The recently implemented HKCEE Chemistry curriculum has adopted a STS approach which is relatively new to this subject in Hong Kong. It was thus considered appropriate to find out how the teachers adapt to this change in approach. Consequently, a survey in the form of questionnaire was conducted in April, 96 to seek the opinions of teachers on the change. The questionnaire was designed to survey the teachers' opinions on the change in content, the new activities, availability of suitable resources and the format of the examination. Questionnaires were sent to 300 schools, in which 164 schools responded, giving a response rate of 54.6%. 12 of the schools surveyed do not offer Chemistry at HKCEE level. The results revealed that 78% of the teachers claimed that they are aware of the rationale behind the change in the Chemistry curriculum. In addition, about 80% of the teachers agreed that the introduction of society related topics are useful to students intending to study Chemistry beyond HKCEE level. However, over 60% of the teachers surveyed claimed that the new curriculum do not provide enough chemical knowledge for students to pursue further studies in chemistry. In addition , about 60% of the teachers think that the omission of certain topics from the old curriculum is likely to lead to inadequate background knowledge in chemistry. As to the new teaching activities , 48% of the respondents admit that they have never carried out the debates while over 90% of the teachers claimed that they have carried out the decision-making exercises with the students. Furthermore, 54% of the teachers found that the students participate actively in the new activities. As to the non-inclusion of the new activities in the teaching process, 80% of the teachers claimed that they do not have enough time to do so. With regard to the format of the examination, 76% of the interviewees welcome the change in the format of the HKCEE examination. However, over 70% of the teachers found that

Due to the importance of biotechnology education, there is a worldwide trend of extending this from college to secondary school level. While many western governments have been planning to bridge the gap, the pace in Hong Kong is comparatively slow. As Hong Kong science educators, we are planning to introduce relevant and updated biotechnology elements into our secondary school biology curricula, in order to promote basic biotechnology knowledge as well as positive attitude towards advances in science and technology. Before we can modify the curriculum, it is important to understand the biology teachers' perception of biotechnology. For example: What are their attitudes towards the practice of Biotechnology? What is their average knowledge towards the subject? Do male and female teachers have significant difference in their attitudes towards Biotechnology? What are the implications on school science curricula? The search for these answers leads to this study.
[Copyright © 2000 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.]

Home economics has a long history in Hong Kong schools. Although it is still in the secondary school curriculum, its value is always being challenged. This is particularly so when it is amongst the educational changes and reforms that are currently undertaken in Hong Kong. In order to understand its present situation in school and to inform the future development of the subject, a survey has been conducted to collect teachers' views. It is believed that the data collected will help put contemporary Hong Economics teaching in schools in context as well as identifying factors that might have affected its development in schools. Most importantly, the results help to provide a basis for practitioners in the field to rethink the relevance of Home Economics in the school curriculum in the new century.

Hong Kong has embarked on a raft of educational reforms and prominent amongst them is a call for school students to 'learn to learn' so they can be lifelong learners. Such a reform direction is common in many countries as the demands of knowledge economies become increasingly clear and politicized. However, the extent to which such a goal is achievable depends significantly on the nature of the school and classroom learning environments in which students and teachers participate. This paper argues that many of the conditions necessary for developing metacognition, an essential requirement for 'learning to learn' and lifelong learning, are still lacking in relation to the context of science education in Hong Kong. It suggests reform directions that, if implemented, would positively impact on school and classroom learning environments and increase the possibilty that 'learning to learn' and lifelong learning might rise above the rhetoric of reform in Hong Kong.

Teachers from three secondary schools together with the authors initiated a project to develop teaching strategies and resources to implement a new Hong Kong Junior Secondary Science Curriculum (JSSC) introduced in 2000. The teachers met regularly to share their experiences of the teaching designs and classroom practice. Through working together, teachers became mentors and learners of the other teachers. Data were collected from records of teacher meetings, lesson observations, teacher interviews and student interviews to evaluate the effectiveness of the project. Findings of this study revealed that teaching approaches of these teachers changed significantly, particularly towards more student-centred modes of learning. Active student participation encouraged the teachers to explore and try out innovative ways of learning and teaching of science. The positive feedbacks from students stimulated the teachers to reflect their role as facilitators and curriculum decision-makers rather than passive transmitters of the curriculum. To be successful in making changes in the teaching culture, findings indicated that the teachers shared the common goal of delivering quality science education. The change had also to be taken place in a context in which high quality teaching resources developed by the teachers had an impact on pupils' learning. The change was not only on the pedagogical content knowledge applied in classes. It was also a change in the belief in science education. However without the characteristics of a competent teacher such as good science background and good presentation skills, such changes would not be able to succeed.

Bioethics is defined in the Encyclopedia of Bioethics as'The systematic study of human conduct in the area of the life sciences and health care, insofar as this conduct is examined in the light of moral values and principles" (Reich, 1978). The term bioethics is almost synonymous with biomedical ethics (Beauchamp & Childress, 1989). Brody & Engelhardt (1987) point out: 'because we are all either prospective patients or family members of prospective patients, the bioethical issues raised by contemporary health care are unavoidable.' Therefore, bioethical issues are inevitably confronted by everyone sooner or later. In the classrooms, bioethical issues arc likely to be increasingly in the spotlight in coming years (Simpson, 1996), and there are several justifiable reasons for placing bioethical issues in the curriculum (O'Brien, 1996). Many modern advances in science and technology have social implications. Notably among them are bioethical issues, such as human fertility controls, sex pre-determination, birth controls, abortion, AIDS & sexually transmitted diseases, homosexuality, euthanasia, genetic manipulations, animal experimentation, and environmental protection. Attitudes towards these bioethical issues not only affect the welfare of the present generations, but also have serious social repercussions extending to the future generations. The Hong Kong Government have urged schools to help students develop moral qualities so that they would become ethical and responsible citizens. Such an aim of education as to build up moral and ethical character has been strongly advocated since 2500 years ago by Confucius, and recently notably by Johann Friedrich Herbart (Gangel & Benson, 1983). Therefore it is of great importance to see whether our Hong Kong college students have conscientious judgment in these bioethical issues. The present study intends to investigate (i) the concepts of ethics and bioethics, (ii) the attitudes & rationales towards various bioethical issues

Home economics has been a school subject in Hong Kong for over fifty years. It stayed mainly as a female subject until 1999 when a survey on Equal Opportunity in Education was carried out by the Hong Kong Equal Opportunities Commission. The report of that survey revealed that boys were generally deprived of the opportunity in learning home economics in the curriculum. Schools were alert to the situation and home economics has subsequently been offered to both boys and girls in a co-educational environment in most schools in recent years. However, the participation of boys in home economics has caused some concerns in the field. Teachers are particularly anxious of their interaction with boys in a once female-dominated learning environment. Despite they understand that gender bias can be a serious detriment to learning, many are aware that they lack the ability to foster a more equitable teacher-student interaction in the classroom in order to meet the learning needs of both genders. Studies which looked at teacher interactions with boys and girls in different subject areas are abundant, such as Mathematics and Science. However, published studies on interaction in home economics classes are rare particularly in Hong Kong context. This may due to the fact that its history in co-educational learning environment is still short in Hong Kong. This study is a pioneer work which aims to find out whether home economics in Hong Kong co-educational classes supports patriarchal patterns of domination by males as researched in many studies. It also examines whether classroom processes in home economics lessons sustain or break down barriers between the sexes. It is hoped that useful strategies can be generated from this study to help all students participate equally in the classrooms in general, and within home economics lessons in particular.