On June 21st 2025, the Department of Curriculum and Instruction hosted a seminar, Formative Assessment in the Authentic Classroom: Facilitating Innovation in Classroom Assessment with a Teacher Professional Development Website, to officially launch the Formative Assessment Innovative Teaching Hub (FAITH, faith.eduhk.hk). The event, held under the Quality Education Fund-funded project, Towards a Sustainable Assessment Reform through Developing a Professional Development Website for Formative Assessment (No.: 2022/0356), drew over 80 enthusiastic participants on a Saturday morning. Participants provided positive feedback on the FAITH website, expressing great interest in utilising it for their professional development.
To set the stage, Prof. Yan Zi, the principal investigator of the QEF project, provided an overview of the project's initiative. He emphasised the challenges teachers face when integrating formative assessment into their classrooms and corresponding solutions to those challenges. He also acknowledged the invaluable contribution of the project's partner schools.
The seminar then continued with a detailed elaboration from Ms. TSANG Ching Hann, Jannie, the consultant of this project. During her talk, Jannie highlighted formative assessment strategies and showcased the outstanding exemplars observed during her work with the partner schools.
The event also featured six teachers from three partner schools, the Aldrich Bay Government Primary School, the Salvation Army Tin Ka Ping School, and the ELCHK Wo Che Lutheran School), who shared their first-hand experience. Particularly, they discussed the transformative changes they made to their assessment practices, and the positive impact these changes had on their students' learning.
Prof. Yan showcased the FAITH website, highlighting its key strengths: authenticity (featuring real-classroom resources co-created by teachers and the project team), flexibility (24/7 access to materials across various subjects and school levels), and comprehensiveness (a wide range of relevant learning materials and opportunities, including research papers and workshops). He also emphasised that the website will continue to evolve, with additional resources—such as videos and other materials—to be added over time. He concluded the session by exploring the future of formative assessment, presenting a prototype of an adaptive learning platform that demonstrated how technology can effectively and efficiently support both teaching and learning.
The seminar marked a significant milestone in promoting formative assessment practices. With FAITH, teachers now have a convenient, accessible tool to refine their assessment strategies and improve their assessment literacy. Teachers' participation and engagement at the event reflect a shared commitment to sustainable assessment reform. That is, to reshape the classroom for the better.
