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Formative Assessment and Grading in the Age of AI: A Practical Guide for Teachers

Formative Assessment and Grading in the Age of AI: A Practical Guide for Teachers

Learn how to leverage AI tools to enhance formative assessment practices in the classroom. A practical guide for teachers.

Mathieu Bonte

Jan 11, 2025

The Testing Effect: A Proven Path to Better Learning

Research in cognitive psychology has repeatedly shown that retrieval practice, or actively recalling information, is one of the most effective strategies for long-term memory retention. This phenomenon, known as the Testing Effect, demonstrates why regular, low-stakes testing plays a crucial role in effective learning.

A landmark study by Roediger and Karpicke (2006) revealed that students who engaged in retrieval practice retained 50% more information a week later compared to those who only studied passively through rereading. This finding highlights that testing is not just an evaluation tool — it’s an active learning strategy.

In the classroom, formative assessments such as short quizzes or practice tests harness the Testing Effect by providing two key benefits: - They give teachers actionable insights into student progress. - They reinforce learning by strengthening the neural pathways needed for future recall.

"Testing isn’t just for assessment — it’s a learning strategy that builds better, lasting knowledge."

Modern AI tools make it easier than ever to incorporate frequent testing into lessons. These tools can generate personalized quizzes, adapt questions to individual student needs, and save time by automating grading and feedback. By leveraging these technologies, teachers can maximize the benefits of the Testing Effect without adding to their workload.

The key takeaway? Testing more often helps students remember more. By embedding retrieval practice into daily lessons, teachers empower students to succeed both in the classroom and beyond.

How to Incorporate the Testing Effect into Formative Assessment

Integrating the Testing Effect into your classroom doesn’t have to be complicated. By combining frequent, low-stakes quizzes with actionable feedback, teachers can help students strengthen their memory and gain confidence in their abilities. Here are some practical strategies to get started:

  • Frequent Quizzes: Studies, such as Roediger and Butler (2011), show that low-stakes quizzes given frequently improve long-term retention. Scheduling quizzes at the end of each lesson helps students actively retrieve what they’ve learned, which reinforces understanding and strengthens neural connections.
  • Spaced Retrieval: Research by Cepeda et al. (2006) highlights the power of spaced repetition for memory retention. By revisiting material over time, students are more likely to retain information for the long term. For example, a quiz on Monday’s lesson could be revisited the following week to ensure knowledge sticks.
  • Feedback Loop: Hattie and Timperley (2007) emphasize that timely and specific feedback is one of the most effective tools for improving student outcomes. Feedback after each quiz helps students identify gaps in their understanding and correct errors quickly, leading to deeper learning.
"Regular quizzes, paired with timely feedback, transform the classroom into a space where learning and growth thrive."

By embedding these practices into your routine, you’ll not only improve your students’ retention but also create a more dynamic and engaging learning environment. The Testing Effect isn’t just a theory — it’s a proven strategy every teacher can adopt to foster long-term success.

Why It's Time to Move Beyond Multiple-Choice for Assessment

Research from Greving and Richter (2018) highlights a critical limitation of multiple-choice questions in fostering deep learning. While QCMs can quickly gauge surface-level understanding, they often fail to engage the cognitive effort required for effective retrieval — a key driver of the Testing Effect. This lack of effortful recall diminishes their impact on long-term retention.

In contrast, short-answer questions demand active retrieval, requiring students to generate answers independently. The study found that students who practiced with short-answer questions demonstrated significantly better retention over time compared to those who relied on multiple-choice testing. These results align with theories emphasizing the role of cognitive effort in learning, such as Bjork’s Desirable Difficulties Framework.

"Multiple-choice testing may reinforce recognition, but it falls short in fostering the active recall needed for deep and lasting learning."

For teachers, this means prioritizing assessment methods that challenge students to retrieve and articulate their knowledge. Incorporating short-answer quizzes into formative assessment not only strengthens retention but also helps identify and address misconceptions more effectively.

While multiple-choice questions have their place in certain contexts, such as standardized testing or initial reviews, they should not be the default method for deeper learning. Instead, consider tools and techniques that promote active engagement — because meaningful learning starts with meaningful questions.

How Can AI Help Me Test My Students More Effectively?

a) By Generating More Tests

As a teacher, I love crafting my own questions. It allows me to align assessments closely with my teaching style and objectives. However, we sometimes fall into the trap of unintentional bias, overlooking critical areas of our course or missing important angles that could enrich our students' understanding.

This is where AI comes to the rescue. By leveraging tools like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini, we can upload our lesson materials and let AI assist us in generating a variety of insightful and comprehensive questions. Here's how it works:

  1. Upload the Lesson: Start by uploading your course materials in PDF format into a tool such as Claude. For this demonstration, I’m using the free version of Claude.
  2. Use a Prompt: Input a clear, focused prompt to guide the AI in creating questions. For example: "Generate 5 insightful questions based on the content of this PDF to assess student understanding."
  3. Review and Refine: Carefully review the generated questions, selecting the ones that align with your teaching goals. Refine the questions or add your own as needed.
Claude

Once you’ve finalized your questions, paste them into this tool and download the pdf (it's free).

quiz tool

Mixing AI-generated questions with your own ensures a well-rounded assessment that covers all key aspects of the lesson, including those areas you might not have thought to test. By incorporating AI into your workflow, you can save time and improve the quality and diversity of your quizzes.

b) By Automatically Grading Quizzes

Another powerful way AI can help is by automating the grading process. For this, I use a second tool: GradePaper.ink. This tool saves me valuable time by analyzing student submissions and grading them automatically.

To speed up the process, I use the school photocopier and a USB drive to quickly scan all the quizzes. Alternatively, you can use an iPhone app to scan the quizzes into a PDF file. Many apps, like CamScanner or Adobe Scan, make this step quick and straightforward.

Once the quizzes are scanned and saved as a PDF, I simply upload the file to GradePaper.ink. The tool then generates a detailed grading grid and evaluates each student’s answers, even recognizing their handwriting for written responses.

This process not only saves me hours of manual work but also ensures consistent and objective grading. It’s a game-changer for managing large class sizes or frequent assessments.

Here is an example from their site

gradepaper.ink

Conclusion

Formative assessment is a powerful way to support student learning, and AI tools make it easier than ever to incorporate into daily teaching routines. From generating diverse and meaningful questions to automating grading, these tools help teachers save time while improving the quality of their assessments.

The Testing Effect has proven the value of frequent, low-stakes quizzes in boosting retention. With AI, creating and grading these quizzes becomes less of a burden, allowing teachers to focus more on providing feedback and engaging with their students.

Tools like Claude and GradePaper.ink simplify the process, whether it’s generating insightful questions or quickly grading student submissions. By using these resources, teachers can ensure that formative assessment is both effective and manageable, even for large classes or busy schedules.

AI isn’t here to replace teachers — it’s here to help. By integrating these tools into your workflow, you can test more often, grade more efficiently, and spend more time focusing on what matters most: helping your students succeed.