Chew, Lee Chin

School-based testing is an integral part of the teaching and learning process, and it provides teachers with vital information about students' learning progress. What are the current practices in school testing in Singapore, and what are some of the issues arising therefrom? Do conventional testing practices measure up to the needs of recent changes in Singapore education, in the areas of IT, Thinking, Project Work, and the "School Excellence Model"? What are some innovations in educational assessment that may be more compatible with these changes? How can computer technology support and enhance these innovative assessments? This paper will first examine the assessment system in Singapore education, and discuss some issues related to current testing practices. In the light of recent changes in education, the need for a rethink on these practices is proposed. The paper will then explore some innovations in educational assessment that may bring about a more meaningful assessment of student capabilities and potentials in learning. A place for technology in educational assessment will also be discussed.

This study attempted to provide a better understanding of the career development and career guidance needs of students in a Singapore secondary school. The influences of age/grade level, gender, academic ability, socioeconomic status and parental examined. The relationship between career maturity and career guidance needs was investigated; and the best independent predictors of career maturity and career guidance needs were also determined.

Using a cross-sectional design and a stratified random sampling technique based on grade level, gender and academic ability, a sample of 521 students was drawn from a secondary school; and a purposive sampling technique was used to obtain sub-samples for the SES and parental influence variables. Data were collected using a General Information Questionnaire, the Career Development Inventory - Australian version and a Career Problem Checklist. The students responded to the three instruments in one sitting.

Results of this study revealed a prototypic pattern of progressive increase in career maturity by grade level. Significant differences in career maturity were observed between the upper and lower secondary students. Although no significant differences in the overall maturity of students were observed for the gender and academic ability variables, it was found that female students were more mature in the cognitive aspect of career development whereas male students were more mature in the attitudinal aspect. Also, students of lower academic ability were significantly less mature in the cognitive aspect of career development but not in the attitudinal aspect. Results also suggested a positive effect of high SES and parental influence on the career development of students.

In terms of career guidance needs, significant results were obtained for the SES and parental influence variables. Students of a more favourable SES background or those who had been exposed to greater parental influence in their career planning, had less career guidance needs.

A link between career maturity and career guidance needs was also established. Students who were more career mature had less career guidance needs. The independent variables of grade level and parental influence were found to be important predictors of career maturity. On the other hand, SES and parental influence variables were found to be the best predictors of career guidance needs.

With an insight into these factors which may either aid or hinder the career development of students, implications for the planning and implementation of comprehensive career guidance programmes in schools were discussed and suggestions made.

Computer-based modeling is not just a means for students to learn important scientific knowledge and skills, but also a technique to assess student understandings of science. A software tool called Model-It allows young students to create their own models so that their learning becomes more interactive and engaged. However, there is a mismatch between how students learn and how they are assessed if conventional paper-administered tests are used. This paper argues for alternative assessments to be better aligned with curriculum and instruction. Forty 4th grade students in a local Singapore school participated in a science inquiry activity that involved learning with modeling as an alternative assessment. The students individually created models of food webs to illustrate their understanding of energy flows and photosynthesis. A scoring rubric based on four criteria (“focus and structure”, "accuracy", "completeness" and "functionality") was used to evaluate the models, with the modeling scores being compared to student scores of the school’s paper-based assessments of science learning. In addition, 18 students were interviewed about their understanding of models and modeling. The data is currently being analyzed and the findings of this study and potential implications for educational assessments will be presented in this paper.

A single overall grading is the hallmark of test reporting practices in education. This assessment system has provided an efficient and convenient means of reporting test results for a summative purpose such as certifying students on completion of a course of study or selecting students who can benefit from the next level of education. However it is less useful for reporting results for a formative purpose such as monitoring students' learning progress or diagnosing their learning difficulties. The National Institute of Education has developed a computerised assessment tool known as "NIE Computerised English Language Test" (NIECELT) for testing the English language proficiencies of prospective students in pre-service teacher training programmes. NIECELT, however, can be used for creating appropriate tests meant for any other grade level as well – primary, secondary or college. This paper will describe a profiling assessment system to be incorporated into the test reporting of language proficiencies. NIECELT, an interactive mode of computerised testing, presents a number of sub-tests for assessing a student’s level of competence in English sentence structure, collocation, text cohesion, text meaning, editing skills as well as semantic awareness. By harnessing the computer's unique capabilities in data management, the student's performance in specific language skill areas can be profiled.

In Singapore schools, testing of student learning is serious business but teachers have yet to get in full swing to exploit technology for school-based testing. What then is stopping them? Among other things, there is a imperative need to first understand and ensure the harmonious interplay of three related factors of hardware & infrastructure, software, and people-ware.

EduTOOLS, a R&D project of the Centre for Learning Technologies which is jointly set up by the Ministry of Education, Kent Ridge Digital Labs and Infocomm Development Authority, involves an innovative use of computer technology. With EduTOOLS, students can make use of a suite of on-line tools for project work. Also available to students are a collection of recommended project resources and a list of experts. This project will be piloted in three Singapore schools - two secondary schools and one junior college. For an implementation of a high technology project such as EduTOOLS, one main concern is student readiness in terms of IT skills. This paper reports on the findings of an investigation of students' experience with computers, namely their use of computers in and outside of school, the types of computer applications used and of activities engaged with a computer, and their frequency of computer use. Self-reports of students' working behaviours on the computer as well as their affective characteristics were also captured. The implications of the findings for EduTOOLS implementation will be discussed.