the impact of formative assessment on medical students' learning: a scoping review

Introduction: formative assessment is integral to medical education, serving the purpose of enhancing learning efficacy, providing feedback to students and faculty, and refining teaching methodologies for student advancement and academic progression. this study was therefore designed with the aim of investigating formative assessment and its impact on the education of students. materials and methods: this study was a scoping review are based on arksey and o'malley's framework. published studies from 2000 to 2024 were retrieved from web of science (wos), scopus, pubmed/medline (nlm), and eric. the keywords of education, teaching, learning, medical education, formative assessment and their english equivalents were used. results: a total of 2,433 articles were initially identified, with 53 meeting the inclusion criteria. after screening, 16 key conceptual areas related to the impact of formative assessment in medical education were identified. these areas include web-based self-assessment, feedback, longitudinal assessment, classroom interaction, dynamic evaluation, motivation, cumulative learning impact, continuous revision, reflection, osce, clinical reasoning, instructor experience, and strategies for student success. conclusion: the findings of this review show the impact of formative assessment on learning, teaching and introduce some methods of formative assessment in medical education and the benefits of using them. by integrating these strategies into your teaching practice, you can generate a dynamic learning environment that supports ongoing student development and fosters a culture of continuous improvement.