How students understand, feel about and respond to assessment might contribute significantly to learning behaviour and academic achievement. This paper reviews studies that have used a relatively new self-reported survey questionnaire (Students' Conceptions of Assessment - SCoA) about student perceptions and understandings of assessment. Confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation modelling results have shown, consistent with self-regulation theory, that the SCoA inventory has meaningful relations with academic performance among New Zealand high school students. Further, German, Hong Kong, American, and New Zealand studies have shown that the SCoA has relations to motivational constructs (e. g. effort, learning strategies, interest, self-efficacy and anxiety) that are also consistent with self-regulation. The SCoA inventory extends our understanding of how student conceptions of assessment are an integral part of self-regulation and provide a warrant for use in research studies investigating test-taker responses to assessment practices and innovations at both university and high school levels.
[Copyright of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2011.599836]

A Chinese translation of the 100-item Inventory of Learning Styles (ILS) is shortened as a 60-item instrument (which comprises 20 three-item scales) by removal of items that make the least contribution to the ILS scales from both alpha value and factor loading perspectives. The reliability and validation for administering the resultant 60-item ILS in the context of Hong Kong post-secondary education were assessed via analysis and re-analysis of results collected from two studies. The first study involved 1572 students enrolled in different kinds of post-secondary programmes in 2005; the second study involved 206 students enrolled in a special one-year, post-secondary programme in 2010. The internal consistency of most of the scales in the 60-item ILS was found to be good or satisfactory, except for three scales for which a need for further investigation or refinement is indicated. The exploratory factor analyses conducted in the two studies found factor patterns that closely resembled each other, with defining features comprising an active meaning-directed learning pattern that is mixed with reproduction-directed elements, an undirected learning pattern and different versions of a passive idealistic learning pattern. Overall, the current research provides qualified support for the reliability and validity of the shortened ILS for application in the context of Hong Kong post-secondary education.
[Copyright of Quality in Higher Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13538322.2013.852707]

This small-scale study aimed to explore how the reporting and feedback system in an inviting school in Hong Kong attempts to facilitate students' learning and development. In particular, the study examined how students in an inviting setting felt about the reporting system in relation to their own learning and development. Any associations between feedback given to students and their subsequent development of greater self-regulation were considered. Data were generated from individual and focus group interviews with a small sample of Grade 7 and Grade 10 students. The results revealed four key aspects of the school context that students regarded as helpful to facilitate the function of the reporting system. The potential relationship between feedback and reflection, and the roles these play in the acquisition of self-regulation in students, are discussed.
[Copyright of Pastoral Care in Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02643944.2012.671344]

It is widely accepted that assessment has a link with learning. One key factor in the link is formative assessment. Formative assessment is generally defined as taking place during a course with the express purpose of improving pupil learning. However, there is still considerable disagreement over the roles of teachers and pupils in this process (Torrance & Pryor 1998, p.8). It is therefore very important to understand how teachers perceive their roles and their pupils' roles in the formative assessment events. This paper will report on an investigation into teachers' perceptions of their roles and their pupils' roles in the formative assessment process. The investigation, which involved over 1000 teachers from 35 primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong, invited teachers to show their views by completing a questionnaire. To supplement the data collected from the questionnaire survey, a sample number of teachers were interviewed. Discussion will be focused on a comparison of the findings with the current literature, leading to some implications for the roles of teachers and pupils in the formative assessment process.
[Copyright of Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) at http://www.aare.edu.au]

This paper presents a case study of how four teachers in one school adopted Learning Study in teaching Visual Arts in Hong Kong. The teachers found that the students at the primary level had difficulties expressing feelings through shapes. In 2003, they used the Learning Study approach to analyse teaching of this difficult topic. Each teacher taught the lesson and observed the lesson of the other three. A discussion, using student feedback, was held immediately after each lesson, aimed at improving the next one. A post-test was conducted to discover what students had learned. The result was good yet there were still many problems. In 2004, the same teachers taught the same topic with revision based on the outcomes of their previous lessons. There was more focus on using artists' artworks and students' expression of human figures. This paper will analyse materials and interviews from the Learning Studies to look at how to improve teachers' teaching of drawing. As drawing is central in children's art and the findings of this paper could be useful for other teachers in teaching visual arts.
[Copyright of Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) at http://www.aare.edu.au]

This paper reports on, and presents the findings from, an investigation into feedback as a means of formative assessment. Feedback is important to learning because it gives us information about the results or consequences of what teachers do and what learners have achieved or have not achieved. It is as crucial in teaching and learning as in any other activity, forming part of the cycle of teaching and learning. However, general feedback such as 'Good work!' 'Effort shown!', or drawing a smiling face, though holding the acknowledgement effect, is not informative enough to help students advance their learning. This poses a question "What sort of feedback has functional significance in learning?"
The investigation collected data from school teachers through three different phases, namely, questionnaire survey, teacher interviews, and lesson observation. The first phase asked approximately one thousand school teachers to give their views on feedback in a questionnaire survey. Data analysis showed that four particular aspects about feedback were regarded as more significant than others. The second phase and the third phases, which involved a further 94 teachers and 27 teachers respectively, revealed that feedback could take many forms and the quality of feedback could vary tremendously.
[Copyright of Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) at http://www.aare.edu.au]