Design for Learning- Principles, Processes, and Praxis, 2021a

“When the cook tastes the soup that’s formative; when the guests
taste the soup, that’s summative.” – Robert E. Stake (M. Scriven,
1991, p. 169)
Formative
Formative evaluation occurs during instructional design. It is the
process of evaluating instruction and instructional materials to obtain
feedback that in turn drives revisions to make instruction more
efficient and effective. One way to think about this is to liken it to a
chef tasting his food before he sends it out to the customer. Morrison
et al. (2019) explained that the formative evaluation process utilizes
data from media, instruction, and learner engagement to formulate a
picture of learning from which the designer can make changes to the
product before the final implementation.
Boston (2002, p. 2) stated the purpose of formative evaluation as “all
activities that teachers and students undertake to get information that
can be used diagnostically to alter teaching and learning.” Formative
evaluation results in the improvement of instructional processes for
the betterment of the learner. While making formative changes are
best conducted during earlier stages of the design process, these
changes may come later if the situation dictates it. According to
Morrison et al., (2019), when summative and confirmative evaluations
demonstrate undesirable effects, then the results may be used as a
formative evaluation tool to make improvements.
Instructional designers should consider a variety of data sources to
create a full picture of the effectiveness of their design. Morrison et
al. (2019) proposed that connoisseur-based, decision-oriented,
objective-based, and constructivist evaluations are each appropriate
methodologies within the formative process. More recently Patton
(2016) introduced developmental evaluation which introduces
innovation and adaptation in dynamic environments.
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