Understanding Chinese university student conceptions of assessment: Plausible effects of modern policies

Student conceptions of assessment are an aspect of self-regulation, within, culturally-shaped beliefs and practices. A new self-report questionnaire Chinese-Student Conceptions of Assessment inventory was developed to account for additional purposes of assessment detected through qualitative studies. An inter-correlated 8-factor solution was found with acceptable fit. The factors were named: Societal uses, Class benefits, School Quality, Accuracy, Negative Aspects, Teacher Use, and Competition. The mean factor scores supported the conventional view that East Asian societies give high regard to academic achievement measured by assessment, effortful improvement, and selection based on assessment. A relatively negative view of family obligation as a purpose for assessment may be a reflection of both ‘single child’ policies post-1979 and individualistic economic practices in PRC post-1984.