To tackle the serious problems caused by plastic wastes, it is critical to develop new plastic recycling beliefs and behavior, together with recycling skills (4 important steps of recycling: cleanliness, separation, compression, and sorting) of the plastic wastes in environmental education (EE). The study revealed the effectiveness of a plastic waste recycling program adopting an action competence approach with educational interventions using a new plastic waste recycling bin (PRB). The PRB allows further classification of plastic waste types. Seven primary schools in Hong Kong participated in the program. A total of 313 questionnaires which assessed pupils’ classification knowledge, behaviours of plastic waste recycling, and their pro-environmental attitudes in terms of New Environmental Paradigm were received. Semi-structured interview with 27 pupils from the schools were also conducted. Recycling performance (actual behaviour) of using the brown bins (general plastic recycling bin) and the PRBs in the schools was assessed as the evidence of action competence in plastic waste recycling. Comparing the schools which adopted programmes with a combination of two types of recycling bins (brown bin vs. PRB) and interventions (Poster vs. half/full training courses to teach the recycling knowledge and skill), both quantitative and qualitative results showed that learners of the program enhanced their recycling knowledge (K), attitudes (A), and behaviour (B) concerning plastic waste recycling. The recycling performance proved that there is a statistically significant change in the recycling steps, separation and compression. The study provides insights for environmental educators to develop strategic solutions to ease environmental issues as well as putting these actions into practice in schools. Copyright © 2019 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

The Hong Kong education system has undergone a dramatic change in its secondary and tertiary level of education. A single public examination for senior secondary education namely Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) was adopted to replace two previously used examinations in 2012. As a result, all higher education institutes in Hong Kong admitted different groups of secondary graduates into the same cohort in 2012 for sub-degree programmes. This study investigated the academic performance of students from different secondary schooling systems in an environmental studies course. Questionnaire survey data and the assessment results of a compulsory course of the students were used for this study. Results indicated significant differences in academic performance in the environmental studies course between three different groups of students. The students that completed a three-year senior secondary education outperformed their counterparts who completed the pre-associate degree and four-year senior secondary education in the environmental course assessment results. Students' environmental attitudes were positively correlated with academic performance on the environmental course, suggesting that students with better environmental attitudes performed better in the environmental studies course.
[Copyright of International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10382046.2016.1155323]

In the last two decades, a lot of effort has been put into protection of Hong Kong’s marine environment. The environment, ecology and conservation strategies are all excellent teaching resources for executing environmental education in local schools. In 2013, Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) has commissioned the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) to develop an educational programme to promote our marine environment, its ecological value and marine conservation work among Hong Kong local schools. The programme provided innovative and comprehensive education kits and web Apps for primary and secondary schools as well as school visits and field studies to effectively deliver marine ecological knowledge and messages of marine conservation to local students. The programme also involved a “train-the-trainer” project in which AFCD organized informative marine conservation seminars, field trips and poster competition for undergraduate students in HKIEd who helped to provide interactive school talks for primary and secondary school students. All these activities target to educate the young generation our marine environment and raising their concerns and awareness on marine conservation issues and equip the potential teachers from HKIEd with essential marine conservation knowledge and field experience in their future career.

The development of environmental conservation and education in Asia lags far behind the Western World. It appears to the team that education ‘in’ the environment in particular has been lacking, regardless of the fact that it represents one of the three important elements of environmental education (about, in, and for the environment). This is partly due to the fact that environmental studies is a multidisciplinary subject that many in-service teachers find difficulty in locating a set of appropriate teaching materials tailor-made for the local environment. The training workshop will help fill the gap. Instead of adopting materials produced in foreign countries, teachers can make use of the local information from the training to organize good quality educational activities for their students. The teaching materials are designed for in-service teachers/technicians of Liberal Studies, Geography, Science or Environmental Education in secondary schools. The content covered both scientific and technological knowledge, consisting of teaching materials and guides with suggested topics and references demonstrating the standard methods of environmental pollution investigation. It will not only supplement the existing monotonous academic textbooks, but also encourage students’ a self-study outside classroom. From this training workshop, we aim to: (1) promote teaching effectiveness and quality of related courses by providing teaching resources for in-service teachers/technicians in secondary schools; (2) improve learning experience of secondary students; (3)enhance in-service teachers/technicians’ knowledge and understanding of various environmental pollution in Hong Kong; (4) provide practical information of some of the pollution status in Hong Kong for the participants; and (5) provide consultancy and technical supports for in-service teachers/technicians in environmental pollution studies.

This study aimed to understand the environmental knowledge (EK) of the residents of Hong Kong. A territory-wide survey was administered to investigate the subjective and objective EK of the respondents as well as their means of receiving information about the environment. The results indicated that Hong Kong's residents have a comparatively low level of EK, with a mean environmental knowledge score of 3.35 out of 8. The youngster (15-24 years old), students, and employed individuals reported more extensive EK than the older and unemployed respondents, thus suggesting that the younger generation and employed individuals have increased opportunities to receive EK through various channels. A weak positive correlation was identified between subjective and objective EK, thus implying that the residents of Hong Kong could not accurately evaluate their own level of EK. The results indicate that traditional media plays a significant role in disseminating EK. Digital media, such as websites and digital social networks, were also determined to be influencing factors in disseminating environmental messages to the younger generation.
[Copyright of Environmental Education Research is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2014.898247]