Under the impetus of the Hong Kong education reform, curriculum development has brought a whole new range of perspectives with an emphasis on "Learning to Learn". Schools are encouraged to formulate their own curriculum development plan according to their individual situation and readiness. (Curriculum Development Council, 2001a). This School-Based Science Curriculum Development (SBSCD) project was established to echo the need for professional guidance and support in this area, with a focus in science education. The SBSCD project is one of the initiatives under the Hong Kong Schools Around the World (HKSAW) project funded by the Quality Education Fund. The benefits of mobilizing the resources from the Schools Around the World project in the SBSCD project is explained in the paper. This project, with a participation of seven schools, was designed for one academic term and has adopted an interactive approach embedded within three main phases: planning, implementation and evaluation. The aim of this short-term project is to reveal a naturalistic model of SBSCD that may lead the participating schools to realize their future science curriculum directions. Instruments were developed to obtain data on the school's existing situation as relevant to the SBSCD implementation, to investigate factors affecting the interaction between the schools and the HKSAW Curriculum Development Team, and to find out teachers' awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of their own teaching after the SBSCD. This paper serves as a preliminary report of this case study. Therefore, its main purpose is not to report on empirical findings, but rather to define the factors for the above study areas and to provide an initial reference on the process of implementation for school practitioners.
[Copyright © 2002 HKIEd APFSLT.]

Group work, which is also known as collaborative or cooperative learning, is one of the best researched of all teaching strategies. Research results have shown that students who have opportunities to work collaboratively learn faster and more efficiently, have greater retention, and feel more positive about the learning experience (Johnson, Johnson & Smith, 1991). Although these teaching/learning strategies have undergone nearly fifty years of research and scores of studies, the extent of their recognition and application varies tremendously in various parts of the world. During a 3-week International On-line Collaboration Discussion Seminar, (an event arranged by the Schools Around the World program held by the Council for Basic Education, Washington), teachers and national/regional facilitators from six participating nations/ regions shared their ideas and knowledge based on their experiences in implementing group work, particularly in the subject of science. Three major topics were explored within the seminar: defining group work, assessment of group work, and professional development for supporting implementation of group work. This paper provides insights for group work in science education by drawing references from the shared ideas in the international seminar, in order to provide its implication in the future direction for science teaching in Hong Kong consistent with the current reform. As stated in the Hong Kong Government curriculum development document, a design for a student-focused curriculum is called upon for meeting the best interest of students and developing their different intelligence (Curriculum Development Council, 2000). Group work consists of various teaching and learning strategies with a sound record of research history and experimental results worldwide; therefore, it can provide resources for meeting these objectives. This on-line seminar provides a global educational community for teachers in Hong Kong (General Studies teachers at primary