Principal Supervisor(s): Dr. LIAO Liang Shelly, Dr. WONG Wing Hung, Dr. Pang Kam Moon
In 2018, student assessment in CUHK transferred from norm-referencing to criterion-referencing. An action research was conducted at that time to explore how to support the launch of the new assessment scheme. The researcher worked as both a practitioner and a participating observer in a series of activities such as developing grading rubrics, orientating on the usage of rubric for teachers of OUGE as well as attending “grading parties” held to explicate grading judgement among teachers. The action research revealed some problems which affected the implementation of criterion-referenced assessment. For example, in designing grading rubrics, two important issues should be taken into account. First, alignment of assessment criteria with intended learning outcomes and the involvement of teachers in the development of rubrics. Second, in orientating the usage of grading rubrics, providing examples was more effective for internalizing the meaning of assessment criteria than merely explaining them.
To ensure the successfully launching of criterion-referenced assessment, this research proposed an implementation model which comprises 4 stages to explain how to take action in practicing criterion-referenced assessment. For more details, please refer to the article “An Action Research on Practicing Criterion-Referenced Assessment: the Case of General Education Foundation Programme of The Chinese University of Hong Kong”, Fudan Education Forum, 2021, 19(4) (Full-text in Chinese). The exploration on the influence of adopting criterion-referenced assessment on teaching and learning is ongoing.