News and Events

Educators have urged higher-education institutes in Vietnam to use the student assessment from the ASEAN University Network (AUN) to improve the quality of training.

Nguyen Duc Nghia, deputy director of Vietnam National University-HCM City (VNU-HCM), said the AUN student assessment would be useful.

The assessment procedures measure the achievement of the intended learning outcomes and other programme objectives.

Speaking at a national conference on assessment reform organised by Sai Gon University yesterday in HCM City, Nguyen Thien Tong of HCM City University of Technology said that assessment had a profound effect on students' future career.

It is important to carry out assessment in a professional manner at all times and learn from research on testing and examination processes.

Tong said that current assessment methods used in Vietnam did not inspire students to learn or study. They only study hard when they have to take final examinations.

He said that assessment procedures should be changed and that new reforms would lead to an improvement in teaching and learning outcomes.

The AUN procedures measure a student's progression towards achieving the knowledge and skills associated with their intended qualification.

The procedures also have clear regulations covering student absences, illnesses and other mitigating circumstances.

This assessment has helped several faculties at VNU-HCM to measure the effect of teaching and learning, according to Tong.

He said that students were stimulated to learn under such an assessment system.

At the conference, Nguyen Duy Mong Ha of HCM City Social Sciences and Humanity University said that education institutes should develop scoring rubrics and authentic assessment tools to measure students' work.

The assessment tool outlines marking criteria, and is used for marking assignments, class participation and overall grades.

Ha and her colleagues have used the scoring rubrics for students' presentations and assessment of team working skills. Improvement in students' learning had occurred, she added.