Page 70 - Jurnal Kurikulum BPK 2018

Besides, educators do not discuss among themselves or critically review about the types
of questions they post to students either in oral or written form and also other types of methods or
learning strategies in order for accountability of assessment takes place (Black, 1998; DeLuca &
Johnson, 2017). Furthermore, low-levels question items seemed to be teachers’ everyday’s work
as it is easier to do (Sardareh & Mohd Rashid, 2013). Many educators also resort to grading
functions as it seems the only easiest thing to do, thus leading to the failure of self-assessment by
students as they do not a comprehensive idea on how to assess themselves.
The challenges stated above is also seen in the local context. Although not many researches
on assessment have been done in Malaysian schools as assessment is only seen important in recent
years, Malaysian teachers are generally unaware of the importance of feedback and effective
questioning techniques to enhance learner’s autonomy. Studies done by Sardareh (2016) and
Sardareh, Abdul Rashid, Abdul Jalil & Rosalam (2014) showed that Malaysian teachers lacked
pedagogical skills such as giving appropriate feedback and questioning techniques to enhance
students’ learning.

Enhancing Classroom Assessment in Malaysian Context

In Malaysian schools, the emphasis is on formative assessment, although summative
assessment is inevitable as less emphasized is given to avoid high-stakes testing. The main
purpose is to improve students’ learning and teachers’ instructional approach and strategies (Black
1998, William & Leahy, 2015). Classroom assessment is the key towards developing a child
holistically in terms of cognitive, affective and psychomotor as mentioned in the Malaysian
Education Blueprint 2013 – 2025 (MOE 2013) in tandem with the Malaysian Philosophy of
Education. Therefore, exam-oriented education is less emphasized. The focus is more fun, deep
and meaningful learning, together with rigorous classroom assessment where the focal point is on
the students’ cognitive and character development. This is related to the six attributes needed by
students to be globally competitive as mentioned in the Malaysia Blueprint, i.e. leadership skills,
bilingual proficiency, thinking skills, knowledge, ethics and spirituality, and national identity (see
Figure 1 for the six key attributes).

Figure 1. Six key attributes needed by students to be globally competitive
(MOE 2013)

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