Many countries have invested heavily in facilities and teacher training for the infusion of information technology (IT) into various school subjects. The background besetting this innovation and how far learning has improved thereby are important concerns for the education sector. They are examined here with respect to Hong Kong, which is a mixed Chinese-western society now seeking to promote independent learning in all areas of the school curriculum. Geography is chosen for study because IT makes possible numerous changes and benefits to teaching and learning the subject. Among others, IT can help in testing hypotheses and solving problems of an environmental and spatial nature. Literature reviews, however, suggest that the frequency, extent and level of use are limited. This discrepancy between expectation and reality suggests that many necessary teacher and organisational conditions for implementation are not present, including the lack of appropriate hardware and software, technical support and teacher training and confidence. To address the problem, teachers need to take up constructivist approaches and the role of learning facilitators, while the curriculum authority should be more humanistic and considerate of reality in making decisions on policy.
[Copyright of International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10382046.2010.496966]

Enquiry teaching approaches are widely considered as more useful than didactic approaches for the development of environmentally responsible behaviour. This paper is a report of an empirical study on the validity of this belief with reference to higher-ability and lower- to medium-ability groups drawn from geography classes at the Advanced Level in Hong Kong. The hypotheses were that, taken together, enquiry approaches are more effective than didactic approaches for the development of environmentally responsible behaviour in both the short and long terms for students as a whole, and for students within the same range of academic ability. A quasi-experimental control group design was used for selecting students and classes from schools in the territory. A questionnaire survey and a series of interviews were conducted to collect data about students' behaviour before and after they were taught a people-environment topic with a didactic approach or an enquiry approach. The results suggest that the students on the whole were not behaving as positively for the environment as their peers in other countries. For both the higher- and the lower- to medium-ability classes, those who were taught with an enquiry approach were behaving positively in more areas than those who were taught with a didactic approach in both the short and long terms. This trend could be attributed to their greater attention to critical thinking, positive behavioural changes, and the development of internal locus of control, while society as a whole was still largely apathetic to personal efforts for improving environmental quality. To further enhance the effectiveness of enquiry for the development of environmentally responsible behaviour, it is suggested that teachers should give more attention to the elements of concern and empathy in the classroom. Improvements in teacher education and training and in the guidelines for teachers, restructuring and revision of environmental education in schools, providing

Presents information on a study conducted to analyze the level of environmental consciousness of students in the educational system in Hong Kong, with emphasis on environmental education. What is environmental consciousness; Details on the growth of materialistic values in society; Lack of attention to attitudinal and behavioral objectives in class room teaching; Method used in the study; Findings of the study.
[Copyright of Environmental Education Research is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1350462980040302]

This paper reports on a study conducted in Hong Kong which addresses the question of whether teaching approaches can influence the development of learning outcomes within the context of environmental education, how such outcomes are affected by different academic ability levels, and whether they vary over time. The overall hypothesis is that enquiry teaching is more effective than didactic approaches for the development of environmental understanding, irrespective of students' original academic ability and the time frame of measurement. A quasi-experimental design based on a pre-test and two post-tests and follow-up interviews administered to geography classes at matriculation level was used to collect numerical data about changes in understanding after the teaching of a people-environment topic. Students showed a moderate level of environmental understanding to begin with. Results showed that, irrespective of academic ability, those taught with an enquiry approach did better than those who were taught didactically in the short term but not in the long term. The reasons for this trend are discussed in terms of student ability and teaching conditions in schools. To increase the effectiveness of enquiry teaching, improvements in teacher education and training, curriculum revision, funding and research support and changes in examination questions are called for.
[Copyright of International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10382040108667445 ]

This paper examines the knowledge and understanding of Hong Kong secondary school students about the composition of unpolluted and polluted air, and the nature and effects of air pollutants. A number of misconceptions are highlighted, including the common belief amongst younger students that oxygen was more common in unpolluted air than nitrogen. Along with their cognitive understanding, students were questioned about their views concerning what they and others could and should do to reduce air pollution. In this, they seemed agreed, amongst other things, that financial penalties were less acceptable than legal compulsion - especially on a personal level. It is proposed that learning about the constituents of unpolluted air and air pollutants might be enhanced by linking the individual gases involved to their biological roles and pathological effects, respectively. Similarly, it is suggested that students should be encouraged more to reflect, in terms of environmental cost, on their role as consumers of goods and services.
[Copyright of International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10382040408668790 ]