Research reveals that although teachers in English as second language (ESL) classrooms are often good at teaching language forms and skills, many are less confident about the cognitive engagement required to develop critical thinking skills. However, little research has been done to examine the development of critical thinking in the context of second-language learning and teaching. In this article, I report the results of a study that assesses the effectiveness of a program called Philosophy in Schools (PIS) in developing students’ critical thinking and English proficiency in Hong Kong. In the study, I provided training and support for five teachers in two schools so that they could teach PIS to their secondary 3 and 4 ESL students during integrated humanities and English lessons respectively. I found that PIS played an important role in promoting the students’ critical thinking and enhanced the development of their English proficiency to a significant extent. Copyright © 2020 by Francis W. Parker School, Chicago. All rights reserved.

The 3P (presage, process, product) model was introduced as a conceptualisation to underpin research into students' approaches to learning (SAL). This paper proposes the refocusing of the 3P model by formulating the initial presage phase as a teaching and learning environment, thus making the 3P model more consistent with SAL research which examines the influence of perceptions of aspects of teaching, learning and assessment on approaches to learning. The method was to use structural equation modelling to test a hypothesised version of the refocused 3P model. Data from a questionnaire administered to students at a university in Hong Kong showed a good fit to the data. The model showed that a teaching and learning environment influenced approaches to learning then impacted on the attainment of graduate attributes. The model showed that a well-designed teaching and learning environment, including teacher-student and student-student interaction, plus a lively co-curriculum had a part to play in promoting deep approaches to learning. Deep approaches then had a positive effect on attribute development in students. Copyright ©Routledge.

Study abroad has become an important component of many teacher education programs. Through the lens of culturally relevant pedagogy, critical thinking, and educational freedom, this qualitative case study focuses on understanding Hong Kong teachers' perceptions about United States culture and education. Data were collected through in-depth, one-on-one interviews with five Hong Kong educators. The findings reveal that the Hong Kong teachers believe that respecting individual differences, inspiring students' critical thinking, and having freedom to choose how to teach and learn are top priorities in the U.S. However, there are also misconceptions in a few areas. This study not only helps prepare for a multicultural collaboration between U.S. teacher candidates and Hong Kong educators in a study abroad course, but it also aims to contribute to the literature the critical need of understanding unintentional biases and stereotypes that might negatively influence U.S. teacher candidates' assumptions of their students with diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Copyright ©Petru Maior University Publishing House.

Capstone projects are common in undergraduate programmes, providing students with a culminating educational experience designed to draw on the knowledge and skills accumulated over the course of their studies. While there are many benefits to capstone projects, they are not without challenges. In particular, when these projects are conducted in groups, forming groups to optimise the learning outcomes and managing group dynamics can be challenging. In this article, we report on the analysis of data collected from 346 undergraduate business students who completed capstone projects at a Hong Kong university. Measures included students' learning goal (mastery and performance), satisfaction with their supervisor and group diversity in relation to gender, prior academic achievement, self-report nationality and programme of study. Analysis of this data in conjunction with student grades for the project was conducted to inform improvements in design and delivery of the capstone subject to improve students' learning outcomes. The results showed that for groups consisting of three students, group diversity in respect to prior academic achievement as measured by grade point average (GPA) is positively related to the grade achieved in the capstone project. However, diversity in respect to the nationalities in the group was related to poorer performance. Furthermore, the more teacher-focused the group supervisor's approach was, the worse the grade achieved for the project. The results suggest that groups made up of students of different nationalities tend to have lower grades compared to homogeneous groups. In contrast, having a group with a mix of GPAs can result in higher grades on the project. While these findings have informed our understanding of group performance on capstone projects, work is needed to fully understand what underlies the diversity effects identified which will be explored with future cohorts. Copyright © Routledge.

Visual methods are effective in facilitating human learning while metacognition is a critical aspect of the learning process. In this context, the purpose of this study is to explore the metacognition of pre-service teachers in response to their participation in a series of visual reflections after an online dialogue on the topic of inclusive education. A global online platform was used to facilitate dialogue in three discussion sessions of real-time videoconferencing between pre-service teachers in England, Hong Kong, Northern Ireland, and South Africa. A group of Hong Kong pre-service teachers participated in a face-to-face post-discussion session using visual methods. Their transcripts and artefacts were recorded and analysed by applying a shared metacognitive construct. The power of visual methods in online collaborative inquiry for teacher education was noted by the participants’ deeper reflection on discussion issues when the issues were presented visually.
[Copyright of Journal of Education for Teaching is the property of Routledge.]

Student-driven approaches have generated positive results in student development. This study reports a Students as Learning Experience Designers (Student-LED) Project as one example of employing student-driven approaches to develop learning abilities, leadership skills and reflective habits, in the context of the new senior secondary curriculum reform in Hong Kong. In such reform, schools are encouraged to offer other learning experiences (OLE) to facilitate students’ all-round development. This Student-LED project can be seen as pioneering in its cultural context and for the target participants. Students in Hong Kong were traditionally described as lacking independence, which seemed to contradict the premise of student-driven approaches. The present study as a pilot shows that Hong Kong secondary school students could potentially benefit from a student-driven approach. Sense of autonomy and positional leadership opportunities were found to be important factors to student learning. The concerns of students and teachers during the process were also identified through reflective statements. This study provided some insights into the use of student-driven approaches with Hong Kong learners. Copyright © 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

The purpose of this study is to examine students’ creative thinking skills in STEAM-based activities by using the Makey Makey invention kit in designing the human-centred design instruments (HCDIs). Human-centred design is a process of designing for people (IDEO, 2011). This research aims to investigate the application of students’ creative thinking skills in developing solution to problem in human perspectives in everyday life through designing the human-centred designed instruments with the combination of creative exchange of knowledge and personal experiences between the designers (students) and users in different age group.Data were collected from 264 adolescent females (n = 264) in the age between 11 and 13, who had participated in the STEAM-based activities in a Hong Kong local secondary school. The STEAM project was provided through the school curriculum to examine the students’ level of creative thinking across disciplines in designing the human-centred design instruments (HCDIs) with Makey Makey to match the actual needs of different age groups, including children (aged 3-6), adults and elderly (aged over 65). The research objectives are concerned with the students’ involvement and attitude in participating the STEAM-based activities as well as their application of their creative thinking skills in the real-world context. The students’ experiences of thinking creatively were investigated through the five stages of creative thinking under the framework of “Creative Learning Spiral” by Mitch Resnick (2007) in STEAM-based activities in Hong Kong context.Pre- and post-treatment attitudinal questionnaires, two class observations and four interviews with both teachers and students were conducted to examine the change of students’ attitude towards creative thinking. Data findings revealed that 1) a slight increase in the students’ level of attitude change towards creative thinking through designing the human-centred design instruments (HCDIs) with the invention kit

This article reports the results of a study that assesses the effectiveness of a Philosophy in Schools (PIS) programme in developing students' thinking skills and English competence in Hong Kong. In the study, training and support were provided for three Integrated Humanities (IH) teachers to enable them to teach PIS to their Secondary 3 English as a Second Language (ESL) students. The students were found to be capable of reasoning and arguing in a competent way about philosophical problems arising from various stimuli prepared by their teachers according to the IH curriculum. PIS was also found to play a major role in promoting the students' critical and creative thinking and to enhance the development of their English language proficiency to a significant extent. The findings of this study suggest that integrating philosophy into the IH curriculum can promote critical thinking, creative thinking and English language proficiency in ESL students. Copyright © 2020 University of Cambridge, Faculty of Education.

The aim of this paper is to examine blended learning as an integral component of a learning culture. By drawing on two concepts- habitus and field - we consider the cultural learning experiences of postgraduate students within the context of a Hong Kong University. It is an examination that allows for an appreciation of both an individual as well as a collective experience of blended learning and in so doing it demonstrates how power is (always) an issue within learning cultures. The paper goes on to argue that if blended learning is to achieve its goal in terms of enhancing learning there is a need to have a better understanding of learning itself where questions are asked concerning the learner, the locations where learning occurs and processes of learning. Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). All Rights Reserved.

This paper examined the effect of using an online collaborative learning platform on students’ learning outcomes in higher education. An online collaborative learning platform called GMoodle was implemented at The Education University of Hong Kong. To investigate the benefits and drawbacks of online collaborative learning, students were invited to complete the pre‐test and post‐test questionnaires to evaluate their learning outcomes. The quantitative and qualitative studies of 75 undergraduate students were conducted based on the pre‐test and post‐test questionnaires and focus group interviews, and the results showed that students’ learning outcomes especially self‐management skills and collaborative skills were enhanced through the online collaborative activities. In the pilot study, training was provided for in‐service and pre‐service teachers. Most of them reflected that GMoodle is a useful platform for educators to understand students’ learning progress, promote active collaboration and facilitate team teaching across different disciplines. Not only the students but also the teachers benefited from this online learning platform for collaborative learning, fair assessment, and team teaching. Copyright © 2019 The author.