Maker education is regarded as a global initiative. Empowering STEM makers in schools becomes an important task for K-12 educators. Creativity, critical thinking, STEM identity, and STEM interest are all vital attributes of a good STEM maker. While researchers have proposed various pedagogical approaches to supporting the processes of STEM making, rare studies have been carried out to compare the effectiveness of these approaches. To fill the research gap, we have conducted a quasi-experimental study (with 63 secondary school students in Hong Kong) to explore the pedagogical effects of mentoring and authentic problem-solving strategies in supporting STEM making. Implications for the development of maker education and future work are also discussed in this paper. Copyright © 2021 Publication of Asia Pacific Society for Computers in Education.

This study explored the effect of a social emotional learning programme- the ECE-Peace Ambassador Project (ECE-PAP) − on children's (i) emotional intelligence, (ii) prosocial behaviour, (iii) aggressive behaviour with peers, (iv) and peer exclusion. Employing a quasi-experimental design, ECE-PAP was implemented in 16 schools in Hong Kong. In each school, teachers in one K3 class (4- to 5-year-olds) implemented the programme and a second K3 class served as a control (N=302). Multiple reporters (children, parents, and teachers) provided assessments of children's emotional competence, social behaviour, aggressive behaviour, and responses to peer aggression the week before the programme, the week after, and three months later. Preliminary analyses showed that at pretest, children in the experimental condition showed lower emotional intelligence and less competent responses to peer aggression than controls. However, these differences disappeared by posttest and remained non-significant at follow-up. Children in the experimental condition showed increases from pre- to posttest in emotional intelligence, emotion labelling, and taking action to stop bullying, and decreases in avoidance and aggressive responses. Implementing the programme over a greater number of weeks was associated with more positive child outcomes. These results suggest that ECE-PAP may be an effective, cost-effective way to address aggressive behaviour in kindergarten classrooms by promoting children's emotional intelligence and social skills. Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.

Over the past decade, numerous studies and technologies have emerged exploring how to provide the most appropriate interventions to help students with special educational needs (SEN), who need assistance due to cognitive or developmental disabilities, to learn and achieve higher added value in school. In this work, we focus on data analysis to scrutinize the learning behavior and intervention effectiveness associated with the different types of SEN students. Specifically, we investigated the learning behaviors of students with special educational needs in terms of extracurricular activities (ECA) participation and prosocial behavior, based on data collected from a Hong Kong secondary school. We found that different types of disorders are associated with distinct learning behaviors. Moreover, the effectiveness of interventions varied across students with different disorders, indicating the need for individualized strategies in supporting these students. Copyright © 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

In 2017, Hong Kong included the notion of creativity in its official kindergarten curriculum framework. However, the curriculum did not define what creativity means in relation to 3- to 6-year-old children. Stakeholders such as teacher educators, kindergarten principals, and teachers may have different understandings of creativity, possibly leading to difficulties in implementing this notion into practice. We adopted Rhodes’ 4P model to examine Hong Kong kindergarten stakeholders’ definitions of creativity in relation to young children. We posed two research questions: (1) What are the themes and elements that Hong Kong kindergarten stakeholders refer to in their responses when defining the notion of creativity? (2) How do these stakeholders differ in their responses when defining this notion? We asked 50 kindergarten stakeholders (20 teacher educators, 10 principals, and 20 teachers) to define the notion of creativity using their own words. Content analysis, descriptive statistics, and multiple Fisher’s exact tests (2 × 2) were used to analyze their responses. We found that all stakeholders possessed a partial understanding of creativity, especially teachers. Stakeholders’ definitions mainly focused on the importance of creative processes. Other components such as the learning environment, the traits of a person, and the creation of products were rarely alluded to in their definitions. We conclude that there is an urgent need to explicitly articulate and conceptualize the notion of creativity in kindergarten curriculum frameworks, such as Hong Kong’s curriculum Guide. This would allow stakeholders to find common ground in the teaching and learning of creativity. Implications for the enhancement of creativity education are discussed. Copyright © 2024 Faculty of Education.

Entrepreneurship is crucial for fostering innovation and opportunity in a rapidly evolving global economy. Introducing it in secondary schools is challenging due to potential cognitive overload and the complexity of the skills required. This study evaluates the effectiveness of a Learning Management System (LMS) using Cognitive Load Theory for improving entrepreneurial skills among secondary students in Hong Kong. In the study, 280 students from 16 schools completed the LMS intervention. Through a series of t-tests, ANCOVAs, and multilevel models, we examined the effects of an LMS on students' entrepreneurial attributes and aspirations. The results indicated that the LMS enhances students' perceptions of entrepreneurial concepts. However, the effectiveness of the LMS was influenced by two key factors: the level of student engagement with the system and their previous entrepreneurial experiences. Higher engagement with the LMS and more extensive prior entrepreneurial experiences were found to significantly boost students' entrepreneurial attributes and aspirations. The outcomes indicate that by organizing content to minimize cognitive overload, the LMS facilitated the development of sophisticated cognitive schemas essential for entrepreneurial thinking. Copyright © 2024 The Author(s).

In today's digital environment, gamification has become a satisfactory method for promoting certain behaviours and enhancing motivation and engagement. Though it is most often used in marketing tactics, it is increasingly being used in education, assisting instructors in attaining their goals while also responding to changing student requirements. In recent years, gamification, as an innovative teaching method, has also attracted much attention in China. With the further promotion of educational reforms, teachers are the change agents of reforms, and their cognition, attitude, and behavior determine the effectiveness of educational reforms. To know more about teachers’ intention to use gamification, the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) was used for testing what factors affect their intention. For testing the TPB model, this study took the teachers of schools in Huizhou as a sample. This research collected data through a questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews for analysis and discussion. By collecting 152 questionnaires from primary and secondary school teachers and in-depth interviews with 22 teachers, this study confirmed that attitudes toward using gamification, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control affect teachers’ intention of using gamification for teaching through the mediator commitment. This finding provides a more comprehensive model and perspective to understand teachers’ use of gamification. Moreover, it gives a reference for related research on the implementation of gamification among teachers in second and even third-tier cities. All rights reserved.

This chapter addresses the limited research on equipping teachers with relevant knowledge and enhancing students' motivation in the context of Hong Kong. Previous studies in Hong Kong have primarily focused on measuring the motivation of students in specific language skills while neglecting the investigation of how to effectively train teachers in motivational strategies. To fill this gap, an intervention was conducted to examine the change in motivational strategies among pre-service Chinese teachers in Hong Kong. Adopting Dörnyei's Motivational Strategies Framework as the theoretical framework, the study utilizes pre-and post-self-report with over 116 pre-service Chinese teachers and followed up by a focus group interview. The aim is to understand their perceptions of various motivational strategies and how these perceptions are formed before and after the intervention. By taking a pragmatic approach, the study seeks to provide valuable pedagogical insights for practicing teachers and bridge the gap between motivation theories and classroom practices. Copyright © 2024 selection and editorial matter, Sin Manw Sophia Lam, John Chi-Kin Lee and Chung Mou Si; individual chapters, the contributors.

This mixed methods study explores EFL students’ experiences and perceptions as they learn to write a composition with ChatGPT’s support in a classroom instructional context. Students’ perceptions are explored in terms of their motivation to learn about ChatGPT, cognitive load and satisfaction with the learning process. In a workshop format, twenty-one Hong Kong secondary school students were introduced to ChatGPT, learned prompt engineering skills, and attempted a 500-word English language writing task with ChatGPT’s support. Data collected included a pre-workshop motivation questionnaire, think-aloud protocols during the writing task, and a post-workshop questionnaire on motivation, cognitive load, and satisfaction. Results revealed no significant difference in students’ motivation before and after the workshop, but mean motivation scores increased slightly. Students reported high cognitive load during the writing task, especially during prompt engineering. However, students expressed high satisfaction with the workshop overall. Findings indicate ChatGPT’s potential to engage EFL students in the writing classroom, but its use can impose heavy cognitive demands. To ensure that ChatGPT use supports EFL writing without overwhelming students, educators should consider an iterative design process for activities and instructional materials and carefully scaffolding instruction, especially for prompt engineering. Copyright © 2024 The Author(s).