Summative assessment measures learning at the end of something: a final, a project, a paper. Formative assessment checks learning along the way so you and your students can adjust: a quick quiz, a one-minute paper, a show of hands, a draft. Both matter, but most courses are heavy on summative and light on formative.

Frequent low-stakes checks do two things. They tell you what students do and do not understand while you can still act on it, and they help students find their own gaps before the high-stakes assessment. Even a single ungraded question at the end of class is useful evidence.