Computational thinking is a core skill in computer science that has become a focus of instruction in primary and secondary education worldwide. Since 2010, researchers have leveraged Evidence-Centered Design (ECD) methods to develop measures of students' Computational Thinking (CT) practices. This article describes how ECD was used to develop CT…

This article introduces the use of public exam questions in fishbowl debate to engage highly exam-oriented secondary students with communicative language teaching (CLT). The practice aims to address the issue that many teachers of English as a second language (ESL)/English as a foreign language (EFL) in Asian contexts either teach to the test or…

Despite the common belief that information and communication technology (ICT) has the potential to support certain fundamental changes in learning, few have examined ICT implementation conceptually within a wider context of educational change. Methodologically, we are by and large limited to building simple models that accommodate only a single…

This paper describes the development of an improved scale for measuring sentiments, attitudes and concerns about inclusive education in pre-service teachers based on an examination of data gathered from 996 pre-service teachers from five tertiary institutions using a modified version of the Interactions with People with Disabilities scale…

Developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a regular survey to assess the preparedness of 15-year-olds for adult life in over 40 countries/regions. Hong Kong joined PISA in 2000. This article introduces the background and framework of PISA and…

The procedure for the development of a measure of humour appreciation among a convenience sample of 53 primary school children attending a one-week summer program held in Hong Kong is described. Two sets of visual stimuli depicting pictures of local celebrities portrayed either veridically (congruously) or incongruously were established from a…

Computer-assisted assessment (CAA) has become increasingly important in education in recent years. A variety of computer software systems have been developed to help assess the performance of students at various levels. However, such systems are primarily designed to provide objective assessment of students and analysis of test items, and focus…

This article presents key features of the mathematics assessment in OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), from the point of view of the design of test items to fit in with the PISA mathematics framework. A brief description is first given to provide some background to the development of the PISA mathematics framework. The…

Describes the construction and small-scale implementation of a computer program that can be used on a self-access basis to assess English-as-a-Second-Language listening proficiency. The test involves an extended dictation in dialog form. Results indicate a good correlation with traditional pen-and-paper tests and suggests that the concept has…

The development of a language ability scale for English as a Second Language in Hong Kong secondary schools is described. The project used a local computer network designed as a database of teacher-designed English language tests. From test items in the database, a series of seven tests was prepared, one for each grade level. Tests for the lowest…