This study determines the impact of problem-based learning on a preuniversity geography class. Learning activities include problem analysis, information collection, an examination of concepts, oral presentations, and group summaries in relation to current and perennial geographical issues of local and/or global concern. Assessment for learning and assessment of learning were done by the teacher, classmates, and students themselves. Results showed that students could analyze problem statements and present their understanding systematically but varied considerably in organization, argument, and quality of thinking. To seek improvements, teachers should become more active facilitators while encouraging students to learn as problem solvers. Teacher training and school-based support are needed for creating a collaborative inquiry-oriented atmosphere in the classroom.
[Copyright of Journal of Geography is the property of Taylor & Francis. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00221341.2010.501112]

In accounting education, most Student Approaches to Learning (SAL) research has investigated the relationship between students' performance and their approaches to learning. Relatively limited research has been conducted on how assessment practices influence the quality of students' learning from the students' perspective. This paper seeks to address this gap in the accounting education literature. The research is centred on a large Australian undergraduate accounting degree delivered in Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong. Focus group interviews were conducted with students across the three locations. The research results reveal that: (1) it is the English competency of students that has the most important impact on students' completion of set assessment tasks and thus their approach to learning; (2) it is the way in which assessment is designed and written and the way lecturers convey their expectations about how assessment will be undertaken that is crucial to how students from various countries perform in that assessment; and (3) students' approaches to assessment and their preferred assessment tasks are not homogeneously based on cultural background.
[Copyright of Accounting Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09639280902836939]

背景﹕為了更好地適應未來社會﹐學生必須具備批判性思考、創意性思考等高層級思維能力，相應地﹐現今中小學課程也已十分重視培養這些與評價有關的能力。為此﹐閱讀測試要準確地評估､發展學生的評鑒能力。
目的﹕討論如何編制試題﹐以評估學生的現代文閱讀評鑒能力﹐為教師在中文評估領域的專業發展提供參考。
方法﹕以閱讀、寫作理論、現行課程標準為基礎，分析2002-05 年中國內地、香港、新加坡各17份合計51 份中學實際使用的中文試卷。
主要結果﹕發展了中學現代文閱讀評鑒題的評核內容框架，設計了評鑒題型體系，指出了評鑒題的編制策略。初步發現三地評鑒題的區別。
總結﹕三地評鑒題的內容測試焦點不同﹐可相互參考。為了更好地評核評鑒能力﹐編制評鑒題要選取更廣泛的內容﹐採用多種題型﹐採取相應的編題策略。
Background: Students need to be equipped with higher thinking skills such as critical and creative thinking skills that are related to their evaluation ability in order to better prepare them for the future society. The current reading curricula worldwide emphasize on the enhancement of evaluation ability of students in schools. Accordingly, the comprehension tests should reflect these changes so as to improve teaching and learning.
Aim: This research aims to probe on how to set questions to better assess students' ability to evaluate / appreciate the thoughts, literacy structures and language etc. in comprehension tests of Chinese language as first language.
Method: The author sampled 51 comprehension tests from secondary schools in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Singapore, and did a comprehensive content analysis based on multiple perspectives of theories on reading, writing, and the Chinese language curriculum development.
Results: A framework of contents to be tested has been structured; A few types of questions have been designed. In addition, some strategies for setting questions to assess students' evaluation ability in comprehension tests have also been discussed. The essential differences among the test papers in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Singapore have been described.
Conclusion: There are a few key different focuses in assessing student's evaluation ability in the comprehension tests in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Singapore. The author then concluded that, to ensure the assessing evaluation ability effectively, the scale of contents for testing should be broadened

This article describes the development of an instrument - the Career and Talent Development Self-Efficacy Scale (CTD-SES) - for assessing students' self-efficacy in applying life skills essential for personal talent development, acquisition of positive work habits, and career exploration. In Study 1, data were obtained from a large sample of Chinese middle-school students (N=15,113) in Grades 7-9 in Hong Kong. The CTD-SES is an 18-item questionnaire with subscales containing items that address students' orientations toward developing their own talents, acquiring and applying positive work habits, and exploring their career possibilities. Evidence is provided for internal consistency, temporal stability, and factor structure of the CTD-SES. Goodness of fit statistics provided support for a three-primary-factor-plus-higher-factor model, and this solution was used in the statistical analyses. The data also indicated that students with plans for university study reported significantly higher scores than those without on all three domains of career and talent development. In Study 2 (N=308) Grade 10 high-ability students' scores in CTD-SES were correlated with scores in career decision self-efficacy and academic performance. The development and validation of CTD-SES is the first step toward investigating career exploration, work habits, and talent development among Asian middle-school adolescents.
[Copyright of High Ability Studies is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13598139.2010.488089]