Taylor's School of Education recently organized "The International Postgraduate Symposium on Education". The event was held on 29th April 2023 at Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus and attended by 200 participants. The theme was "Alternative Assessments in Education", which was in line with Taylor’s University’s Impact Lab initiatives - Education for All. It is widely acknowledged that fairness and justice, which are important aspects of assessment, in terms of validity, have been compromised the world over.
Many countries have now begun to pay serious attention to this, thereby accelerating the implementation of assessment literacy programmes for teachers. This symposium addressed these issues, thereby suggesting that alternative assessments must be developed and put in place.
There were two phases to the event. Phase 1 consisted of three presentations, started with a keynote which was delivered by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vahid Nimehchisalem, an Assessment Expert from the Faculty of Modern Languages, University of Putra Malaysia. He spoke on Learner-Oriented Assessments in Education. The second speaker, Nur Zaimah Jamil from KPJ Healthcare University, spoke on School-Based Assessment: Teacher’s Understanding and Current Practice in Malaysia, while the third speaker, Miriam Guna Segran from Taylors International School spoke on Effects of Self-Assessment on Students’ Narrative Writing Skills and Learning Autonomy. The second phase of the event involved a Forum, where all the three invited speakers interacted with the audience. This forum was moderated by Professor Dr. Jayakaran Mukundan, Senior Research Fellow from School of Education, Taylor's University.
