Tay, Hui Yong

The provision of feedback is widely practised as part of formative assessment. However, studies that examine the impact of feedback are usually from the teachers’ perspective, focusing on why and how they provide feedback. Fewer studies examine feedback from the students’ perspective, especially in the way they experience, make sense of and take up their teachers’ feedback. This paper provides empirical evidence of student engagement with different patterns of teacher feedback in their written essays. Data were gathered from 45 students (from 5 different schools) through group interviews and analysis of student artefacts from three rounds of writing tasks. The findings on affective, behavioural and cognitive engagement surfaced the conditions that will contribute to students’ will and skill to act on their teachers’ feedback. The implications on both teacher and student assessment literacy are discussed. The discussion will provide professional development providers and policy makers with new perspectives of and approaches to strengthening formative assessment practices in ways that are more cognizant of students’ experience of feedback.

This study builds upon recent research into Assessment for Learning (AfL) practices in Singapore secondary schools (Brown, Deneen, Fulmer, Leong, Tan, & Tay, 2017 April). It aims to extend our understanding of certain AfL competencies highlighted in the latter study in a more specific context of an inclusive classroom, particularly mainstream school classes with students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The incidence of ASD in Singapore is one in 150 children, higher than World Health Organisation's global figure of one in 160 (Ng, 2017). Students with ASD have the cognitive abilities to benefit from the national curriculum, but face challenges in social communication and socialising. They find it difficult to read the intentions of others or see the bigger picture because they tend to use their superior detail-focused cognitive style (Engeland & Buitelaar, 2008; Happe & Frith, 2006). It is challenging for them to benefit from the classroom dialogue in which teachers ask questions to elicit evidence of learning as well as give feedback to advance the students' understanding. However, there is currently no study to help us understand the phenomenon in Singapore schools. To help bridge this gap, this exploratory qualitative study seeks to understand, in the context of an inclusive classroom, a) How would effective questioning and teacher feedback look like, separately and when used together? b) What do ASD children consider to be effective questioning techniques and teacher feedback? Participants will include 6 teachers from schools (both primary and secondary) trained in special needs (TSN) will be observed during a lesson in a class which has ASD student. Both the teacher and the student will be interviewed separately after the lesson. The findings of this study will extend our current understanding of AfL in the context of inclusive education where every child is valued and enabled to learn (UNESCO, 2005).

Assessment for learning (AfL) is of critical importance in developing innovative educational engagements and learner capacity. Impact of AfL may be exhibited in a number of ways. These include promoting learning, developing students' capacity for accurate self-assessment and facilitating adjustment of instruction for enhanced outcome achievement (Black et. al., 2004). Research demonstrating the merits of AfL has led to enthusiastic promotion and adoption of AfL-informed policies, worldwide and in Singapore. AfL significantly influences current Singapore educational policy and planning initiatives. At the primary level, a Holistic Assessment approach calling for assessment to support students' learning is being progressively introduced in all primary-school classrooms (PERI, 2009). At secondary level, considerably less empirical research has been conducted. However, the recommendations of the Assessment Review Corporate Planning Team (ARCPT) call for increasing the presence of AfL to produce balanced assessment, in which Assessment for and of Learning (AfL/AoL) function sympathetically (Leong & Tan, 2014). Additionally, AfL is being promoted at the secondary level through professional development targeted at relevant assessment practices (Leong & Tan, 2014). Adoption and practices of AfL, however may vary significantly from intentions expressed through policy and promotion. One factor is the complex dynamic that assessment change, policy, development and practice exist in (Deneen & Boud, 2014; MacDonald & Joughin, 2009). There is also significant variation in understanding what, precisely constitutes AfL (Taras, 2010). There is corresponding variation in how different stakeholders perceive AfL and how they generally conceptualize the purposes and merits of assessment (Brown, 2011; Deneen & Brown, 2011; Fulmer, 2013). These factors all exist in relationship to particular contexts. In Singapore, the context of high-stakes testing and assessment-driven meritocracy impact how people perceive, interact with and practice assessment (Tan, 2011; Tan & Deneen, forthcoming). Therefore, understanding how intentions and perceptions of AfL relate to practices requires accounting for a complex set of factors and their inter-relationships. As Singapore moves forward with AfL changes, it is imperative that research be conducted towards achieving these understandings, especially at the secondary level. The aim of the proposed study is to establish a systematic understanding of AfL in the Singapore secondary context that may inform research, policy, practice and development. This will be accomplished through meeting the following objectives: - Explain relationships among AfL policies, perceptions, practices and contexts. - Develop and validate a model that accounts for these factors and relationships. - Present analytical findings that may inform theoretical and practical understandings of AfL in the Singapore secondary and global contexts. A complementary (qualitative and quantitative) methodology will be used. Data collection will be carried out in two phases. Means of data collection will consist of large-scale survey distribution, stakeholder focus groups/interviews, and classroom observations. Factor analysis, ANOVA and MANOVA will be applied to survey data. Qualitative data will undergo inductive, iterative coding (Miles & Huberman, 1999). Initial and full results will be shared via two sharing seminars for MOE, NIE and schools. Results will be framed several ways, including: - A theoretical model of AfL in the Singapore context. - School-based case studies. - A comparative analysis of participating schools. - A policy-practice relationship analysis. Research results shall inform several specific outputs, including several tier-one journal articles, a policy recommendation document for Singapore MOE, two sharing seminars and participation in international conferences by the investigatory team.

For two centuries, our classrooms have looked largely the same, with students seated behind neat rows of desks listening to the teacher expounding in the front. The exception was during the school lock-downs because of the COVID-19 pandemic when our pedagogy seemed to change with students sitting in front of an electronic device. But now that the schools have reopened, we seem to have gone back again to the days of B.C (Before COVID-19).