Formative assessments can help students learn by focusing on real-life experiences, but there are some problems that make them less effective:

1. Misalignment with Learning: Sometimes, formative assessments don’t match up with the hands-on learning activities. If the assessments only check for memorization, they might miss the deeper understanding that comes from real-world experiences.

2. Lack of Helpful Feedback: For formative assessments to work well, students need quick and useful feedback. Often, teachers are too busy with big class sizes or lots of grading, which leads to only basic feedback that doesn’t help students think more critically about their learning.

3. Student Apathy: Some students see formative assessments as boring or pointless. This can lead to them not caring about the feedback they get. If students don’t value these assessments, they won’t try hard enough to learn from them.

4. Limited Resources: Many schools face challenges with limited time and training for teachers. Without proper training, educators may struggle to use formative assessments well alongside hands-on learning.

To make these challenges better, schools can:

• Connect Assessments to Learning Goals: Make sure formative assessments relate directly to hands-on tasks so students can see how their learning connects to the real world.
• Improve Feedback: Use peer assessments and provide training for teachers to give better feedback.
• Engage Students: Get students involved in creating assessments to make them feel more invested in their learning.
• Provide Necessary Resources: Give teachers the time and training they need to create effective formative assessments that support hands-on learning.

By working on these issues, formative assessments can better support real-world learning, leading to greater student interest and understanding.