There have been increasing concerns about the significant decline in teenagers’ intentions to pursue STEM subjects or careers. This study examined how students’ perceptions of parental expectations, STEM cultural capital, mathematics/science self-efficacy, gender, and parents’ jobs were associated with STEM career aspirations and tested whether these associations differed by school level. Data were collected from 1,864 junior and 665 senior secondary students in Hong Kong via an online survey. Results indicated that, perceived parental long-term expectations were closely linked to STEM career aspirations, whereas, perceived parental short-term expectations were closely linked to self-efficacy. Out-of-school STEM experiences and STEM media consumption both had positive impacts on aspirations and shaped different aspects of students’ perceived parental expectations. Additionally, significant gender differences were found in STEM media consumption, self-efficacy, and aspirations. These relationships mainly were invariant across school levels. However, the indirect paths from STEM media consumption to aspirations via self-efficacy varied significantly between junior and senior secondary students. Based on these findings, this study argues for the essential role of perceived parental expectations in shaping STEM career aspirations for teenagers. STEM cultural capital may be more productive and supportive if it promotes teenagers’ interpretations of parental expectations and their mathematics and science self-efficacy. Copyright © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Background: This study is part of a larger study entitled “Secondary Students’ Independent Learning” funded by a Competitive Earmarked Research Grant (Number HKIED 8005/03H) of the Research Grants Committee, Hong Kong SAR Government. The original project aimed to establish and validate with empirical data, a conceptual framework of self-directed learning, the characteristics and processes involved and their relations with academic achievement of secondary students. Aims and Keywords: This study aimed to explore the effect of academic aims, goal setting and planning on academic achievement of secondary students. Sample: The sample comprised 14,846 students currently enrolled at Secondary 1 to Secondary 6 (except Secondary 5) from 23 secondary schools in Hong Kong. Methods: Students completed a self-administered questionnaire comprising 4-point Likert items (1: Strongly Disagree, 2: Partly Disagree; 3: Partly Agree, 4: Strongly Agree) on academic aims, goal setting, planning, and other aspects of self-directed learning not included in this study. Each construct was measured by five items. Measurement quality of the scales according to the framework was established using the Winsteps software (version 3.72.3). Based on Rasch scores of the latent variables and standardized scores of Chinese, English and mathematics, structural equation modeling was undertaken using Mplus (version 6). Results: Analyses indicated that academic aims and academic planning both directly predicted academic achievement, with educational aims being the stronger predictor. Academic goal setting indirectly predicted academic achievement via academic planning. Consistency was found both in the structure and in the effects of the predictor across gender and year levels. Conclusion: The study shows that self-directed learning has positive effect on academic achievement of secondary students of both gender and all year levels.

Background: A number of methods to investigate growth have been reported in the literature, including hierarchical linear modelling (HLM), latent growth modelling (LGM), and multidimensional scaling applied to longitudinal profile analysis (LPAMS). Aims: This study aimed at modelling the mathematics growth of students over a span of 6 years from Grade 3 to Grade 9. Sample: The sample comprised secondary longitudinal data collected in three waves from n = 866 Hong Kong students when they were in Grade 3, Grade 6, and Grade 9. Method: Mathematics achievement was measured thrice on a vertical scale linked with anchor items. Linear and nonlinear latent growth models were used to assess students' growth. Gender differences were also examined. Results: A nonlinear latent growth curve with a decelerated rate had a good fit to the data. Initial achievement and growth rate were negatively correlated. No gender difference was found. Conclusion: Mathematics growth from Grade 6 to Grade 9 was slower than that from Grade 3 to Grade 6. Students with lower initial achievement improved at a faster rate than those who started at a higher level. Gender did not affect growth rate.
[Copyright © 2014 The British Psychological Society.]

This study aimed to model mathematics growth of students from Primary 3 to Secondary 3 from two approaches, namely, growth in content domains, and in cognitive domains. The sample consisted of 866 Hong Kong students who were followed longitudinally from Primary 3 to Secondary 3. The data were originally collected by the Education Bureau of Hong Kong. Plausible values of achievements at Primary 3, Primary 6, and Secondary 3 in three cognitive domains (Knowing, Applying, and Reasoning) were obtained using between-item multidimensional Rasch partial credit modelling. A modified autoregressive cross-lagged design was used to predict later achievement in the cognitive domains by prior achievements in these domains. Analysis was repeated for growth in content domains (Number, Shape and Space, Measures, Data Handling, and Algebra). Analysis showed that students' later mathematics achievement was strongly predicted by their previous achievement in the Knowing and the Number domains.
[Copyright © 2014 Education Bureau, HKSARG.]

This study aimed to identify clusters of primary students based on their mathematics achievement, and their perceived usefulness of and expectation of feedback from teachers, and second, to examine profiles of self-regulated learning of the students in these clusters. The sample consisted of 4,570 students at Primary 3 to Primary 5 in Hong Kong. Two-step cluster analysis identified three clusters of students in each year level, namely, low achievers with negative feedback attitudes, high achievers with moderately positive feedback attitudes, and moderate achievers with strong positive feedback attitudes. Further, the clusters of moderate and high achievers shared similar mathematics self-efficacy, but moderate achievers had higher achievement goals and stronger self-regulated learning practices than either high or low achievers. Further, low achievers had the lowest, and moderate achievers the highest, self-regulated learning in mathematics. These results were consistent across year levels.
[Copyright © 2014 National Academy for Educational Research.]