This study adopted a researcher-generated framework to analyze STEM activities demonstrated in primary students' science projects in an annual extracurricular event held in Hong Kong. Ten students' project reports were randomly selected from each of the three groups of 24 outstanding, 45 merit, and 68 consolation awarded projects. Content analysis was conducted to code the activities in each project. The coded information was then changed into numerical data for quantitative analysis. The results showed that, in general, more engineering and science activities than technology and mathematics activities were adopted by the primary students in their projects. More projects with the Outstanding Award conducted STEM activities than those projects with Merit and Consolation Awards, and significant group differences existed in the science and mathematics activities. Besides, science activities significantly positively related to engineering and mathematics activities. Furthermore, STEM-related content knowledge of discipline core ideas and crosscutting concepts were reported. This study sheds light on the pattern of STEM activities in students' science projects, and has implications for promoting STEM integration in primary education.
[Copyright © 2017 Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan.]

There are increasing commitments from the education sector to cultivate our next generation with a life-long and forward-looking concern for the environment, preparing them to make well-informed, reasoned and practical decisions, and to take actions leading to the creation of a sustainable environment. In 2005, the United Nations declared the year as the start of the “United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development”, where “sustainable development” is defined as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. This has become the guiding principle of environmental education focusing on the three major aspects of awareness, attitudes and actions. Through enhancing our students’ awareness of environmental issues and cultivating their positive attitudes towards conservation work, it is believed that they will be more willing to take environmental friendly actions. In response, guidelines have been issued to schools in Hong Kong urging energy saving and waste reduction. Current work on Education For Sustainability (EFS) includes elements of sustainable development infused into the curricula of various subjects at different levels of schooling, from kindergarten to secondary. In addition, a whole range of programmes related to the promotion of sustainable development have been organized. However, at a recent symposium on plastic waste management attended by educators, policy makers, personnel from Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and scientists, there were discussions that in spite of these programmes aiming to help our students better understand the interactions between human activities and the natural environment as well as the environmental problems they face locally and globally, our next generation cannot contribute much to alleviating these problems in their daily lives. This presentation will share the existing challenges and opportunities of EFS on plastic waste

An interdisciplinary subject, liberal studies, was introduced as a compulsory and core subject into the New Senior Secondary Curriculum in Hong Kong in 2009 with the purpose of expanding students’ knowledge base and increasing their social awareness through investigation into a variety of issues. However, transforming curricular innovations into real classroom settings and maintaining them is a complicated process. This study aimed to investigate, during its first round of implementation, teachers’ pedagogical practices in 21 local schools through in-depth interviews and documentary analysis. The results reveal that the school administrators and teachers were more likely to adapt their teaching approaches and teaching materials than their teaching content and assessment. Both good practices and examination-oriented practices in the process of curriculum implementation were evident in this study. These findings contribute to our understanding of the implementation of an interdisciplinary curriculum in examination-oriented systems and inform the practitioners of school-based practices of curriculum implementation.
[Copyright © 2016 De La Salle University.]

Comprehensive studies on the Hong Kong primary science curriculum are rare. This study is to fill the knowledge gap by examining the science curricula for all primary grade levels from the 1960s to 1990s in Hong Kong. Critical features related to the most important aspects of the intended curriculum are identified and compared, thereby identifying the trends of primary science curriculum development in local context. It is found that the area of learning related to science and technology will become indispensable in the new educational innovation.
[Copyright © 2000 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.]

The findings reported in this paper is part of an international project “Schools Around the World” (SAW) that aims to enhance teacher development in the area of assessing students’ work in science. The aim of this paper is to review the current assessment practices that teachers adopt in science at both the primary and secondary levels. This review helps researcher and science educators to identify the needs of the teachers and chart out possible directions to improve the assessment of students’ science learning in future. Moreover, drawing on the findings, the SAW project team may also identify ways of facilitating such changes. Teachers teaching primary four General Studies, secondary teachers teaching secondary two Integrated Science and secondary four Biology were interviewed. The interview questions focused on revealing their current practices in assigning students’ work; factors influencing the assignment of students’ work; performance criteria they set on students’ work, feedback they provided for students, their views about science assessment and their opinions on alternative forms of science assessment. In this paper, students’ work include all different forms of tasks that the teachers assign to students which may be formative or summative assessment tasks conducted during or after lessons. Findings reveal that homework in the form of written assignments, laboratory reports, workbooks and tests are at present the major forms of students’ work, though the teachers realized the importance of project work and experimental work in science learning. Results also show that the teachers are ready for a change from the current practice to give more emphasis on project work and formative assessment tasks. In the SAW project, teachers are encouraged to attempt the use of alternative form of students’ work in assessing students’ science learning and engage in professional discussion with teachers from other countries participating in the project.
[Copyright © 2002

This chapter focuses on teaching and learning science in Hong Kong primary classrooms. Two broad types of teaching strategies that are based on the most important variables in teaching strategies - teacher dominance in instruction and learners' amount of participation - are discussed. The findings from the analysis of teachers' teaching and pupils' learning of science provided insights for discussion. The issues of addressing teachers' professional development needs, encouraging active participation and bridging the gap between teachers' teaching and pupils' need were concluded. Future directions of work for on-going professional development and continuous work with teachers were suggested.
[Copyright © 2000 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.]

This paper is a record about the tryout of the application of Information Technology (IT) teaching in a Hong Kong primary school by a lecturer in a local education institute. The paper discussed the preparation for the IT teaching, the problems encountered and the limitations faced during the tryout. The implication of IT teaching is discussed and projected to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government's policy on IT teaching in primary schools. The paper is presented along with a 7-minute documentary video about the experience of IT teaching of the lecturer in a primary school classroom. In-depth interview is conducted on her expectation, problems encountered and her opinions on IT Teaching.