Bottom-up Assessment Reform: The Student-centred Assessment-driven Learning (SCADL) Platform
Funding Scheme
Senior Research Fellow Scheme (RGC)
Funding Amount
HK$7,992,660
Awarded Year
2024
Developing a curriculum-embedded online adaptive learning theory and platform
This project aims to
- Enhance the theoretical framework for student-centred assessment-driven learning (SCADL);
- Develop a SCADL platform supported by digital technologies; and
- Determine the effect of the SCADL platform on students' learning and psychological outcomes. It will adopt social constructivism theory to inform the enhancement of the SCADL framework in a 'theory-then-research strategy'. The Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation (ADDIE) model of instructional system design will be applied to develop the online SCADL platform. Controlled experiments will determine how successfully the SCADL platform enhances students' learning and psychological outcomes. The results will not only offer research-based evidence of the impact of the SCADL platform but also inform its further refinement.
Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. The research team contributes towards the following SDG(s):
For the past two decades, the Hong Kong government has championed assessment reform and the promotion of formative assessment. Despite these efforts, the current top-down reform strategy, heavily reliant on teachers and sidelining student agency, has hampered effective implementation. This gives teachers increased assessment responsibilities while reducing students' autonomy in learning and assessment. One remedy lies in taking a bottom-up approach to assessment reform, emphasizing student-centred assessment in which students play an active role in their evaluation and learning journey. Implementing regular student-centred assessment will not only empower them to steer their own course in learning but also relieve teachers of repetitive grading tasks, giving them more time to provide meaningful support. By reshaping assessment tasks and processes to align with student-centred principles, we can establish sustainable classroom practices that redefine the roles of students, peers, and teachers in assessment.
This project refines the roles and interactions of self-assessment, peer-assessment, and teacher-assessments within a comprehensive assessment framework. The online SCADL platform operationalizes SCADL theory to bolster self-regulated learning by students and streamline educational efficacy. By incorporating these components within the SCADL framework, classrooms may influence public perceptions of assessment and learning. This initiative, integrating self, peer, and teacher assessments, equipping stakeholders with tools, and fostering collaboration for improved outcomes, can reshape assessment and learning. The findings may also guide policy formulation for school infrastructure, facilitating anticipated shifts in assessment methodologies and educational norms.
This study will contribute to the theoretical development, practice, and policy development of educational assessment. Challenging the beliefs and practices of traditional, teacher-centred assessment and the passive assessment roles of students, the SCADL framework helps teachers integrate various assessment practices. It prompts students to take active roles in their assessment and improve their learning processes and outcomes. The SCADL framework (as a theoretical foundation) and platform (as an easy-to-use tool) will facilitate further research and development in this area. The project findings will help develop policies to design better school infrastructure to improve student learning.
