In Hong Kong, student interest and achievement in science have been declining in recent years. We thus aim to seek ways to improve our science education. This paper reports an attempt of using the flipped classroom approach together with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) to deliver a science unit ("electrical conductors and insulators"). This exploratory study was divided into two stages. In Stage 1, the teacher-researcher designed the science lessons using the NGSS and prepared flipped learning materials (e.g., pre-class videos, online exercises, class activities). In Stage 2, these lessons were implemented in a Hong Kong secondary school, involving a total of 32 ninth-graders from two classes. At the end of this study, two focus group interviews (five students each) were conducted to understand student perceptions of flipped science learning. Teacher reflections of the implementation were also collected and analyzed to reveal his experiences of flipping with the NGSS. Overall, the findings suggest that the students perceived flipped science learning positively because of the ability of self-paced learning, better class preparation, and more in-class interactions. From the teacher's point of view, however, the science curriculum in Hong Kong and the NGSS are different in terms of their focus and content. Time constraint and inadequate laboratory equipment in school also hindered the implementation of the NGSS in Hong Kong. We recommend further research be conducted to investigate how to adopt the NGSS in other topics of Hong Kong science education and examine its effects on student interest and achievement in the long run. Copyright © 2018 Copyright is held by the owner/author(s).

This chapter reports the results of a study that evaluates the effectiveness of a Philosophy in Schools (PIS) programme in developing students’ thinking skills and English competence in Hong Kong. Sixty-two Secondary 3 English as a Second Language (ESL) students and their three Integrated Humanities (IH) teachers participated in this study. With training and support from the researcher, the participating teachers taught the participating students PIS in English during IH lessons. The students were found to be capable of reasoning and arguing in a competent way about philosophical problems arising from various stimuli prepared by their teachers according to the IH curriculum. It was also found that PIS played a major role in promoting the students’ critical and creative thinking, and helped the development of their English language proficiency to a significant extent. In addition, both the students and teachers were found to have a generally positive attitude towards doing philosophy in the classroom. The findings of this study suggest that integrating philosophy into the IH curriculum can promote critical thinking, creative thinking, and English language proficiency in ESL students. Copyright © 2020 selection and editorial matter, Chi-Ming Lam; individual chapters, the contributors.

The paper reports on an empirical study on adopting an innovative pedagogical design in project-based learning to improve upper primary students' problem solving skills in science learning. A Grade 6 class in a Hong Kong primary school was involved in this study. The findings show that the students produced high group artifacts/projects in problem-solving quality and were positive in facing challenges in their project-based learning process. This indicates that project-based learning with PF instructional design can be an effective way to develop students' problem solving skills. Copyright © 2018 authors.

The term critical thinking has received much attention over the past few decades in both Western and Eastern countries and regions. From 1990s onwards, the Hong Kong educational authority undertook a series of educational reforms in order to encourage a new generation in critical thinking. In the New Senior Secondary curriculum – which commenced in 2009 - Liberal Studies is one of the core subjects in which the aim is to promote critical thinking among senior high school students. Despite this intention, there is no clear definition of what critical thinking is. The purpose of this study was to investigate teacher and student conceptions of critical thinking in Liberal Studies; and the relationship between these two conceptions. Fourteen teachers teaching Form 5 (Year 11) Liberal Studies in four secondary schools in Hong Kong, along with their 480 Secondary 5 students, completed a questionnaire consisting of 40 definers of critical thinking, and one teacher and eight students from each school participated in interviews. The results indicated that both teachers and students emphasised the skills dimension of critical thinking; and explicit and implicit relationships between teacher and student conceptions of critical thinking were found. The results have important implications for teacher education, as well as the successful implementation of Liberal Studies as a subject in the Senior Secondary Curriculum. All rights reserved.

本文旨在探討香港新高中通識教育科的校本課程由誰來決定。本研究在2010年的暑假進行，透過半結構性的訪談以探索不同中學發展通識課程所採取的策略。研究者發現校長在通識科的課程決策上佔主導地位，通識科主任才是正真的課程領導，而科任教師多扮演追隨者的角色。 This paper aims to explore the position of different stakeholders in the development of the New Senior Secondary curriculum of Liberal Studies. This research was conducted in the summer of 2010 to investigate the curriculum development strategies used by different schools. It is found that subject panel heads are the authentic curriculum leaders even though school principal is the core person who makes the final curriculum decisions in school. Teachers prefer to act as the followers and often play passive roles. Copyright © 2011 華東師範大學.

Mathematics has be stereotyped as a male-dominated subject, and there is considerable evidence to support this belief. There has been much research in the past three decades on gender-related differences in elementary and secondary school mathematics. The research found that teachers possess different beliefs about male and female students that influence their teaching behaviour, which then directly or indirectly impact their students' behaviours, beliefs, and achievements in mathematics. Based on data collected from teacher questionnaire surveys in the Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong, this study examines teachers' beliefs about the achievements of boys and girls in mathematics. The study also compares the findings in the two regions surveyed. Results showed that teachers gave more attention to boys than girls, regardless of the teacher's gender. Not only are teachers more likely to recall more boys than girls, but also more boys than girls with average academic standards. Copyright © 2013 Korean Society of Mathematical Education.

The English language curricula in Hong Kong and mainland China place emphasis on ‘culture learning’. This study seeks to examine cultural depictions in two series of primary English language textbooks published in mainland China and Hong Kong. The study adopted Kachru’s three-circle model and Moran’s 4P framework (referring to products, practices, perspectives and persons) to investigate the breadth and depth of cultural presentation. The findings indicate that both series encompass content on the local culture as well as on foreign cultures. While the mainland textbooks focus on British culture in the inner circle through the cultural aspects of products and persons, insufficient attention is paid to other foreign cultures and the cultural aspect of perspectives. In contrast, Hong Kong textbooks include a wider range of foreign cultures and a more balanced presentation of various cultural aspects. However, both series contain mainly static and congratulatory cultural topics, and neglect the underlying value orientations. Copyright © 2019 Pedagogy, Culture & Society.

Background: This paper aimed to evaluate the effects of an integrated physical fitness curriculum on the physical fitness of Hong Kong preschoolers aged 3-6 years over a period of three years.Methods: Three cross-sectional studies were conducted, one in each of the academic years from 2015/2016 to 2017/2018 on preschoolers’ physical fitness. The integrated physical fitness curriculum was implemented in the second term of the three years in all participating kindergartens, with the data collected in the first year as the baseline. The second data collection was done in 2016/2017 and the last one in 2017/2018. The outcome measures included the preschoolers’ body mass indices and their physical fitness parameters like sit and reach, standing long jump, bean bags throwing, balance beam walking, and continuous jump with both feet. Ethical approval was obtained from the Human Subjects Ethics Committee of The Education University of Hong Kong.Results: The study enrolled 11,181, 10,815, and 6,309 preschoolers in the academic years 2015/2016, 2016/20017, and 2017/2018 respectively. The participants aged 4, 5, and 6 demonstrated significant improvement in most physical fitness parameters in 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 as compared with those of the same age in 2015/2016. Those aged 3, who had never been exposed to any of the interventions, had poorer performance in most physical fitness parameters. Significant improvements in both body mass indices and their physical fitness parameters were evidenced after the interventions.Conclusion: An integrated physical fitness curriculum can enhance the physical fitness of Hong Kong preschoolers for better health. Copyright © 2019 International Journal of Science and Healthcare Research.