Editorial

The landscape of education and assessment is ever-evolving. Yet, two key aspects of assessment continue to remain in the spotlight. The first has to do with involving learners in assessment and feedback. The second is the use of technology in assessment. Exploring how these two aspects work together to increase the accessibility of assessments and assessment information for both students and teachers will be the business of this issue of AFAL.

Along with the increasing rate of technological innovations which offer educators a wider range of assessment tools comes the challenge of designing appropriate and effective assessments for all learners. This warrants both a revisit to the fundamentals of assessment and a renewal and revision of assessment practices to support learning for all learners.

The articles in this July 2023 issue of AFAL explore and discuss

• the fundamental principles of assessment design,
• using technology to give students better access to learning and assessment, and
• designing assessments to increase accessibility to assessment information for both teachers and students.

We begin with ‘Timeless principles in the era of generative AI’ by Dr Tay and Dr Chue. Amidst the recent debates about the impact of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) on education, and particularly assessment, the article presents NIE’s five assessment principles to guide assessment design and practice. Examples of how GAI can assist educators and students are included to show how quality assessment should and can be designed even with the evolution of technological advancements that sometimes seem to rock the boat.

Accessibility refers to the ease with which something can be reached or obtained by everyone.  In our mobile phones, accessibility is increased with just the touch of an icon. We can choose to increase word sizes, change background colours and lighting and even have the text read to us. These are just a few simple examples of increasing accessibility. In her article ‘Exploring the use of accessibility and assistive tools in assessment and feedback for students with SEN’, Mdm Siti Asjamiah, Lead Specialist (Dyslexia Association of Singapore) discusses the contributions of technology to assessment and feedback processes for students with special educational needs (SEN). She includes in her article a list of tools to increase accessibility for students experiencing learning difficulties. Yet, she cautions educators on the perils of adopting technology as quick-fix solutions and advises that attention be given to learners’ access to devices and tools, and their competencies and challenges in using these. 

We also include in this issue two school-based examples of assessment design that involve students in the assessment and feedback process. In the first example, Miss Edna Tay, Naval Base Secondary, shares her study of the data visualisation for assessment for learning in the teaching of Physical Education (PE). She explores how visuals such as heat maps support students in learning PE concepts by making learning visible to teachers and students. Miss Tay shares how heat maps support both self and peer assessment by providing timely feedback for students to identify and close gaps. In the second example by Miss Shynn Lim and Mdm Norhafiani, Juying Secondary School, share how they redesigned their tasks to develop self-directed learners. Using English language and Mathematics tasks, they explore how learning dispositions for self-directed learning and student-initiated learning can be taught intentionally.

AFAL issues have continued to share noteworthy assignments from students. In this issue, Miss Lim Li Yin shares her assignment “Reclaiming Subjectification in Assessment”. In this thinkpiece, she proposes design principles based on Tan’s (2013) assessment for learning dimensions to actualise Biesta’s concept of subjectification as a purpose of education. Her article is indeed a beautiful dive into Biesta’s ideas and their relevance decades after they were proposed.

The AFAL editorial team continues to grow with new additions Miss Grace Koh and Dr Yip Hoe Yin. We have taken the opportunity to let them ‘speak’ to you regarding their teaching and assessment philosophies, experiences and aspirations through an interview by Ms Rongchan.

Finally, on behalf of the editorial team, let me thank you for your interest in reading the AFAL bulletin and invite you to stay with us as we learn, explore and inspire others to bring the best assessment experiences to our learners.