The emphasis on all round development and life-wide learning as proposed in the recent Education Reform in Hong Kong suggests that students should be exposed to a broader experience to help them understand their abilities and aptitudes. Developing school-based curriculum materials is one means to support the learning and teaching in schools. This paper reports on the collaborative work between the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) and some secondary schools in developing school-based curriculum materials in technology education. Initial ideas on the curriculum topics for implementation were first discussed with teachers during school visits by Institute staff. These ideas were further developed during the period of school teachers’ attachment in the Institute. The materials were piloted in the schools concerned and student feedbacks were solicited on their attitudes towards the teaching and learning materials. The general responses from the students were encouraging and they favoured the use of modern technology that helped facilitate their understanding of the subject matters.

For enabling the teachers to achieve the IT competence as required by the Hong Kong government for implementing the recent IT in education policy, we find that when it comes to the competent (or upper intermediate) level, a subject-based training approach is definitely more ideal in catering for the special needs of Science teachers whose subject disciplines are highly specialized in terms of content and pedagogy. The advocacy for a subject-based (or subject-specific) IT training course for Physics teachers is supported by some recent needs analysis. Based on those research findings and the content analysis on features peculiar to the Physics teaching and learning, we shall present an initial sketch on the scope of IT applications for Physics through a subject-based approach. Results from the questionnaire survey on the Physics teachers' perception of the training needs in various kinds of IT skills will also be given in this paper.

Biotechnology has tremendous applications in the areas of agriculture, environment, fuels and chemicals, food and drink, gene cloning, and medicine. Also, when biotechnology applies to humans especially in genetic engineering, it stimulates controversial debates on bioethical issues. While biotechnology is increasing in the news, awareness of its overall significance remains limited. This is especially true for high school students. Many western governments have been planning to bridge the gap. In Hong Kong however, the pace is comparatively slow. This study is unique in being the first in Hong Kong to inquire into the student perception (knowledge and attitudes) of biotechnology. Based on the findings, this study is to make recommendations for integrating biotechnology in the science classes.
[Copyright © 1999 Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).]

This paper describes the outcome of a science school-based curriculum development project, a collaboration between the Hong Kong Institute of Education and four secondary schools. The project was an attempt to promote the development of science investigation skills among secondary students. The aim of the project was (i) to try out the strategies proposed, and (ii) to find out from the students after their participation their interest, their perceived difficulty and ways to solve problems encountered in conducting science investigations. This paper describes the various phases of the school-based curriculum development project including the planning, implementation and evaluation of the project. To formulate effective strategies to develop science investigation tasks, a questionnaire was administered to collect feedback from the students. The findings of the project provide evidence that there were positive influences on students' interest in learning science. The responses from the students suggested that they have a higher level of interest in learning science and in participating in measuring or observing results, and planning science investigations. They perceived themselves having more difficulties in the identification of a problem for investigation, writing hypothesis and designing an investigation. More than half of the students also reported not having sufficient knowledge and time in completing the science investigation project. Finally, drawing on the findings, the paper introduces ways of improving the strategies to support science investigations and a two staged model for planning science investigation tasks.

The subject of Graphic Communications (and the more-focused subject of Technical Drawing currently taught in Hong Kong) is usually taught in schools as either a stand-alone subject or as part of other technology subjects such as Design & Technology. Traditionally, textbooks and their accompanying problems in workbooks contain set exercises that often lack relevance to each other and/or the students. One way to provide more meaning in the teaching/learning of the subject is to utilize a thematic approach. This paper will present a rationale for using a thematic approach for teaching Graphic Communications. Examples of student work and suggestions for introducing thematic topic will be give.