In July, the Pacific Community’s (SPC) Educational Quality and Assessment Programme (EQAP) launched the online interactive assessment tool for Year 13 students and their teachers in Tuvalu and Kiribati to foster interactive teaching methods and encourage students and teachers to collaborate and strengthen quality learning.
The online interactive assessment tool is an expansion of Moodle that is now used by EQAP’s South Pacific Form Seven Certificate (SPFSC) programme to assist students in subjects with challenges in teaching and learning resources, leading to comparatively lower performance levels. SPFSC is an accredited programme offered to Pacific Island nations as a qualification to enter tertiary studies or to secure employment.
Apart from providing students with the opportunity to practice examination-type questions from the various SPFSC courses, the interactive assessment feature also allows students to familiarise themselves with the rigour of the SPFSC course assessments.
EQAP’s Curriculum and Assessment Specialist, Lili Motufaga, stated that the interactive assessment will provide a way for students to monitor their learning and enable teachers to adjust teaching methods and lesson plans.
Motufaga also highlighted the benefits of the assessment to teachers in Kiribati and Tuvalu as they “can check their understanding of the subject as well as monitor their students’ learning and provide timely intervention where needed”.
A total of 14 subjects (Mathematics with Calculus, Mathematics with Statistics, English, French, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Accounting, Economics, Geography, History, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Agriculture, and Tourism and Hospitality) are offered through the SPFSC programme. All subjects have internal assessment and external examination components.
Teabike College teacher and SPFSC coordinator for Teabike College, Taruru Katimiri, stated that the online interactive assessment has assisted her in checking whether the students in her subject strand have achieved the learning outcomes.
“Students are aware of the number or load of things they must catch up on since the interactive assessments are graded or marked. These students will know when they fail and that they have to put in a little more effort and sacrifice in their study,” she explained.
Earlier this year, the EQAP team convened the SPFSC interactive assessment workshop and collaborated with senior secondary school teachers in the region to strengthen the production of quality multiple-choice items to be used as assessment resources on Moodle.
“It is envisaged that the development of the interactive assessment through Moodle by EQAP writers will positively contribute to further improvements and the quality of SPFSC results,” said Motufaga.
The interactive assessment feature is only available for six out of 14 SPFSC courses, including Accounting, Economics, Mathematics with Statistics, Mathematics with Calculus, Physics, and Chemistry.
The EQAP team is currently working on extending the online interactive assessment provisions to the remaining SPFSC subjects.
