This study probes into how pre-service and in-services teachers of various disciplines responded to media-based educational triggers, and their attitudes to the potential technological development in fostering student-centred learning in general and Problem-based Learning (PBL) in particular, with the ultimate goal of enhancing and improving the quality of teacher training. This paper will, therefore, analyze user attitudes to the five newly developed video triggers on PBL, which were developed by the education professionals at the Hong Kong Institute of Education to serve as exemplars for the staff and students who are not familiar with the problem-based approach. The particular standing of this sole teacher-education institute in Hong Kong and the mixed Western and Chinese cultures in the region make this case study unique. The results show that cultural values can exert a significant influence on the adoption of PBL by the Chinese teachers and students. The implications and recommendations arising from the findings obtained in this research project will provide teacher educators, locally as well as elsewhere, with some initial insights when using similar media–based products in teacher education in Hong Kong.

One of the aims for the Department of Physical Education and Sports Science (PESS) at the Hong Kong Institute of Education is to influence the physical development of Hong Kong children. This can be accomplished by ensuring that student teachers of physical education receive a strong training program based on scientific concepts of exercise, thus promoting excellence in teaching physical activity and health in primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong. A problem-based learning (PBL) approach was used as a new mode of instruction in a health-related fitness module. PBL is a teaching-learning method which encourages students to engage in active participation through solving physical activity, sports, and health problems that occur in real life situations. The purpose of using PBL was to enhance teaching and learning through the development of critical thinking skills with the support of web-based resource materials. Two health-related fitness cases were developed and implemented in a health-related fitness module taught to 27 second year physical education students enrolled on a four year BEd secondary program over one semester. Based on students' comments, PBL provided an opportunity to make connections between their school and life experiences, what they had learned from textbooks and practical experiences in the Human Performance Laboratory, and their own experience teaching sports and physical activity in schools. Students were also engaged in meaningful problem-centred learning activities where the effective sharing of information and decision making was imperative to solving problems of the cases.

This paper investigates the implementation of outcome-based learning (OBL) in a core course entitled Enhancing Teaching in Small Classes of the Professional Development Course for Small Class Teaching in Primary Schools and makes recommendation based on an effective OBL implementation. The course is introduced to in-service primary teachers as a response to the policy on small class teaching which has come to effect in Hong Kong primary schools since 2000. Originally designed in a non-OBL Format to meet the needs of the local primary teachers, the course objectives and contents are prepared with reference to the relevant literatures, overseas as well as local studies on small class teaching. The course has then been revised according to the principles of OBL and then offered to the in-service primary teachers. Near the completion of the course, data were collected from the teachers using questionnaires and individual interviews. . It was found that the teachers were highly motivated to learn and they agreed that the course intended learning outcomes (CILOs) could enrich their knowledge and skills of a professional teacher, and the teaching and learning activities and assessment tasks could help them to achieve the CILOs. The result suggests that learners' needs are significant to the effective implementation of OBL.

Problem-Based Learning (PBL), a teaching and learning innovation based on the constructivist theory of learning, is to foster creative and independent learning. This paper discusses results of a research study set up to explore the obstacles to the implementation of PBL in three local universities of Hong Kong. The research took place in two stages, with interviewing followed by questionnaire administration. A total of 30 PBL tutors from three local universities were interviewed. Interview data indicate that there are three major factors hindering the successful implementation of problem-based learning, namely resources, staff appraisal system, and student responses to PBL. Based on the interview findings, a PBL teachers experiences questionnaire was generated. A total of 19 returns (67 percent response rate) were received. Analysis of the questionnaire data indicated that certain factors played a more important role in PBL implementation: culture of the universities (PBL versus non-PBL) and the experiences of faculty members (experienced versus non-experienced). PBL and non-PBL based universities differed in resource support and student acceptance, but they shared the commonality that the teaching reward system had a detrimental effect on the PBL initiative. Younger faculty members were more susceptible to change but they required a more supportive system.

In recent years, Outcomes-Based Learning (OBL) is gaining increasing popularity in many parts of the world. Since 2008, OBL has been formally promoted among all higher education institutions in Hong Kong by the University Grants Committee (UGC) of Hong Kong. A key concept of OBL is that teaching should be driven by outcomes that are desirable in students, and that greater clarity in relation to what is to be achieved simply involves adjusting teaching and assessing. This paper reports on an ongoing project on Outcome-Based Learning in the English Department at the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd). First, the development of a set of Programme Learning Outcomes for the Bachelor of Education (English Language) Programme at HKIEd will be introduced. Second, the design of course intended learning outcomes will be discussed. Third, the adjustment of teaching and assessing strategies to align with the learning outcomes will be illustrated in a sample course. It is hoped that this paper will inspire some thoughts on how effective teaching and learning among students in higher education institutions can be achieved through the outcomes-based learning approach.