Emergency online education has been adopted worldwide due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Prior research regarding online learning predominantly focused on the perception of parents, teachers, and students in tertiary education, while younger children’s perspectives have rarely been examined. This study investigated how family, school, and individual factors would be associated with primary school students’ satisfaction, perceived effectiveness, and preference in online learning during COVID-19. A convenient sample of 781 Hong Kong students completed an anonymous online survey from June to October 2020. Logistic regression was conducted for 13 potential factors. Results indicated that only 57% of students were satisfied with their schools’ online learning arrangement and 49.6% regarded the online learning as an effective learning mode. Only 12.8% of students preferred online learning, while 67.2% of students preferred in-person schooling. Multiple analyses suggested that teacher–student interaction during online classes was positively associated with students’ satisfaction, perceived effectiveness, and preferences in online learning. Compared to grades 1–2 students, grades 3–6 students perceived more effectiveness and would prefer online learning. Happier schools were more likely to deliver satisfying and effective online education. Students who reported less happiness at school would prefer online learning, and students who reported less happiness at home would be less satisfied with online learning and reflected lower effectiveness. Teachers are encouraged to deliver more meaningful interactions to students and offer extra support to younger children during online classes. Primary schools and parents are encouraged to create a healthy and pleasant learning environment for children. The government may consider building up happy schools in the long run. The study findings are instrumental for policymakers, institutions, educators, and researchers in

Physical activity (PA) is important for children’s growth and development and for their current and future health. Schools, especially during physical education (PE), are important locations for children to accrue PA. The purpose of this study was to assess the PA levels of preschool children during structured PE lessons and to evaluate the impact of selected characteristics (e.g., lesson context, length, and location; teacher behavior; class size; activity area density). Trained observers used SOFIT (System for Observing Fitness Instruction Time) to assess 90 structured PE lessons taught by 25 different teachers. Intact classes (n = 5 to 6 and representing 3 different grade levels) in 4 selected preschools were observed on 4 days over a 4-week period. Overall, children engaged in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) 49.9% (SD = 15.7) of lesson time and there were differences in MVPA% among the four preschools, by lesson context, and by teacher behavior. There were no significant differences in MVPA% either between indoor (n = 69) and outdoor (n = 21) lessons or among the 3 grade levels. Even though the lessons approached the 50% MVPA guideline, the brevity of them left children far short of recommended daily amounts of PA. Future studies should investigate how preschools can increase on-campus opportunities for PA both during PE and throughout the school days. Copyright © 2015 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc.

Physical activity (PA) is important for young children in achieving positive health outcomes and there is growing evidence suggesting that PA and fitness play an important role in children’s brain development and academic performance. Studies of preschool children typically show that few meet recommended daily PA levels. Meanwhile many preschoolers worldwide attend preschools, but little is known about their on-campus PA or the factors that influence it, especially during classroom sessions. The purpose of this study was to use a validated instrument to conduct a micro-analysis of student PA levels, lesson contexts, and teacher prompts for PA during classroom sessions. We assessed these factors during 165 classroom sessions taught by 25 teachers in four preschools. The sessions occurred prior to (PRE-PE) or following the PE lessons (POST-PE) that we described in an earlier paper (Chow et al., 2015) . Children spent classroom time primarily sitting (76%) and standing (13%), while engaging in PA (mostly of low or moderate intensity) 11% of the time. PA occurred mostly during lesson transitions and music time. Overall, boys were more active than girls (MVPA% = 12.1 vs. 8.8), and teachers rarely promoted either in-class or out-of class student PA. The study contributes to the limited literature on PA and its related contexts in preschools. The results have implications for providing pre-service and in-service teacher education related to the importance of PA and how to implement it. Expanded surveillance studies are recommended. In addition to using questionnaires and accelerometers or pedometers to assess PA, the studies should include observation methods so that important on-site and potentially modifiable contexts can be assessed directly. Copyright © 2015 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc.

A significant challenge in studying formative assessment is the lack of suitable instruments for assessing teachers’ formative assessment practices. This paper reports the development of the Teacher Formative Assessment Practice Scale (TFAPS) and its psychometric properties based on two samples of primary and secondary school teachers: one from Hong Kong (N = 449) and the other from Italy (N = 309). Exploratory factor analysis identified two distinct factors, including teacher-directed formative assessment (TdFA, six items) and student-directed formative assessment (SdFA, four items). The confirmatory factor analysis supported this two-factor structure. Rasch analysis provided further psychometric evidence regarding scale dimensionality and item quality. This study suggests that TFAPS is an appropriate instrument for assessing teachers’ formative assessment practices, but the cultural influence on teachers’ formative assessment practices should be noted in the applications of the instrument. Copyright © 2022 The Author(s).

Previous research suggested that bring your own device (BYOD) initiatives can potentially promote student engagement in learning and lead to improvements in learning achievement. However, there has been limited studies looking at how to design and implement BYOD to realise its full potential, especially in blended classroom settings. The present study was designed to fill this gap by adapting the community of inquiry (CoI) framework to support and analyse the implementation of BYOD for blended English as Foreign Language (EFL) learning in a Hong Kong university. Findings from lesson videos, course assessments, focus group interviews and student reflection are reported and discussed. This study can contribute to understanding how BYOD could benefit student learning through affording different types of presence in the CoI framework. It can also provide insights into possible ways of using BYOD to promote meaningful learning in the blended classroom. Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

This article reports on an exploratory study on developing and adopting a ‘Virtual Go Mode’ feature embedded in a mobile vocabulary learning app, VocabGo, to enhance students’ vocabulary learning engagement. Distinguished from other virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) applications, the Virtual Go Mode is designed for students to practice and consolidate their newly learned words via virtual location-based tasks with 360° Google Street View or pre-photographed panoramas. Google Cloud Vision, using an AI model, is embedded to identify objects and their corresponding tasks for students. A total of 15 primary students in Hong Kong participated in this exploratory study for one week. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed. The results showed that students’ vocabulary learning engagement was high when using the Virtual Go Mode. It is suggested that future research focus on empirical studies when designing and implementing virtual location-based tasks supported by VR technologies in class to provide opportunities for students to practice and consolidate newly learned words and enhance their learning engagement after the COVID-19 pandemic. Copyright © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

The study was conducted under the backdrop of the increasing demand of Mandarin-learning in Scotland and Hong Kong. Inspired by Gardner’s (2010) socio-educational model, this study is the first to compare students’ integrative motivation towards learning Mandarin under the two contexts. The data was obtained from a total of 132 secondary school students (54 from Hong Kong, and 78 from Scotland) through questionnaires. It also aimed to examine the robustness and culture-specific applicability of the model. Due to the geographical proximity and cultural similarity to Chinese, the integrativeness of non-Chinese speaking (NCS) students in Hong Kong is expected to be relatively higher compared to the students in Scotland. However, the results showed that NCS students displayed lower integrative motivation than students in Scotland. The significant difference we identified lay upon one of the constructs - fear of assimilation. This unexpected phenomenon could invite more in-depth studies on factors affecting integrative motivation in learning Mandarin.漢語作為第二語言的學習日益普及，無論是香港的非華語學生，或是全球的「漢語熱」，都顯示需求日益增長。本研究以Gardner（2010）的社會教育模式為理論基礎，比較了兩種語境下學生學習普通話的綜合動機。 是次研究的數據來自132 名中學生（54 名香港非華語學生，78 名蘇格蘭本地學生）的問卷調查結果。本研究還旨在了解社會教育模型在特定文化的適用性。由於香港地理上相鄰內地，文化亦相似，所以香港非華語學生的綜合性預期會比蘇格蘭的學生高。然而，結果卻顯示非華語學生的綜合動機較蘇格蘭學生為低。我們發現的顯著差異在於其中一個建構因素─對同化的恐懼。這個現象能讓我們對綜合動機及跨文化的因素進行更深入的研究。 Copyright © 2021 香港教育大學中國語言學系、哥倫比亞大學中文部、中華書局（香港）有限公司.

This article describes the current teacher professional development (PD) infrastructure of Hong Kong, one of the world’s top performers in education. Drawing on contemporary policy frameworks, institutional websites, and research literature, we outline how teachers from primary and secondary local schools are supported to enhance their professional capacity. After introducing the structure of the Hong Kong education system, we describe pre-service teacher education and the Professional Ladder framework, designed by the Education Bureau (EDB) to regulate in-service PD. We then describe the work done by the leading PD providers and the PD-related obstacles, difficulties, and constraints reported in the literature. The article shows that Hong Kong has developed a solid PD infrastructure with hybrid characteristics. While the system is based on compliance and external accountability mechanisms, teachers are encouraged to design their PD journeys based on their interests, needs, and career aspirations. Every three years, teachers are required to complete 90 to 150 hours of PD (depending on seniority), including core and elective training (approximately 1/3 and 2/3 of the PD allotment, respectively). Structured, on-the-job, project-based, whole-school, and individual PD activities are available. The article also describes the strategies recently adopted to tackle the challenges of COVID-19. We conclude that Hong Kong has made great efforts to design a high-quality PD infrastructure within a hierarchical educational system, in which quantity of provision and content coverage have been prioritized over teacher agency and autonomy. More research is required to investigate the actual impact of PD on teachers’ practices and students’ learning.تصف هذه المقالة البنية التحتية الحالية للتطوير المهني للمعلمين في هونج كونج، أحد أفضل الدول أداء في العالم من الناحية التعليمية. استناداً على أطر عمل السياسة المعاصرة، المواقع المؤسسية والأدبيات البحثية، وتوضح كيفية دعم المعلمين من المدارس

Collaborative lesson planning (CLP) is a key component of teachers’ professional development that responds to students’ ever-increasing learning needs. This study aimed to develop and validate an instrument to evaluate teachers’ CLP practices. Guided by the SECI (socialisation, externalisation, combination, and internalisation) knowledge-creation model of Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995), items assessing CLP practices were developed. To validate the CLP scale, we analysed data from 540 primary and secondary school teachers in Hong Kong. Exploratory factor analysis on a random half of the sample suggests a four-factor solution that supports the SECI model. A confirmatory factor analysis and multidimensional Rasch analysis on the remaining half of the sample confirmed the four-factor structure. Both analyses support the dimensionality of the four-factor model, rating scale effectiveness, and item fit statistics. The final version of the CLPS has 21 items that assess teachers’ CLP practices under the four SECI processes. This instrument has practical value in assessing, monitoring, and promoting collaborative teaching practices in school. The study's limitations and implications are discussed. Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

This study examined the relationships between kindergartens teachers’ emotional labour strategies and their relations to instructional leadership, trust in colleagues, teaching experiences, and teaching satisfaction. With a sample of 491 kindergarten teachers in Hong Kong, this study found that surface acting negatively predicted while deep acting and expression of naturally felt emotion positively predicted teachers’ teaching satisfaction; instructional leadership and trust in colleagues were positively related to deep acting and expression of naturally felt emotion, respectively. Meanwhile, teaching experience was found to be positively related to their adoption of expression of naturally felt emotion and teaching satisfaction. These findings shed light on the nature of kindergarten teachers’ work, and provide some implications for teacher development in kindergartens. Copyright © 2022 De La Salle University.