Purpose: This study explored the mathematical dispositions of Hong Kong mathematics pre-service teachers (PSTs). It also constructed a mathematical disposition framework comprising their affective, cognitive and functional dispositions towards the subject. Design/methodology/approach: Thirty-one participants completed three structured metaphor tasks and one open-ended metaphor task in which they shared their views on mathematics. Responses were examined qualitatively and quantitatively. Coding based on thematic analysis was utilized to summarize the specific contents of the mathematical dispositions expressed by the PSTs, and a 5-level scoring scale was employed to evaluate the strength of the dispositions as represented by different metaphor types. Findings: The findings suggest that the mathematical dispositions of pre-service mathematics teachers were generally positive. However, the overall level was not high. The most prevalent metaphors used to describe mathematics were “rice”, “blue” and “dog”. Research limitations/implications: Hong Kong mathematics PSTs' mathematical dispositions are examined by using metaphorical tasks. Three categories are identified: affective, cognitive and functional dispositions towards mathematics. Originality/value: This study has proposed an original framework for describing mathematical disposition. Copyright © 2023 Emerald Publishing Limited.

This study focused on Hong Kong mathematics teachers' experiences and challenges in online distance teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 109 frontline mathematics teachers participated in the survey. Their teaching experiences and challenges during the pandemic were investigated through an online questionnaire and followed up through in-depth interviews. The results show that most teachers believed that their way of teaching mathematics had somewhat changed and that they had tried to offer e-learning as an alternative teaching mode to maintain the quality of teaching during the pandemic. They also tended to focus on external factors rather than internal factors during online teaching. Teachers agreed that a paradigm shift had occurred in the role of teaching during this time of crisis. Although they had developed sufficient levels of technology use, these did not necessarily translate to competence in achieving instructional goals. Ultimately, teachers' personal experiences with online teaching and their beliefs about mathematics teaching are crucial factors affecting the role and effectiveness of online teaching. Copyright © 2023 selection and editorial matter, Kevin Wai Ho Yung and Huixuan Xu; individual chapters, the contributors.

This study trialed a pedagogy of “To Play and Learn, To Inquire, To STEM and Code”. Supplementary with seven hands-on activity worksheets and 19 coding product templates and samples, the pedagogy was designed to expose students to the construction of electric circuits with Micro:bit in STEM classrooms for developing knowledge of electric circuits and problem-solving skills. The pedagogy was implemented as a 280-minute teaching in eight lessons for 23 selected Grade 5 classes, which involved 369 students from nine primary schools at Hong Kong. The results of pre-post-test validate the success of the pedagogy in students' statistically significant growth in all three topic-specific knowledge points. The results of questionnaire survey demonstrate the impact of the pedagogy on students' statistically significant growth in their awareness of and their confidence in applying the target problem-solving skills. The results of focus group interviews confirm that students were satisfied with the experiences and outcomes of the pedagogy in developing topic-specific knowledge and problem-solving skills. This study reveals that the pedagogy is well received by students; noticeably effective to enhance students' knowledge of electric circuits; and potential to promote their development of problem-solving skills. Future directions to extend the pedagogy for senior primary curriculum are discussed. Copyright © 2022 Asia-Pacific Society for Computers in Education.

Current academic research bodies on STEM education focus on five perspectives of student ability enhancement, teacher training, curriculum integration, pedagogy and curricular implementation in intra-national/cross-national comparative studies. Noteworthy, there has been no comprehensive policy analysis of STEM education in secondary school curricula in Hong Kong. For STEM is not formally documented into school curricula and students mostly join inter-school and international STEM project competitions. International literature reveals that conceptions of STEM education are still fuzzy. In this paper, a 2 X 3 matrix is utilized to evaluate the extent of implementing STEM education in mainstream secondary schools in Hong Kong, and to envisage contextual difficulties and obstacles against STEM education. This paper then leads conceptual discussions on integrated approaches, draw policy implications and recommend further research agendas. Copyright © 2022 Asia-Pacific Society for Computers in Education.

Assessment is an important aspect of mathematics teaching and learning. This paper aims to explore Hong Kong mathematics teachers’ views on online assessment during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data analysed is part of a larger project comprising an online survey and semi-structured interviews. This paper presents data from the survey responses of ninety-two teachers and from interviews of three teachers. Thematic data analysis is conducted, focusing on teachers’ views on assessment during online learning. Findings show that the forms of assessment that Hong Kong mathematics teachers conducted during the pandemic were similar to those from before the pandemic. They view online assessment mainly as assessment for and of online learning. This paper also discusses suggestions for online mathematics assessment. Copyright © 2022 left to the authors.

Given the demands on instructors created by the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers have been compelled to integrate active learning pedagogies supported by mobile technologies to sustain students' interactive engagement. This study describes the implementation of a novel active pedagogy - the collaborative problem-based learning and peer assessment (Co-PBLa-PA) method, implemented through interactive online whiteboards (IOWBs) in junior secondary mathematics classes in Hong Kong. Data were collected from 87 Form 1 students and analysed to test three hypotheses postulating the main effects of the Co-PBLa-PA method on students' learning approaches using IOWBs. A pre-survey (SPQ) on students' learning approaches and a post-survey (SPQ) on students' learning approaches and their perceptions of technology-enabled active learning (TEAL) were administrated. Results showed the Co-PBLa-PA method, using IOWBs, increased students' learning performance and promoted significant deep learning. A significant positive correlation also emerged between deep learning approaches and students' perceptions of TEAL using IOWBs. Finally, limitations and directions for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2023 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

STEM education has taken on high importance in Hong Kong K-12 education landscape. Despite policy advocacy and curriculum endeavour, the quality of STEM education varies significantly between schools. Research literature indicates that high-quality STEM education requires teachers’ rigorous delivery of topics and appropriate pedagogies, and one approach to improve such practices is teacher professional development (TPD). However, because current research on TPD has not given explicit consideration to the complex nature of STEM education, there remains a lack of a clear blueprint of how TPD should be conducted to build teachers’ capacity for STEM education effectively. This paper presents a case study that explores the necessary attributes and identifies the missing links of STEM education TPD by understanding how various TPD models supported a Hong Kong K-12 school embracing STEM education. Qualitative data collection methods, including semi-structured interviews and classroom observations, were employed to draw a picture of TPD implementations in the selected school. The findings suggest that, at the macro-level, effective STEM TPD should not stop at employing mixed use of TPD models; the models have to be integrated organically with respect to a school-based STEM curriculum implementation approach. A collaborative culture between teachers must be cultivated for effective inter-disciplinary integration. Collaborative action research should also be promoted to develop collective wisdom of STEM pedagogies. At the micro-level, TPACK and cross-disciplinary integration skills need to be focusing areas of STEM TPD. With these guiding principles, some possible strategies for effective STEM education TPD are suggested. Copyright © 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.