This study questions whether Hong Kong (HK) students' engineering aspirations are facilitated within their secondary school STEM curriculum or elsewhere. HK students perform strongly on international science and mathematics assessments, although its economy is reliant on a dwindling number of engineers. We consider STEM education metaphors, recent government attempts to improve STEM education and lack of Asian STEM literature. A representative twenty-four students (sex, age, secondary school type) were interviewed to elicit school/home e/STM (engineering within/STM subjects) experiences and aspirations. Thematic content analyses found: e/STM aspirations most susceptible to (pathway-based) home and cultural inequalities; younger students excluded from engineering interests; and, inhibiting in-school activities/pedagogies. Within this high-performing Asian society, inhibitors to engineering engagement were similar to current Western findings. Copyright ©Elsevier Ltd.

It has been well documented that active learning (AL) improves student learning outcomes in education. This quasi-experimental study explores the effect of active learning on students' knowledge of calculus concepts, in the form of the Calculus Concept Inventory (CCI), regular assignment scores, and test scores, during an 8-week calculus tutorial program. The active pedagogies used were cooperative problem-based learning and peer assessment, implemented using an interactive online whiteboard (IOWB) called RealtimeBoard. This study reveals statistically significant evidence that active learning increases students' conceptual understanding and graded assignment performance in a first-year calculus class in Hong Kong. Furthermore, this study contributes towards a better understanding of how active learning can be implemented effectively in Asian tertiary mathematics education. Copyright © Springer.

數學教科書的設計和內容鋪排對教師的教和學生的學均十分重要。除了學習目標、學習內容和相關的學習活動外，教科書所提供的可能的學習軌跡亦指出了如何帶領學生從一個知識點過渡到下一個知識點，這對於教師實施教學至關重要。這種學習軌跡的佈置並非一成不變的。本文以中學數學相似圖形這一課題為例，分析香港在不同時期的數學教科書中的內容編排，從中尋找該課題在教科書中佈置的歷史脈絡和變遷，並以此討論對於該課題合理的教學鋪排方式，也希望對其他數學課題的教學有所啟示。 Copyright © 2020 國立臺灣師範大學數學系、台灣數學教育學會.

Developing students’ interest in STEM careers in STEM education is important. This study explored the impacts of STEM instruction involving scientists or engineers on 224 Hong Kong students’ interests in STEM careers and their stereotypes about STEM professionals. The teachers who participated in professional development, namely “School-STEM professional collaboration”, implemented the STEM instruction with support from educational researchers and invited STEM experts. Throughout the STEM instruction, students were provided with STEM role models, and were engaged in authentic and hands-on activities to mimic the research work of invited STEM experts. Data were collected through pre- and post-surveys and were analysed using descriptive statistics, t tests, and ANOVAs. The results revealed increased interest in STEM careers, and more positive perceptions of STEM professionals among the students after the instruction. In addition, the impacts of the instruction were found to be influenced by gender-matching between students and STEM professionals. Girls were more likely to improve their interests and alter stereotypes with exposure to female role models. It can be concluded that the STEM instruction diversifying the stereotypes of STEM people can be beneficial to students. This study has implications for supporting more effective STEM education in primary schools. Copyright © 2020 National Institute of Education, Singapore.

This study examined the bidirectional relationships among Chinese children's mathematics, executive functioning, and visual–spatial skills during their transition from kindergarten to primary school. Participants were 172 Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong children (mean age at Time 1 = 62.75 months; 88 male) and their parents. At Time 1 (kindergarten K3), children were administered the measures of mathematics (calculation and applied problems), executive functioning (working memory and inhibitory control), and visual–spatial skills. They were reassessed on these measures at Time 2 (primary 1) 1 year later. Results from the cross-lagged panel model showed that, controlling for child age, gender, and family socioeconomic status, children's visual–spatial skills at Time 1 were significantly predictive of their mathematics at Time 2 and children's executive functioning and visual–spatial skills reciprocally predicted each other across times. However, children's mathematics at Time 1 were not predictive of their executive functioning or visual–spatial skills at Time 2. The findings highlight the desirability of improving children's executive functioning and visual–spatial skills to promote their mathematical performance during the formal school transition. Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

This study assessed elementary school students’ conceptions of STEM professions and its potential influence on STEM career interest, as well as the moderation effect of gender on the relationships between conceptions of STEM professionals and career interest in STEM. A total of 216 grade 3 through 5 students in Hong Kong participated in this study. They were asked to draw images of professionals in specific STEM areas, and complete questionnaires about their conceptions of STEM professionals and interests in STEM careers. Drawings were analyzed using graphic content analysis, and survey data were analyzed using moderated hierarchical regression analysis. Analysis of drawings showed that the students had inadequate understanding of engineers or scientists in the air, food, and water area. Boys were more likely to hold gender-related stereotypes about STEM professionals than girls. Analysis of survey data revealed that students’ views about STEM career implications, STEM professionals’ personal aptitudes, and social relations significantly predicted their STEM career interest. Gender significantly moderated the association of Social relations and Interest, meaning that compared to boys, girls might express higher STEM career interest when they more strongly believed that STEM professionals are able to build good social relationships with others. This study has implications for the design and implementation of pertinent lessons on STEM for elementary schools. Copyright © 2020 Springer Nature B.V.

學校數學課程需要隨時代發展而持續變革。香港課程發展議會在深入總結、反思已有課程改革成果基礎上,根據時代發展需要,於2017年頒佈了《數學教育學習領域課程指引(小一至中六)》,提出了STEM教育、電子學習、跨課程語文學習、培養共通能力和價值觀及態度等四個數學課程持續更新的方向。基於對上述四個方面的評介,提出立足數學課程把握課程改革熱點、立足整體視野處理課程改革議題等深化數學課程改革的啟示。

課程評價是課程改革的一個重要方面,也是課程理念能否真正落地的保障.通過對香港小學數學課程相關的文件進行分析發現,其評價以學與教改善為目標,通過多種方式對數學課程教與學的內容進行全方位評估.在此基礎上對內地小學數學課程評價的改革提出了啟示和建議.