The essence of formative assessment as a didactic concept of higher education

Abstract

The purpose of the research is to reveal the didactic essence of formative assessment in the context of its conceptualization in the university pedagogical process. The article refers to the problem of improving the pedagogical process through the use of educational technologies of formative assessment. The study attempts to trace the evolution of the formation of the concept of formative assessment in Russian and foreign pedagogy, to identify its essence and content, to characterize formative assessment in the modern educational process of the university as a pedagogical phenomenon that contributes to improving the quality of learning. As a result, the researchers clarified the essence of the concept “formative assessment” and defined it on the basis of the conducted comprehensive analysis of the genesis of its conceptualization in global pedagogical science. The novelty of the proposed research lies in the presented characteristic of formative assessment in a modern pedagogical process of higher education institutions, revealing its essence through didactic functions and strategic principles. The paper concludes by highlighting the didactic potential of formative assessment, focusing on its essential characteristic as a regulator of educational activity, which provides the continuous development and adaptation of the pedagogical process to the individual abilities and learning needs of students in order to improve the quality of education. The practical advantage of the paper is that it proposes tactics and strategies for the implementation of formative assessment technologies in the university educational process.