Changing Trainee Teachers’ Perceptions of School-Based Assessment in Malaysia: an Exploratory Study

School-based assessment, while quite established in many Western countries, is still relatively new in the Asian education context. Consequently, operational problems such as time constraints, lack of teacher skills and inadequate computer management systems have hampered implementation efforts. While studies have been conducted which examined these issues, few if any have examined how trainee teachers feel. The following paper addresses this issue through an exploratory study on 25 first year bachelor of education students from a Malaysian Institute of Teacher Education. Findings showed that the majority of students were more positive towards a student-centred and formative learning approach after the students had experienced a teaching unit based on formative assessment principles. The findings also indicated that cultural influence may play a considerable part in the success or otherwise of school-based assessment endeavours. Results of this study may serve as a useful starting point for researchers interested in more classroom-based explorations of school-based assessment in Asia.