An enhanced e-assessment system for the acquisition of Putonghua

Carole Chen, Kenneth Wong, Kat Leung and Reggie Kwan
Caritas Bianchi College of Careers
Hong Kong SAR, China

This paper presents the design and development of a Putonghua e-Assessment System for the sub-degree students at Caritas Institute of Higher Education and Caritas Bianchi College of Careers. A software prototype of Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT) has been developed to promote assessment for learning and enhance students’ Putonghua self-learning capacity. It is to help individual students identify the various approaches available to learn “how to learn” through self-directed, self-controlled and, to some extent, customized “assessment” opportunities. An adaptive algorithm based on the one-Parameter Logistics Model from Item Response Theory (IRT) is utilized in this software prototype, which could select questions for each user based upon their ability as measured during the test. Further learning support is obtainable within the system, including immediate feedback such as detailed study guides with full explanations and illustrative examples, and follow-up exercises for self-improvement. A full usability test and evaluation will be conducted in the coming academic year. In the first part of this paper, the background of developing the system will be discussed, followed by a brief introduction of improvements and new features of the new version. Then, further development of the system will be presented with conclusions.