hands-on Performance Tasks

These simple and creative tasks allow students to put their knowledge to work. Hands-on performance tasks are practical, and straightforward and help the instructor to assess the students’ abilities directly.

The instructor can ask students to solve a jigsaw puzzle and as they do this, she observes how they put a specific skill to work in the tasks. If you want to assess your students’ counting and pattern skills, you may observe how they play around with colored bricks or cotton balls. 

• Group Projects

Getting students to execute tasks within small groups is a great way to test their knowledge. After a training on teamwork and conflict resolution, for instance, you should group the students, assign a task and watch how they create frameworks and solve a specific problem.

• Book Reports

Book reports are creative summaries that demonstrate a student’s literary skills. These reports show how students highlight the main points of a book using the reading and analytical skills discussed in the training or program.

Students do not have to submit their summaries using paper forms. Create a Formplus online submission form and send out a prefilled link to everyone. This way, you can receive and organize submissions without worrying about too much paper. 

• Formal Essays

Formal essays allow students to demonstrate their level of knowledge about a subject matter. Essay writing is a useful skill that communicates one’s idea and understanding of a concept. Ask your students to write essays on the core topics and themes discussed in class.

Students can explain a concept, argue for or against a subject matter or simply narrate their learning experience as descriptive prose. 

If you want to reduce the clutter that comes with stacking lots of papers, use Formplus to collect the essays. Ask learners to turn in their essays as file uploads in your online submission form or they can write the essays right in the form’s long-text field. 

• Observation

This is a common method of summative assessment used in early childhood education. The instructor incorporates 1 or more standard activities into the students’ playtime and then observes how the learners engage in the activity.

Observing students’ behaviors during playtime gives you a birds-eye view of how well they have assimilated knowledge from a previous lesson or class session. As you observe them, you need to make notes on any changes you notice. Write your observations down on a piece of paper or list them in a spreadsheet. 

The complete observer method and participant-as-observer method are the common types of observation used for summative evaluation. In the complete observer method, the teacher observes the students from a distance; removing the instructor from the participants’ environment. 

The participant-by-observer method is what you’ll find in many classrooms and learning contexts. The teacher already has a relationship with the students and she interacts with them as they demonstrate their knowledge. 

How to Use Formplus to Conduct Summative Assessment  

To conduct a summative assessment with Formplus, you need to use the Formplus builder to create and customize an online form. This online form should serve your unique needs in terms of what you want to achieve and the type of summative assessment method you plan to execute. 

Follow this step-by-step guide to create your online summative assessment form with Formplus. 

• Visit www.formpl.us to log in to your Formplus account or to sign up for a free Formplus account. Once you sign up and confirm your email, you get automatic access to your Formplus dashboard.
• Click on the ‘create new form’ button on your Formplus dashboard. This button is at the top-left side of your dashboard and it takes you to the form builder.
• The Formplus builder has different sections including the customization and form sharing sections. On the far-left side of the builder, you will find the form fields section.

• Drag and drop preferred form fields from the form fields section into your form. There are more than 30 form fields you can add to your form including text fields and advanced fields like date-time validation.
• Edit each field by clicking on the small pencil icon beside each one. You can add questions, options and also make the fields read-only or required.

• Click on the “save” icon to save all the changes you have made to the form.

• By now, you will be in the builder’s customization section. This is where you can tweak the look and feel of your form based on your unique needs and preferences.

You can choose a new theme for your form or create a custom theme. You can also change the form’s background, add background images, modify the form font and font size or stylize the form using your custom CSS. 

• Use the form-sharing options to share the form with your students. You can copy the form link and share or send out prefilled links via email invitations.

Formplus has different features that make data collection seamless for you including unlimited file uploads, mobile-friendly forms, and prefilled forms. With the mobile-friendly feature, you can conduct summative assessments using your smartphone. You can also collect data the way you like using more than 30 available form fields. 

• Mobile-friendly Forms

With our mobile-responsive feature, you can create an online form for summative assessments using your smartphone or other internet-enabled devices. Students can also complete surveys, and quizzes and make file submissions using their smartphones, without pinching in or zooming out of their screens.

• File Uploads

Students can submit their creative portfolio in different file formats in your Formplus form and they do not have to bother about the file size. All file uploads are automatically saved to your preferred cloud storage including Google Drive, DropBox, and OneDrive.

• Prefilled Forms

Prefilled forms are easy to fill as your students do not need to repeat recurring information. Sending out prefilled forms allows you to retrieve existing data from your records and pre-populate form fields with these pieces of information.

• Form Templates

You do not have to build your form from scratch; simply choose any of our ready-to-use templates. Formplus has more than 200 existing form templates that can be tweaked to suit your unique needs and preferences in the form builder.

• Offline Data Collection

Students can fill out and submit the online assessment form; even when they have poor or no internet access. All form responses are automatically updated on our servers or your preferred cloud storage system when the internet connectivity is restored.

• Export Data

You can export form responses and reports in multiple file formats like PDF and CSV. Formplus also allows you to directly export form data to Google sheets to help you collate results and share them with your team.

Advantages of Summative Assessment  

• The summative assessment determines the effectiveness of a course and the teaching method. This is measured in terms of how well the student mirrors his knowledge in his or her responses to the questions.
• It is a standard method of tracking a student’s academic performance over a period of time.
• Summative assessment is an important part of the formal grading system. The results from summative assessments are often used to determine whether a student moves from one academic level to the next.
• It helps the instructor to identify and address learning gaps. Summative assessment reveals the student’s weakness and this gives the teacher enough context and information to review their methods.
• It boosts self-evaluation because the students reflect on their goals as they take part in summative assessments.
• Summative assessment improves the teaching and learning environment. It helps the students and instructions to align their goals and achieve desired outcomes.

Disadvantages of Summative Assessment  

• Measuring a student’s performance against a standard benchmark can trigger demotivation and low self-esteem. This happens when the student’s performance isn’t up to par with the benchmark.
• It does not provide an accurate reflection of the student’s knowledge or learning.
• Students can develop anxiety as they prepare for the single year that can make or mar their academic progress. Anxiety, fear, and nervousness affect the student’s performance.

In this article, we have looked at the characteristics of effective summative assessments plus common examples you can adopt for student evaluation in the classroom. Summative assessment is best described as a diagnostic evaluation method used at the end of an instructional unit. 

Summative assessment is a great way to ensure that students have a full grasp of the different ideas discussed in a course or program. When combined with other methods of course evaluation like formative assessment, it creates a balanced evaluation of both progress and performance. 

Connect to Formplus, Get Started Now - It's Free!

• assessment form
• student assessment
• summative assessment
• training evaluation
• busayo.longe

You may also like:

Formative Assessment: Meaning, Types & Examples

Formative assessment allows you to evaluate students’ performance in real-time, and also improve the course content and deliv

Alternative Assessment: Definition, Types, Examples & Strategies

If you’re looking for a course evaluation method that puts the student’s knowledge to work, then you should try the alternati

Formative Vs Summative Assessment: 15 Key Differences & Similarities

Today, we will look at 2 of the most common methods of course evaluation—summative assessment and formative assessment. While

9 Types of Educational Assessment

Throughout the learning process, the teacher needs to track how well students understand the different subject matters being

Formplus - For Seamless Data Collection

Collect data the right way with a versatile data collection tool. try formplus and transform your work productivity today..

• Our Process

Writing a Summative Essay in 6 Simple Steps

Published by Ellie Cross at March 21st, 2022 , Revised On January 31, 2024

Writing a summative essay is a common way used by academic tutors to assess students’ learning and analytical abilities. Summative essays are used to evaluate students’ knowledge and understanding of an extensive concept or course content. Like other essay types, it comprises an introduction , main body and a concluding section.

A summative assessment synthesizes students’ learning and understanding of a particular academic source and almost always takes place at the end of term or a complete academic year. Such assessments determine the overall understanding or proficiency of the assessed topic .

However, this leaves many students unsure of what to do or where to begin. But don’t worry! We assume that students do not need to panic as long as we guide them on how to write an excellent summary essay.

Here are six simple steps that can help you compose a first-class summative essay paper.

1۔ Know Your Exact Summative Essay Topic

Even though this seems to be the simplest part of the process, it is often disregarded. Most people look at specific topics and select one because it appears to be the easiest or they have found sufficient material to work on it.

Understanding your professor’s opinion is essential here. What exactly does he expect from you? It is a significant step to produce good content for your summative essay. If you are confused about the topic, discuss it with your professor, friends, or colleagues.

Or our experts can provide a unique topic for your summative essay for free.

2. Search for the Relevant Material

Now that you have a clear picture of the topic of your summative essay, the next thing to do is to start reading the lectures notes or the academic sources available on the topic. Skim over the important points. Refresh your mind with your study material or course syllabus.

If you have ever attended a training course, seminar, or workshop on the topic, you will have a good amount of knowledge to write down as it will help you get a handle on some of the more complicated issues on the topic.

3. Make an Outline

While reading the relevant materials, split the literature into small paragraphs. This way, you can quickly get an overview of the literature. When reading the material, remember the essay topic you are writing so you can extract and note down useful information.

Jot down notes on any argument that you think might support the title of your essay. Then re-read each paragraph , and highlight all crucial points. Mark the areas you want to refer to in your summative essay and the points you do not wish to include.

Read: How to write an essay outline

4. Writing an Introduction

The introduction of your summative essay should briefly explain the main idea of the original paper, and provide the name of the author, the title of the paper, and the basic background information. Try to keep everything precise. As a rule, 250-300 words are sufficient for the introduction. Also, add the thesis statement as you will have to conclude your essay with reference to the thesis statement.

5. Writing the Main Body

Divide the essay into 2-4 themes in the main body, which you can argue and support in detail—elaborate these themes with one or more examples from the original paper. Include only necessary information and avoid irrelevant things.

6. Conclusion

A concluding paragraph is only required if your professor asks for it. Otherwise, it is not necessary.

You want to check our essay buying guide if you are unable to complete the essay by yourself.

Has a difficult essay got you down? No problem!

With EssaysUK you get:

• Expert UK Writers
• Plagiarism-free Content
• Timely Delivery
• Thorough Research
• Rigorous Quality Control

Important Points to Consider

• One of the most important points to remember when writing a summative essay is to keep it related to the source.
• Remember that your interpretations of the source may mislead your readers, so the text should be clear enough to give the reader an idea about the original work.
• Proofread your essay and revise it when it is finished. Do not rush to submit the first draft as it is. There is always room for new additions. You may discover a useful quote to include. Read the essay thoroughly. Check for spelling mistakes. Pay special attention to the sentence structure.
• Delete every unnecessary information. Keep your content short and meaningful.
• Ask your friend or colleague to read to see if they can comprehend the main idea of the original source after reading your summative essay.
• Now that you have been introduced to the basic tips and rules for writing a summative essay, its time to give yourself a try to select any interesting topic and write your essay!!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a summative essay.

A summative essay is a type of assessment that evaluates a student’s understanding, knowledge, and skills at the end of a course or academic period. It typically requires students to demonstrate comprehensive knowledge and critical thinking through a formal written essay, which is assessed for its overall quality and achievement of learning outcomes.

What are the 6 steps involve in writing a summative essay?

• Know Your Exact Summative Essay Topic
• Search for the Relevant Material
• Make an Outline
• Writing an Introduction
• Writing the Main Body
• Writing Conclusion

You May Also Like

Before we describe a narrative essay, it will make sense to understand what is an essay and what are the different types of essay.

A student of the school, college, or university is assigned to write academic essays throughout the academic career. An essay can be described as a brief composition of informative writing.

An essay is a focused piece of academic writing that aims to persuade and convince readers of the author’s argument. While there are many types of essays, they can all be essentially grouped into the following four categories: Descriptive, Narrative, Argumentative & Expository.

A reflective essay is a creative writing approach that involves self-reflection regarding an event or scenario. The goal of a reflective paper is to express your insights or articulate your thoughts about a particular experience.

Ready to Place an Order?

USEFUL LINKS

LEARNING RESOURCES

COMPANY DETAILS

• How It Works

• Latest Posts
• Undergraduate Bloggers
• Graduate Bloggers
• Study Abroad Bloggers
• Guest Bloggers
• Browse Posts
• Browse Categories

March 4th, 2023

Preparing for summative essays.

1 comment | 1 shares

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

The word “summative assessment” can worry and scare students as they count towards their degree. Some social science students are assessed through various essays and written tasks but not numerical tests. Here is my process on how to plan and write a summative essay. 

Exploring the essay titles would be the first step I take. More often than not, students are given a variety of essay titles to choose from, likely to be representative of distinct topics. Very early on, you might find one title more fascinating or less challenging and lean towards that one. Nonetheless, it can be useful to carefully consider all the questions equally and make a rough brainstorm of what arguments you intend to use and relevant case studies and examples. It would also be useful to look at your lectures and see what your professor has discussed on the topic. This will point you towards the best title to tackle.

The next step would be breaking down the essay title . What are you being prompted to do and answer? What is the key term in the question (e.g. “discuss”, “evaluate”, “critically assess”)? By doing so, you will know precisely what the task is asking you to do, and how to stay on track and maximise your score by answering all parts of the question. 

Once you know the “asks” of the title, it is time to research your essay title (assuming that it is a take-home assignment). Hopefully, when you break down the essay title, you will have an idea of what your main arguments are going to be. By doing so, you can narrow down your research list. It is extremely important that you consistently refer back to the essay title to make sure that what you are writing will strengthen your argument and helps to answer the essay prompt.

Organising your arguments would be the next step. The structure is often, if not always, a criterion for examiners marking your essay. This means that your essay has to be logical and flow smoothly rather than being disconnected. Though this is difficult to get used to initially, you will eventually find your writing “voice” as you continue.

Proper citations are another key aspect of preparing your summative essay. Some teachers may suggest one citation method over another such as Harvard, MLA, APA and so on. Therefore, you should follow the preferred citation method if possible. Again, citations are a skill that students need to develop over time as it may be the first time students encounter citations as part of essay requirements.

The final stage would be proofreading your essay. This step is absolutely essential to evaluate your essay as a complete whole. Consider whether the narrative is smooth and whether all of your arguments answer the essay title. It is also an opportunity to finalise some small details like grammar, spelling mistakes and formatting problems. 

This is simply a rough overview of the stages I use to prepare for summative essays and surely, you may have some additional steps along the way that you find useful. Nonetheless, if you apply the earlier steps suggested, you will have a basic understanding of how to prepare for a summative essay. Good luck!

About the author

Hello! My name is Emily Nguyen and I am a First Year BSc Environment and Development student at LSE. I'm always available for help so just drop a comment!

Hello, thankyou for a great read and tips. Would it be possible to have a one to one correspondence wherein I would ask about what life at LSE is like, essay writing tips etc…

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

Related Posts

The key to maximising your formative coursework feedback

February 12th, 2023.

Five tips to deal with writer’s block

April 30th, 2022.

The First Round of Summative Assessments: Race to the Finish Line

February 13th, 2022.

Need help? Go to LSE LIFE!

April 15th, 2022.

Bad Behavior has blocked 1518 access attempts in the last 7 days.

• Health Science
• Business Education
• Computer Applications
• Career Readiness
• Teaching Strategies

«  View All Posts

Assessment | Career and Technical Education (CTE) | Classroom Planning

Formative vs. Summative Assessments: What's the Difference?

• Share This Article

March 19th, 2024 | 8 min. read

Brad Hummel

Coming from a family of educators, Brad knows both the joys and challenges of teaching well. Through his own teaching background, he’s experienced both firsthand. As a writer for iCEV, Brad’s goal is to help teachers empower their students by listening to educators’ concerns and creating content that answers their most pressing questions about career and technical education.

Print/Save as PDF

Whether you’re an administrator, supervisor, or teacher, you’ve heard of formative assessments and summative assessments . They're both essential parts of any curriculum map . But what do these terms actually mean?

In a nutshell, formative assessments are quizzes and tests that evaluate how someone is learning material throughout a course .

Summative assessments are quizzes and tests that evaluate how much someone has learned throughout a course .

In the classroom, that means formative assessments take place during a course, while summative assessments are the final evaluations at the course’s end. 

That's the simple answer, but there's actually a lot more that makes formative and summative assessments different. To fully understand formative vs. summative assessments, you'll need to understand the details of these two important forms of assessment.

In this article, we'll take a closer look at formative and summative quizzing and assessing. When you've finished reading, you'll understand how to better test student knowledge in your classroom.

What Are Formative Assessments?

Formative assessments are evaluations of someone’s learning progress in a classroom.

Common formative assessments include:

• Presentations
• Group activities

Formative assessments work great when they’re used on a regular basis. That regularity could be based on a calendar (every Monday, every Thursday, etc.) or your lesson plans (every unit).

They’re also more flexible than summative assessments. You don’t always have to use pencil and paper to get a feel for your students’ progress. Instead, you can use in-class games, group presentations, and hands-on activities to evaluate student progress.

Ultimately, the formative assessments you use are up to you. After all, no one knows your classes better than you. So if you’d prefer to get an overview of how well your students are learning, you can use a group-style assessment like a game. If you want to know where each student struggles, you can use an individual assessment like a quiz.

This flexibility is perfect for keeping students engaged in your class. It lets you stick to a syllabus while mixing up the exact task each student has to perform. That way, you don’t fall into a predictable routine of teach-test-teach-test. Instead, you have a varied routine of teach-game-quiz-teach-presentation-project or another interesting format.

By the time your course ends, you’ll have a full understanding of how students are learning as you teach a subject. Then, you can keep all of your grades to look for patterns among different class sections.

Is there an area where students seem to do worse than others? Could you adjust a lesson and shoot for better results?

Naturally, you’ll never get a class that’s straight A’s from top to bottom. But you can still design your classroom assessments to work for as many students as possible!

Top 3 Formative Assessment Examples

Formative assessments are excellent opportunities to let your students flex their creative muscles.

Even if a student isn’t much of a writer or artist, they can still have a little fun with these assessments.

1. Make an Advertisement

Have your students create an advertisement for a concept they just learned. Use visuals and text to really sell an idea.

This makes students apply what they’ve learned into a creative exercise, which helps with long-term retention.

2. Idea Comparisons

Instruct students to lay out the main ideas of a new concept they learned. Then, have them compare that concept to another to see where they agree and disagree.

In addition to helping students remember these concepts, this exercise makes them apply previous knowledge to a new format so they can remember it better in the future.

3. Misconceptions

After you introduce a concept to students, introduce a popular misconception about it. Have students discuss why the misconception is false and where it may have started.

This exercise makes students think critically about what they’ve just learned while showing them how to debunk misinformation.  

How Do You Track Formative Assessments?

You can track formative assessments in one of three ways: by grade, by feel, and with student data .

Let's take a closer look at using each of these methods to monitor student progress.

Track by Grade

First, you can track them by grade . This gives you a specific, concentrated view of how a student (or group of students) learns. However, graded assessments are sources of stress for many students. So if you want to make a unit fun or loose, graded assessments may not work well for you. 

Track by Feel

Second, you can track them by feel . This is more based on your teacher instinct, allowing you to pick which students need additional support based on your observation. On the downside, you can’t “show” this information to your administrators. If you have certain standards to meet throughout a marking period, you won’t be able to prove you’ve fulfilled those standards without grades.

Track with Student Data

Finally, you can track formative assessments with  student data . This is non-graded information that may reflect how your students are learning, such as questions they've frequently answered incorrectly or subject areas where they've had trouble. After all, not everything has to be a grade!

When you have a comprehensive data management system in place, tracking with student data can be the most effective way to measure student progress.

With all of that said and done, let’s next consider summative assessments.

What Are Summative Assessments?

Summative assessments are evaluations of what someone has learned throughout a course. 

Common summative assessments include:

• Final exams
• End-of-class projects

Summative assessments almost always take place at the end of a course unless a teacher decides to break a course into more manageable chunks. They’re often cumulative, and they’re used to evaluate a student’s long-term information retention.

In summative assessments like final exams , you can include questions from the first week or two of a course to ensure students retained introductory information. In other assessments like papers, your students can pull from a full marking period of learning to apply to a topic.

Either way, your students have to do some serious reflecting and critical thinking to bring together the information from an entire course.

This is a great way to ensure students retain essential information from one course to another. So if you teach introductory courses, summative assessments are perfect to set students up for success in their next classes.

That’s important because a student’s success in your classroom is just one step for them. When you prepare them for the next step, you make it easier for them to succeed in the future as well.

In that way, summative assessments serve two purposes:

First , they evaluate what someone learned while they’ve been in your class.

Second , they evaluate how prepared someone is to go to the next academic level.

Combined with the rest of a student’s performance in class, summative quizzing and assessments are excellent ways to gauge progress while ensuring long-term information retention.

Top 3 Summative Assessment Examples

Summative assessments are traditionally more structured and standardized than formative assessments.

Still, you have a few options to shake things up that go beyond a pen-and-paper test.

1. In-depth reports

Instruct students to choose a topic that resonated with them in class and report in-depth on it. This is a great opportunity for students to take an idea and run with it under your supervision.

These reports often showcase a student’s interest, and you’ll be able to evaluate a student’s engagement level in the class by how they approach the report.

The goal is a passionate, intelligent, and comprehensive examination of a concept that matters to a student. 

2. Cumulative, individual projects

Have your students pick a project to complete. This project should somehow reflect what they’ve learned throughout the course.

Projects are great for any practical application class from health science to physics. Creating a cross-section of the human heart, designing a diet, or creating a protective egg-drop vessel are all fun ways students can show off their knowledge of a topic.

3. Personal evaluation papers

Require students to apply principles from your class to their personal lives. These papers are excellent fits for psychology, nutrition, finance, business, and other theory-based classes.

In a nutshell, personal evaluations let students look at themselves through a different lens while exploring the nuances of the principles they learned in class.  Plus, it lets students do something everyone loves — talk about themselves!

Now that you have a few ideas on summative assessments, how can you track their success?

How Do You Track Summative Assessments?

While everyone has their own ideas on this topic, grades are the best way to evaluate someone’s success with a summative assessment.

How you grade is ultimately up to you. Presentations are great ways to grade someone based on a number of factors, including soft skills like public speaking. Written exams or project-based assessments are ideal to see a student’s full-scope understand of your class after a marking period.

Whatever you choose, stick to a consistent grading scale so you can identify your own strengths and weaknesses in the classroom as students complete your course. 

What’s More Important: Formative or Summative Assessments?

Many new teachers have this question — are formative or summative assessments more important?

In a perfect world, they’re equally important. Formative assessments let students show that they’re learning, and summative assessments let them show what they’ve learned.

But American public education values summative assessments over formative assessments. Standardized tests — like the SATs — are great examples of high-value summative assessments.

It’s rare to find the same emphasis on formative quizzing and assessments. That’s because formative assessments act like milestones while summative assessments show the bottom line.

We encourage teachers to look at these assessments as two sides of the same coin. Formative and summative assessments work together flawlessly when implemented properly.

With all of that in mind, you only have one question left to answer. How are you going to add these assessments to your curriculum ?

Use Formative and Summative Assessments and Meet Your Challenges

As a teacher, you’ll likely need to employ both summative and formative assessments in your curriculum. An effective balance of these assessments will help you understand your students’ needs while meeting your standards.

However, CTE teachers face challenges in the classroom each day that sometimes get in the way of connecting with students and preparing them for these assessments.

If you want to feel less overwhelmed and spend more time helping your students succeed, download your free guide . You’ll learn about five of the most significant challenges teachers face and how you can overcome them.

• To save this word, you'll need to log in. Log In

Definition of summative

Examples of summative in a sentence.

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'summative.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

1881, in the meaning defined above

Dictionary Entries Near summative

summation tone

Cite this Entry

“Summative.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/summative. Accessed 5 Apr. 2024.

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Can you solve 4 words at once?

Word of the day.

See Definitions and Examples »

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

The tangled history of 'it's' and 'its', more commonly misspelled words, why does english have so many silent letters, your vs. you're: how to use them correctly, every letter is silent, sometimes: a-z list of examples, popular in wordplay, 12 bird names that sound like compliments, 10 scrabble words without any vowels, 12 more bird names that sound like insults (and sometimes are), 8 uncommon words related to love, 9 superb owl words, games & quizzes.

Created by the Great Schools Partnership , the GLOSSARY OF EDUCATION REFORM is a comprehensive online resource that describes widely used school-improvement terms, concepts, and strategies for journalists, parents, and community members. | Learn more »

Summative Assessment

Summative assessments are used to evaluate student learning, skill acquisition, and academic achievement at the conclusion of a defined instructional period—typically at the end of a project, unit, course, semester, program, or school year. Generally speaking, summative assessments are defined by three major criteria:

• The tests, assignments, or projects are used to determine whether students have learned what they were expected to learn. In other words, what makes an assessment “summative” is not the design of the test, assignment, or self-evaluation, per se, but the way it is used—i.e., to determine whether and to what degree students have learned the material they have been taught.
• Summative assessments are given at the conclusion of a specific instructional period, and therefore they are generally evaluative, rather than diagnostic—i.e., they are more appropriately used to determine learning progress and achievement, evaluate the effectiveness of educational programs, measure progress toward improvement goals, or make course-placement decisions, among other possible applications.
• Summative-assessment results are often recorded as scores or grades that are then factored into a student’s permanent academic record, whether they end up as letter grades on a report card or test scores used in the college-admissions process. While summative assessments are typically a major component of the grading process in most districts, schools, and courses, not all assessments considered to be summative are graded.

Summative assessments are commonly contrasted with formative assessments , which collect detailed information that educators can use to improve instruction and student learning while it’s happening. In other words, formative assessments are often said to be for learning, while summative assessments are of learning. Or as assessment expert Paul Black put it, “When the cook tastes the soup, that’s formative assessment. When the customer tastes the soup, that’s summative assessment.” It should be noted, however, that the distinction between formative and summative is often fuzzy in practice, and educators may have divergent interpretations and opinions on the subject.

Some of the most well-known and widely discussed examples of summative assessments are the standardized tests administered by states and testing organizations, usually in math, reading, writing, and science. Other examples of summative assessments include:

• End-of-unit or chapter tests.
• End-of-term or semester tests.
• Standardized tests that are used to for the purposes of school accountability, college admissions (e.g., the SAT or ACT), or end-of-course evaluation (e.g., Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exams).
• Culminating demonstrations of learning or other forms of “performance assessment,” such as portfolios of student work that are collected over time and evaluated by teachers or capstone projects that students work on over extended periods of time and that they present and defend at the conclusion of a school year or their high school education.

While most summative assessments are given at the conclusion of an instructional period, some summative assessments can still be used diagnostically. For example, the growing availability of student data, made possible by online grading systems and databases, can give teachers access to assessment results from previous years or other courses. By reviewing this data, teachers may be able to identify students more likely to struggle academically in certain subject areas or with certain concepts. In addition, students may be allowed to take some summative tests multiple times, and teachers might use the results to help prepare students for future administrations of the test.

It should also be noted that districts and schools may use “interim” or “benchmark” tests to monitor the academic progress of students and determine whether they are on track to mastering the material that will be evaluated on end-of-course tests or standardized tests. Some educators consider interim tests to be formative, since they are often used diagnostically to inform instructional modifications, but others may consider them to be summative. There is ongoing debate in the education community about this distinction, and interim assessments may defined differently from place to place. See  formative assessment  for a more detailed discussion.

While educators have arguably been using “summative assessments” in various forms since the invention of schools and teaching, summative assessments have in recent decades become components of larger school-improvement efforts. As they always have, summative assessments can help teachers determine whether students are making adequate academic progress or meeting expected learning standards, and results may be used to inform modifications to instructional techniques, lesson designs, or teaching materials the next time a course, unit, or lesson is taught. Yet perhaps the biggest changes in the use of summative assessments have resulted from state and federal policies aimed at improving public education—specifically, standardized high-stakes tests used to make important decisions about schools, teachers, and students.

While there is little disagreement among educators about the need for or utility of summative assessments, debates and disagreements tend to center on issues of fairness and effectiveness, especially when summative-assessment results are used for high-stakes purposes. In these cases, educators, experts, reformers, policy makers, and others may debate whether assessments are being designed and used appropriately, or whether high-stakes tests are either beneficial or harmful to the educational process. For more detailed discussions of these issues, see high-stakes test , measurement error , test accommodations , test bias , score inflation , standardized test , and value-added measures .

Alphabetical Search

• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Meaning of summative in English

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

• continuous assessment
• grade boundary
• grade-point average
• honor student
• honours student
• second class
• straight As

Examples of summative

Translations of summative.

Get a quick, free translation!

Word of the Day

the birds and the bees

the basic facts about sex and how babies are produced

Shoots, blooms and blossom: talking about plants

Learn more with +Plus

• Recent and Recommended {{#preferredDictionaries}} {{name}} {{/preferredDictionaries}}
• Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English
• Grammar and thesaurus Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English Grammar Thesaurus
• Pronunciation British and American pronunciations with audio English Pronunciation
• English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English
• English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English
• English–Dutch Dutch–English
• English–French French–English
• English–German German–English
• English–Indonesian Indonesian–English
• English–Italian Italian–English
• English–Japanese Japanese–English
• English–Norwegian Norwegian–English
• English–Polish Polish–English
• English–Portuguese Portuguese–English
• English–Spanish Spanish–English
• English–Swedish Swedish–English
• Dictionary +Plus Word Lists
• English    Adjective
• Translations
• All translations

Add summative to one of your lists below, or create a new one.

{{message}}

Something went wrong.

There was a problem sending your report.

Summative Assessment: Understanding its Definition, Purpose, and Importance in Education

Learn about Summative Assessment in this educational glossary entry.

Summative assessment is a method used in education to evaluate students' learning at the end of an instructional unit or period. It is a formal assessment that typically occurs after a period of learning, such as the completion of a project, a unit of study, or a course. Unlike formative assessment, which aims to provide ongoing feedback to improve learning during the instructional process, summative assessment focuses on measuring the overall learning outcomes and achievement of students.

Summative assessments come in various forms, including standardized tests, final exams, projects, essays, and presentations. These assessments are designed to measure the extent to which students have mastered the learning objectives and standards set by the curriculum. The results of summative assessments are often used to assign grades or scores to students, which are then used to evaluate their academic performance and progress.

Purpose of Summative Assessment

The primary purpose of summative assessment is to evaluate students' understanding of the material covered in a specific period of instruction. By assessing students at the end of a unit or course, educators can determine the extent to which students have achieved the learning objectives and standards set by the curriculum. Summative assessments provide a comprehensive view of students' overall performance and help educators make informed decisions about students' progress and academic success.

Summative assessment also serves as a tool for accountability in education. By measuring students' learning outcomes against established standards, summative assessments help educational institutions, policymakers, and other stakeholders assess the effectiveness of instructional programs and curriculum. These assessments provide valuable data that can be used to identify areas of improvement, make informed decisions about resource allocation, and ensure that students are meeting academic expectations.

Types of Summative Assessment

There are several types of summative assessments commonly used in education, each serving a specific purpose and providing valuable insights into students' learning. Some of the most common types of summative assessment include:

• Standardized Tests: These tests are administered to all students in a standardized format and measure students' knowledge and skills against a set of predetermined criteria. Standardized tests are often used to assess students' proficiency in core subjects such as math, reading, and science.
• Final Exams: Final exams are comprehensive assessments administered at the end of a course or semester to evaluate students' understanding of the material covered throughout the term. These exams typically cover a wide range of topics and require students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills.
• Projects: Project-based assessments require students to apply their knowledge and skills to complete a hands-on project or task. These assessments allow students to demonstrate their creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving abilities in a real-world context.
• Essays: Essay assessments require students to write a structured response to a prompt or question, demonstrating their ability to organize and communicate their ideas effectively. Essays are often used to assess students' writing skills, critical thinking, and analytical abilities.
• Presentations: Presentation assessments require students to deliver a speech or presentation on a specific topic, demonstrating their ability to communicate information clearly and persuasively. Presentations assess students' public speaking skills, research abilities, and presentation techniques.

Importance of Summative Assessment

Summative assessment plays a crucial role in the education system for several reasons:

• Evaluation of Learning: Summative assessments provide educators with a comprehensive view of students' learning outcomes and achievements. By evaluating students' performance at the end of an instructional period, educators can assess the effectiveness of their teaching methods and the extent to which students have mastered the learning objectives.
• Feedback for Improvement: While the primary purpose of summative assessment is to evaluate student learning, the results of these assessments can also provide valuable feedback for improvement. By analyzing students' performance on summative assessments, educators can identify areas of strength and weakness in the curriculum and make necessary adjustments to improve student learning outcomes.
• Accountability and Transparency: Summative assessments help ensure accountability and transparency in education by measuring students' learning outcomes against established standards. These assessments provide objective data that can be used to assess the effectiveness of educational programs, evaluate student performance, and make data-driven decisions to improve educational quality.
• Grading and Reporting: Summative assessments are often used to assign grades or scores to students, which are then used to evaluate their academic performance and progress. These grades provide valuable information to students, parents, and educators about students' achievements, strengths, and areas for improvement.
• Evidence of Learning: Summative assessments serve as evidence of students' learning and achievements, demonstrating the knowledge and skills they have acquired throughout the instructional period. These assessments provide a tangible record of students' progress and can be used to showcase their academic accomplishments to others.

In conclusion, summative assessment is a valuable tool in education that helps evaluate students' learning outcomes, measure their achievements, and ensure accountability in the education system. By providing a comprehensive view of students' performance at the end of an instructional period, summative assessments play a crucial role in assessing student progress, informing instructional decisions, and improving educational quality.

Help Learning Corner Get Better

Got suggestions or feedback? Let us know through this form or drop us a comment on Facebook .

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS: MEANING, EXAMPLES AND TYPES

As an educator, you must have heard of formative and summative evaluations. But, do you know what they are and…

As an educator, you must have heard of formative and summative evaluations . But, do you know what they are and how they differ from one another?

Formative and summative evaluations are two overlapping ways of assessing pupils. Both formative and summative evaluations complement each other while examining a learner’ progress. The end goal of both is to establish the strengths, weaknesses and developmental patterns of students. Formative and summative evaluations are designed so that each type of evaluation gives actionable insights to educationists.

A holistic assessment practice would combine the best features of both formative and summative evaluations , depending on how they can contribute toward the end goal. A combination of the two can improve educational attainment levels and maximize efficacy.

The Meaning Of Summative Assessments

Definition of summative assessment, summative assessment meaning, summative assessment examples, types of summative assessments, benefits of summative assessment, how to use summative assessment, characteristics of summative assessment, assess and evaluate with harappa.

Which are the most effective summative evaluations ? Which formative evaluations are more creative? It appears that summative evaluation has a much greater online presence. Educators are liberally using online tools to track summative evaluations compared to formative evaluations.

Summative assessments are evaluative instead of diagnostic and help ascertain if the stated objectives of the course are being met. They help evaluate the performance of the learner against a predetermined benchmark. The stakes for such assessments are usually very high and have a high value point. These consist of clear instructions and grading rubric to see how much the student has understood and retained. Rubric is a tool that describes the instructor’s performance expectations from an assignment.

Summative assessments can be complemented with materials that help the teacher analyze results and take better actions for strategic learning. This strategy is also now also being incorporated in a number of e-learning modules.

Let’s dive deeper by examining the key differences between summative and formative evaluations , the different types of summative evaluations, the purpose of summative assessments and how summative evaluation is essential to learner development. We’ll gloss over the advantages and disadvantages of summative assessment , and finally review some examples.

A simple definition of summative assessment is that it helps evaluate student learning, knowledge gained and proficiency at the end of an instructional course or learning program. The definition of summative assessment is better understood if we also understand the meaning of formative assessments. When both approaches are combined, chances of success are maximized.

The meaning of summative assessment is that it judges a student’s level of learning and academic prowess at the end of the year or term of learning. This is done by comparing the evaluation against a set, universal standard or benchmark that’s been established in advance.

Now that we’ve outlined the meaning of summative assessment , let’s view some examples.

You can find many examples of summative assessment . Here we’ll list some summative assessment examples that are directly related to student performance. These are:

• Half-yearly, mid-term and end-of-term exams
•  Unit tests or chapter tests
• Projects, assignments and creative portfolios
• Tests that are standardized and demonstrate the proficiency of a school. These are often used in admissions. Some of these summative assessment examples are SAT, GCSEs and A-Levels

Summative assessments are indispensable within the learning framework and every individual should acknowledge their profound importance in learning and development of an individual.

There can be several types of summative assessment . Some of these are:

• Teacher-designed quizzes and tests that include short essays, multiple-choice questions, short answers, matching activities and fill in the blanks
• Writing and analytical skills are tested through research papers, media reviews, articles, blogs, pamphlets and brochures
• Descriptive presentations for various audiences can include role play, drama, panel discussions, exhibitions, clay models, debates, musical pieces and dioramas
• Technical creations such as machines, blueprints, spreadsheets, computer programs, podcasts, web pages, collages and channels
• Kinesthetic practices such as aerobics and dance are a unique type of summative assessment

These different types of summative assessment should be designed to align with the goals and outcomes that are needed from these assessments.

There are a host of summative assessment benefits that can help students and teachers reap long-term rewards. These are:

1. Student Motivation

The importance of summative assessment is in its ability to keep students motivated to study throughout the year. Good grades can benefit students and encourage them to put in more effort. For example, SAT practice tests are usually associated with a higher-than-average point increase.

2. Applying Learning

Summative assessments and evaluations are not just about memorizing math multiplication tables. Well-designed assessments can help students apply these skills to the real world. Tests such as multiple-choice questions help students critically analyze what they have learnt and apply that knowledge.

3. Identifying Gaps In Learning

Another importance of summative assessments is that they identify any learning gaps and help bridge them. Most teachers conduct unit tests at the end of each chapter to understand how much students have retained and then progress to the next unit. The students who lag behind can be given extra coaching or encouragement to catch up with the rest of the class.

4. Identifying Teaching Gaps

Another important benefit of summative assessments is that they reveal teaching gaps. Teaching styles may not necessarily be perfect and sometimes teachers miss their mark. One purpose of summative assessment could be making the learning program more student-friendly. If all students are faring poorly, then the grading is probably not related to study time. Some ways by which gaps in teaching can be addressed are:

• Including visual aids in the program
• Excluding or including word problems
• Incorporating interesting and innovative teaching styles that facilitate better student assessment

5. Giving Valuable Insights

Summative assessments benefits also include giving evaluators necessary insights and feedback on student progress and performance. It can highlight what worked and what didn’t. The management can make informed and calculated decisions on which part of the curriculum needs tweaking. This makes it easier on both students and evaluators.The importance of summative assessments can’t be overlooked. Some summative assessments are so well-structured that they give valuable data to academicians at the national and global levels. The entire curriculum can be overhauled if need be. The average test scores of a particular school impact its overall grading. This also determines whether the academic institution will continue to be eligible for further funding or attract the same caliber of student.

The purpose of summative assessment is to enhance learning. The structured and standardized exams that form a part of the curriculum leave little room for innovation or imagination. However, there are other ways by which summative assessments can be made extremely interesting.

We are entering the virtual era where online platforms for student learning abound.Digital literacy can help to re-engage students and divert their attention from the conventional classroom formats. Dragging and dropping answers, MCQs and podcasts are just a few of the tools that can foster learning through summative assessments. Students should be allowed to express themselves comfortably.

Multi-modal summative assessments test the learners’ prowess in different ways. Teachers can get an accurate picture of how much the student has grasped. Final exams can be set in a format that prepares students for job applications and increases their vocational proficiency.

Ideally, a combination of formative and summative assessments is needed to get the best results.

Summative assessments usually have a higher value or stakes compared to formative assessments. Here are some characteristics of summative assessments that you need to know:

• One purpose of a summative assessment is using  rubric to lay out the expected criteria of performance for different grade ranges
• Questions have a clear design and meaning, allowing students to creatively express themselves
• Most summative assessments are structured in a way to assess comprehension. These give opportunities to students to consider courses as a holistic element, making broader connections and exhibiting specific skills
• The parameters of summative assessments are usually extremely well-defined. Such parameters include response time, grading method, time and date. This allows students with disabilities to adapt and attempt tests with the right support
• Blind grading techniques are also a part of summative assessments. These give unbiased feedback to students, eliminating the possibility of favoritism

While there are advantages and disadvantages of summative assessments , the pros outnumber the cons. Overall, a comprehensive summative assessment program gives the best insights into where someone stands compared to their peers. It’s a well established way of transforming the classroom environment.

For students and teachers, learning and evaluating is a continuous process. It can be liberating and empowering when you have the chance to build a new skill set. Harappa’s Inspiring faculty program teaches how to learn from experience, get critical insights, reflect on your performance and acquire a new edge.

These insights can be applied to your career and vocation. Assessment tools can open a whole new world of agile learning and adept performance. Our courses offer a strategic path to success. With resilience and diligence, you can take on newer assessment challenges that will prepare you well for the future. Push yourself to learn and grow. Enroll today and unlock expert advice from some of our leading faculty.

Why is writing essays so hard?

Patterns and boring topics imposed by schools and universities are not very conducive to creativity and human development. Such essays are very difficult to write, because many are not interested in this and do not see the meaning of the text. There are a number of criteria that make it impossible to write essays:

• Boring and incomprehensible topics. Many topics could be more interesting, but teachers formulate them in a way that makes you want to yawn.
• Templates. 90% do not know how to make an essay interesting, how to turn this detailed answer to a question into a living story.
• Fear of not living up to expectations. It seems to many that the essay is stupid and that they simply did not understand the question. There is a fear of getting a bad mark and disappointing the professor, parents and classmates. There is a fear of looking stupid and embarrassing in front of the team.
• Lack of experience. People don't know what and how to write about. In order to make a good essay, you need to have a perfect understanding of the topic and have the skills of a writer.

That is why the company EssaysWriting provides its services. We remove the responsibility for the result from the clients and do everything to ensure that the scientific work is recognized.

Standard essay helper

Calculate the price

Minimum Price

You may be worried that your teacher will know that you took an expert's assistance to write my essay for me, but we assure you that nothing like that will happen with our write essay service. Taking assistance to write from PenMyPaper is both safe and private. We respect your privacy and thus do not ask for credentials like your name, college, location, or your phone number. To pay for the essay writing, you can either use your debit or credit cards to pay via PayPal or use your wallet balance from our website. All we would need is your card details and your email-id. This is our responsibility that your information will be kept all safe. This is what makes our service the best essay writing service to write with.

Adam Dobrinich

Read what our clients have to say about our writing essay services!

Deadlines can be scary while writing assignments, but with us, you are sure to feel more confident about both the quality of the draft as well as that of meeting the deadline while we write for you.

We select our writers from various domains of academics and constantly focus on enhancing their skills for our writing essay services. All of them have had expertise in this academic world for more than 5 years now and hold significantly higher degrees of education. Once the writers get your topic in hand, only after thorough research on the topic, they move towards the direction to write it. They take up information from credible sources and assure you that no plagiarism could be found in your writing from our writing service website.

Allene W. Leflore

Customer Reviews

How can I be sure you will write my paper, and it is not a scam?

Earl M. Kinkade

Perfect Essay

• How it Works
• Top Writers