Teaching development grants final and financial report: Outcome-based assessment in Creative Arts & Physical Education

Assessment for learning is a major focus of educational reform in Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Institute of Education has recently embarked on a review of student learning outcomes in the context of Outcome-based Education. The CAPE Department will have developed a discipline-based "Expected Learning Outcomes for Beginning Art/ Music/ PE Teachers" by May/June 2008. The new lists of outcomes will necessitate a review of assessment modes and practices. Moreover, teaching and learning are very often driven by assessment, with teachers often treating assessment as a separate component of the curriculum and criticisms levied against uncreative approaches in arts assessment. In the light of the above, this project aims to examine: (1) how HKIEd's and CAPE's new learning outcomes would be assessed in modules offered by the department; (2) what evidences would support the assertion that CAPE's teaching and learning processes are aligned to the achievement of these outcomes. Extending over eight months, this Project employs a mixed-method approach involving a survey, interviews, and class observations. The results are expected to lead to better alignment between the teaching and learning processes and assessment practices and stronger integration of identified learning outcomes in the modules offered by the CAPE Department.