This study is the part of a larger study on investigating Hong Kong (HK) prospective teachers’ (PTs) Subject Matter Knowledge (SMK) and Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK). In this paper, five HK PTs’ SMK and PCK on teaching one topic regarding square root were investigated. The results suggest that insufficient understanding on the concept of algebraic operation is the major obstacle to limit those student teachers from teaching students with mathematical understanding. The results further echo with the viewpoint that SMK and PCK are two interrelated constructs and rich SMK leads to high quality of PCK.

This study investigates the relationship between subject matter knowledge (SMK) for mathematics teaching and self-reported non-cognitive factors among 201 prospective mathematics teachers (PMTs) in Hong Kong. Participants completed a survey adopted from Fennema and Sherman [19] were assessed their confidence in learning mathematics (CLM), attitude towards success in mathematics (ASM), mathematics anxiety (MA), effectance motivation in learning mathematics (EMM), while 73 of them were assessed in a written test on their knowledge. The regression analysis suggests that CLM is the main predictor of the performance in SMK compared to MA and EMM. Findings also show that there were statistically significant effects of both gender and program of studies on their performance on MA, EMM and CLM. The results suggest a further investigation of the relationship between beliefs and SMK among PMTs in other contexts. Implications for the current teacher education system in Hong Kong are also discussed.
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Inquiry learning (IL) is one of the most prominent features of the New Senior Secondary Curriculum reform and has become a major approach in the teaching and learning of many subjects. However, it remains open to what teachers’ perception of IL is and what extent IL is actually used in day-to- day teaching. In the study presented here we elaborate— from the perspective of social science teachers—the current status of IL in day-to-day teaching and the difficulties they encountered in implementing IL, based on the analysis of relevant data collected from a survey, interviews, classroom observations and documents. Further, in order to gain insights on multiple factors that influence teachers’ perception and implementation of IL, a comparative study between two case schools was conducted. We present selected results from this comparative study that for the first time provides general ideas of senior secondary social science teachers’ perceptions and current use of IL, as well as how school context, curriculum and measurement, the support from students and parents affect teachers’ perceptions and implementation of IL in the context of Hong Kong.