Teaching development grants final and financial report: Promoting assessment for learning among the English Major students

Developing assessment literacy and assessment skills among students is central to effective teacher preparation and education. The purpose of the project is to promote self and peer assessment, and critical reflection among the BEd and BA English Major students to enhance self-regulated learning, and understanding and practice of learning-oriented assessment. An appreciative inquiry approach will be adopted. Lecturers involved will develop and agree on the skills (both content and generic) for students' self and peer assessment that form the core of the study. Students will be engaged actively, and significantly, in assessing their own learning through scaffolded, systematic reflection. Opportunities will be provided for students to develop the self and peer assessment skills, confidence and attitude, in multiple contexts, and in an integrated fashion. Such an approach also helps students develop an integrated view of what they have learnt throughout the programme. Evaluation of the process with the students will be carried out to gauge their views on the effectiveness of the procedures in facilitating their different aspects of learning, including their attitude, meta-cognition, learning outcomes, and their understanding of the notion of assessment for learning. This study further extends and operationalises the ethos and principles of the Institute's Learning-oriented Assessment Project (LOAP) to see how and where changes in assessment practices can occur and show how this change may feed into better student learning. The outcomes of this study will also benefit development and research in the Department as a whole, especially through the synergy with the IT project.