web stats
 
   
 
 
Selected Development Project
 
Project Title

Revised Assessment Program for Affective and Social Outcomes (APASO-II)
 
Principal Investigator Professor Mok Mo Ching, Magdalena
 
Area of Research Project Learning and Assessment
 
Project Period
From 6/2008 To 12/2013
Objectives
  • APASO-II aimed to provide a system of valid and reliable assessment tools to support Hong Kong schools in conducting self-evaluation and continuous improvement on students’ affective and social outcomes.
  • Objectives were to: (a) Review, revise and expand the existing APASO in order to develop a new APASO-II; (b) Validate and develop norms of
    APASO-II for Hong Kong; (c) Develop  user’s manual and application guidelines, and conduct professional development workshops for all Hong Kong schools. 
Methods Used
  • Reviewed existing APASO, originally developed by HKIED in 1999–2001 and launched by EDB in 2003;
  • Developed conceptual model on basis of: (a) education aims of Hong Kong and of other countries, (b) thorough literature review; and (c) consultation of key stakeholders comprising education policymakers, educators, principals, teachers, and parents;
  • Consulted key stakeholders on their current use, and perceived effectiveness, of the existing APASO;
  • Developed and validated APASO-II scales (49 for primary-, and 62 for secondary-students) with data from over 150,000 students from 330 primary, secondary, and special schools;
  • Developed norms for APASO-II on a representative sample of over 208,000 students from 348 primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong;
  • Developed user manual for APASO-II;
  • Conducted 50 professional development workshops.
Summary of Findings
APASO-II has provided an effective and efficient means for generating high quality feedback on
the affective and social development of Hong Kong students.
Impact
  • Affective and social outcomes of schooling have been accorded high priority by the Hong Kong government in recent education reforms, which called for a balanced education.
  • Since its launch by the EDB in 2010, APASO-II has been used effectively by schools and the government for evidence-based school improvement and policymaking.
Selected Publications Related to the Study

Reports submitted to the government on this commissioned research project include (a) “Review Report on APASO”; (b) “Validation Report on the Revised APASO for Measuring Affective and Social Outcomes of Schooling”; (c) Norm Report “Report on Hong Kong Norms of the Revised APASO for Measuring Affective and Social Outcomes of Schooling”; (d) Final Report: “Revised APASO for Measuring Affective and Social Outcomes of Schooling”; and (e) a user’s manual and a set of guidelines for using APASO-II.

An article, entitled, “Using Multi-dimensional Rasch to Enhance Measurement Precision: Initial Results from Simulation and Empirical Studies,’’ is currently under review. The article made use of data collected for the APASO-II project.
Biography of Principal Investigator

Professor Magdalena M. C. Mok is currently the Chair Professor of Assessment and Evaluation, Department of Psychological Studies. She is also the Co-director of Assessment Research Centre at the Institute. Professor Mok has a B.Sc. in Mathematics from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, an M.Sc. in Statistics from the University of Glasgow, and a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Hong Kong. Professor Mok works in the area of assessment and self-directed learning, with a special interest in Self-directed Learning Oriented Assessment. She has published extensively in these areas and has been active as consultants for governments in Hong Kong, and other non-government agencies. Professor Mok is the recipient of the Distinguished Teacher Award 2003–2004 from The Hong Kong Institute of Education.
Funding Source

Education Bureau