教材是課程改革的核心要素。2010年,教育部對教材改革明確提出“加強教材建設”、“促進優質教學資源共享”的要求。本課題選取香港地區目前廣泛使用的高中生物教材——《新高中基礎生物學(第二版)》進行分析,希望為生物教材的編寫與修訂提供參考。本文採用文獻分析法,從香港地區的教育發展史、教材編定制度入手,對香港高中生物教育現狀及課程文件進行分析;運用數據統計、比較等方法對教材的結構體系、知識體系、教材的外部聯繫以及思想文化內涵進行剖析,總結香港教材的特點。同時,將港版教材部分內容作為教學資源應用於課堂教學。結果表明港版教材制作方面紙質好、印刷清晰,圖文並茂、色彩鮮艷;欄目設置豐富、涉及面廣;課程資源制作用心、注重學生興趣的培養;教材內容契合課程重點、知識體系建構合理,注重概念學習。對大陸地區高中生物教材的編訂和教師教學方面提出建議。如教材編訂上要注重學習情境的創設、及時更新圖片、滲透STSE教育、教材編寫要反映當地特色;教師在教學時不應拘泥於一個版本教材,要善於借鑒其他教材的圖片及案例等。

大部分生物學概念都蘊含著一個探究的過程,探究活動的過程與生物學概念形成和發展的過程相一致。因此,生物課程改革重視探究活動的開展,旨在有效促進學生對概念的理解和掌握,這順應了時代發展的需要,但同時也給生物課程教學帶來了新的挑戰,需要教學工作者在教學上做出努力和改進,逐步改善學生死記硬背生物概念和事實的情況。而教材作為重要的教學工具,教材的分析研究工作對改進教學也具有極其重要的作用,香港是中國的特別行政區,既有西方文化的滲透,也有內地教育文化的轉型,對香港教材的研究更具參考價值和意義。因而本研究對香港高中生物教材中探究活動的分析研究,可以開闊內地探究活動教學的視野,為探究活動的開展提供借鑒和參考,從而改善和提高內地探究活動教學的效率,有效促進學生對生物學概念的建立、理解和應用。本研究以香港雅集出版社最新版(2014年版)高中生物教材《生物學—概念與應用》必修部分探究活動作為研究對象,主要採用文獻計量內容分析法對教材中探究活動的編排和探究活動的內容進行分析,涵蓋了教材的整體結構、探究活動欄目、探究活動的呈現方式、探究活動的類型、探究活動的開放水平、探究活動的問題類型、探究活動的技能培養、探究活動的類型與開放水平的關係、探究活動的技能與開放水平的關係等9方面。在本研究開展前,對研究相關的重要理論和概念進行了整理,也對國內外生物教材相關的研究和教材中探究活動的研究,以及香港高中生物課程指導文件中對探究活動所作的要求進行了梳理,為整個研究的順利開展奠定了基礎。研究表明,香港高中生物教材中探究活動具有以下特點:(1)探究活動欄目的數量和種類豐富;(2)探究活動開放水平集中在水平1和水平2;(3)交流類探究活動的分佈與開放水平有關,注重探究活動開放水平的漸進性;(4)探究活動涉及的技能比較全面,涵蓋11項探究技能;(5)教材中探究活動的開放水平與技能的培養方面沒有具體的聯系,並不是探究水平越高,對技能的培養就越全面更具體。(6)探究活動涉及的開放型問題不多,但每個課題都有設置;(7)靈活運用多種插圖來呈現教學信息;(8)在文字表達上極富人文情懷;總體而言,香港高中生物教材中探究活動的設置和安排都體現了以學生為主體,為探究活動的有效開展創設了有利條件,旨在通過探究活動有效促進學生對生物學概念的理解和掌握。基於此,在研究的最後相應地提出了一些優化探究活動教學的建議。

Limited research has examined STEM education in early childhood, or addressed how STEM is integrated into the curriculum in the kindergarten level. Teachers‟ conceptions of STEM appear to differ from the pedagogical theory. They may be aware of the basic subject concepts, but they lack the effective teaching approaches required to integrate the subject concepts into playful learning processes. Thus, it is important to investigate how teachers can design STEM activities that involve digital toys, in addition to the subject concepts, pedagogical approaches, and factors that affect teachers‟ pedagogical designs. The aims of this study were to 1) investigate the different types of STEM activities in a kindergarten in Hong Kong; 2) understand the perspectives of school management teams and teachers on implementing STEM activities, and 3) provide recommendations for STEM activities appropriate to kindergartens. Copyright © 2019 The Author(s). All Rights Reserved.

Since 1989 the Hong Kong government has taken an active interest in environmental education. The Guidelines on Environmental Education in Schools was issued in 1992 and both government departments and non‐governmental environmental organisations made efforts to promote the implementation of this curriculum change. However, there has developed a gap between the rhetoric of the ‘Guidelines’ and actual practice. Environmental emphasis has been primarily subject based and institutional commitment to environmental education in schools has been unsatisfactory. There are needs for policy reforms, teacher education curriculum and environmental education curriculum reforms and improved curriculum strategies such as resource provision and in‐service education. Copyright © 1997 Carfax Publishing Ltd.

This article is based on an investigation of the implementation of environmental education in Hong Kong primary schools using a questionnaire survey and case studies. It will be divided into three parts: one focusing on the gap between rhetoric and practice in environmental education in the questionnaire results; one highlighting curriculum organisation of environmental education through case studies; and one discussing the nature and content of environmental education in these case-study schools. Copyright © 2000 Studies in Education Ltd.

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).

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.

Background: Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation can improve the survival rate of patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Teaching cardiopulmonary resuscitation in schools by teachers is one of the ways to increase the number of bystanders who can perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Nevertheless, there have been no studies on the readiness of teachers in Hong Kong to teach cardiopulmonary resuscitation in their schools. Objective: To assess whether secondary school teachers are prepared to teach their students cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Methods: This was a questionnaire survey. Teachers from 22 local secondary schools were recruited. The questionnaires were designed with questions covering their knowledge about cardiopulmonary resuscitation and attitudes towards teaching their students cardiopulmonary resuscitation. A knowledge score and attitude score were calculated. Result: 557 teachers completed the questionnaires. Most had never witnessed a cardiac arrest and over half of them had never been trained cardiopulmonary resuscitation or use of an automated defibrillator. About 25% of them answered all questions on knowledge wrong. Only 25% supported teaching cardiopulmonayr resuscitation in schools and 32% were willing to teach it. Legal liability was a major concern. Conclusion: Local teachers' readiness for teaching students cardiopulmonary resuscitation in secondary schools is likely poor. More efforts are required to raise their knowledge level on cardiopulmonary resuscitation and instill a positive attitude towards cardiopulmonary resuscitation education in schools.
[Copyright of Hong Kong Journal of Emergency Medicine is the property of Sage Publications Ltd.]