Biotechnology has become an important modern advance that has significant social implications. While it is getting more exposure in the news, awareness of its nature, applications, and social impact among teacher trainees and school teachers and students are limited. In Hong Kong Institute of Education, serious efforts have been demonstrated by science staff to incorporate biotechnology curriculum materials for existing and new Science & General Studies modules in sub-degree, degree and PGDE courses. A number of hands-on experiments on biotechnology have been continuously adopted from both foreign and local sources. Multimedia teaching resources on biotechnology, such as CDs, videos and relevant issue-based materials are obtained. Also, teaching guidelines regarding their use in the teaching and self-study purposes are being worked out. It is hoped that the trained graduates can help promote Biotechnology education to their pupils.
生物科技近年取得突破進展，對社會影響日深。雖然有關的新聞報導越來越多，但一般老師和學生對其質、應用及社會衝擊所知有限。香港教育學院科學系，嘗試將生物科技課題併入証書課程、學位課程及教育文憑課程的科學單元和常識單元內。作者透過本港及外國的資料，引進了一些可行的實驗。此外，也發展了一些生物科技的多媒體教學資源，例如：光碟、錄像及時事輯錄等。同時還製備了有關的教學指引以供準老師教學及自修之用。
[Copyright of New Horizons: The Journal of Education, Hong Kong Teachers' Associationl is the property of Hong Kong Teachers' Association at http://www.hkta1934.org.hk/]

This paper reports part of the findings from a project called, "Schools Around the World" which aims to offer opportunities for professional development among teachers participating in the project. Through the exchange of professional experiences between local teachers and teachers from other countries in the world, the development of a standard for students' achievement in science both locally and with reference to an international standard will be achieved. This project is originated from Schools Around the World Project (SAW) which was initiated in the United States by an education research foundation, Council for Basic Education (CBE). Apart from Hong Kong and the United States, there are seven other participating countries including Japan, the United Kingdom, Australia, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, and Portugal. It marks an innovative approach with its emphasis on teacher professional development. Instead of using curricular documents, textbooks or an one-off testing to find out standard of student achievement, SAW defines standard by engaging teachers in professional discussion about the nature of excellence and the methods of teaching. The excellence at issue is excellent student work. The project also aims to build up a professional network of teachers internationally such that teachers can work together to develop not only the local set of standards but also an international standard for students. Science which warrants much attention from the local educators has been designated as the first subject focus of the SAW project. This paper looks into the initial views of primary teachers about student work, assessment in science learning and the assessment of science projects at the primary level. The present study is now at the pilot stage, hence both the findings presented in this paper and the overall results of the pilot study provide important background information to the project in supporting the professional development of the teachers. Moreover,

Extensive Reading (also known as ERS or the Extensive Reading Scheme) in many Hong Kong schools is viewed, organised and promoted in very narrow and limiting terms. Traditionally, ERS is enacted in the selection and reading of a book followed by the completion of the relevant book card. This paper challenges the prevailing paradigm and encourages teachers to transform their ERS lessons by adopting approaches that will activate and enhance pupils' engagement with the ERS books and ultimately reap long term benefits in EFL/ESL learning. These approaches include making the aesthetic and affective dimension integral to ERS as well as the promotion and adoption of a Vygotskyian social interaction framework in the structure and design of the activities. A description, examples and illustrations of the activities to promote the two approaches are provided for classroom practitioners.
在香港, 學校對於廣泛閱讀計劃 (又作ERS) 的看法、編排及推廣, 各方面仍停留在很狹窄的層面。傳統上, 所謂的ERS, 是先取出書本, 然後閱讀圖書, 最後把有關的資料填在圖書咭上。這文章的目的是挑戰現有的模式, 並鼓勵老師對他們的廣泛閱讀課堂作出改變, 採用不同的方法務求令學生投入於廣泛閱讀的書本中, 以便最終能為學生帶來在英語學習上的長遠得益。這些方法包括: 1) 在課堂活動中加入ERS 固有的美學及情感的原素。2) 採用並推廣Vygotsky 理論中互動社會作用的構想。本文將會就上述兩個方法, 加以詳細描述, 並舉出一些活動和例子, 以供老教師參考。
[Copyright of New Horizons: The Journal of Education, Hong Kong Teachers' Associationl is the property of Hong Kong Teachers' Association at http://www.hkta1934.org.hk/]

Curriculum orientations are beliefs about what a school curriculum should achieve and how teaching, learning and assessment should occur. Five major orientations to design science curricula were identified. They are academic, cognitive processes, society-centred, humanistic, and technological. This article reports the results of a survey on the primary science curriculum orientations of 437 pre-service student-teachers studying 2 primary education programmes. A 41-item questionnaire was developed to measure their beliefs about these five curriculum orientations. Statistical results show that the instrument is reliable and the student-teachers strongly believed in the cognitive-processes orientation, but they generally did not reject the other four orientations. The effects of science background knowledge, teaching practice experiences and the nature of science modules studied were tested. Implications of these findings are discussed.
課程取向是指有關學校課程的目標、教學方法與評估的信念。本文界定了五種有關科學課程的主要取向，它們是學術取向、認知過程取向、社會中心取向、人文取向和科技取向。本文報告一個對小學科學課程取向的調查研究，調查的對像是分別修讀兩個教育課程的437 位職前師訓學員，調查工具是一份有41 項問題的問卷，統計結果顯示工具的信度頗高，而學員最認同認知過程取向，不過他/她們亦不排斥其他四種取向。同時亦測試了有關學員的科學知識背景、教學實習的經驗和曾修讀科學單元的性質等因素可能產生的影響。從以上研究結果所得出的啟示都會在本文作出討論。
[Copyright of New Horizons: The Journal of Education, Hong Kong Teachers' Associationl is the property of Hong Kong Teachers' Association at http://www.hkta1934.org.hk/]

The "Hong Kong Accelerated Schools Projec" has been initiated with the support from the Quality Education Fund since 1998. Whether it could be successfully implemented might be too early to be criticized. But before evaluating its effectiveness as a borrowing concept from the west, it is necessary to investigate how far this original school design approach has been initiated in the States and what we could perceive about the new idea from both a leadership and cultural perspectives with reference to some relevant literatures. This essay briefly describes the main tenets of the American school design of "Accelerated Schools". Then the approach is critically discussed from both a leadership and cultural perspectives to see if the approach can work in Hong Kong schools. A short conclusion is drawn to sum up the analysis.
自一九九八年始 , 香港躍進學校計劃在優質教育基金的贊助下首次在港推行 , 這個由西方借用的學校改革概念推行至今約有三年 , 但究竟是否能夠在香港學校有效實踐 , 直至目前為止還是未知之數。不過 , 其在美國推行多年的一些寶貴經驗 , 實在亦頗值得我們從不同的角度 , 包括領導和文化等觀點 , 去了解該概念在西方國家的實施現況 , 作為探討其在港能否有效推行的一點借鏡。本文略述躍進學校設計模式的基本理念 , 並嘗試從領導和文化兩個觀點去簡評其現有成效及提出一些在港實踐該改革概念的啟示。
[Copyright of New Horizons: The Journal of Education, Hong Kong Teachers' Associationl is the property of Hong Kong Teachers' Association at http://www.hkta1934.org.hk/]

In the light of the fact that environmental education has been a controversial issue in secondary school in Hong Kong recently, this paper is to clarify the relationship between environmental education and geographical subject in secondary schools. It also discusses the implementation of environmental education in secondary schools and the Guidelines provided by the Hong Kong Education Department.

This paper focuses on the development as well as the implementation of the Science-Technology-Society modules in the Hong Kong Institute of Education science program, with detailed discussion in respect of the theoretical background, objectives, content, method, and evaluation of the modules concerned. Directions for further review and improvement of these Science-Technology-Society modules are discussed.

This article reviews the development of secondary school science education in the past 40 years. In particular, findings of a brief comparison of the curriculum, teachers, achievement level of student, learning time, teaching material, and equipment with other countries are presented.