Every teacher has experienced it.
You are halfway through a lesson when you notice one student staring blankly into space. Another seems distracted. A few are quietly nodding along.
But who truly understands the lesson, and who is simply keeping up appearances?
In the busy life of a classroom, educators face a constant challenge: covering the curriculum while making sure every student is learning along the way. It is easy to focus on getting through the day’s content, especially when exams and deadlines are approaching.
However, great teaching is not simply about covering content. It is about knowing whether students understand it.
That is where formative assessments come in.
What Are Formative Assessments?
Formative assessments are simple ways for teachers to check student understanding during the learning process. Unlike a final examination or end-of-term assessment, they give teachers information while there is still time to respond.
A quick question, classroom discussion, exit ticket, or short reflection can reveal whether students are ready to move forward or need additional support.
For teachers, these formative assessment strategies provide valuable insight into what is happening inside the classroom.
For students, they create opportunities to recognise what they understand, identify where they need help, and become more active participants in their own learning.
Lucy’s Story
Mrs. Thompson was teaching a Biology lesson when she noticed that one of her students, Lucy, had become noticeably disengaged.
It was not an unusual situation. Like many teachers, Mrs. Thompson was working to complete the curriculum while preparing her students for upcoming assessments. Yet she realised that moving through the syllabus was not enough. She needed to know whether every student was actually learning.
The week before, she had heard about a strategy from her colleague, Mr. Tan: using quick formative assessments throughout the lesson to check whether students were following along.
So, in her next class, she decided to try a few simple techniques.
She used quick multiple-choice questions through Kahoot!, introduced traffic light cards so students could signal their level of understanding, and asked students to write a one-sentence summary halfway through the lesson and again at the end.
The change was noticeable.
Students became more engaged. Classroom discussions became more lively. Most importantly, Mrs. Thompson felt more confident that she could identify who understood the lesson and who needed additional support.
Sometimes, small changes can make a significant difference.
Five Formative Assessment Strategies to Check for Understanding
1. Traffic Light Cards
Students use green, yellow, or red cards to indicate how confident they feel about a concept.
Green can mean “I understand,” yellow can mean “I am not completely sure,” and red can mean “I need help.”
This simple strategy gives teachers immediate feedback. Instead of waiting for a test to reveal a learning gap, teachers can adjust their teaching while the lesson is still happening.
Place the cards somewhere visible, such as on the front corner of each student’s table. With one glance around the classroom, you can quickly see who is ready to move forward and who may need further explanation.
2. Mini Debates
Students naturally enjoy sharing their opinions. So why not use that energy to deepen learning?
Short classroom debates encourage students to explain their thinking, listen to different perspectives, and respond to ideas they may not agree with.
More importantly, these conversations can reveal misunderstandings that traditional questioning might not uncover.
Students are not simply giving answers. They are explaining why they believe those answers are correct.
That makes classroom discussion a valuable form of formative assessment.
3. Exit Tickets
At the end of a lesson, ask students to respond to a short question about what they have learned.
You could also ask them to identify one idea they are still unsure about.
These quick responses give teachers immediate insight into student understanding and can help shape the next lesson.
Rather than simply asking, “Did you understand today’s lesson?”, a guided question can encourage students to provide a more meaningful response.
For example:
“What is one thing you can now explain that you could not explain before today’s lesson?”
A question like this gives students a clearer way to reflect on their learning.
4. One-Sentence Summaries
Ask students to summarise the entire lesson in a single sentence.
It sounds simple. It is not.
To write a useful one-sentence summary, students must identify the most important idea, remove unnecessary information, and communicate their understanding clearly.
In fact, the shorter the summary needs to be, the more carefully students often have to think.
This makes the activity a simple but powerful formative assessment strategy. It helps teachers see whether students have understood the central idea rather than simply memorised individual facts.
5. Misconception Checks
Not every student feels comfortable admitting that they are confused.
Some may worry about giving the wrong answer in front of their classmates. Others may simply remain quiet.
Anonymous digital tools such as Google Forms can provide another way to identify misconceptions.
For example, a teacher can display a QR code on a presentation slide at the end of a lesson. Students can then submit their responses privately.
The teacher can review those responses before the next lesson and address common misunderstandings before moving forward.
This is particularly useful when a teacher wants honest feedback without putting individual students on the spot.
Why Formative Assessments Matter
These strategies are not simply classroom tricks. They are part of a broader approach to assessment for learning, where teachers use evidence of student understanding to guide what happens next.
Research into formative assessment has highlighted its value in helping teachers identify learning needs and provide timely feedback. Educational researcher John Hattie has also examined formative assessment as part of his wider research into factors that influence student learning outcomes.
The principle is straightforward: teachers need opportunities to check understanding throughout the learning process rather than relying only on a final assessment.
In practice, this means asking a simple question before moving on, listening carefully to classroom discussions, reviewing a short written response, or using a quick digital quiz.
These small moments can provide valuable information.
Keeping Every Student on the Learning Journey
The goal is not to slow down learning.
The goal is to make sure that everyone is moving forward.
A traffic light card can reveal confusion in seconds. A mini debate can uncover a misconception. An exit ticket can show what students have taken away from a lesson. A one-sentence summary can reveal whether they understand the central idea. A simple misconception check can highlight an issue before it becomes a larger learning gap.
None of these formative assessments requires a major change to the curriculum.
Instead, they give teachers more information about what is happening inside the classroom.
At Fairview International School, we believe meaningful learning goes beyond simply delivering content. Teachers need to understand how students think, where they are struggling, and how they can be supported to move forward.
This approach complements the student-centred philosophy behind the International Baccalaureate programmes at Fairview, where learning is designed to develop students beyond academic knowledge and help them become thoughtful, capable, and independent learners.
That is why formative assessments can be such a valuable part of effective teaching.
Because ultimately, education is not about how quickly we get through the syllabus.
It is about making sure every student gets the opportunity to learn.
References
National Education Association. The Impact of Formative Assessments.
Hattie, J. Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement. Routledge, 2009.
Journal of Educational Psychology. “Effects of Formative Assessment on Student Achievement.”
About Dr. Vincent Chian
Dr. Vincent Chian is Principal of Fairview International School Kuala Lumpur. His work focuses on educational leadership, lifelong learning, and developing learning environments that prepare students for life beyond examinations.
