Recently, more educators have argued for the need to attend to both the cognitive and the affective aspects of fieldwork in geographical and environmental education. Experientially based studies are seen as particularly valuable in understanding the fieldwork experiences of both students and teachers and what meanings they have derived from such experience. This study is a qualitative case study of two geography field trips for Secondary Four (Year 10) students of mixed abilities in a Hong Kong School. The teachers, focusing on the affective outcomes of fieldwork, were determined to let students attain unusual and memorable experiences by undergoing adventurous activities. The results revealed that while most students generally felt excited and delighted over the challenge, a number of students decided to withdraw from the experience. Students of higher academic achievement appeared to be more critical. Their frustrations were often related to academic learning and the lack of a collective learning atmosphere on the trips. The experience was characterized by a tension of purpose between academic learning on one hand, and fun and excitement on the other. Copyright © 2000 The authors.

為了推動STEM教育的深入發展，我國香港特別行政區相關機構相繼推出一系列檔，包括《STEM教育提升——釋放創新潛力》報告、《推動STEM+（科學、技術、工程和數學）教育》報告和《前線STEM教師支援政策研究報告》等。這幾個文件內容一脈相承，後面兩個文件是第一個文件的補充和擴展。在上述政策的指引下，香港中小學進行了STEM教育實踐。通過對香港中小學STEM教育的分析發現，香港STEM教育的推動具有如下特點：高度重視STEM教育發展，頂層設計，統一推進；在充分實證的基礎上制定相關策略；多方面協同推進，大力促進STEM教育的深入發展，具體包括更新科學、技術、數學教育課程，重視學生學習活動的參與，提供學和教的資源，提升學校和教師的專業發展，加強合作和宣傳好的實踐案例等；舉措具體可行；在所有中小學全面鋪開。我國香港特別行政區STEM教育的發展給了內地一定的啟示，包括：充分認識STEM教育的重要性和緊迫性，出台具體明確的STEM發展規劃；在充分調查的基礎上制定相關政策；多方面協同，共同推進，具體包括持續進行課程的更新、提供多種形式的豐富的教學資源、組織各類學習活動、與各個利益相關者進行合作、注重教師的專業發展、注重核心素養的培養；全面鋪開。STEM education is being attempted and practiced in many countries (regions) nowadays. Related organizations of Hong Kong launch series of files to promote STEM education, including Report on Promotion of STEM Education Unleashing Potential in Innovation, Propelling STEM+ (Science, Technology, Project and Mathematics) Education and Research Report of Supporting Policy of Teachers on the Front. The contents of these files come down in one continuous line, the following two files are the supplement and extension of the first file. These files show that promotion of STEM education of Hong Kong has following characteristics: attaching importance to STEM education, designing in the top and promoting it consistently; making policy based on empirical research; promoting STEM education adopting multiple measures collaboratively; action is specific and feasible; spreading in all schools in Hong Kong. This brings to us many enlightenment: fully recognizing the importance and urgency of STEM education,and introducing specific STEM development programs; making policy based on empirical research; promoting STEM education adopting multiple measures collaboratively; having STEM education in more schools, including elementary and secondary school located in western areas and the countryside. Copyright © 2019 信陽師範學院.

This paper aims to examine teachers’ use of strategies and approaches in integrating Plastic Resources Education (PRE) into primary school life in order to overcome the challenges encountered during implementation to promote environmentally friendly practices. Case studies with eight Hong Kong teachers from PRE-participating primary schools were invited to take part in focus group interviews, to explicate their personal stories and experiences associated with the PRE implementation in primary schools. Based on the data collected from the teachers’ sharing, several challenges which are commonly reported in the previous literature, including lack of time, shortage of manpower, and insufficient pupil engagement were found. The teachers tackled the barriers by using different strategies to improve pupils’ involvement as well as getting support from the relevant stakeholders of school management and parents. The case studies provide crucial and relevant information which can be used as a reference for other schools to integrate PRE more efficiently to facilitate learning. Copyright © 2018 ASPE.

從商業教育的角度，回顧了香港STEM教育的實踐成效。通過參考國外(如新加坡及美國)STEM教育的經驗，認為香港STEM教育有可進步的空間。雖然創業教育在香港已發展成熟，並有大量專業團體的協助，但商業教育在 STEM 教育中仍未發揮應有的作用。建議推行創業 STEM教育，為學生提供一個實踐的環境，並透過跨科協助，來提升整個中學 STEM 教育的成效。 Copyright © 2018 中南大學.

This study aims to establish a robust measurement to obtain a comprehensive understanding of perceptions of programming education (POPE) of teacher and principal groups. In this study, the POPE scale contains three dimensions: (a) understanding in programming (UP), (b) support for programming (SP), and (c) expectation of programming (EP). Self-reported questionnaires were administrated among 258 teachers and 229 principals. Multigroup analyses were used among the two groups. The results of measurement invariance tests show that configural and metric invariance are fully supported, and scalar invariance is partially supported, suggesting the factor structures, loadings, and most item intercepts of the POPE scale are equivalent across the groups examined. Implications of the study are discussed.
[Copyright of Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment is the property of SAGE Publications. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0734282918787670]

Schools around the globe increasingly realized the importance of technology and its application in the education system. To guarantee a successful educational innovation, schools seek out different parties for valuable opinions. Among them, parents are the important feedback providers, because their attitudes are influential on children's academic performance. Moreover, their involvement and support are considered the key factor that facilitates an effective implementation of programming education at schools. This study aimed at developing and validating an instrument measuring parents' perceptions of programming education among P-12 schools in Hong Kong. We propose that parents; perceptions of programming education is a multidimensional construct which constitutes (a) understanding, (b) support, and (c) expectation. In total, 524 questionnaires were collected from the parents who attended programming workshops and seminars. Exploratory factor analysis shows evidence for the three-dimensional construct. Confirmatory factor analysis reconfirms the measurement structure. Implications of the study are discussed.
[Copyright of Journal of Educational Computing Research is the property of SAGE Publications. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0735633118783182]

Building on Carey and Smith’s work on epistemology of science, this study characterized elementary students’ scientific epistemology from the role-of-idea and theory-building perspective. The participants included 102 elementary students in Hong Kong. Open-ended questions and coding schemes were developed to examine and characterize their epistemic understanding of science. Four key dimensions were identified: role of idea, theory-fact understanding, theory revision and creation, and social process of scientific progress. The general pattern showed that students’ views of scientific inquiry ranged from seeing it as a mechanical process involving concrete materials and sets of scientific skills, to viewing it as an idea-driven process comprising collective theory-building and knowledge creation. The analysis showed that these students generally had a limited understanding of the role-of-idea and theory-building in science. Quantitative analysis indicated that this conceptualized epistemology of science was an important predictor of students’ academic performance in science. Implications for science education and future research are discussed.
[Copyright of The Asia - Pacific Education Researcher is the property of Springer Science & Business Media. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40299-018-0411-4]

This study compares the learning results of three groups of secondary two (grade eight) students of a similar academic standard who participated in a teaching intervention involving different pedagogies. One hundred and forty-nine Hong Kong secondary students were chosen and divided into three groups, “whole-class teaching approach”, “group work with no specific strategies” and “group work with effective strategies”, to study the “space travel” unit in their science curriculum. The first group was exposed to traditional whole-class instruction, and the latter two practised collaborative group work, with the third adopting four effective strategies derived from a UK-based quasi-experimental project. Analyses of the pre- and post-diagnostic assessments and audiotaped discussions revealed that group work comprising effective strategies not only raised students’ test scores, but also enhanced their joint construction of conceptual knowledge in science. The findings suggest that the effective strategies adopted in this study are contributory factors to superior student accomplishments and a stronger desire to seek clarification accruing from shared cognitive activities.
[Copyright of International Journal of Science & Mathematics Education is the property of Springer Netherlands. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10763-017-9839-x]

The nature of liberal arts education merits renewed attention and consideration, especially in the context of the modern university in both Hong Kong and mainland China, where there is growing recognition that quality education standards should be improved, and an interdisciplinary approach to education and research is the way forward. The liberal arts spirit is an illustration of the power of inspiration and transformation, and through engaging with different perspectives, students are enabled and encouraged to pursue independent study, which boosts their creativity and critical thinking. As a catalyst and facilitator, liberal arts education that encompasses fresh global perspectives and connections has proved its worth over the years. However, since it is sometimes easy to lose sight of some of the fundamental principles essential to university education, we need to realize that too little interaction between science and the humanities has widened the two-culture divide, and the question is how to reconcile, or better still combine, the two. The two-culture debate, although suffering neglect for a long time in China, is of profound relevance and implications for the modern university. It can be observed that participatory interaction inherent in the dynamism of pedagogical engagement is increasingly promoted as the preferred mode of teaching students, who have benefited from broad-based learning as the embodiment of liberal education. Overcoming rigid disciplinary exclusiveness is positively correlated with empowering students with broad knowledge and skills to succeed in the future.
[Copyright of European Review is the property of Cambridge University Press. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1062798717000667]

International studies of science education, such as the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), have revealed considerable national disparities in students' achievements in science education. The results have prompted many nations to compare their science education systems and practices to those of others, to gain insights for improvement. Teacher training and professional development are key educational components that have not attracted as much attention as they deserve in international comparative studies. This study compares the conceptions and attitudes of pre-service elementary teachers (PSETs) in Hong Kong and the United States with respect to inquiry science learning and teaching at the beginning of the semester before the start of the science methods course. PSETs' conceptions and attitudes in the two countries were compared by means of a questionnaire with both Likert-type and open-ended questions. Quantitative data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis and inferential statistics, while qualitative data were analyzed through the systematic categorization of PSETs' responses into broad themes and subthemes to reflect patterns in their conceptions of and attitudes toward inquiry science learning and teaching. The results revealed a complex interplay between PSETs' conceptions of and attitudes toward inquiry science learning and teaching. The results shed light on the effects of sociocultural contexts and have important implications for the design of science methods courses.
[Copyright © 2018 Springer Science+Business Media B.V., part of Springer Nature.]