Although the relationship between the classroom learning environment and academic achievement has been explored in subject-free and disciplinary subject contexts, research into this relationship is still lacking in the context of interdisciplinary subjects. This study investigated the relationship between the classroom learning environment and student achievement in an interdisciplinary subject (i.e. liberal studies) in Hong Kong secondary schools. The mediating role of critical thinking was also explored. The participants were 410 Hong Kong secondary school graduates. The structural equation modelling analyses indicated that (1) the Content aspect of the classroom learning environment had an effect on the achievement in liberal studies, and this effect was not mediated by critical thinking; (2) the Pedagogy aspect predicted critical thinking skills, which in turn predicted the achievement in liberal studies; (3) the Relation aspect had no significant effects on critical thinking skills and student achievement in liberal studies. Suggestions on enhancing students' high-order thinking skills and achievement in interdisciplinary subjects were provided.
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While assessment for learning (AfL) has been strongly promulgated by an increasing number of education systems internationally, little research is available that investigates students' responses to such AfL innovations, particularly in a Chinese learning context. There is a need to research and evaluate the AfL practices introduced and their impact on student learning approaches. This study focused on students' perceptions of AfL practices and the relationships these have with students' learning approaches. The study investigated perceptions of AfL practices experienced by students (N = 582) at three universities in mainland China and Hong Kong. Results indicated that student AfL experience positively influenced their learning approaches. Results revealed that all dimensions of students' perceived AfL experience (i.e., engagement with subject matter, teacher support, and peer support) were found to be significantly positively correlated with students' tendency to use a deep approach to learning, suggesting that in the Chinese and Hong Kong university environment, AfL practices contribute to students adopting a meaningful approach to learning.
[Copyright of Measurement is the property of Psychology Press.]

In recent years, research using learning analytics to predict learning outcomes has begun to increase. This emerging field of research advocates the use of readily-available data to inform teaching and learning. The current case study adopts a learning analytics approach to evaluate the online learning package of an academic English course in a university in Hong Kong. This study aims to (1) explore the completion pattern of use of the online learning package by students in a generic undergraduate academic skills course; and (2) predict student outcomes based on their online behaviour patterns. Over three academic years, the study examined usage logs for 7000+ students that were available on the university's learning management system. Student assessment component scores, online activity completion rates, and online behavioural patterns were identified and examined using descriptive analysis, bivariate correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis. The findings reveal insights into different online learning behavioural patterns that would benefit blended course designers. For instance, some students started using the online learning package early in the semester but fulfilled only the minimum required online work, whereas others greatly exceeded the basic requirement and continued doing activities in the online package even after the semester had finished. The relationship between learning activities in the online package and assessment component grades was found to be weak but meaningful. A regression model was developed drawing on the completion rates to predict overall student scores, and this model successfully identified several specific factors, such as total number of attempts and performance in individual online learning activities, as predictors of the final course grade.
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Next generation of language learners need learner-centredness in higher education ELT courses. A Holistic Flipped Classroom model (HFC) has been proposed in this research for such ELT course design. The effectiveness of three key components of the model - an authentic or near-authentic language learning community, flipped teaching, project-based assessment – are examined in an interactive storytelling short course for Early Childhood Education pre-service teachers at a teacher’s university in Hong Kong. A mixed research method of pre- and post-course surveys and interviews was used to measure students’ preference for such a model and their perceived effectiveness of the model on their learning outcomes. Data collected from students' survey and interviews showed students' higher motivation in learning and overall improvement of confidence and story creation as well as moderate enhancement in learner autonomy. This paper shares the design of this holistic flipped classroom model and further recommendations on teacher training and language learning enhancement technology are made. Copyright © 2019 Author.

Achievement emotions have been identified as important psychologic constructs that are closely linked with self-regulated learning and academic achievement (Pekrun, Goetz, Titz, & Perry, 2002; Pekrun, Goetz, Frenzel, Barchfeld, & Perry, 2011). Very recently, a team of researchers (Pekrun, Lichtenfeld, Marsh, Murayama, & Goetz, 2017) have identified the reciprocal relationships between achievement emotions and academic performance through longitudinal design. Despite these desirable outcomes associated with positive achievement emotions, experimental studies aiming to enhance students’ positive emotions are rare. This study extends achievement emotions research by using an experimental design. An intervention approach termed Team-based Learning (TBL, Michaelsen & Sweet, 2011) was implemented in a general breath course in a Hong Kong university. Experimental and control classes were used. Two negative emotions (anxiety and boredom) were included in order to better understand the effect of TBL as an intervention approach to promote positive and reduce negative emotions in learning. The Chinese version of learning-related Achievement Emotions Questionnaire (L-AEQ, Yang, 2017) was used to test students’ positive and negative emotions (enjoyment, hope, anxiety, boredom). The results showed in the TBL class, students’ enjoyment and hope significantly enhanced, meanwhile students’ boredom and anxiety declined. Comparatively, there were no significant changes in terms of positive and negative emotions in the control class. Implications of TBL as one of productive educational interventions to promote students’ enjoyment and hope in learning are discussed in relation to the control-value theory of achievement emotions. Copyright © 2018 ERAS-APERA International Conference.

This study was designed to explore how secondary students perceive the use of flipped classroom for learning computer programming. Specifically, it aimed to investigate the effects of flipped classroom on students’ learning and acquisition of programming knowledge and skills. Flipped classroom is known as a blended learning approach in which learning materials are delivered online, out of class for self-study in advance of classes, while homework assignments are transformed into class activities. This approach leverages technology and digital resources to support students in independent and online learning. It also enables teachers to minimize direct instruction and maximize student involvement in both teacher-student and student-student interactions. In this study, forty students from two Information and Communications Technology (ICT) classes (18 students in Secondary 4 and 22 in Secondary 5) in a Hong Kong secondary school were involved. Flipped classroom was adopted to teach students about computer programming topics (conditional, repetition and array) in both classes. Data were collected from a questionnaire and two interview sessions to explore students’ views on using flipped classroom to learn computer programming. The findings of this study indicate that students in the flipped classroom, regardless of their performance level, experienced stronger grasp of programming knowledge and higher engagement in learning programming concepts. Our findings also highlight limitations with this study that could be addressed in future work. Copyright © 2019 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

The purpose of this study was to examine creative thinking and learning in arts-infused education by using the invention kit Makey Makey as a platform for Human-Centred Design Instrument (HCDI). Data were collected from 249 adolescents (n = 249) from a Hong Kong secondary school in a participatory design format. They were selected for the STEAM project, which is provided through the school curriculum to examine the level of attitude change towards creativity through the creation of human-centred musical instruments for different age cohorts, including children (aged 3–6), adults and elderly people (aged over 65). The research objectives were concerned with the development of collaborative creative thinking through an HCDI and with how students combined and transformed new knowledge for everyday application with meaning – a breakthrough in musical instrument design for human needs. Questionnaires, observation and interviews were conducted to examine the students’ level of creative thinking. Based on a modification of the creativity measurement framework from the Runco Ideational Behavior Scale (RIBS), a significant increase in the attitude change of students’ creativity was shown from the paired-sample t-test in the dimensions of originality, flexibility, fluency and elaboration through the STEAM project. Copyright © 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Creativity literature was criticized for its bias towards conventional areas (e.g. arts), and creativity studies in domains less concerned about creativity, such as environmental sustainability (ES), are rare. This study aimed to understand the development of "creativity for ES" (pro-ES creativity) of common tertiary students. Based on a pro-environmental behaviour model and a pro-sustainability competence model found in literature, a pro-ES creative learning curriculum was designed and integrated into an existing toy course in a university of Hong Kong. A total of 20 students from three cohorts were interviewed, and their feedback was analysed inductively with open-coding by the consensus of two experts. Together with their affecting factors, five learning outcomes emerged as attributes of pro-ES creativity: sensitivity and problem-finding; creative problem-solving abilities; affinity for self-creating life-style; creative systems thinking and futures thinking; and reconceptualization of creativity and ES. This study discovered that creativity, as a kind of self-actualization, had developed both individual competences and intrinsic motivation, which are conducive to life-long self-determining ES behaviours. This study informs the education field that the five attributes of pro-ES creativity can be enhanced in a curriculum based on a simple everyday theme. As such, pro-ES creativity education can be integrated into many existing curricula. Going beyond ES, this study shed light on creativity studies of other less popular areas. It suggested a dual domain-specific-general creativity education approach and a dual deductive-inductive research approach for developing creativity theories and curriculum of "low-creativity" domains. Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

本研究嘗試探討嚴重智障兼多重弱能兒童是否具備高階思維的共通能力︰創造力、批判性思考能力、解決問題能力。透過文獻探究擬定評估準則，並利用互動故事作為教學策略，進行施教、觀察和評估，以得出結果。研究結果顯示，嚴重智障兼多重弱能兒童一樣具備不同程度的高階思維能力。只要因應學生的學習特性和需要，給予適當的引導和啟發，一樣可以提升這些方面的能力。當然，他們必須經過不斷的練習，及教師採取多元化的課程設計、教學策略和活動來引導學生，才能提升和鞏固其高階思維的能力。 The study examined whether students with severe mental handicap and multiple disabilities had higher order thinking skills: creativity, critical thinking skills and problem solving skills. The students were taught using the strategy of interactive story and the assessment criteria of the three higher order thinking skills were develop through reviewing related studies in the literature, Students' performance in the three higher order thinking skills were observed and rated based on the developed assessement criteria. The results indicated that students with severe mental handicap and multiple disabilities exhibit different degree of higher order thinking skills during the lessons. In teachers could provide appropriate guidance and stimulation based on the characteristics and needs of these students, higher order thinking skills could be developed though repeated practice would be necessary to reinforce the skills.
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