Students' beliefs, attitudes, experiences and responses towards assessment reflect the ecology of their specific context. The study examines Hong Kong tertiary students' conceptions of assessment using focus group interviews and the content analysis technique. Using six focus groups, 26 Hong Kong university students were interviewed. Hong Kong tertiary students associated assessment with lifelong high-stake examinations. The assessment determined an individual's personal value or worth and achievement was an obligation one had towards one's family. As a legitimate tool for selecting the best candidates for educational and career opportunities, assessment provided upward social mobility, but also served the function of monitoring and surveillance to shape people's behaviour according to societal expectations. Resilience was reflected in both self-regulative agentic responses of effort, persistence and gaming strategy and passive escaping from the oppressive assessment system. The general emotional reaction towards assessment was negative; and participants cast doubts on the assessment validity, accuracy and the limited utility confined by academic-only content. In addition to the portrayal of the Chinese student as an effective, persistent learner, this study shows that Chinese students are very aware of the negative, controlling impact of assessment on their lives.
[Copyright of Higher Education Research & Development is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2014.890565]

This study investigates Hong Kong primary science teachers' understandings of inquiry learning, perceived difficulties in implementing inquiry learning, as well as their current practices of and resistance to using online resources, in order to identify their needs and propose suggestions to address these needs. An online survey has been used to collect data from the primary science teachers taking part in a professional development course. Simple descriptive analyses of the data show that although the teachers' conceptions of inquiry learning seem to match well with the idea of inquiry learning in general, their misconceptions and high level of perceived difficulties in implementing inquiry learning warrant our attention. As for teachers' use of online resources, it is found that traditional Web 1.0 resources are more commonly used, and when these online resources are used, teachers take the more dominant role in using them to support lecturing and explaining. Moreover, some associations between inquiry practices and use of online resources are observed. Accordingly, ways to overcome challenges in implementing inquiry learning and using online resources for the teaching and learning of science are discussed.
[Copyright of Education 3-13 is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03004279.2012.710640]

Based on self-reported cognitive, metacognitive, and behavioural strategy measures obtained from 828 final-year students from a university in Hong Kong, latent profile analysis (LPA) identified four distinct types of students with differential self-regulated learning strategy orientations: competent self-regulated learners, cognitive-oriented self-regulated learners, behavioural-oriented self-regulated learners, and minimal self-regulated learners. Students in the competent SRL profile demonstrated the highest levels of academic self-concept, motivation, attitude, and the lowest level of test anxiety and best academic performance. Multinomial logistic regression analysis also indicated that learning experience factors (teaching quality, clear goals and standards, appropriate assessment and workload) were significant predictors of SRL profile membership. The profiling of student self-regulated learning strategies resulted in enhanced understanding of the complex range of processes students employ and offered new insights into this emerging area of student learning.
[Copyright of Studies in Higher Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2014.880832]

With the introduction of the new senior secondary academic structure in Hong Kong, in which Tourism and Hospitality Studies (THS) has been included in the elective curricula, understanding the effectiveness of the curriculum and its influence on the interests of students in further studies and in working in the tourism and hospitality industry is of great importance. This study collected data from 567 secondary school students taking THS and identified their study motivations, expectations, perceptions, and preferences with respect to the curriculum, as well as their preferences with regard to further studies and their future career. Results indicate that students chose THS because of their interest in the field of tourism and hospitality and in pursuing a career in the industry. Students preferred hotel management as the learning area both in THS and in further studies. Students also indicated their strong interest in pursuing a career in aviation and theme park management.
[Copyright of Journal of Teaching in Travel & Tourism is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/iral-2014-0008]