This paper reports on the investigation of 15 pre-service teachers' information and communication technology (ICT) adoption during teaching practicums at seven preschool settings. Surveys, classroom observations, interviews, and teaching resources were analyzed to examine the extent to which technologies were applied. In addition to defining eight specific categories of ICT-related pedagogical strategies, this study provides evidence that pre-service teachers generally use ICT more for teacher-directed activity than for teacher-guided or children-initiated activities. Pre-service teachers working within preschools that allocated higher levels of teacher authority in the curriculum decision-making process and provided a rich ICT environment reported using ICT more often in classroom learning activities.
[Copyright © 2014 AACE]

This paper reports a survey of English medium secondary schools to discover how they are addressing the problems in implementing EMI, given higher expectations by Government and the expectation of a far greater degree of monitoring from 1998. The survey was primarily on teacher competence in English and in language-related instructional strategies, the coordination of English use across the curriculum and the support measures available to teachers and to schools. The survey was based upon the findings of a major two year study of 94 schools and 572 teachers and the analysis of test results from 9000 students which indicated that English medium students are not developing the levels of English which could be expected; the main findings of this evaluation are presented as background to the survey.

In the forthcoming Hong Kong Primary Mathematics Curriculum to be implemented in 2002, "Probability" will be a new topic to be included in the syllabus. Although most primary school teachers had learnt the basic concepts of probability during their secondary schooling sometime ago, they express their anxiety that they lack experience and confidence in teaching even the basic notions of this new topic. Of course, the lack of suitable teaching aids or Chinese-interfaced computer-assisted learning or teaching materials constitutes another obstacle for overcoming their worries. In order to enhance their confidence in teaching this topic in primary schools, a self-designed computer-assisted learning and teaching program has been implemented to teach the basic probability concepts for both pre-service and in-service teachers studying in The Hong Kong Institute of Education. In this paper, we will discuss how to design and implement such an interactive learning program, using Visual Basic as the programming language. The rationale behind our design and difficulties encountered during the implementation stage will also be discussed.

Whether a person's mother tongue affects his learning of science concepts is a constant controversy among educators. In a bilingual society such as Hong Kong, terminologies commonly used in English and Chinese, such as energy and force, create frequent misconceptions and sometimes different types of misconceptions. The purpose of this study is to ascertain if there are different patterns of misconceptions in science concepts between Chinese speaking students and English speaking students. If so, how can we benefit from these patterns and help science teachers to be more effective. In May and June of 1988, 7.01 Form 1 and Form 4 Hong Kong science students completed a questionnaire on energy and force. Forty-one Form 4 students were interviewed using the Interview-about-Instances technique. Fifty percent of the student sample were English-speaking while the rest were Chinese-speaking. Results of this study were analysed using a list f common misconception frameworks. Amazing patterns of misconceptions were found in both language groups. Come patterns can be seen clearly to have derived from the language used. Different patterns of misconception between the two language groups were demonstrated remarkably. It was clear that everyday usage of the terms contributed to the differences. The history of the terms and the common usage of the related terms in their respective languages were also accountable to the patterns. Science teachers are strongly advised to be aware of the students' alternative frameworks in the learning of science concepts within the context of their mother tongue. Everyday meaning of terminologies used for important science concepts should be considered thoroughly in writing up lesson plans. Related terms and their meaning should also be checked before actually teaching the concept. List of common misconception patterns of students for each important science concept should also be discussed. As evident from the findings of this research, a person's language

This research project investigated the learning strategies of junior secondary students in Hong Kong ESL classrooms. A total of 132 Form One to Form Three students from 56 schools were studied, observed and interviewed: data were collected accordingly. Students were categorized into "successful" language learners and "unsuccessful" language learners according to their English language academic achievement. Data findings from this research showed that the "successful" language learners employ meta-cognitive strategies more frequently than the "unsuccessful" ones. They tended to plan, evaluate and reflect more on their approach to language learning and ways to improve their English. The two groups did not show a significant difference in group work mode of learning, yet, the "successful" language learners preferred to work on his / her own more. The level of father's education was found to be associated with the type of learning strategies used by students, however, gender did not seem to affect the choice of learning strategies. These findings have important implications for language teachers in helping their students develop effective language learning strategies.