The value of student voices in dialogues about learning improvement is acknowledged in the literature. This paper examines how the views of students regarding School-based Assessment (SBA), a significant shift in examination policy and practice in secondary schools in Hong Kong, have largely been ignored. The study captures student voices through a survey of 423 Secondary 5 students and interviews with 45 students in 3 schools concerning the use of SBA in the high-stakes assessment for the English Language subject. Results suggest a wide range of student perceptions of, and responses to SBA and related feedback. In general, students indicated that they did not appreciate SBA and were unable to capitalise on the feedback. The paper argues that the intentions of SBA can be threatened if these negative tendencies are not addressed through teacher education, and calls for a dialogic model that allows student participation in debates about learning improvement.
[Copyright © 2015 Australian Research Council.]

Professionalism has been a focus of educational study in recent years, with researchers trying to find out if teachers demonstrate certain qualities, mainly external, of being a professional teacher. Instead of focusing on professionalism, this paper narrows its focus to the internal aspect of teacher professional development, examining the development of Hong Kong student-teachers’ professional beliefs, about which the student-teachers hold strong opinion, and which affect their decision-making and are subject to change. This present paper is based on a pilot study involving a total of eight student-teachers. Qualitative research methods, including autobiographies and in-depth interviews, were used to conduct the research. This paper attempts to identify and describe the patterns of development of Hong Kong student-teachers’ professional beliefs, to compare the differences between various patterns and to highlight some key factors influencing professional beliefs. Implications from the study would shed light on future research on the development of student-teachers’ professional conviction.

A survey study was conducted to examine the relationship among achievement goal orientations, study strategies and achievement of a sample of teacher education students in Hong Kong. Multivariate data analyses showed there was no significant difference in achievement goal orientations across discipline and programme groups but there was a significant difference in achievement goals between male and female students. The difference was found in performance goal. Analysis of the study strategies showed no significant difference across gender, discipline and programme groups. Correlational and path analysis shown learning goal was significantly and positively related to deep strategy but negatively and significantly related to surface strategy. Performance goal was significantly related to both surface and deep strategies. However, academic achievement was not significantly related to learning and performance goals or surface and deep strategies. The results were discussed in terms of socio-cultural factors and implications were drawn for teaching and learning as well as future directions of research.
[Copyright © 2005 De La Salle University, Philippines.]

Primary school pupils’ attributions of academic success are presented in this study. The sample for the study comprised 1154 Year-3 and Year-5 pupils from ten primary schools in Hong Kong. Pupils’ academic attributions were measured by a 16-item Academic Attribution Scale. Pupils indicated the extent to which they attributed their performance at examinations, tests, homework assignments, and class work to luck, ability, effort and use of strategy, on the scale. It was found that girls tended to have healthier attributions than boys did. Girls attributed significantly more to strategy use and effort than boys did. Boys attributed performance to luck significantly more than girls did. Multilevel analysis showed that there was significant school-level and class-level variance for attributional beliefs. Nevertheless, most of the higher level variances of attributional beliefs occurred at the class-level rather than at school level. Implications for teaching and learning are discussed in the article.
[Copyright © 2006 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.]