Listed below are four major achievements considered exemplary of the long 30+ years of service at University of Macau:
(1) Founded The Affiliated School of University of Macau (ASUM) in 1998 while serving as Dean of Faculty of Education. Since then served as Chairman of Executive Committee and then Chairman of Supervisory Committee up to the present moment, being the most experienced administrative personnel steering the school's development and growth. According to PISA study results, in a short duration of 20+ years of operation ASUM emerged to be amongst the top positions in Macao. ASUM is now a very good school very much sought after by parents who would like to have their children educated all-rounded and with virtuous character.
(2) Founded Educational Testing and Assessment Research Centre (ETARC) in 2006 as a response to the Macao Government to conduct PISA for the betterment of basic education in Macao, and since then up to June, 2024 served as its Founding Director. He then change his capacity to serve as Advisor of the Centre he founded 18 years ago. According to PISA 2018 and 2022 study results, in a short duration of two decades' operation, ETARC empowered students' 21st century skills and Macao emerged to rank amongst the top positions in reading, mathematics and science student achievement amongst near hundred participating countries/economies. In 2020s, ETARC emerges to become an acclaimed educational assessment institution with local expertise having solid capabilities to take charge of large-scale assessment programs locally, nationally, and internationally.
(3) Founded "University of Macau – Beijing Normal University Joint Research Centre for Monitoring of Basic Education Quality" in 2021 as a response to the MOE of China Government to mobilize Macao schools to participate in China's national assessment program, as well as cultivation of assessment expertise in Macao and the Greater Bay Area. I am the founding Officer of this Joint Research Centre, and in the past few years since its inception I was able to involve FED's postgraduate students to participate in MOE's 10000 Talent Programme, as well as Macao schools to develop assessment tasks for the National Science Assessment and the National Reading Assessment.
(4) As Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, in my 30+ years service at UM have educated a large number of undergraduate and postgraduate students to serve in every key and frontline positions in educational organizations, including school principals, director of Macao's educational bureaus, and professors of university and tertiary institutions. Also in 2019-2020 serve for Macao Government as Consultative Expert on the 6-members Planning Committee, i.e. the Non-tertiary Education Mid- to Long-term Ten-Year (2021-2030) Planning Committee, together with the other 5 national experts to formulate basic education policy for Macao schools for the third decade of the 21st century.
Research Contents
Prof Cheung is Professor of Education, with professional training on Mathematics & Science Education. He specializes in educational assessment of students' 21st century skills, and conducts large-scale sample surveys of student achievement, competence and literacy from an international comparative education perspective.
Prof Cheung's research focussed on the betterment of Macao's basic education and fostering of core competences in children to meet the challenges of the 21st century. His research outputs are very varied, including teaching & learning materials, school-based action research reports, as well as publications in competitive journals. To cater for the needs of the educational practitioners a lot of the publications are written in Chinese or bilingually, hoping that educational quality can be enhanced along correct paths due to the evidences of the research results.
The following is a list of research projects undertaken in the past years:
Macao-PIRLS 2026 Reading Study (PISA) [2023-2028] (Funded by DSEDJ of Macao Government: 9,396,720 MOP)
Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) [2023-2025] (Funded by DSEDJ of Macao Government: $3,433,682 MOP for the Main Study test administration and data collection)
Macao-PISA 2025 Scientific Literacy Study (PISA) [2023-2026] (Funded by DSEDJ of Macao Government: 13,904,872 MOP)
Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) [2022] (Funded by DSEDJ of Macao Government: $ 131,280 MOP in Fiscal year for the Field Trial test administration and data collection)
Assessment of Academic Quality for Learning Project (AAQL)[2021-2023] (Funded by Pui Cheng and Choi Kou: $ 360,000 MOP)
Macao-PISA 2022 Mathematical Literacy and Creative Thinking Study (PISA) [2019 – 2023] (Funded by DSEDJ of Macao Government: 24,243,996 MOP in Fiscal year 2019-2023)
National Reading Item Bank Development Project [2019-2021] (Funded by National Assessment Centre for Education Quality, Ministry of Education, China: $ 110,000 RMB)
Development of tools for the mining and analysis of computerized interactive data in the assessment of scientific literacy of primary and secondary students in China – A strategic science and technology development project of Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment toward Basic Education Quality, Beijing Normal University, China (Serve as High-end Foreign Expert of Beijing Normal University, i.e. 北京師範大學高端專家(外國/中國境外); Funded by Ministry of Science and Technology of China, $ 77,600 RMB for fiscal year 2019)
Macao-PISA 2018 Reading Literacy Study (PISA) [2016 – 2019] (Funded by DSEJ of Macao Government, China: $ 15,776,446 MOP)
Macao-PISA 2015 Scientific Literacy and Collaborative Problem Solving Study (PISA) [2013 – 2016] (Funded by DSEJ of Macao Government, China: $ 14,934,729 MOP)
Macao-PISA 2012 Mathematical Literacy Study (PISA) [2010 – 2013] (Funded by DSEJ of Macao Government, China: $12,627,400 MOP)
Macao-PISA 2009 Reading Literacy Study (PISA) [2007 – 2010] (Funded by DSEJ of Macao Government, China: $9,047,000 MOP)
Macao-PISA 2006 Scientific Literacy Study (PISA) [2004 – 2007] (Funded by DSEJ of Macao Government, China: $4,000,000 MOP)
A survey of examinations and tests in use taken by senior secondary students in Macao, China [2006] (Funded by Research Committee of UM: $35,000 MOP)
Challenging mathematical problems in the classroom (ICMI-16 Study) [2006 – 2007] (Funded by Research Committee of UM: $16,000 MOP)
Development of multiple intelligences for babies in subsidized child care centers in Macao, China [2005 – 2006] (Funded by IAS of Macao Government, China: $427,500 MOP)
Realistic mathematics education and multiple intelligences inspired education: A study of mathematization in school mathematics (ICMI-15 Study) [2004 – 2005] (Funded by Research Committee of UM: $75,500 MOP)
New Chinese mathematics curriculum standards (English version for primary/ junior secondary/ senior secondary grades), Basic Education Curriculum Research Centre, China [2004 – 2006] (Funded by Basic Education Curriculum Research Centre, Capital Normal University, Ministry of Education, China: ~$20,000 RMB)
Brain-based Recommendations for Intellectual Development and Good Education: A self-rating Study (BRIDGE) [2003 – 2006] (Funded by individual participating schools)
School-based Multiple Intelligences Learning Evaluation System (SMILES) [1999 – 2003] (Funded by individual participating schools)
Development of school-based multiple intelligences textbooks and learning materials for kindergartens [1999 – 2006] (Funded by Crystal Educational Publishing, Hong Kong, China)
Meaningful measurement of cognitive and psychological processes [1989 – 1992] (Funded by Center for Applied Research in Education, National Institute of Education, Singapore)
School and Teacher Effectiveness in Singapore [1989 – 1992] (Funded by Center for Applied Research in Education, National Institute of Education, Singapore)
IEA Second International Science Study (SISS) (Hong Kong, China) [1983 – 1985]
Biography
Professor Cheung obtained his B.Sc. major in Mathematics and minor in Computer Science from the University of Hong Kong in 1980, and completed his Ph.D. in Science Education from the University of London in the United Kingdom in 1989. Professor Cheung joined the University of Macau in 1992 and is now Professor of Education, specializing in Curriculum and Instruction. He is also Chief Advisor of Educational Testing and Assessment Research Centre, as well as Chairman of the Supervisory Committee of Affiliated School of University of Macau. His research interest specializes in Educational Assessment in Mathematics and Science Education, particularly the PISA, TIMSS and PIRLS assessment of the 21st century skills. Professor Cheung is an experienced personnel knowledgeable of student matters at UM. In his 30+ years of service at UM, he has been serving as Dean of Faculty of Education (1995-1999), Director of Educational Testing and Assessment Research Centre (2006-2024), Non-Resident Fellow (2010-2013) and Senior Fellow (2013-2022) in Henry Fok Pearl Jubilee College. Before the establishment of University of Macau’s Residential College System in 2010, he had served as Residence Officer/Warden of the Student Hostel of University of Macau for a long duration of 18 years (1992-2010). Starting July, 2022 Prof Cheung serves University of Macau further as Interim College Master of Moon Chun Memorial College. He formally served as College Master starting February, 2024.
The following is a list of 12 awards received in the past years:
Outstanding Monograph/Book Achievement Award (Third Prize) in the Areas of Language, Education, and the Arts, The 6th Outstanding Achievement Awards for Macao Research in Humanities and Social Sciences, awarded by Macau Foundation and Social Sciences in China Press (First Author; Monograph/book co-authored with P.S. Sit, S.K. Mak, and M.K. Ieong) [2022]
Excellent Achievement Award in the Areas of Language, Education, and the Arts, The 6th Outstanding Achievement Awards for Macao Research in Humanities and Social Sciences, awarded by Macau Foundation and Social Sciences in China Press (Second Author; Paper co-authored with S.K. Mak, M.K. Ieong, and P.S. Sit) [2022]
Master’s Thesis Supervision of Sou Wa Kit, who studied in the Curriculum and Instruction programme: Young Researcher Award (Social Sciences) from the International Institute of Macau [2020]
Outstanding Achievement Award (Third Prize) in the Areas of Language, Education and the Arts, The 5th Outstanding Achievement Awards for Macao Research in Humanities and Social Sciences, awarded by Macau Foundation and Social Sciences in China Press (First Author; Paper co-authored with S.K. Mak, P.S. Sit and K.C. Soh) [2019]
Excellent Monograph/Book Award in the Areas of Language, Education and the Arts, The 5th Outstanding Achievement Awards for Macao Research in Humanities and Social Sciences, awarded by Macau Foundation and Social Sciences in China Press (First Author; Monograph/book co-authored with P.S. Sit, S.K. Mak, and M.K. Ieong) [2019]
Best Paper Award, The 2017 Global Chinese Conference on Educational Information and Assessment & Chinese Association of Psychological Testing Annual Conference (paper co-authored with S.L. Jin, and P.S. Sit) [2017]
Best Paper Award, The 2015 Global Chinese Conference on Educational Information and Assessment & Chinese Association of Psychological Testing Annual Conference (paper co-authored with M.K. Ieong, P.S. Sit and S.K. Mak) [2015]
Excellent Research Paper Award in the Areas of Language, Education and the Arts, The 4th Outstanding Achievement Awards for Macao Research in Humanities and Social Sciences (paper co-authored with M.K. Ieong, P.S. Sit and S.K. Mak) [2015]
Doctoral Dissertation Supervision of Chan Keng Lim, who was the first PhD graduate of FED of UM: First Prize (Psychology and Education Area) of Cheng Chi University Humanity and Social Sciences Doctoral Dissertation Prize [2013]
UM Academic Staff Award (Teaching, Research and Services) [2011]
UM Excellent Research Award [2001]
IEA Bruce H. Choppin Memorial Award (Outstanding PhD Thesis) [1990]
