A Curious Case of Formative Assessment

Abstract

The educational value of formative assessment (FA) has been widely acknowledged within higher education. At the same time, there is little consensus on what FA entails, or how it should be defined and understood when looking at the Western education system; this is even more problematic when adapted by TNE institutions. This chapter looks at the definition issues together with key characteristics of quality formative feedback, including the role of the student in co-creating feedback, something that is particularly challenging within the context of this chapter, TNE in China. It looks at the most apparent challenges that are associated with FA implementation within a Chinese higher education context, such as educational heritage and a deep-rooted collectivist approach to learning. It also ventures to propose an alternative conception, formative routines framework FRF), to emphasise the importance of student and teacher training when engaging in formative tasks and using these to support the ongoing development of curricula.