Assessment

Laure CHEN, Lily LEI, Monaliza Maximo CHIAN, Ling CHE

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Assessment in education serves to enhance the quality of education. Macro-level assessments aim to provide accountability, qualifications, and accreditation at the institutional, programme, and individual levels; classroom assessments serve to support and improve the teaching process and students’ learning. Thus, both educators and learners need to strengthen their assessment literacy, i.e. the capability for teachers to adopt appropriate assessment methodologies to improve students’ learning, and to analyse, interpret and evaluate performance data; and the capability for students to assess and evaluate their own learning. While assessment of learning (AoL) focuses on determining students’ performance to learning objectives; assessment for learning (AfL) and assessment as learning (AaL) focus on the process of learning. Assessment for learning (AfL) is a process of gathering information about students’ learning, which informs teachers to modify their teaching with differentiated instruction and feedback for students to enhance their learning. Assessment as Learning (AaL) engages students in reflecting on and monitoring their learning progress, usually through self and peer assessment.

COVID-19 has called for an unexpected and temporary shift to online learning, i.e. emergency remote teaching (ERT), resulting in an increased reliance on digital assessment which enables comprehensive monitoring of students’ progress, exchanging immediate and personalised feedback, diminishing time and/or location restrictions, and evaluating generic skills, including collaboration and problem-solving skills (Nguyen et al., 2017; Timmis et al., 2016).

Below are some relevant and timely school examples, internet resources, and scholarly contributions that raise issues, considerations, and challenges as we strive to continually advance our knowledge on assessment to adapt to changing conditions on education.

References

Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (2018). Classroom assessment and pedagogy. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 25(6), 551-575.

Nguyen, Q., Rienties, B., Toetenel, L., Ferguson, R., & Whitelock, D. (2017). Examining the designs of computer-based assessment and its impact on student engagement, satisfaction, and pass rates. Computers in Human Behavior, 76, 703-714.

Timmis, S., Broadfoot, P., Sutherland, R., & Oldfield, A. (2016). Rethinking assessment in a digital age: Opportunities, challenges and risks. British Educational Research Journal, 42(3), 454-476.

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Highly-Cited Academic Articles (Based on analysed results from Web of Science)

Barra, E., López-Pernas, S., Alonso, Á., Sánchez-Rada, J. F., Gordillo, A., & Quemada, J. (2020). Automated assessment in programming courses: A case study during the COVID-19 era. Sustainability, 12(18), 7451.

Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (2018). Classroom assessment and pedagogy. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 25(6), 551-575.

Carless, D., & Boud, D. (2018). The development of student feedback literacy: Enabling uptake of feedback. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 43(8), 1315-1325.

Shute, V. J, & Rahimi, S. (2017). Review of computer‐based assessment for learning in elementary and secondary education. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 33(1), 1-19.

Xu, Y., & Brown, G. T. L. (2016). Teacher assessment literacy in practice: A reconceptualization. Teaching and Teacher Education, 58, 149-162.

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Articles Published in/about the Region

Chan, C. K. Y., & Luk, L. Y. Y. (2021). A four-dimensional framework for teacher assessment literacy in holistic competencies. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 46(3), 451-466.

Chan, K. K. H, & Yau, K. W. (2020). Using video-based interviews to investigate pre-service secondary science teachers’ situation-specific skills for informal formative assessment. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 19(2), 289-311.

Lam, R. (2019). Teacher assessment literacy: Surveying knowledge, conceptions and practices of classroom-based writing assessment in Hong Kong. System, 81(1), 78-89.

Lei, C., & Chan, C. K. K. (2018). Developing metadiscourse through reflective assessment in knowledge building environments. Computers and Education, 126, 153-169.

Reichert, F., Zhang, D., Law, N. W. Y., Wong, G. K. W., & de la Torre, J. (2020). Exploring the structure of digital literacy competence assessed using authentic software applications. Educational Technology Research and Development, 68(6), 2991-3013.

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School Examples

Quality School Improvement Project (n.d.). QSIP: Tracking students’ learning through comprehensive enhancement of assessment literacy (QSIP-CEAL). The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Pun U Association Wah Yan Primary School. (n.d.) Quality Education Fund Thematic Network - Promoting assessment for learning and assessment as learning in senior primary (P.4) mathematics and Chinese language. (Chinese only)

Centre for Information Technology in Education. (2020). Online learning - Collecting student feedback during online lessons. Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong. (Chinese only)

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HKU Hub

Chan, S. S. Y. (2021). Workshop on enhancing assessment literacy in the primary English classroom. Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong.

Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong. (2020). Enhancing assessment literacy of teachers in primary/secondary schools.

HAVE Project. (2020, April 15). Enriching assessments with technology.

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Internet Resources

YouTube Videos

Brave In The Attempt. (2020, April 12). Digital assessment webinar.

CMUCharters. (2017, March 21). Assessment literacy.

Tedx Talks. (2019, April 26). Effective feedback without marking - Nick Coles - TEDxPeterborough.

Virginia Department of Education. (2019, November 21). A guide to computer adaptive testing.

Websites

Burns, M. (2018, July 22). 15 benefits of computer-based testing. e-Learning Industry.

Cambridge International Education Teaching and Learning Team. (n.d.). Getting started with assessment for learning. Cambridge Assessment International Education.

International Society of the Learning Sciences: Network of Academic Programs in the Learning Sciences - Interim Website. (n.d.). Jim Pellegrino: Assessment.

Michigan Assessment Consortium. (n.d.). Assessment resources – Assessment for learning.

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Extended Readings

Dann, R. (2014). Assessment as learning: Blurring the boundaries of assessment and learning for theory, policy and practice. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 21(2), 149-166.

Deneen, C., Fulmer, G., Brown, G. W., Tan, K., Leong, W. S., & Tay, H. (2019). Value, practice and proficiency: Teachers' complex relationship with assessment for learning. Teaching and Teacher Education, 80, 39-47.

Sharadgah, T. A., & Sa'di, R. A. (2020). Preparedness of institutions of higher education for assessment in virtual learning environments during the COVID-19 lockdown: Evidence of bona fide challenges and pragmatic solutions. Journal of Information Technology Education: Research, 19, 755-774.

Spector, J. M., Ifenthaler, D., Sampson, D., Yang, L., Mukama, E., Warusavitarana, A., . . . Gibson, D. C. (2016). Technology enhanced formative assessment for 21st century learning. Educational Technology & Society, 19(3), 58-71.

Wisniewski, B., Zierer, K., & Hattie, J. (2019). The power of feedback revisited: A meta-analysis of educational feedback research. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 3087.

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Disclaimer:

References in this site to any specific resources and tools are for the information and convenience of the public only. They do not constitute ownership or endorsement by ALiTE of any of the opinions offered by any corporation or organisation or individual.