Based on the data of a school-referred sample of Cantonese-speaking Chinese children who met the Hong Kong criterion of dyslexia, the authors estimated for developmental dyslexia of Chinese children aged between 6 and 10 in Hong Kong an incidence rate of 0.66 percent and a gender ratio of 3.29 boys to 1 girl over a four-year period. They also explored the differences in estimates based on this Hong Kong criterion that emphasizes cognitive markers with more conventional discrepancy- based criteria. In view of the possible biases in self-selection and underreporting in the data of the school-referred sample, the authors compared the figures with those derived from the sample of the normative study of the Hong Kong Test of Specific Learning Difficulties in Reading and Writing, which yielded an estimate of 9.7 percent in prevalence rate and boy-girl gender ratio of 2 to 1 over a one- year period. The differences in estimates based on the two samples and implications of the findings are discussed in light of the limitations of the study.
[Copyright of Australian Journal of Learning Difficulties is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19404150802093695]

Some critics have commented that online courses may discourage teacher–student interaction, which is considered by teachers and researchers as an important element in language learning. A total of 60 associate degree students who attended an online English course in Hong Kong responded to a questionnaire asking them about their effort and interest in learning English, their anxiety about computer applications, their self‐monitoring capability, their interactions with the teacher and their peers and their competence in English. Analysis of variance results showed that those students who perceived themselves as more competent had more favourable perceptions of their interaction with the teacher than did those who were less competent, but for all other variables the two groups did not differ. The findings imply that online language learning does not necessarily diminish interaction. Instead, the level of interaction may depend on the learners' sense of competence in the target language.
[Copyright of Educational Media International is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09523980600641429]

In this study, a descriptive quantitative methodology for categorical data analysis that works well with small samples was used to investigate whether Chinese students' conceptions of learning included memorisation as an integral part of understanding, as suggested by phenomenographic studies. Twenty-five Chinese students attending the B. Ed. programme at the University of Hong Kong were asked to rank order six conceptions of learning. Results revealed an interesting multidimensional structure, suggesting that memorislng was seen as clearly distinct from knowledge and understanding. Contrasting conceptions of learning (such as memorisation vs changing as a person) were identified, similar to the previous distinction made between conceptions lacking, or being concerned with, constitutive meaning. These findings suggest multidimensional aspects to conceptions of learning for Chinese students that extend the notion of memorisation-understanding relations. Further inquiry in the areas of context, awareness, and types of memorisation would shed light on Chinese students' conceptions of learning. It is suggested that quantitative methodologies ideally suited to categorical data analysis with small samples could be used to supplement the results of qualitative phenomenographic methodologies on student conceptions of learning.
[Copyright of Educational Psychology is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01443410303231 ]

Ninety university undergraduate students were tested on a number of tasks assessing their recognition of possible and impossible figures, mental rotation, ideational fluency, and self-report artistic and creative characteristics. Scores on the Impossible Figures Task (IFT-14) and the Mental Rotation Test, and self-ratings on the Artistic Characteristics Rating Scale were found to differentiate among Fine Arts students, Architecture students, and students from Arts Faculty disciplines less related to visual-spatial abilities, suggesting that the IFT-14 could be used to assess visual-spatial or visual arts talents. The application of the IFT-14 with the same related measures to a sample of 103 primary and secondary gifted students provided further supporting evidence. Implications of the findings on the development of more sensitive measures for identifying students with visual-spatial or visual arts talents are discussed.
[Copyright of High Ability Studies is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13598130802504296]