This paper will report how practicing teachers implement an interdisciplinary curriculum in Hong Kong classrooms. General Studies, as an interdisciplinary subject first developed for primary curriculum, has essential contribution to enhance meaningful learning relevant to daily experiences and develop pupils' high order thinking skills. Thus, the realization of the intended aims and objectives of this curriculum is of pivotal importance for the achievement of the overall aims of education for the 21st century. Through questionnaire survey, pre and post-lesson interviews and lesson observation, the researchers examine whether intended aims of the General Studis Curriculum have been achieved. Implications and suggestions will be discussed in relation to professional development of practicing teachers on integrated teaching.

There is a growing consensus that schools and practising teachers can, in collaboration and/or in partnership with higher education institutions, make valuable contributions to initial and continuous teacher development, specifically when teachers can see how their efforts result in improved student learning and achievement. Learning Study, a Hong Kong version of the Japanese Lesson Study, was developed and used as a tool in a three-year project (2000 - 2003) for improving teaching and learning. Learning Study, which is built on a school-university partnership model, and is grounded in a theoretical framework of variation (Marton & Booth, 1997), was found to be powerful for teachers' professional development. In four years' time, Learning Study has spread from two primary schools to over a hundred primary and secondary schools, and over a hundred Learning Studies had been developed. Learning Study was also used in mentoring to facilitate the forming of a "learning community", to supplement the one to one mentor-mentee model, where the professional growth of all teachers involved was enhanced. In this symposium, we will illustrate how learning communities can be facilitated through engaging teachers in action research cycles of Learning Studies, in which teachers are empowered to learn from their students, from each other and from research as well.

An ongoing project is investigating online learning-oriented assessment (Carless, 2003) on a two-year project to redesign seven teaching and learning modules at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. Simultaneously the project team is developing key principles for online learning assessment. The project uses 'design experiments' (Brown, 1992; Collins, 1992), 'development research' (van de Akker, 1999) or 'use-inspired research' (Stokes, 1997) for the ongoing project. Use-inspired research "includes basic research that seeks to extend the frontiers of understanding but is also inspired by considerations of use" (Stokes, 1997, p. 74). Our focus has been to improve the use of learning-oriented assessment in eight separate modules (four completed and three in-progress) in teacher-education. Four teacher-educators from four different departments: Early Childhood Education, Information and Applied Technology, Creative Arts and the Centre for Learning, Teaching and Technology participated in the project. Throughout the project we have examined teachers' perceptions of assessment, teaching and learning and technology through video-interviews and concept mapping. In addition we have conducted video-focus groups with students within our classes to determine their perceptions about the new forms of assessment that we have trialled. Online learning technology has significantly changed the landscape of teaching, learning and assessment and allows new possibilities. Learning management systems like Blackboard have unique affordances in allowing collaboration between students. The use of group activities and student-centred approaches like project-based learning allow students to collaborate, debate, negotiate and crystallize their ideas whilst working within a socio-constructivist framework. The nature of the learning task is a predominant factor in the collaborative skills developed by the students. Project-based learning is defined as "an instructional technique in which meaningful

This paper is a record about the tryout of the application of Information Technology (IT) teaching in a Hong Kong primary school by a lecturer in a local education institute. The paper discussed the preparation for the IT teaching, the problems encountered and the limitations faced during the tryout. The implication of IT teaching is discussed and projected to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government's policy on IT teaching in primary schools. The paper is presented along with a 7-minute documentary video about the experience of IT teaching of the lecturer in a primary school classroom. In-depth interview is conducted on her expectation, problems encountered and her opinions on IT Teaching.

School teachers, in the move of educational assessment reform in Hong Kong, are currently developing their professional competence on making a good use of assessment to enhance their own teaching. Both groups of school teachers and teacher educators are concerned with the issue about how to make sense of assessment data and to transform them into feedback useful to classroom instruction. This research seeks to understand the kinds of protocols of assessment data school teachers perceived as practical information to become useful feedback to their teaching. We conducted 2 types of protocols using different analysis methods of assessment data (that is, basic item analysis and Rasch model) to represent primary and secondary students' responses to objective test items assessing the competency of reading comprehension of Chinese literatures. We presented the protocols to primary and secondary school teachers who are teaching Chinese language subject in Hong Kong. After demonstrations, we interviewed the groups to understand their perceptions on the protocols. Results shows that teachers most value assessment data which can help in identifying students' strength and weakness, assuring test item quality, stimulating reflection on their teaching practice, and turns out to become the foundation for rebuilding their classroom instruction.

In the summer of 1998, 234 Hong Kong student teachers attended commissioned English immersion programmes in Canada, Australia and Britain. Previous Hong Kong-focused research (Crew 1994, MacLennan and Tse 1995, Tse 1997) has indicated that participants gain temporarily in language proficiency but that attitude change is perhaps the most profound result of their overseas experience. Anxiety has been noted as a primary factor in language attainment for Hong Kong student teachers, as has culture shock in UK-based immersion programmes (Crew 1994, 1996). Recent research (e.g. Crew 1997) indicates that major sources of overseas immersion programme anxiety are not directly related to language issues, though the specific anxieties which arise may well be amenable to moderation or resolution by the use of language. The current paper expands on previous work by seeking to identify and compare the cultural and anxiety factors applicable to the more varied societal contexts now available and to report on successful coping strategies employed by participants.
[Copyright © 2000 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.]

Computer technology has become a vital element which takes part in almost every aspect of our lives. In visual art, it acts as media for studio art production, tools for learning instruction, and tools for classroom management. However, the development of computer assisted learning in Hong Kong is still in an initial stage. As an educator of art, it is part of my responsibilities to study on the potential and effectiveness of computer application in the learning and teaching of art. This case study research of a programme of teacher education aims to find out the competency and attitude of prospective art teachers towards computer assisted learning and teaching. Result can pave way for future development of computer application for art teaching and learning in teacher education and in primary schools in Hong Kong. New Technology and Art Education: Computer technologies have enormous potential and advantages in enhancing and expanding the way of teaching and learning art in schools. Pupils can experiment their ideas on the screen without fearing of making mistakes and can easily try out their ideas and visualize their images in mind (Mathieson, 1993). These playful and relaxed working processes are a vital avenue leading to creativity (Greh, 1990). In teaching, on-line computer images provide enormous images through the net with a relatively lower cost (Heise,1996). Manipulating images on the screen allows more flexibility in teaching art appreciation and criticism than using slides for presentation (Greh, 1990). With the use of computer, pupils can 'save' part of the process and teachers are free to involve in the interim of their work (Greh, 1990). Computer application provides alternative ways for learning. For example the extensive use of World Wide Web makes thousands of works from major museums uploaded to the Net and on CD ROM which provides means to ponder, confer, and analyze everything from the most obscure artists; and allows life-long art-based learning (