From 20 primary schools in Hong Kong, a sample of 59 boys and 62 girls in 4th grade and 98 boys and 99 girls in 5th grade (N = 318) responded to a survey about their learning-to-learn capabilities including (a) reading to learn, (b) self-management, (c) desire for knowledge, and (d) originality of ideas, and two facilitating factors for enabling such capabilities, including (e) academic self-concept, and (f) effort goal orientation. Confirmatory factor analysis provided support for the validity of the six psychological constructs. Analysis of variance found that although boys and girls did not differ in academic self-concept, desire for knowledge and originality, girls scored higher in effort goal orientation, reading to learn, and self-management. There was a gender x grade interaction effect in reading to learn, indicating that 5th grade girls were more willing than 4th grade girls to acquire knowledge through reading whereas 5th grade boys were less willing than 46 grade boys to do so. Advocates of education reform need to consider gender differences when formulating policies to promote students' learning-to-learn capabilities and particularly to encourage boys to read.
[Copyright of Australian Educational and Developmental Psychologist is the property of Australian Psychological Society. Publisher's website:
http://www.psychology.org.au/]

Extensive studies have been conducted on programming knowledge, instructional environments and effective pedagogies in order to improve the teaching and learning of computer programming. However, there have been few studies on the usefulness and effectiveness of using simulation. The aim of this paper is two-fold: to describe the design and development of a computer-based simulation tool for learning computer programming and to report a case study of four students' learning experiences using the simulation tool, which provides a learning environment in the context of daily life. In solving the problem posed by the simulation tool, students are encouraged to think and construct their own solutions. Three categories with respect to students' learning processes were observed in the study, namely dynamic learning experience, fostering cognitive approaches and stimulating attitude change. Implications of the simulation for learning programming are also discussed. It is hoped that the simulation tool will inspire students to look beyond a specific simulation and transfer insights gained from the simulation to the learning of computer programming.
[Copyright of Educational Media International is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09523980600641452]

This paper presents the findings from a longitudinal study of teachers learning to teach English in Hong Kong secondary schools who were enrolled on the BA course in Teaching English as a Second Language (BATESL) at the City University of Hong Kong. The purpose of the study is to try to determine the extent to which the beliefs and knowledge of pre-service English teachers change between leaving secondary school and entering the teaching profession. A detailed questionnaire was completed by a cohort of student teachers as they began the course in 1994 and again upon graduation from it in 1997. The results of the comparison between the two administrations reveal that pre-service teachers' beliefs and knowledge are based on their experiences as students within the education system; are strongly influenced by their time in classrooms during practice teaching; but are changed relatively less by the training that they receive in their BA course.
[Copyright of Language and Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09500780308666843 ]

This paper focuses on reconfiguring assessment processes so that they support a learning function, in addition to the more traditional measurement function. In the first half of the paper we discuss a framework for 'learning‐oriented assessment' derived from a project carried out in Hong Kong. We conceptualize learning‐oriented assessment as containing three key components: assessment tasks as learning tasks; student involvement in assessment; and explicitly forward‐looking feedback. The second half of the paper presents an action research case in which the first author implemented some of the principles of learning‐oriented assessment within a module in a teacher education context. The module, focusing on multimedia and web authoring, was taught through blended learning with an emphasis on peer learning and project‐based learning. A particular feature was the interplay between students' learning experiences and the module assessments.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09695940600703944]

A number of studies have examined the process and product of writing instruction under different conditions. Fewer studies have investigated the development of knowledge and its relationship to writing performance. While some writers may be able to draw upon knowledge of text in their writing, others do not possess this knowledge and yet others may possess the knowledge but fail to draw on it. This study explores the development of and relationship between declarative knowledge and procedural knowledge among a group of 36 Hong Kong Chinese ESL learners in a three-month university writing course. The interaction of awareness of writing effectiveness with writing performance was investigated. Subjects of high and low English proficiency were put in either self- or peer-editing groups. They wrote reflective journals demonstrating their awareness of effective writing of short paragraphs and complete essays. Results suggested that both awareness of and ability in effective writing were enhanced after the course. High proficiency students and peer-editing groups demonstrated greater awareness and performed better in the writing tasks. Knowing and doing in ESL writing were found to be significantly related among proficient and peer-editing groups.
[Copyright of Language Awareness is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.2167/la365/0]