One of the principal means in conserving biodiversity is to avoid the extinction of current existing organisms, especially on those endangered ones. Sharks, being the apex predators in marine ecosystem, face the risk of extinction due to the increasing anthropogenic threat. Although conservation of sharks has become a global concerning issue in the recent decades, recent studies have revealed that negative perceptions and misconceptions about sharks are widespread in young children in Hong Kong, one of the major shark-fin trading centres in the world. Such misunderstandings and negative attitudes developed among students in this trading centre with large consumption would be undesirable for the global conservation. Effective environmental education is an essential foundation for the sustainable success of shark conservation. Appropriate educational approach may promote the conceptual understanding and positive perception of children in this strategic place. While the acquisition of relevant environmental information is certainly not limited to formal education in school, it is noteworthy to investigate the source of environmental knowledge and information that the students acquire. This study, thus, aimed at examining the correlation between children’s perception of shark, the conceptual understanding of sharks-related ecological knowledge and a variety of information sources in Hong Kong senior primary students, so as to pinpoint the most influential source of information in contributing students’ perception and understanding about shark. On the bright side, we would identify the most effective platform in disseminating the information on shark conservation. The results showed the positive correlation between the conceptual understanding and the sources of TV documentary and readings. Types of reading materials and reading time are also correlated with their conceptual understanding of the issues on shark conservation.

In the last two decades, a lot of effort has been put into protection of Hong Kong’s marine environment. The environment, ecology and conservation strategies are all excellent teaching resources for executing environmental education in local schools. In 2013, Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) has commissioned the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) to develop an educational programme to promote our marine environment, its ecological value and marine conservation work among Hong Kong local schools. The programme provided innovative and comprehensive education kits and web Apps for primary and secondary schools as well as school visits and field studies to effectively deliver marine ecological knowledge and messages of marine conservation to local students. The programme also involved a “train-the-trainer” project in which AFCD organized informative marine conservation seminars, field trips and poster competition for undergraduate students in HKIEd who helped to provide interactive school talks for primary and secondary school students. All these activities target to educate the young generation our marine environment and raising their concerns and awareness on marine conservation issues and equip the potential teachers from HKIEd with essential marine conservation knowledge and field experience in their future career.

「促進學習的評估」是近年世界各國課程改革的重要項目。實踐「促進學習的評估」的理念，Black 和 William 提議一種常用的方法是教師在日常教學上多注意給予學生回饋。研究者常有機會視導準教師的教學，但他們卻未能有效運用回饋促進學生的學習。因此本研究旨在探討香港中國語文準教師在閱讀課是怎樣給予學生口頭回饋和他們給予學生回饋時做得不足的地方。研究對象是二十位修讀香港教育學院小學榮譽教育學士的準教師，研究者在他們實習期間和他們觀課並進行錄像分析，然後邀請六位作訪談。研究發現大多數準教師給予學生教師主導的回饋，較少運用學生為本的回饋。準教師未能善用學生的回應，也欠缺多元化的追問。本文最後提出建議，希望藉此提升準教師給予學生口頭回饋的效能。
[Copyright © 2015 Journal of Educational Research and Development.]

This article reports the results of a multiple qualitative case study which investigated the challenges that seven early career English language teachers in Hong Kong confronted as they constructed their professional and personal identities. A series of in-depth interviews with participants during the entire first year of their full-time teaching experience provided a longitudinal perspective on the teachers’ experiences of becoming teachers. A contribution of this study is to examine such experiences using the analytical lens of teacher identity. The case studies illustrate that these teachers faced considerable challenges in constructing teacher identities as they negotiated the dominant discourses of teaching and learning within individual Hong Kong schools. It is argued that school-based support for early career teachers should include the problematisation of the identity positions available to all teachers within the profession as a whole in order to support the construction of the professional and personal identities that these teachers place a premium upon. Implications for teacher education and future research are also discussed.
[Copyright © 2015 Taylor & Francis.]

對不少小學教師來說，「數型」是一個不容易捉摸的課題。它不像「加」、「減」、「乘」、「除」、或是「四邊形」、「三角形」一樣，有著非學不可的元素一一往後學習數學的預備知識。也就是說，它是學了看不到有何得益，不學又好像並無不妥的課題。因此，它往往不是教師最關心學生表現的一課。這種可有可無的地位，令不少人甚至認為大可把它從課程中刪去。對很多教師而言，學生的學習歷程只是流於背誦公式，掌握不好，亦即背誦不熟，這樣的學習過程亳無意義可言！記得曾經有教師說過，每年面對這課題時，總要重新背誦一遍有關公式，才有信心進入課室。教師尚且如此，何況學生?在新課程之下，數型已由小六的必授部分移至增潤部分 (香港課程發展議會, 2000) 。可以預期，叫苦的大可不教，不然，總得面對如何為這課題定位的問題。本文嘗試為這課題重新定位，透過數學化觀點 (馮，2004) 揭示數學學習之中，以「形」馭「數」的面相。

根據香港課程發展議會 (2000) ，角的學習內容出現於小二和小三。然而，角的概念會延續至往後的學習單元，例如︰方向(由北方順時針轉一個直角，便是東方)、垂直與平行(以直角引入垂直線)、四邊形(藉角的認識探討四邊形的特性)等。因此初小學生必須對角的概念有很好的理解，為日後建構更高層次的幾何概念打好基礎。 數學化教學是重視學理鋪陳的教學法。在設計教學前，教師必須對學理結構有很好的掌握，才能有效地佈置和處理教學上的每一個細節。本文以角的教學為主題，從學理入手，深入地分析由直線衍生的角的定義，並介紹一個適用於小學課堂的教學方案，及其執行時的注意事項。最後會探討在這個方案底下學習的學生，將如何面對測考，期間又會遇上怎樣的困難。