Formative assessment in property education : a comparison between blended and online learning

Formative assessment is of vital importance to enhance student learning. Students are able to apply their knowledge by completing formative exercises and given the opportunity to rectify their mistakes prior to attempting the summative assessment. Feedback provided for formative assessment has been recognised as central in enhancing student learning as students can use this to reinforce their understanding of the subject. The paper is based on an exploratory research project using student survey data as well as records of students' performance and activities over the first semester of 2012. The purpose is to study how two groups of property students exposed to different modes of learning responded to the online and traditional formative assessment. The student perceptions and the statistical relationship between formative and summative assessment will be analysed using quantitative analysis techniques. The research shows that both groups of students, internal (blended) and external (online) students, have benefited from the range of formative assessments offered in this first-year property course, albeit to a different extent. Property academics should, therefore, make good use of formative assessment to enhance student engagement and virtual classroom might be a solution to further engage external students. Besides highlighting challenges, student perceptions and the usefulness of formative assessment, the paper also provides recommendations for future research.