A method for enhancing the quality of teaching and learning is through encouraging academics to engage in action research projects into some aspect of their teaching which is of interest or problematic for them. Action research is promoted as a means for committed teachers to bridge the gap between their theories and practices, and now it has becoming a required skill of frontline teachers in schools in Hong Kong. However, groups of teachers being sold to the concept, are fresh to such idea and method, and their day to day practice has confined themselves to the more practical and technical management of teaching in schools. This paper explores the use of a case illustration approach for teaching action research on 33 in-service primary school teachers, the application of constructivist theories of learning underpins this approach will be addressed and the result will be discussed while significance of the findings will be highlighted in the light of preparing curriculum leaders to promote change in schools.

The Sub-committee on Review of School Education, Board of Education has identified in their Report, March 1997, four major areas of concern in the implementation of compulsory education in Hong Kong. Effectiveness of learning in the classroom is one of them. The Sub-committee considers school culture/ethos a factor which is essential in enhancing teacher quality, and recommends that teachers should be encouraged to work in collaboration in planning and development of work in school. The present paper which describes the experience of a group of teacher educators working collaboratively in designing and implementing their curriculum on a module for the student teachers aims to explore the feasibility of the Sub-committee's recommendation in the tertiary setting. It is hoped that teachers in the primary and secondary schools can also share this experience and will be better equipped to carry out the recommendation of the Sub-committee.

One of the aims for the Department of Physical Education and Sports Science (PESS) at the Hong Kong Institute of Education is to influence the physical development of Hong Kong children. This can be accomplished by ensuring that student teachers of physical education receive a strong training program based on scientific concepts of exercise, thus promoting excellence in teaching physical activity and health in primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong. A problem-based learning (PBL) approach was used as a new mode of instruction in a health-related fitness module. PBL is a teaching-learning method which encourages students to engage in active participation through solving physical activity, sports, and health problems that occur in real life situations. The purpose of using PBL was to enhance teaching and learning through the development of critical thinking skills with the support of web-based resource materials. Two health-related fitness cases were developed and implemented in a health-related fitness module taught to 27 second year physical education students enrolled on a four year BEd secondary program over one semester. Based on students' comments, PBL provided an opportunity to make connections between their school and life experiences, what they had learned from textbooks and practical experiences in the Human Performance Laboratory, and their own experience teaching sports and physical activity in schools. Students were also engaged in meaningful problem-centred learning activities where the effective sharing of information and decision making was imperative to solving problems of the cases.

This paper investigates the implementation of outcome-based learning (OBL) in a core course entitled Enhancing Teaching in Small Classes of the Professional Development Course for Small Class Teaching in Primary Schools and makes recommendation based on an effective OBL implementation. The course is introduced to in-service primary teachers as a response to the policy on small class teaching which has come to effect in Hong Kong primary schools since 2000. Originally designed in a non-OBL Format to meet the needs of the local primary teachers, the course objectives and contents are prepared with reference to the relevant literatures, overseas as well as local studies on small class teaching. The course has then been revised according to the principles of OBL and then offered to the in-service primary teachers. Near the completion of the course, data were collected from the teachers using questionnaires and individual interviews. . It was found that the teachers were highly motivated to learn and they agreed that the course intended learning outcomes (CILOs) could enrich their knowledge and skills of a professional teacher, and the teaching and learning activities and assessment tasks could help them to achieve the CILOs. The result suggests that learners' needs are significant to the effective implementation of OBL.

Problem-Based Learning (PBL), a teaching and learning innovation based on the constructivist theory of learning, is to foster creative and independent learning. This paper discusses results of a research study set up to explore the obstacles to the implementation of PBL in three local universities of Hong Kong. The research took place in two stages, with interviewing followed by questionnaire administration. A total of 30 PBL tutors from three local universities were interviewed. Interview data indicate that there are three major factors hindering the successful implementation of problem-based learning, namely resources, staff appraisal system, and student responses to PBL. Based on the interview findings, a PBL teachers experiences questionnaire was generated. A total of 19 returns (67 percent response rate) were received. Analysis of the questionnaire data indicated that certain factors played a more important role in PBL implementation: culture of the universities (PBL versus non-PBL) and the experiences of faculty members (experienced versus non-experienced). PBL and non-PBL based universities differed in resource support and student acceptance, but they shared the commonality that the teaching reward system had a detrimental effect on the PBL initiative. Younger faculty members were more susceptible to change but they required a more supportive system.

In recent years, Outcomes-Based Learning (OBL) is gaining increasing popularity in many parts of the world. Since 2008, OBL has been formally promoted among all higher education institutions in Hong Kong by the University Grants Committee (UGC) of Hong Kong. A key concept of OBL is that teaching should be driven by outcomes that are desirable in students, and that greater clarity in relation to what is to be achieved simply involves adjusting teaching and assessing. This paper reports on an ongoing project on Outcome-Based Learning in the English Department at the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd). First, the development of a set of Programme Learning Outcomes for the Bachelor of Education (English Language) Programme at HKIEd will be introduced. Second, the design of course intended learning outcomes will be discussed. Third, the adjustment of teaching and assessing strategies to align with the learning outcomes will be illustrated in a sample course. It is hoped that this paper will inspire some thoughts on how effective teaching and learning among students in higher education institutions can be achieved through the outcomes-based learning approach.

The Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) as one of the five Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs) as well as the largest TEI in Hong Kong, it concerns very much on meeting the teacher competence standards to uphold a high standard of teacher education for benefiting the whole education community and maintain a high level of quality assurance for teacher education programme. As Field Experience (FE) is a cornerstone of any teacher education programmes that could interlock with other domains and content areas of the programme to achieving the most effective learning outcomes, HKIEd recently reviewed and constructed a new outcome-based framework for student teachers to actively engage in learning activities of FE in order to meeting the standards. This paper aims to (1) review the literature on teacher competence standards and its implication on teacher education, (2) demonstrate how HKIEd review and construct a new outcome-based framework, (3) critically analyse the quality of the new outcome-based FE framework from the latest literature and trends in teacher competence standards, and (4) conclude and recommend how the FE framework can be further developed for meeting and upholding teacher competence standards through a series of studies.