As the discovery of penicillin from a 'failed' medical experiment illustrates, it is good practice to revisit apparent teaching and learning 'failures'. Two Hong Kong case studies are here reviewed for they report educational 'failures' evidenced by students displaying a negative learning experience while undergoing Problem-based Learning (PBL). The first case study involved Primary Four and Five pupils; while the second investigated post-Secondary school students. An analysis is, provided of these two negative learning experiences followed by a critique of possible solutions. The findings are intriguing 'Problem-based Learning is shown to provide a flexible, responsive pedagogy that reflects Hong Kong's current learning priorities. It is argued that the reported educational 'failure' reflects a tension between learner diversity and educational: priorities, which raises the possibility that these 'failures' indicate not a 'problem with PBI'; but rather a 'problem with: education'.
[Copyright of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre Journal is the property of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre at http://www.edb.org.hk/hktc]

This paper explores the effect of globalization on the community college in China's two systems -Hong Kong and the mainland, and the extent to which globalization was resisted in the implementation of the American community college model. It also assesses the future prospects of the community colleges in these two regions, especially in terms of the values of democracy and equality that helped sustain it in the United States.
本文旨在探討在全球化的影響下，中國兩個不同制度的地區，即大陸與香港在實踐以美式社區學院為楷模的概況。同時亦評估這些社區學院在兩地區的未來發展，特別是對民主價值及平等理念等，而這些觀念向來都是美國社區學院所珍視的辦學理念。
[Copyright of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre Journal is the property of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre at http://www.edb.org.hk/hktc]

In the 2005/2006 academic year, TWGHs Mr and Mrs Kwong Sik Kwan College received a Quality Education Fund (QEF) grant to research ways to develop the critical literacy skills of Hong Kong junior secondary students. The paper describes the programme, which was implemented across the Chinese and English key learning areas, using the Four Resources Model (Freebody and Luke, 1990) as a planning schema. The paper identifies the incidental benefits of developing the critical reader response skills in which students required in the new senior secondary English and Chinese curriculum.
東華三院鄺錫坤伉儷中學於二零零五/二零零六年度獲優質教育基金撥款，在校內推行「校本讀思維計劃」，旨在探討和發展有效的教學策略和資源，以助初中學生發展閱讀、寫作和批判性思維的能力。本文旨在報告這計劃之進度，並討論語文教師在面對課程改革時，應如何適應課程中的新元素，並指出學校需從初中開始培養學生批判思考能力，以迎接未來新高中課程的需求與改變。
[Copyright of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre Journal is the property of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre at http://www.edb.org.hk/hktc]

By reviewing the development of the public examination syllabuses of two religious subjects in Hong Kong, the author traces an increasing emphasis on the study of personal and social issues, which reaches a new level of development in the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) Ethics and Religious Studies. With reference to moral and civic education, the author also discusses the possible advancements and challenges that might merge with the implementation of the HKDSE subject.
作者回顧兩個宗教科目在香港的公開考試課程上的發展，指出課程愈來愈重視研習個人及社會問題，而且在香港中學文憑的倫理與宗教科中發展至新一個層次。就道德與公民教育方面，作者亦討論了香港中學文憑倫理與宗教科的實施可能會有的機遇及挑戰。
[Copyright of Journal of Youth Studies is the property of The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups at http://yrc.hkfyg.org.hk/]

In this paper, a phenomenographic approach was utilized to create learning spaces in which 182 Secondary Five students under the guidance of the teacher (the action researcher) learned to do projects on applying suitable web authoring techniques to construct school, school alumni and e-learning websites across three school years in a local school. By means of the knowledge-building principles in an online learning community, some qualitative patterns of learning variations on learning conceptions, applications and synthesis were articulated. Throughout the learning and teaching process, some learning and teaching conditions varied whilst others were kept invariant to articulate inter-student learning variations and thereby formulate feasible teaching approaches. Finally, some critical conditions for such learning variations were further conceptualized for increasing learning effectiveness, and implications for sustaining online learning community are drawn for further research.
本文通過現象圖析學分析182 位中五級學生在網頁設計及應用層面上的學習概念，尋找他們的學習變異， 從而建構嶄新的教學反思空間。在過去的三個學年中，學生在教師( 行動研究者) 的指導下，編寫學校、校友及電子學習等網頁。在學與教層面上，基於網上學習社羣的知識建構原則，調整某些學與教條件而令其他條件不變，從而探索學生相互的學習差異及改善教學策略。最後，通過行動研究反思，學習數變的某些重要條件進一步被概念化，而網上學習社羣的持續發展也作深入討論。
[Copyright of Journal of Youth Studies is the property of The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups at http://yrc.hkfyg.org.hk/]

This paper aims to explore rater behaviour in assessing oral presentations using verifiable quantitative measures (VQM) as an external validity check on ratings. Twelve raters from a range of backgrounds were recruited to rate 115 Secondary 3 student oral performances in 'individual presentations'. These performances were drawn from a sample of 10 schools participating in a pretest conducted for the commencement of the oral component of Hong Kong's Territory-wide System Assessment in 2006. About 20 students were drawn from each school in three ability categories: low, medium and high. Students were selected based on their internal examination results. Fifty-eight of the 115 student performances were transcribed and assessed on VQM for 'ideas and organisation', 'vocabulary and language patterns' and 'pronunciation and delivery'. VQM results were correlated (Spearman's and Pearson's 'r') against fair average scores derived from Rasch analysis of ratings. The resultant correlations ranged from 0.6 to 0.9. It was concluded that raters were estimating values for constructs highly similar to those measured in VQM.
本研究是以可驗證的量化量度方法，探究英文科說話評審員在說話評估「個人短講」中的評審表現。是次研究，邀請了12位具有不同學歷及經驗的人士擔任說話評審員，對115位中學三年級學生進行說話能力測試，評審學生的說話能力。這些學生是來自於參加2006 年「全港性系統評估」預試的學校。參加預試的學校共有10所，其中包括不同能力組別的學生。每所學校都是根據校內的英文科成績(高、中、低)，挑選20位學生參加說話能力測試。是次研究是從115位參加測試的學生中，抽取了58位學生進行研究，以文字紀錄了這些學生在個人短講中的內容，再以可驗證的量化量度方法(VQM)，評估學生在「內容和組織」、「詞彙和句式」和「發音和表達」三方面的表現。本研究亦利用史比爾曼「」及皮爾遜「r」計算VQM 數據和羅許平均值的相關系數。是次研究所獲得的相關系數為0.6 至0.9 。總而言之，說話評審員給予評級的建構值和VQM 所得的結果甚為相近。
[Copyright of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre Journal is the property of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre at http://www.edb.org.hk/hktc]

Survey study by means of a questionnaire on achievement goal orientations was conducted with four hundred and seventy-three pre-service student teachers of the Hong Kong Institute of Education. Two contrasting goals were identified, namely: learning goals and performance goals. Psychometric properties of the questionnaire gave support to its applicability in the local context. Statistical analyses indicated there was no significant difference in achievement goal orientations with courses and electives but sex. Female students were found to be more performance goal oriented than male students. Explanation of the differences in achievement goal orientations within sex group was sought in terms of socio-cultural factors. Implications were drawn for teacher educators to consider in the future planning and development of teacher education programmes.
[Copyright of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre Journal is the property of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre at http://www.edb.org.hk/hktc]

Many teachers of English as a second language (ESL) have begun to perceive the place of collaborative writing in the teaching of writing. With the development of Internet-based resources such as blogs and forums, learners have begun to adapt to online writing and to use tools that supports such activity. Teachers are beginning to perceive the value of this and consequently such resources have begun to be incorporated into the teaching of ESL writing by getting students - as yet, mainly on an individual basis - to write e-mails, express their ideas on forums, and create web pages. An extension to these individual writing activities involves the incorporation of Internet resources into cooperative writing, where more than one learner produces a text jointly. The current study explores these issues in the use of wikis, and how wikis may be utilised in a group writing task. The paper describes a case study in a Hong Kong postsecondary institute where over the course of a month, groups of learners produced a report based on survey data they had collected. The outcome of the project was generally successful - in that groups produced more cogent documents than had previous groups who had worked in a pen-and-paper format. Nonetheless, a number of issues concerning the running of the project arose that need to be addressed for collaborative writing with wikis to be successfully implemented. While the study took place in a post-secondary institute, the use of wikis holds good across secondary level forms, with implications for their use at different levels discussed and elaborated.
很多教授英語為第二語言的教師漸漸認識協作式寫作在寫作教學中的作用。隨著互聯網上的資源發展，例如討論區及網路日誌，學習者開始適應網上寫作，及使用相關的支援工具。教師看到網上協作寫作的價值，逐漸將這些資源融合於英語寫作教學，籍此推動學生 (主要以個人方式) 寫電郵、在討論區發表意見及創作網頁。這種個人寫作活動的延展需要將網上資源融合於協作式寫作，即多名學習者合力創作一篇文章。是項研究探討使用維基於寫作教學，及如何把維基運用在小組寫作。這篇文章描述了在香港一所專上學院的個案。個案中幾個學生小組在一個月內以他們在調查所得的數據寫報告，結果令人滿意，這些小組比以往那些使用紙筆式寫作的小組創作的報告更佳。然而要成功地將維基運用在協作式寫作，我們有需要解決協作寫作所產生的問題。是項研究雖然探討專上學生運用維基寫作，然而在中學各級應用維基的情況也是良好的。本研究亦討論不同英語程度學生應用維基於寫作的效果

In the new millennium, there is an increasing global recognition of the importance of widening the access to higher education for accommodating students from all strata of the society for an equal educational opportunity as well as fostering the idea of life long learning and learning society (OECD, 1999a, 1999b, 2001; UNESCO, 1998). Responding to this global education reform, the SAR Education Commission proposed to encourage the establishment of various types of post-secondary colleges, while accommodating the existing institution (Education Commission, 1999, p. 22). The immediate result of the proposal was the establishment of several community colleges in early 2000, offering mainly Associate Degree programs. From the public, there are voices raising queries over the role of community college in the higher education system as well as whether community college can serve the similar function of traditional university in the provision of undergraduate education. The present paper attempts to introduce the different roles and models of community college in mass higher education systems in North America to highlight the merits and the functions of community college in mass higher education. The ultimate aim is to make some reflections on the development of community college in Hong Kong.
[Copyright of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre Journal is the property of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre at http://www.edb.org.hk/hktc]

This paper seeks to present a framework for the school curriculum in the twenty-first century. It first describes and appraises critically the Tyler rationale, which has been influential for many decades. The rationale forms the basis of the school curriculum in many eastern and western countries. Next, the concept and features of modernism which underpin the rationale are described, leading to a discussion of its major strengths and weaknesses.
The paper goes on to present an alternative view of the curriculum - Doll's Model, which better meets the challenges of the fast changing world. The model, with its prominent nature of postmodernism, is discussed. Strengths and weaknesses of the model are also analysed. The author also makes a comparison of the two models, explaining why the latter is preferable to the first in laying the foundation of school curriculum in the coming century.
In the concluding section, recent curriculum initiatives in Hong Kong are described. There is discussion on the merits and limitations of The Target Oriented Curriculum. Then the new curriculum framework and its features are described leading to discussion on the implications for the Hong Kong curriculum. It is stressed that key concepts of postmodernism need to be taken into consideration so that the quality of education can be improved.
[Copyright of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre Journal is the property of Hong Kong Teachers' Centre at http://www.edb.org.hk/hktc]