On the 14th of August 2021, Kuen Cheng High School organised a Multiple Assessment Sharing Session for all teachers. Main objective of this sharing session was to promote the exploration and implementation of diverse evaluation methods, increase understanding of different subjects, and discover more opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration.
Madam Wong Cheng Yoke, Executive from the Teachers’ Professional Development, started the meeting at 8 am. In her opening remarks, she mentioned that she has noticed many teachers putting in lots of effort to create more creative and effective assessments, in order to encourage all-round development in students. Hence, she looked forward to hearing each of the presentations, which would be given by the Heads of Department or representative teachers. She then introduced the two guest commentators: representative of the Unified Curriculum Committee, Dr Teoh Hee Chong, and Principal of Tzu Chi Senior High School, Madam Lee Lin-Hui.
Moving on, the sharing session for non-Chinese subjects began, hosted by Madam Loh Hoi Yuen, Head of the Academic Department.
Malay Language
The first to present was Cikgu Haslida of the Malay Department. She stated the five assessment methods that the department has enacted, which are listening tests, online projects, online Bulan Bahasa (Malay Language Month) activities, quizzes via Kahoot! or Quizizz, and group discussions and presentations.
Listening tests were carried out in accordance with the new KSSM format. Students would listen to audio recordings and would be given a specific amount of time to answer a series of objective questions. They would receive their marks after submitting their answer sheets. Online projects were based on eight topics in the Malay textbook. Students were required to do research on the topics individually, and write 500-word essays on what they had learned using Microsoft PowerPoint. They were allowed to add more depth to their assignments by adding poems, sharing news articles, introducing works of literature, and more.
Many types of activities were held during Bulan Bahasa (Malay Language Month), including poetry recitals, crossword puzzles, comic drawing contests, and many traditional game competitions. Online quizzes are quick and easy ways to test students’ understanding on certain topics, and promote diligence in students. Lastly, group discussions are carried out using breakout rooms. Groups will be given time to prepare a PowerPoint presentation about a predetermined topic. Afterwards, they will take turns to present in front of the class, and the teacher will provide feedback. It was apparent that the Department has been giving students a healthy amount of both individual and group assignments.
Cikgu Haslida then showed the score ratio for the class assignments: online quizzes and group discussions, which also contributed to engagement marks, each took up 25%; listening tests accounted for 15%; online projects were worth 35%. She also stated that the assessment methods encompass all four papers that are included in the new KSSM format, and are therefore suitable to be used in the school syllabus. She added that the assignments given help to promote soft skills in students, as they make individuals more open to discussions, develop problem solving and leadership skills, promote teamwork, and boost self-confidence.
When asked about how the Department dealt with issues in their online learning syllabus, Cikgu Haslida said that because the Department planned their assessment methods periodically instead of planning everything at once, they faced minimal issues in this regard. She then stated that they will continue to use these teaching methods in the future. However, minor changes need to be made for group discussions, to allow for more teacher-student interactions.
Pendidikan Moral
Next up was Cikgu Mazlina from the Moral Education Department. She shared that in the second semester of 2020, the Department carried out group activities in the form of news summaries for Senior Middle Two. Students were split into groups of four, and would give brief presentations of certain topics, which were chosen by draws. Senior Middle One students, on the other hand, were given individual tasks in the form of essays. Students were required to analyse questions and write their essays based on three formats.
In the first semester of 2021, Senior Middle One students were given online quizzes on Quizizz or Google Forms as individual assessments. Meanwhile, Senior Middle Two students had to do news summaries individually. For each topic, students needed to find online articles and write down reviews in their workbooks. Besides that, the two grades also did various exercises, class tests, and exams. For the second semester, students of both grades will continue to do summaries, as well as solve hypothetical issues based on activities from the textbooks.
Cikgu Mazlina then listed out the score ratio for both grades in the first semester: class tests took up 30%; homework and engagement accounted for 10%; mid-year exams made up 40%; the last 10% went to online quizzes for Senior Middle One, and news summaries for Senior Middle Two. In her diagnosis, Cikgu Mazlina stated that news summaries required knowledge of current issues, and that students had to learn how to place themselves in certain situations. She also said that Senior Middle One and Senior Middle Two students need to learn a total of 43 chapters and 30 chapters respectively, including chapters that are supposed to be taught from Junior Middle One to Junior Middle Three. Hence, the Department has prepared textbooks from scratch, organising chapters according to their themes. With that, she concluded her presentation.
Sejarah (History)
After that, it was time for Cikgu Norafiza, Assistant Head of the History (Malay) Department, to start sharing. Students were given online tests via Quizizz or Google Forms. Teachers also frequently asked students questions in class, as a means to make them more active. In the second semester, students will have to do presentations on case studies as group projects.
Then, Cikgu Norafiza presented the score ratio, with 20% of marks going to online quizzes; 10% each going to class tests, exercises, and engagement; and 30-50% going to mid-year exams. For Juniors, whose exams only account for 30% of their marks, the remaining 20% will come from their case studies. She then stated that the assessment methods given are easy at first, but increase in difficulty as time progresses. Furthermore, these methods also help develop soft skills and discipline in students.
Before ending her presentation, Cikgu Norafiza stated that the Department will continue to use Quizizz and Google Forms quizzes to regularly assess students. However, there are still many things to be improved on: the number of HOTS questions will be increased to give Junior students more exposure; applications such as Liveworksheet and Wordwall will also be used to encourage more interactive learning in classes; more presentations and case studies will be conducted; and teachers will help students understand the new SPM format so that they will perform well in their exams.
English Language
Last but not least was the presentation from the English Department. Mr Joshua first shared the assessment methods used for Juniors. After many intensive discussions, the Department decided to mainly focus on group work as their means of evaluation. He stated that paper-based assessments alone are insufficient to test students’ learning outcomes. Hence, they have allocated 20% of marks each to group work, class tests, and essays, in order to complement the 40% weightage given to mid-year exams.
There are two types of group projects, namely thesis statements and poems. The former requires students to write a thesis statement based on a given topic. This helps them learn how to communicate their ideas in a succinct manner. The topics in question are fun and simple, allowing students to explore their creativity. Students will then either write complete essays as a group, or create PowerPoint presentations about their thesis statements. This means that students must constantly communicate with each other to achieve higher marks, which trains their soft skills. Furthermore, this helps teachers teach and assess their students within a shorter period of time.
The latter requires students to write a poem together. In this assignment, students need to be aware of a poem’s literary devices. Teachers will then guide their students in relating the poem back to themselves as a means of reflection. After that, students will create their poems in groups, before finally presenting their creations to their classmates. This can test students’ mastery of the English language, as well as let them explore their writing skills.
Finally, Ms Jeeva gave her presentation on the evaluation methods used for Senior students. She started off by explaining why alternative assessment methods are necessary, and how the Department created their assessment methods. She then said that in 2020, teachers were given their first exposure to online learning. Since classes were grouped together, they focused on providing creative slides. After a period of self-reflection, they changed their teaching methods this year by focusing on creating interactive slides, in order to increase students’ participation in class.
After that, she stated that the content taught to students follows the syllabus, but the assessment methods vary in the sense that teachers do not only focus on submitted work; other aspects of language skills are evaluated as well. She then showed the marks ratio, with 30% going to exams, and 70% going to an array of formative assessments.
To complete the syllabus while incorporating alternative assessment methods, teachers allow students to read texts and annotate on the screen to answer questions. The students will also engage in group work related to each unit. Other than that, teachers also use applications like Pear Deck, Padlet, and Flipgrid for task submissions and evaluation. For writing assignments, teachers took topics that relate heavily to reality to allow for critical thinking in students. They also conducted discussions in breakout rooms, where they engaged in process writing and created mind maps. During this time, students were given marks for collaboration.
Ms Jeeva said that these methods help in the diagnosis of the teaching and learning process, as students’ progress can be monitored, and the seriousness of formative assessments is understood by students. She also stated that the goal of these methods is to keep students motivated and help them grow holistically.
However, a challenge many teachers have faced is helping their introverted and unmotivated students. To deal with this, teachers open breakout rooms to give them a safe space for interaction with their peers. They also frequently check on their students’ emotions, and let them type in the chat box to build a sense of mutual trust. Besides that, they also give short quizzes after certain lessons, so that they can approach those who are struggling based on their scores. She then shared screenshots of students’ positive feedback, many saying that they enjoyed the amount of interaction they could have with their friends despite not being able to see each other in person.
Once all the presentations were over, Madam Loh invited Dr Teoh to share his opinions on the session. He started his speech by thanking all the teachers who worked on the presentations. He then gave his thoughts on each department’s methods based on core issues that many teachers are currently facing. He pointed out that certain activities could be tweaked to further encourage the development of soft skills. Other than that, he did not have many major complaints about the aforementioned evaluation methods, and he likes the fact that the teachers are working hard to ensure that students receive a holistic education.
At last, the session came to an end, and the teachers have separately expressed their appreciation for the efforts in making the sharing event a fruitful one.
