This paper reports the results of a quasi-experimental study that evaluated the effectiveness of collaborative mind mapping in three Hong Kong primary schools. More than 200 grade 4 students, divided into three pedagogical groups, participated in a variety of science learning activities with the aid of a mind map and/or collaborative group work. The results of diagnostic tests reveal the synergy of peer collaboration and mind mapping to be more effective than either collaboration or mind mapping alone in enhancing students' scientific achievement. Analysis of the students' science discourse and follow-up interviews indicates that collaborative mind mapping fosters learning motivation and facilitates the joint construction of conceptual knowledge in science. Recommendations are made for the integrative use of graphic organisers and group work, and implications for future research on science teaching in Hong Kong and elsewhere are further discussed. Copyright © 2022 Springer.

This article begins with a historical overview of the STEM education policy and related classroom practices in Hong Kong. Against the backdrop that the Hong Kong education authority has been promoting STEM education over the past few years, there has been a pressing need for effective strategies of implementing STEM education in the context of reduced class size classrooms (i.e. small class teaching). With a view to addressing this need, this article strives to exemplify the incorporation of STEM education into small class teaching settings. Intended as a conceptual paper drawing on design approaches for STEM lessons and a small class teaching framework, the article demonstrates the relevance of STEM education to small class teaching. Two illustrative lesson design examples are provided to showcase how the design approaches and framework can be operationalised. In addition, the article also offers a thoughtful discussion concerning the potential challenges of delivering the two sample lessons as well as the coping strategies. It contributes to understanding of STEM education theories and provides a valuable reference for educational practitioners. Copyright © 2022 Springer.

Critical thinking, as a highly valued generic skill, lies at the heart of education worldwide. Although research suggests a close relationship between language and thinking, the integration of critical thinking into second language acquisition is under-investigated. This study therefore explores the viability of exploratory talk and WebQuests for critical-thinking development in learners of English as a second language. The study constitutes an exploratory cycle of a 'design research' project conducted in a primary school in Hong Kong. The project as a whole collected data from five different sources (i.e. tests of critical thinking, audio-recordings of group discussions, classroom observations, students' written work, and interviews with teachers) and had 125 Primary Five student participants (aged 11-12) and five English teacher participants. Drawing on both quantitative and qualitative findings on classroom dialogue, this study reveals the participating students to have displayed critical thinking through the use of explicit reasoning and exploratory talk in group discussions. The findings have pedagogical implications, offer suggestions for critical-thinking cultivation in the English-as-a-second-language context and contribute to scholarly understanding of the need to integrate instructional strategies for critical thinking into language classrooms. Copyright ©2021 Elsevier .

This paper reports the findings of a quasi-experimental study that investigated the impacts of effective group work on Hong Kong science classrooms. One hundred and fifty-two Secondary 2 (or Grade 8) students from two schools participated in a teaching intervention (comprising 16 lessons) in which they studied the topic 'Making Use of Electricity' and resolved a series of related scientific inquiries. Informed by both the quantitative (i.e. diagnostic tests) and qualitative (i.e. science inquiry questions, audio-recordings of group discussions and focus-group interviews) results of the study, this paper reveals that effective group work can narrow the social and gender differences in Hong Kong students' science performance. Whilst a dynamic and respectful learning environment was found to help economically disadvantaged and female students to overcome such barriers to science learning as low self-esteem and high anxiety, a gender-balanced and socioeconomically diverse arrangement was found to be an important element of social group work practice. Finally, the study's broad implications for teacher and peer support for science teaching worldwide are also discussed. Copyright ©Routledge.

Positioned in the Hong Kong education context, this article evaluates the effects of teaching science through home and second languages (i.e. Chinese and English) in Secondary 2 (or eighth grade) science classrooms. A total of 479 students, divided into two language instruction groups, participated in a teaching intervention comprising 16 lessons on the topic of ‘Making Use of Electricity’. Informed by the results of a mixed-methods study with a quasi-experimental design, with data collected from science diagnostic tests, inquiry questions and focus group interviews, this article reports that Chinese is the most advantageous language of instruction for low- and middle-ability science students, whereas English is more favourable for their high-achieving peers. Whilst Hong Kong students who learnt the focal topic in English were able to rid themselves of certain naive ideas generated from the translation of science terms into Chinese (e.g. pencil ‘鉛筆’ is translated as ‘lead pen’ in Chinese), they were also found to have misconceptions about certain scientific concepts. For example, they were confused about ‘open’ and ‘closed’ circuits because they mixed up the words ‘open’ (‘開放’) and ‘switch on’ (‘開啟’) in English. The study’s broad implications for language support and a mixed-code approach in science teaching worldwide are discussed.
[Copyright of International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education is the property of Springer Netherlands.]

This study compares the learning results of three groups of secondary two (grade eight) students of a similar academic standard who participated in a teaching intervention involving different pedagogies. One hundred and forty-nine Hong Kong secondary students were chosen and divided into three groups, “whole-class teaching approach”, “group work with no specific strategies” and “group work with effective strategies”, to study the “space travel” unit in their science curriculum. The first group was exposed to traditional whole-class instruction, and the latter two practised collaborative group work, with the third adopting four effective strategies derived from a UK-based quasi-experimental project. Analyses of the pre- and post-diagnostic assessments and audiotaped discussions revealed that group work comprising effective strategies not only raised students’ test scores, but also enhanced their joint construction of conceptual knowledge in science. The findings suggest that the effective strategies adopted in this study are contributory factors to superior student accomplishments and a stronger desire to seek clarification accruing from shared cognitive activities.
[Copyright of International Journal of Science & Mathematics Education is the property of Springer Netherlands. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10763-017-9839-x]

A quasi-experimental research study is reported in this paper. Its aim was to evaluate the effects of different types of pedagogy on the cultivation of students' critical thinking dispositions. One hundred and forty Secondary 4 students (i.e. tenth-grade students at 15–17 years of age) from two Hong Kong schools joined a teaching intervention in which they learnt strategies of argumentation through an established critical thinking framework (i.e. Kuhn's model The Skills of Argument, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991]). Analysis revealed collaborative group work to exert positive impacts on students' development of critical thinking when used in conjunction with explicit instruction in reasoning and evidence-based justifications during the intervention. The research results also showed the students who received teacher guidance to have engaged more interactively in joint learning tasks, thereby illustrating the important role of the teacher in facilitating group discussions.
[Copyright of Thinking Skills and Creativity is the property of Pergamon Press.]

Liberal Studies was initially introduced as a non-statutory subject in Hong Kong in 1992. It then confronted intense opposition and a bumpy implementation path before securing mandatory status in the new senior secondary curriculum introduced in 2009. Recently, this core subject has been under review. Whilst it is considered to promote students' socio-political participation, the subject has also been accused of triggering antagonism towards the government. In view of these concerns, this article probes teachers' perceptions of the recent development of Liberal Studies and examines the dynamic interplay between the curriculum review and the potential political controversies surrounding the subject in post-colonial Hong Kong. Reporting the results of a study comprising questionnaire-based surveys and follow-up semi-structured interviews, it reveals that whilst teachers are worried about the proposed reduction of socio-political topics in the curriculum, they approve of incorporating additional China-related content. Furthermore, the participating teachers praised Liberal Studies for its notable impact on raising students' social consciousness, which has motivated them to learn about community affairs and fight for justice. Finally, the article also explores the study's profound implications for the further development of Liberal Studies and citizenship education in Hong Kong and beyond.
[Copyright of Oxford Review of Education is the property of Routledge.]

This study investigates how teacher background, subject knowledge and pedagogic efficacy affect Grade 4 children's (aged 9-10) mathematical achievement in 10 primary schools in Hong Kong. Mathematics teachers were selected for their strong commitment to teaching mathematics and their pupils' consistently high international mathematics performance. Teacher measures (i.e. level of mathematics education, teaching experience, mathematics subject knowledge, performance in mathematical operations and pedagogic efficacy) were checked for factor consistency and assessed against age-appropriate pupil mathematical achievement. The results showed that teachers were secure in their subject knowledge, and that such knowledge was related to their performance of mathematical operations, but it was high levels of pedagogic efficacy and the ability to perform age-appropriate mathematics operations (rather than subject knowledge) that positively affected their pupils' achievement. These findings contradict ongoing international calls for the enhancement of primary school teachers' mathematical subject knowledge, as they show pedagogic efficacy to be more strongly associated with pupil achievement.
[Copyright of International Journal of Educational Research is the property of Elsevier Ltd.]

This study reveals the perceptions of over one hundred Hong Kong teachers who were asked to reflect upon the implementation of Liberal Studies in secondary schools in response to the latest government review of the subject's curriculum. Questionnaire-based surveys and semi-structured interviews were conducted to probe the participating teachers' perceptions and suggestions in such areas as the subject's objectives, content and assessment, with the ultimate goal of tracing the subject's developmental trajectory. The findings indicate that, whilst the teachers appear to have faith in Liberal Studies' objective to develop students into critical and independent thinkers, they feel that the pedagogical challenges with which they have been confronted have influenced their teaching motivation and support for the subject's mandatory status in secondary education. Further, the potential tension between the challenges they have encountered in reality and the ideal outcomes envisaged by policymakers raises the question of how Liberal Studies can move forward in giving teachers a greater role in educational reform. Recommendations for relieving that tension, as well as the findings' implications for future research on curriculum development in Hong Kong and elsewhere, are also discussed.
[Asia Pacific Education Review is a copyright of Springer, 2017]