Given the demands on instructors created by the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers have been compelled to integrate active learning pedagogies supported by mobile technologies to sustain students' interactive engagement. This study describes the implementation of a novel active pedagogy - the collaborative problem-based learning and peer assessment (Co-PBLa-PA) method, implemented through interactive online whiteboards (IOWBs) in junior secondary mathematics classes in Hong Kong. Data were collected from 87 Form 1 students and analysed to test three hypotheses postulating the main effects of the Co-PBLa-PA method on students' learning approaches using IOWBs. A pre-survey (SPQ) on students' learning approaches and a post-survey (SPQ) on students' learning approaches and their perceptions of technology-enabled active learning (TEAL) were administrated. Results showed the Co-PBLa-PA method, using IOWBs, increased students' learning performance and promoted significant deep learning. A significant positive correlation also emerged between deep learning approaches and students' perceptions of TEAL using IOWBs. Finally, limitations and directions for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2023 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Research has demonstrated the positive impact of active learning on students’ learning outcomes, particularly in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. However, few studies have explored the impact of active learning via problem-based collaborative games in large mathematics classes in the context of Asian tertiary education. This study assesses the effects of active learning on students’ learning outcomes using class test scores and the calculus concept inventory (CCI) to test the conceptual understanding of the basic principles of differential calculus, in a first year calculus course in Hong Kong. Three hypotheses were tested to determine the effects of game-based collaborative learning on learning mathematics among students. Active learning through a problem-based collaborative learning methodology was employed, using Kahoot!, a game-based learning platform. Results supported all three hypotheses, demonstrating a statistically significant increase in students’ conceptual understanding and examination performance, based upon their individual perceptions of active engagement and time spent in active learning. Our results indicated that active learning “levels the playing field”, in the sense that students with less pre-requisite background knowledge, using a problem-based collaborative learning methodology, were relatively more inclined to catch up or even exceed the performance of students with a stronger prerequisite background knowledge, at the end of the course. Copyright © 2019 by the authors.

Collaboration between students is particularly important in tertiary education because most courses include group activities in which they need to work together to reach a common goal. Unlike individual learning, collaborative learning involves interaction and cooperation. However, it is difficult to assess individual contributions in a group. Teachers usually collect the final product and give the same mark to all members in the group, so this may cause unfair marking and lead to conflicts in case of uneven workload. To encourage student collaboration and provide a reliable assessment system for teachers, we proposed an online evidence-based assessment system called GMoodle (https://gmoodle.eduhk.hk) with the Teaching Development Grant (TDG-T0210) in the Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK). GMoodle provides the basic functions of Moodle plus customized features including chatroom, Wiki and real-time progress report. It is a centralized platform for students to discuss, share resources and work out the solution together. Detailed reports, such as the number of posts/replies, weekly trend of contribution, ranking in group and class, can be retrieved by both students and teachers. The objectives of this system are to promote active and collaborative learning environment through peer motivation and facilitate an evidence-based assessment for setting assessment criteria and identifying free-riders. GMoodle was launched from September 2018 to April 2019 with 337 users involving 10 courses in IT, Mathematics, English language and law in EdUHK. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from pre/post-test survey, system log and focus group interviews. The effectiveness of GMoodle on group collaboration and assessment was evaluated by statistical analysis by SPSS using ANOVA and t-test. The results showed that the improvement of problemsolving skills and collaborative skills were statistically significance. Furthermore, decision tree was used to discover interesting

This article reports findings of an 18-month research project, funded by the Higher Education Academy in the United Kingdom (UK), to develop understanding of pedagogical differences in employing emerging technologies with transnational doctoral students. The focus of the research is a Professional Doctorate course delivered by a UK-based university and taught in Hong Kong (HK) by UK academic staff over four weekends each year, with supervisory support throughout the academic year by tutors based in the UK. The research investigated the use of different technologies to enhance the learning experience of the students through three cycles of action research. While literature is extensive in using technologies in learning and teaching in the West, and in teaching international students, there is a lack of research focusing on employing emerging technologies with transnational students in Asia. A multilayered approach to data collection through observation of software analytics, questionnaire and focus groups has resulted in the introduction of new technologies, through which a community of practice, encompassing students in HK and the UK, has emerged. This article reports a new evidence-informed framework which contributes new knowledge and moves current discourse forward.
[Copyright of Technology Pedagogy and Education is the property of Routledge.]

In this paper, we proposed a productive failure instructional design (Kapur, 2008) to enhance Hong Kong secondary students’ English grammar learning and collaborative problem-solving skills in a MCSCL environment. It is believed that the pedagogical implications of this study will make contributions to the technology-enhanced language learning field. In addition, insight gained from this study will hopefully extend to investigating the impact of productive failure pedagogical design on listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills in the L2 acquisition. Copyright © 2019 Asia-Pacific Society for Computers in Education.

Despite considerable research in the higher education literature exploring the substantial values of eLearning and collaborative learning as distinct practices, few empirical studies have yet addressed the need for an integrated approach toward implementing eLearning and collaborative learning practices in a professional education development context. This paper documents a successful three-year project case entitled, Corpcommsynergy, which integrates eLearning and collaborative approaches in an e-platform implemented in undergraduate and postgraduate corporate communication courses at a Hong Kong university. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative content analysis methods to investigate how learners perceive this integrated approach and identified significant factors influencing their learning experience. Results suggested high feasibility and effectiveness of designing and implementing Corpcommsynergy and identified two significant factors: (1) design and facilitation of online courses; and (2) perception and participation of students affecting the effectiveness of collaborative eLearning.
[Copyright of Studies in Higher Education is the property of Routledge.]

This paper, through discussion of a teaching intervention at two secondary schools in Hong Kong, demonstrates the learning advancement brought about by group work and dissects the facilitating role of teachers in collaborative discussions. One-hundred and fifty-two Secondary Two (Grade 8) students were divided into three pedagogical groups, namely "whole-class teaching", "self-directed group work" and "teacher-supported group work"groups, and engaged in peer-review, team debate, group presentation and reflection tasks related to a junior secondary science topic (i.e. current electricity). Pre- and post-tests were performed to evaluate students' scientific conceptions, alongside collected written responses and audio-recorded discussions. The results indicate that students achieved greater cognitive growth when they engaged in cooperative learning activities, the interactive and multi-sided argumentative nature of which is considered to apply particularly well to science education and Vygotsky's zone of proximal development framework. Group work learning is also found to be most effective when teachers play a role in navigating students during the joint construction of conceptual knowledge.
[Copyright of International Journal of Science Education is the property of Routledge]

Peer teaching and learning are learner-centred approaches with great potential for promoting effective learning, and the fast development of Web 2.0 technology has opened new doors for promoting peer teaching and learning. In this study, we aim to establish peer teaching and learning among students by employing a Wikibook project in the course 'Introduction to Linguistics' in the Hong Kong Institute of Education. Students were asked to work in groups to write an academic book online, and the Wikibook technology allows students to peer-edit and peer-comment on each other's academic works online. Peer teaching sessions were arranged as well based on the content of the Wikibook. To determine students' perceptions on peer teaching and learning occurring in the course, two surveys and follow-up interviews were conducted. The findings suggest that the Wikibook project is an effective way to promote peer teaching and learning in higher education.
[Copyright © Springer Science+Business Media New York].

In this presentation, I will report on a network of learning that connects teachers and researchers for the main purpose of improving student learning and analyze the critical conditions that support its development. The term teachers' professional development, and what teachers' should have learnt as a result, may be interpreted in many different ways. The network that I will describe focuses on one specific aspect of teachers' work: helping students to learn specific objects of learning, and so, here, teachers' professional development means the enhancement of teachers' capability to teach for better student learning. It takes place through an arrangement called 'Learning Study' that takes its inspiration from Japanese lesson studies and teaching studies in China, and derives its conceptual framework from the Variation Theory. Through a series of projects over the last six years, our research team in Hong Kong has supported over 200 schools in developing over 260 Learning Studies, with a direct involvement of over 1000 teachers. Although the main aim of the Learning Study is to improve student learning, in the process, it is found that the Learning Study has become a platform for professional learning of all who participated, i.e. students, teachers and researchers. The Learning Study team facilitates the development of a network of learning in schools and across schools by working simultaneously at three levels, firstly, the students' learning; secondly, the teachers' learning; thirdly, the researchers' learning. The network has now grown beyond Hong Kong and is connecting up with many other teacher research groups all over the world through the World Association of Lesson Studies and a web forum. One important achievement of this network is the development of the knowledge base of teaching by teachers themselves. Some critical factors that have an impact on this network will also be discussed.