by Lin Rongchan
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”
~ Benjamin Franklin
The primary purpose of assessment is to support learners in their learning and help them realize their potential. However, teachers are typically perceived to be the ones wielding power while students are at the mercy of an assessment system that judges them critically. As we shift towards a socio-cultural approach in the classroom, the role of learners in education is brought to the foreground (see James, 2008). Instead of being in a passive and vulnerable position, learners are empowered to participate actively in assessment.
In this issue, we focus on how to better serve learners by involving them in assessment practices. This topic is an extension of our discussion on assessment for learning (AfL) and students’ feedback literacy in our last issue. In the Focus section, I discuss my views on enhancing students’ assessment literacy and share my personal enactment of engaging learners in assessment practices.
Subsequently, in the Featured section, we showcase colleagues’ efforts in involving students in different assessment contexts. We begin with a brochure on engaging students through feedback practices shared by Dr. Tay Hui Yong (Senior Lecturer, National Institute of Education) and Dr. Lam Wei Ling Karen (Master Specialist, Ministry of Education). This brochure is based on the findings of their research project led by Dr. Kelvin Tan (Associate Professor, National Institute of Education). Following this, Mr. Jerric Woo Wai Hoong (HOD/Science, Chua Chu Kang Primary School) shares a video on AfL in Science during Home-based Learning (HBL). Additionally, Dr. Chan Kwong Tung (Senior Specialist, Ministry of Education) and Dr. Kwek Siew Hoon (Principal Master Teacher, Academy of Singapore Teachers/ Singapore Centre for Chinese Language) share with us Chinese language teachers’ endeavors in implementing learning-oriented assessment (LOA) in the language classroom. Finally, Miss Nithiyah Sokumaran (Teacher, Grace Orchard School) discusses the effect of different types of feedback on self-regulated learning in a special educational needs (SEN) context.
As part of our efforts to involve students and course participants in our professional endeavors, we also take this opportunity to showcase the work by one of our MLS participants, Ms. Lim Shi’en Shawna (HOD/Economics, St. Andrew’s Junior College). In her video, Shawna draws on her course learning to discuss potential enhancement on feedback practices and subsequently puts forth her proposed ideas on leading assessment change in her department.
Additionally, I would like to highlight two changes to our editorial board. First, Miss. Haslinda Binte Ismail has left our team and I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to her for the strong support that she has rendered to our bulletin. Second, we welcome Dr. Chue Kah Loong (Lecturer, National Institute of Education) to the AFAL executive committee. You will read about Kah Loong’s areas of expertise in our exclusive interview with him in this issue. Kah Loong’s involvement in our bulletin further strengthens our efforts in viewing assessment-related matters from diverse perspectives, thereby extending and enriching our conversations.
On this note, we are also interested in involving you, our valued readers, to join us in discussing matters raised in this issue. What are your thoughts on student involvement in assessment? Do you have any useful strategies to share with us? Or do you have any questions for our contributors? We would love to hear from you at our post-publication conversation on 27 August 2021 (Friday), 3pm-4pm. If you are interested in joining us, please register here.
With that, I leave you to enjoy this issue. Thank you!
Cheers,
Rongchan
PS: It is unclear whether the quote cited at the beginning of the article should be attributed to Benjamin Franklin as some may trace it to a quote by Confucian philosopher, Xunzi. A rough translation of the related Chinese quote is: “Not hearing is not as good as hearing, hearing is not as good as seeing, seeing is not as good as knowing, knowing is not as good as acting; learning continues until it is translated to action.” Regardless of the source of the quote, I believe you will agree with me that true learning cannot occur without students’ active participation.
References
James, M. (2008). Assessment and learning. In S. Swaffield (Ed.), Unlocking assessment: Understanding for reflection and application (pp. 20–35).Routledge.