This research aimed to develop a short form of the Self-assessment Practices Scale (SaPS). Guided by a process model of self-assessment, the SaPS scale was designed to assess the actions students engage in during the self-assessment process. The data used for developing the original 20-item SaPS (SaPS-20), i.e., 1,416 Hong Kong students ranging from Primary 4 to Secondary 3, were reanalyzed, and a 12-item short form (SaPS-SF) was developed. Factor analysis and Rasch analysis were applied in complementary ways to examine the psychometric properties of the SaPS-SF. The results showed that factor structure of the original scale held in the SaPS-SF, and all items fitted the Rasch model requirements sufficiently and measured the constructs as theorized. The findings presented in this study facilitate the measurement of self-assessment practice in a parsimonious and effective way. Copyright © 2020 Yan.

Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, this study aims to examine the relationship between the personal, communal, environmental, and transcendental domains of spiritual well-being of university students in Hong Kong and their academic performance measured by Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA). The study is guided by two research questions. Research Question One: What are the relationships between university students’ spiritual well-being and their academic performance as measured by CGPA?Research Question Two: If there are any relationships between university students’ spiritual well-being and their academic performance, how are the background demographic variables, including major discipline, family socio-economic status and religious beliefs related to spiritual well-being and academic performance?The quantitative part of the study consists of a survey that collects data from a random sample of 1,130 Year 2 and Year 3 students from three universities in Hong Kong. The questionnaire used is adapted from the Spiritual Health And Life-Orientation Measure (SHALOM) developed by John Fisher. The quantitative findings indicate a moderate positive relationship between the spiritual well-being of the respondents and their academic performance; the results also demonstrate that students’ academic performance corresponds with their levels of spiritual well-being. The qualitative part of the study is comprised of 11 focus group discussions. The findings of this support the quantitative findings and contribute to the exploration of the background variables that mediate the abovementioned positive relationship. The study also involves data triangulation.The findings suggest that the resulting positive relationship can be explained by three demographic features, namely, family social-economic status, major disciplines, and religious beliefs. Thus, these demographic features are used to delineate and analyze the positive relationship and the various patterns of the relationship

This article analyses an assessment initiative known as the Basic Competency Assessment (BCA) in Hong Kong using Bernstein's performance and competence models of pedagogic practice. On the one hand, BCA is aligned with a competence model through its official projection as a low-stakes, student-focussed and formative assessment. However, an examination of the public perception of and context for BCA reveals its high-stakes, disciplines-centred and summative nature; it is argued that BCA reflects a performance model with strong classification, strong framing and visible pedagogies. The example of Hong Kong illustrates the usefulness of Bernstein's theory and extends the existing research on the interactions between local culture and pedagogic practices.
[Copyright of British Journal of Educational Studies is the property of Routledge.]

While assessment for learning (AfL) has been strongly promulgated by an increasing number of education systems internationally, little research is available that investigates students' responses to such AfL innovations, particularly in a Chinese learning context. There is a need to research and evaluate the AfL practices introduced and their impact on student learning approaches. This study focused on students' perceptions of AfL practices and the relationships these have with students' learning approaches. The study investigated perceptions of AfL practices experienced by students (N = 582) at three universities in mainland China and Hong Kong. Results indicated that student AfL experience positively influenced their learning approaches. Results revealed that all dimensions of students' perceived AfL experience (i.e., engagement with subject matter, teacher support, and peer support) were found to be significantly positively correlated with students' tendency to use a deep approach to learning, suggesting that in the Chinese and Hong Kong university environment, AfL practices contribute to students adopting a meaningful approach to learning.
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Empirical evidence shows that Hong Kong teachers, especially beginning teachers, are suffering from emotional challenges in their professional lives. This project aimed at enhancing student teachers’ understanding of emotion regulation and cultivating their capacity on emotion regulation to improve their performance in Field Experience. These were achieved through the inclusion of an intervention on emotion regulation in a core undergraduate course, which is offered just before Field Experience.The qualitative data comprised pre- and post-interviews. Twelve students for experimental and control groups respectively participated the two-round interviews. These 24 students were asked to video one lesson and handed it to the project team. Quantitatively, the pre-survey on emotion regulation was conducted with 240 students in the first lecture of the course and the post-survey was conducted to the same group after Field Experience. The performances of the 240 students in Field Experience were collected for comparison analysis.Quantitative data showed that the mean scores for positive emotions in the post-survey are higher than those in the pre-survey (Love, Joy) and the mean scores for negative emotions are lower than those in the pre-survey (Anger, Sadness, Fear), and three mean differences are significant, namely Love, Joy, and Anger. Qualitative data showed that they understood more on emotion and regulation and indicated that including teacher emotion and emotion regulation content in the course is helpful for their coming field experience and day life. Implications to include emotion regulation in training programmes are discussed. Copyright © 2018 HKERA International Conference.

Adopting a phenomenographic approach, Learning Study utilises diagnostic approaches to identify students’ ways of understanding before teaching to tailor-make teaching to cater for students’ needs and after teaching to evaluate the effectiveness of pedagogical designs in research lessons. Yet in the existing publications, there was little discussion on the methodology of designing and analysing pre- and post-tests in Learning Study to ensure the test validity and reliability. This paper reports a study that attempted to fill the knowledge gap by analysing the pre- and post-tests adopted in 16 Learning Study projects in Hong Kong (4 from each of the four key learning areas, i.e., Chinese, English, mathematics and science, 2 from primary schools and 2 from secondary schools respectively in each area). It reviewed the frameworks of test validity and reliability by Heffner (2014) and designed a comprehensive checklist of test validity and reliability for analysing the 16 sets of pre- and post-tests in terms of purposes, contents, structures, types of questions and ways of test analysis. It was found that the application of Variation Theory helped identify the critical features and their structure, which enhanced construct and content validity of the tests. The use of pilot tests and team meetings promote Inter-Rater Reliability. Observations of teaching and pre- and post-lesson interviews were often employed to triangulate with test data to increase the credibility of evaluation. The paper concludes with recommendations for developing valid and reliable pre- and post-tests for diagnostic purposes in schools. Copyright © 2017 World Association of Lesson Studies.

Assessment as learning (AaL) puts students at the centre of learning and is considered a powerful alternative assessment approach that can maximize student learning. How it can be applied as a pedagogical and assessment tool in writing classrooms, however, is not clearly understood. Research on the implementation of AaL as a unitary concept in L2 writing classrooms is scant, particularly at the primary level. To fill these gaps, the study investigates the implementation of AaL in two Hong Kong primary writing classrooms from teachers' and students' perspectives, focusing specifically on the perceived benefits and problems. Using data gathered from interviews with two participating teachers and six selected students, as well as classroom observations, the findings show that the teachers' very first attempt to put AaL into practice reaped benefits for themselves and the students, but a few problems were noted too, which provide useful implications for practice and further research. Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

This study was conducted in a Hong Kong secondary school and investigated teachers' views of a nontraditional reporting system referred to as "the narrative student report." The report facilitates delivery of descriptive feedback to students to encourage their development as self-regulated learners. A single location case-study was used with ethnographic components (long-term observation in natural setting, interviews, discussion). Information was collected mainly from observations and individual interviews with 15 teachers. The school is an "inviting school" that has adopted the Invitational Education model as a way of energizing students to realize their full potential. The findings here confirmed data from a previous study that examined students' views of the same system. The students identified four crucial influences that affect the success of the system. To this list, teachers here have added three more influences — teachers' shared beliefs, various learning opportunities, and teachers' professional development. The findings are interpreted from the perspective of invitational education. Copyright © 2013 The Hong Kong Professional Counselling Association.

This qualitative study, conducted in Hong Kong between September 2009 and August 2011, explored the contextual factors that may influence the effectiveness of a well-established but atypical reporting system utilized in an inviting secondary school. An inviting school is intentionally adopting policies and practices that are compatible with the Invitational Theory (Purkey & Novak, 1996). In this investigation, information gleaned from fieldwork observations was compared to factors that had emerged from a previous study (Chung & Yuen, 2012), which used interviews with students. The findings confirmed the factors from this previous study, namely the importance of constructive comments and teacher-student relationships, as well as revealed additional influential factors—teachers' beliefs, professional development and communication strategies. These factors appeared to connect strongly with the basic beliefs of invitational education. The findings enrich invitational theory in relation to the value of reporting systems as a major adjunct to the curriculum. Inviting schools may preoccupy the advantages to transform their existing reporting system into an individual Education Program for more diverse needs in msainstream schools. The study also revealed difficulties of a contextual nature that the school was encountering while implementing the reporting system. 這次質性研究於零九年九月至一一年八月在香港一所啟發潛能中學裡進行，探討該校一個建立已久卻又非傳統的成績報告系統，嘗試找出什麼情境因素會影響著這樣一個系統有效地推行。一所啟發潛能學校是刻意推行一些與啟發潛能理論相配合的政策與實踐 (Purkey & Novak, 1996)。在這次研究中，實地視察所蒐集的資料與之前透過與學生面談而浮現的因素作比較 (Chung & Yuen, 2012)。這次發現確定了之前研究所指出的因素，這包括建設性評估、師生關係的重要性，並且發現一些新的因素，包括教師的信念、專業發展，以及溝通策略。這些因素明顯跟啟發潛能理論中的基礎信念有很多強的關鍵。這些發現豐富了啟發潛能理在有關成績報告系統的範疇上的意義，這是與課程有重要關連的部份。啟發潛能學校可能具備優勢把現有的成績報告系統轉化為「個別化學習計劃」以照顧主流學校中的多元需要。這次研究亦揭示墦推行這種成績報告系統時，學校在真實情境中面對著的不同困難。
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