A closed-form questionnaire was used to explore the ideas of school students about the composition of air, the causes and consequences of air pollution and the extent to which the students would accept various courses of action to reduce air pollution. Items for the questionnaire were derived from the results of interviews and an earlier open-form questionnaire. More than 3000 students aged 11 to 17 years and from Australia, Hong Kong and the UK were surveyed. There was a degree of similarity between students from the different countries in their knowledge about air composition and air pollution. In terms of attitudes, however, there were differences in students' opinions about the acceptability of actions to improve air quality. Path analysis of the data appeared to show that Hong Kong students are more amenable to education as an instrument to influence their attitudes. For the other countries, the acceptability of actions for environmental protection was related to the degree of concern about air quality.
[Copyright of Compare: A Journal of Comparative Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03057920701366176]

It is a reality of schools today that most teachers are overwhelmed by daily demands on their time and energy. In particular, they find it difficult to allocate enough extra time for purposes of counselling individual pupils with problems. Any arrangement that enables them to fulfil this counselling role quickly and effectively--and with positive results--would therefore be welcome. This paper reports a teacher's application of a brief form of solution-focused counselling with pupils attending a primary school in Hong Kong. The teacher's personal reflections after using the approach support the view that this form of counselling can be effective with children of this age. The authors believe that teachers who use solution focused counselling in helping their students would benefit from clinical supervision of a reflecting team.
[Copyright of Pastoral Care in Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02643940802062691]

This research identifies a range of issues and factors which impact on the formation of initial expectations developed by local university students wishing to study for a foreign degree program in Hong Kong. Key factors were foreign university Internet sites, exhibitions, agents and associations, brochures and friends. This is one of the first times this kind of research has been undertaken relating to the delivery of foreign programs within the home country, as previous research has tended to focus on study abroad, where the student travels to the foreign country to undertake a degree program. The research also considers how expectations change over time, as students undertake their study for a foreign degree program in Hong Kong, and develops the concept of continuous formation of expectations whereby students mould change, rebuild and continually revisit their expectations of the university program as they undertake a wide range of subjects. This part of the research is quite new and indicates the volatile and changeable nature of the educational service encounter. Both parts of the research are of value not just in regard to the location of the data collection but potentially further afield as an indicator of formative factors regarding expectations and in regard to the concept of continuous formation of expectations.
[Copyright of Journal of Marketing for Higher Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J050v14n01_01]

This paper examines the effectiveness of active learning implemented in two undergraduate programmes at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Several learning activities were implemented during student seminar sessions. The effectiveness of these activities was investigated using questionnaires and interviews to explore student attitudes as well as the Study Process Questionnaire to measure student approaches to learning. Results showed that active learning made a valuable contribution to the development of independent learning skills and the ability to apply knowledge. It also helped to create interest in the curriculum and to prepare students for their future careers. The activities used affected the quality of student learning by shaping the way that students studied and meeting desired learning outcomes. The results are discussed in the context of student approaches to learning and in relation to the programmes' educational objectives.
[Copyright of Innovations in Education and Training International is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/135580000750052991]

Ability grouping is supposedly undesirable because it leads to deficits in academic self-concept and academic achievement. However, it appears to be justifiable for its improvement of teaching and learning in schools, perhaps more so in a collectivist culture. In view of the paucity of data examining the controversy in Hong Kong, the authors collected data from 2,720 junior high school students with a random sampling procedure and obtained teachers' reports about the students' subsequent academic achievement, ability grouping, and the ability level of the class. The authors maintained students' past academic achievement as a control variable in predicting their subsequent academic achievement and self-concepts. Results revealed no significant detrimental effect caused by the ability-grouped class and the ability level of the ability-grouped class. Rather, students in classes that were more homogeneous according to past academic achievement tended to have significantly higher subsequent academic achievement and self-esteem. Results revealed no variation attributable to each student's gender and IQ in the effects of ability grouping.
[Copyright of Journal of Educational Research is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00220670309598813 ]

Australia is rapidly moving into the globally competitive higher education market. As a consequence the issue of consumer satisfaction and quality is emerging as an area of interest. This paper focuses on the issue of student understandings of quality by developing a consumer derived scale which identifies the quality variables related to student perceptions with the university experience. The scale was derived from focus groups, in-depth interviews and through an examination of the literature. The scale was tested and refined on a cohort of 351 Australian and Singaporean/Hong Kong students studying business subjects at an Australian University. The refined scale comprised 25 quality variables which factored into four orthogonal components. The mean values of the variables and factors were examined to make inferences about how educational marketing practitioners can be assisted.
[Copyright of Journal of Marketing for Higher Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J050v10n01_03 ]

Structural equation models linking cognitive and affective factors, approach to learning, and perceptions of the actual and preferred mathematics classroom environments were tested in a longitudinal study involving 356 secondary school students in Hong Kong. Models of acceptable fit that clarified the effects of classroom environment on how students learn and the outcomes they achieve were obtained. Numerous significant paths from prior learning experience to environmental variables were identified; the most salient path from classroom environment to learning outcomes was that between an enjoyable classroom environment and cognitive achievement. An enjoyable classroom environment mediated the causal relationship between a deep approach and high-level achievement. However, classroom environment did not seem to influence changes in approach to learning.
[Copyright of Journal of Educational Research is the property of Routledge . Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00220679809597550]