This paper reports a questionnaire study conducted with a group of 87 pre-teenage children (age 11-12 years) in Hong Kong to show their vernacular perception and experience of maps before they began formal mapwork learning in their first year of secondary education. This study reveals major findings that these pre- teenage children see the main purpose of using maps is to find unfamiliar places and to locate them in most everyday situations. As a result, they like to deal with practical, real maps such as street maps and the MTR (Mass Transit Railway) transport maps where the above- mentioned practical map purpose can be achieved. Most of these pre- teenage children are aware of maps available in their surroundings. However, they may not be observant enough to notice or pay attention to reading them carefully. It is rather a matter of map awareness that puts these pre-teenage children into the two broad groups of map and non-map- users. It also revealed that even those pre-teenage children who claimed to be non- map-users demonstrated some intuitive superficial understanding of simple map concepts and elements. Teachers are strongly encouraged to tap into the intuitions and experiences possessed by pre-teenage children in order to develop their map interest further in geography lessons and to make the understanding of maps a practical life skill for them to master.
[Copyright of International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10382049908667586 ]

Procedural and conceptual knowledge for solving a basic quantitative problem in chemistry by expert and novice secondary school students is reported. Experts use a known qualitative procedure with a working forwards strategy to obtain a numerical solution. Novices attempt a means-ends analysis strategy which is often unsuccessful, so switch to a simple formula-driven working forwards strategy to obtain a numerical solution, the qualitative procedure being either omitted or only partially formed. A gradual shift in strategies and representations used as expertise increases was observed. Differences with findings for problem solving in physics were also found. Experts' conceptual knowledge is accurate and linked to underlying procedural knowledge, whereas novices have misconceptions and a poor understanding of formulae. Conceptual understanding, use of a qualitative procedure, and the type of strategy used, are major differences between experts and novices. Instructional techniques are suggested in these areas to enhance problem solving and teaching.
[Copyright of International Journal of Science Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/095006999290787]

Educators in China are facing challenges as a tug-of-war between local culture and global influences in Chinese early childhood music educations plays out. By exploring the situations of Hong Kong and Nanjing, the authors demonstrate a wide gap between policy and practice. The top-down policy from government officials is based on global views of education. It cannot work without providing the necessary support for teachers, parents, and children based on an understanding of local cultural beliefs. Four factors need to be considered in bridging this gap. The aims of the policy must be appropriate; resources necessary should be available, capacity of the practitioners has to be adequate, and the local environment should be carefully considered.
[Copyright of Arts Education Policy Review is the property of Routledge . Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.3200/AEPR.109.3.9-16]

In a rapidly changing society, business education needs to likewise change and evolve to remain relevant and useful. This paper looks at the graduates of one university in Hong Kong and examines how well they feel they are prepared for the world of work. Through the analysis of secondary data, an assessment was made of the success or otherwise of the restructuring and redesign of the undergraduate business programme at City University of Hong Kong, in terms of appropriately training students to meet the demands of the market. By comparing the results of an exit survey conducted on four cohorts of final year students, with the Government's recommendations on what tertiary education should achieve in the contemporary knowledge-based society of the twenty-first century, it was found that the new Bachelor of Business Administration programme at City University of Hong Kong, through its formal and informal curricula, appears to have equipped its graduating students with not only solid technical knowledge but also other valuable competencies and life-skills.
[Copyright of Journal of Teaching in International Business is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J066v16n04_04]

This article reports research undertaken as part of the curriculum development of a Master of Social Work programme at the University of Hong Kong. It was decided to switch four out of five core subjects to a problem based method of teaching and learning. Two student self-assessment measures were used to track learning skills acquisition and professional knowledge acquisition. The Problem Based Skills Learning Inventory covered problem solving, interpersonal and group skills, self-directed learning skills, self-assessment and knowledge building. The Competence and Aptitude in Social Work Scale included knowledge, social awareness, communication skills, leadership and self-concept. Results indicated that for most students there were significant gains over the course of the academic year in most areas. Serendipitous findings throw light on the issue of students' response to pure and hybrid PBL methods and the acceptability of this more active approach to learning to Chinese students.
[Copyright of Social Work Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02615470701456533]