Effective formative assessment and feedback management in education

Formative assessment is ranked among the most effective instructional strategies, with its ability to take place in all stages of students’ learning process, from activating prior knowledge, to monitor progress, to feed-forward on the learning journey. With a mix of theoretical and practical activities, our participants can reflect on how to improve their awareness of students’ understanding through effective and easy assessment and feedback strategies.

The new edition of the course “Effective formative assessment and feedback management in education​” took place in Bologna, Italy, from 12/10/2025 to 18/10/2025. The participants came from all across Europe with Elīna from National Library of Latvia in Latvia, Sari from LAB University of Applied Sciences in Finland and Socratis from Forum Private School in Cyprus.

In addition, our course was divided into five different days, and this is how the week was organized:

On Monday, our session consisted of introducing and distinguishing diagnostic, formative and summative assessment, learning purposes covered and utility within the assessment continuous process. Moreover, learning the Know-Want to Learn and Learned assessment tool and exploring the learning log as an useful instrument  for Metacognition and self-assessment.

On Tuesday, we discovered the power of posing effective questions for designing stimulating tasks and effective assessment activities together with exploring the carousel method as an effective method for fostering critical thinking and student learning autonomy. 

On Wednesday, participants were sharing and learning off-line and digital tools for assessment (entry-exit tickets, rubrics, interactive quizzes).

On Thursday, the group navigated and discussed the importance of communication and feedback along with adopting a growth mindset for empowering students. 

Finally, on Friday, participants were learning peer feedback strategy and teacher reflective and self-evaluation strategies. Furthermore, the closing activity was to build up an assessment plan covering diverse activities, part of your Educational Unit Plan.

Moreover, the course started by activating participants’ prior knowledge on the topic of formative assessment; they were asked to share what they already knew about it and to share their learning intentions for the training week. The first topic discussed in the course was the assessment cycle and the difference between formative and summative assessment. Throw group brainstorming and digital quizzes participants revised the most relevant differences between these two types of assessment trying to identify the goals and characteristics of each type of assessment. This was also an opportunity to share challenges, doubts and questions on the course topic.

Feedback as one of the most challenging and important formative assessment strategies was another important focus of the week. Group discussion and role plays helped the group to identify the do’s and don’ts of feedback, establish a protocol for giving effective and constructive feedback but also a mindset and attitude for receiving it. Through an engaging challenge, participants were also led to think about the importance of spreading a growth culture in the classroom, one in which feedback is seen not as a punishment but as an opportunity to grow and an act of care.

Participants went on discussing about the main tools and types of formative assessment that could be integrated into the teaching process. Focus was put on the most relevant digital tools that allow teachers to monitor real time students’ progress and understanding on a topic, but also to run entry and exit tickets to activate students and make them reflect on what they are learning.

Besides teacher-student feedback, the opportunities for students to become instructional resources for one another should be well taken into account. Participants tackled this topic through exploration of practical strategies to promote peer learning and feedback. They also shared their experiences in providing rubrics as display of the assessment criteria for all students to take ownership of their learning process but also as a tool to provide a safe peer assessment environment.

In order to improve students and teachers’ ability for self-checking, the topic of self-assessment led us to the conclusion of the course. Self-awareness and self-motivation could be powerful both for students to be more engaged and committed in the learning process but also for teachers to evaluate their teaching practices. With these ideas in mind, participants held a self-reflection on the training week and discussed about upcoming goals and intentions to put into practice the knowledge learnt.

Discover more about this course at Link