This chapter discusses the role of assessment in learning and teaching Ethics and Religious Studies (ERS), the principles that should guide assessment of the subject and the need for both formative and summative assessment. It also provides guidance on internal assessment and details of the public assessment of ERS. Finally, information is given on how standards are established and maintained and how results are reported with reference to these standards.
General guidance on assessment can be found in the Senior Secondary Curriculum Guide (SSCG) (CDC, 2007).
5.1 The Roles of Assessment
Assessment is the practice of collecting evidence of student learning. It is a vital and integral part of classroom instruction, and serves several purposes and audiences.
First and foremost, it gives feedback to students, teachers, schools and parents on the effectiveness of teaching and on students’ strengths and weaknesses in learning.
Secondly, it provides information to schools, school systems, government, tertiary institutions and employers to enable them to monitor standards and to facilitate selection decisions.
The most important role of assessment is in promoting learning and monitoring students’
progress. However, in the senior secondary years, the more public roles of assessment for certification and selection come to the fore. Inevitably, these imply high-stakes uses of assessment since the results are typically employed to make critical decisions about individuals that affect their future.
The Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) provides a common end-of-school credential that gives access to university study, work, and further education and training. It summarises student performance in the four core subjects and in various elective subjects, including both discipline-oriented subjects and the new Applied Learning courses. It needs to be interpreted in conjunction with other information about students given in the Student Learning Profile.
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5.2 Formative and Summative Assessment
It is useful to distinguish between the two main purposes of assessment, namely “assessment for learning” (formative assessment) and “assessment of learning” (summative assessment).
“Assessment for learning” is concerned with obtaining feedback on learning and teaching, and utilising this to make learning more effective and to introduce any necessary changes to teaching strategies. We refer to this kind of assessment as “formative assessment” because it is all about forming or shaping learning and teaching. Formative assessment should take place on a daily basis and typically involves close attention to small “chunks” of learning.
“Assessment of learning” is concerned with determining progress in learning, and is referred to as “summative” assessment, because it is all about summarising how much learning has taken place. Summative assessment is normally undertaken at the conclusion of a significant period of instruction (e.g. at the end of the year, or of a key stage of schooling) and reviews much larger “chunks” of learning.
In practice, a sharp distinction cannot always be made between formative and summative assessment, because the same assessment can in some circumstances serve both formative and summative purposes. Teachers can refer to the SSCG for further discussion of formative and summative assessment.
Formative assessment should be distinguished from continuous assessment. The former refers to the provision of feedback to improve learning and teaching based on formal or informal assessment of student performance, while the latter refers to the assessment of students’
on-going work and may involve no provision of feedback that helps to promote better learning and teaching. For example, accumulating results in class tests carried out on a weekly basis, without giving students constructive feedback, may neither be effective formative assessment nor meaningful summative assessment.
There are good educational reasons why formative assessment should be given more attention and accorded a higher status than summative assessment, on which schools tended to place a greater emphasis in the past. There is research evidence that indicates that formative assessment can be beneficial when used for refining instructional decision-making in teaching and generating feedback to improve learning. For this reason, the CDC report Learning to Learn – The Way Forward in Curriculum Development (CDC, 2001) recommended that there should be a change in assessment practices, with schools placing due emphasis on formative assessment to make assessment for learning an integral part of classroom teaching.
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It is recognised, however, that the primary purpose of public assessment, which includes both public examinations and moderated School-based Assessments, is to provide summative assessments of the learning of each student. While it is desirable that students are exposed to SBA tasks in a low-stakes context, and that they benefit from practice and experience with such tasks for formative assessment purposes without pressure, similar tasks will need to be administered soon as part of the public assessment process to generate marks to summarise the learning of students (i.e. for summative assessment purposes).
Another distinction to be made is between internal assessment and public assessment.
Internal assessment refers to the assessment practices that teachers and schools employ as part of the ongoing learning and teaching process during the three years of senior secondary studies. In contrast, public assessment refers to the assessment conducted as part of the assessment process in place for all schools. Within the context of the HKDSE, this means both the public examinations and the moderated School-based Assessments (SBA) conducted or supervised by the HKEAA. On balance, internal assessment should be more formative, whereas public assessment tends to be more summative. Nevertheless, this need not be seen as a simple dichotomy. The inclusion of SBA in public assessment is an attempt to enhance formative assessment or assessment for learning within the context of the HKDSE.
5.3 Assessment Objectives
The assessment objectives listed below are closely aligned with the curriculum framework and the broad learning outcomes presented in earlier chapters.
Compulsory Part: Ethics Module 1: Normative Ethics
After studying the topics, students should be able to:
1. understand basic theories in ethics, and apply such theories to analyse ethical problems in a pluralistic society;
2. identify and assess critically the arguments of different ethical theories;
3. make ethical judgements with reference to various ethical principles and methods of reasoning to express personal standpoints;
4. set priorities among various conflicting values and virtues when needed;
5. uphold an open and tolerant approach when dealing with different ethical issues related to daily-life experience; and
6. demonstrate a rational and coherent thinking style when discussing ethical questions.
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Module 2: Personal and Social Issues
After studying the topics, students should be able to:
1. recognise the complexity of making moral decisions;
2. understand the relationship between ethical issues and values (e.g. commitment, responsibility, etc.), and apply them to solve personal and social problems;
3. identify ethical problems involved in personal and social issues;
4. analyse ethical issues by applying various theories;
5. understand the ethical standpoints of different religions and individuals; and
6. discuss ethical issues rationally, and make moral decisions with a reasonable and responsible attitude.
Elective Part I: Religious Traditions Module 1: Buddhism
After studying the topics, students should be able to:
1. show knowledge of Buddha’s life and the basic doctrines of Buddhism;
2. recognise the related Indian cultural context of Buddhism at its beginning;
3. understand how Buddhism developed after Buddha’s death and describe briefly the development of Buddhism in China and its impact on Chinese culture;
4. apply Buddhist teachings to deal with problems of life and daily-life situations;
5. respond to contemporary social problems through applying Buddhist ethics and values;
and
6. understand the Buddhist spirit of compassion, and care for other sentient beings.