Slide
Professor Wei Xiang-dong

Secretary General, Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority

Biography

Professor Wei Xiang-dong has assumed the role of Secretary General effective 1 March 2021, providing strategic directions and leadership to over 350 staff members in supporting the administration and delivery of a wide range of examinations and assessment services for the school sector and the public.

Professor Wei has extensive experience in higher education sector in Hong Kong. Prior to joining the HKEAA, he was a Professor of the Department of Economics at the Lingnan University. He was also the Director of Pan Su-tong Shanghai-Hong Kong Economic Policy Research Institute and China Economic Research Programme. He had served as Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Lingnan University, as well as the Supervisor cum Deputy Chairman of the Board of Governors of Lingnan Institute of Further Education. In addition, he founded the Lingnan University STEAM Education and Research Centre to promote STEAM education in Hong Kong. Professor Wei also took up various teaching and research positions in universities in the UK and the Mainland.

Professor Wei is the Vice-President of the Hong Kong Economic Association and a member of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), UK. He had served as a member of the Manpower Development Committee of HKSAR Government and the Board of Joint Quality Review Committee in Hong Kong; and also served as consultant for various governmental organisations in Hong Kong, the UK and the Mainland.

Professor Wei graduated from the Sun Yat-sen (Zhongshan) University in China with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, then he got his Master of Social Science in Money, Banking and Finance, and Doctor of Philosophy in Economics from the University of Birmingham in the UK.

Topic:
Utilising Large-Scale Public Examinations Data to Inform Learning and Teaching
Abstract:

Big data is increasingly prominent in education and assessment, offering opportunities for personalised instruction, responsive assessment, engaged pedagogy, and collaborative learning. Effective utilisation of examination data through data-driven analytics is essential for educators, academics, and researchers to inform learning and teaching practices.

The Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA) launched the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE) in 2012. This examination measures the attainment of students completing three years of senior secondary education and has accumulated a wealth of examination data from over 850,000 candidatures. The HKEAA employs a data-driven approach to develop a full range of examinations and assessment services aimed to promote ‘Assessment for Learning’.

In this presentation, Prof Wei will highlight recent developments in the Authority’s assessment tools for schools and teachers, focusing on the HKDSE Diagnostic Feedback System (DFS). This self-developed digital tool enables teachers to evaluate students’ strengths and weaknesses by creating tailored assessments using the HKDSE question bank. By completing these assessments, students’ performance will be analysed through a diagnostic feedback report generated by the DFS. Practical feedbacks on leveraging this insightful data to enhance teaching plans and improve student performance will be discussed.

Additionally, Prof Wei will illustrate the HKDSE School Statistical Reports, which provide customised feedback for schools. This includes specific reports showing individual schools’ examination statistics as compared to those of all day schools (available at school, class and teaching group levels), as well as detailed analyses of student eligibility for further education and university admission. This analysis highlights students’ strengths and weaknesses, advocating for a broader approach to enhance assessment literacy in education and boost motivation in learning and teaching.