Jacqueline Wong
Teachers need to know how well students are progressing in order to adjust their teaching to help students meet the learning objectives. Similarly, students can adapt learning strategies to work towards their learning goals in the process of self-regulated learning (SRL) if they have information about how well they are progressing. To obtained such information, periodic assessments during learning, also known as formative assessments (FA) are needed. Therefore, FA is related to SRL and can support SRL. Panadero, Andrade, and Brookhart (2018) aimed to illustrate the current understanding of the relationship between formative assessment and SRL so as to move the field forward. The authors identified three phases of development. The early years were between 1988 and 2000 where the cognitive and metacognitive processes involved in SRL were associated with feedback. In the middle years between 2001 and 2012, stronger links were established between SRL and student-centered FA that provided feedback to students. Currently, the time between 2013 till present, research on FA and SRL has been growing. It was noted that some researchers think of assessment as the co-regulation of learning between teachers and students.
Based on the historical trajectory of theoretical and empirical papers, the authors suggested future lines of research to examine which models of SRL underlie effective FA practices and which FA practices support SRL. Also, future research area should include individual and contextual factors that may moderate the relationship between FA and SRL (e.g., educational level and online vs. face-to-face courses). All in all, examining FA along with SRL is a promising research area that is gaining more attention.