This article begins with a historical overview of the STEM education policy and related classroom practices in Hong Kong. Against the backdrop that the Hong Kong education authority has been promoting STEM education over the past few years, there has been a pressing need for effective strategies of implementing STEM education in the context of reduced class size classrooms (i.e. small class teaching). With a view to addressing this need, this article strives to exemplify the incorporation of STEM education into small class teaching settings. Intended as a conceptual paper drawing on design approaches for STEM lessons and a small class teaching framework, the article demonstrates the relevance of STEM education to small class teaching. Two illustrative lesson design examples are provided to showcase how the design approaches and framework can be operationalised. In addition, the article also offers a thoughtful discussion concerning the potential challenges of delivering the two sample lessons as well as the coping strategies. It contributes to understanding of STEM education theories and provides a valuable reference for educational practitioners. Copyright © 2022 Springer.

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.

COVID-19 has forced universities around the world to suspend in-person teaching and adopt emergency remote teaching (ERT). To compensate for the suspension of in-person teaching, many universities mandated that teachers utilise video-conferencing software (VCS) to deliver synchronous online lessons conducted through VCS. This study explored the impact of ERT and the requirement to teach synchronously online through VCS on the motivation of university teachers at a major university in Hong Kong. In-depth interviews were conducted with nine teachers who had completed a full semester of ERT. The findings suggest that the teachers fell into two distinct groups. Teachers in one group (n = 5) seemed to thrive, reporting mainly positive effects of ERT on their motivation, while the others (n = 4) seemed to be just surviving, reported mainly negative effects. For members of the “thriving” group, the semester reinvigorated their teaching and provided them with new skills; members of the “surviving” group, by contrast, questioned their ability to teach, found it hard to build a rapport with learners, felt isolated, and struggled to find job satisfaction. The study concludes with a discussion of measures that could help university teachers to maintain their motivation during online instruction. Copyright © 2021 De La Salle University.

It has been well documented that active learning (AL) improves student learning outcomes in education. This quasi-experimental study explores the effect of active learning on students' knowledge of calculus concepts, in the form of the Calculus Concept Inventory (CCI), regular assignment scores, and test scores, during an 8-week calculus tutorial program. The active pedagogies used were cooperative problem-based learning and peer assessment, implemented using an interactive online whiteboard (IOWB) called RealtimeBoard. This study reveals statistically significant evidence that active learning increases students' conceptual understanding and graded assignment performance in a first-year calculus class in Hong Kong. Furthermore, this study contributes towards a better understanding of how active learning can be implemented effectively in Asian tertiary mathematics education. Copyright © Springer.

Improving mainstream perceptions of diversity in Hong Kong is fundamental to enhancing equality and human rights in the society in the future. The importance of mainstream members of society learning to recognize diversity with less prejudice undergirds many of the aims of a recent educational reform, Liberal Studies. This paper evaluates the capacity of Liberal Studies to educate for multicultural understanding of cultural difference. Its primary data source is Liberal Studies textbooks, and it employs a qualitative content analysis to consider how diversity and ethnic, cultural, and religious differences are represented in the texts. The analysis is complemented by an examination of related resources teachers may use in the classroom (and are encouraged to use by the Hong Kong Curriculum Development Council): mainstream news articles and resources from the (government-provided) Web-based Resource Platform for Liberal Studies. The voices and views of some practicing teachers and pre-service teacher education students related to multicultural Liberal Studies resources are also included to provide a balanced picture. Based on this analysis, multicultural education as provided in major resources within the Liberal Studies curriculum appears inadequate. As diversity is reflected upon in resources analyzed here most often as problematic and stereotypical, interventions are needed if Liberal Studies is to enable multicultural appreciation and understanding among students in Hong Kong in the future. Copyright © 2016 De La Salle University.

While assessment for learning (AfL) has gained increasing international prominence, and has been strongly promulgated by an increasing number of education systems, current instruments designed to measure students' assessment for learning experience show a number of methodological shortcomings, such as lacking construct validity and low internal consistency of scales, or structural confirmations of the dimensionality of AfL constructs captured in the questionnaires have not been tested. This paper presents the development and validation of a psychometrically robust measure of assessment for learning experience in the Chinese higher education-the Assessment for Learning Experience Inventory (AFLEI). Two independent samples of 201 and 163 higher education students responded to the AFLEI. The data were then subjected to Exploratory Factor Analyses (EFAs) and Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFAs), respectively. Results from both EFAs and CFAs provided support for a five-factor AfL experience inventory with a strong psychometric basis. The five clusters of AfL experience perceived by the Chinese university students are Teacher formal feedback and support, Interactive dialog and peer collaboration, Learning-oriented assessment, Active engagement with subject matter, and Students taking responsibility for their learning. The correlations between the five clusters of AfL experience and the 'deep learning approach' of the Revised Two-Factor Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F) supported the concurrent validity of the AFLEI. The AFLEI can be used both as an evaluation tool to evaluate the extent to which university students experience AfL practices in university curriculum, and as a research tool to explore more deeply the relationships between AfL experience and student learning.
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In many Asian countries and increasingly in the West, primary and secondary school students receive private tutoring, often in the form of lectures in cram schools. As English is an international lingua franca, many students enroll in English courses after school. Students enrolled in English private tutoring (EPT) are often examination-driven and extrinsically motivated to learn English, but past studies have not examined whether they like EPT lessons. Hence, we integrate motivation and tutoring into a theoretical model of EPT enjoyment at different levels (student, family, teacher, tutoring) and empirically test it with the survey responses of 543 Secondary Six (Grade 12) students enrolled in EPT courses in cram schools. The findings show that most Secondary Six students in Hong Kong like EPT lessons. Family, reasons for tutoring, tutoring, and student attributes are linked to EPT enjoyment. These students are more likely to like EPT if they (a) are in families perceived to have superior financial resources, (b) are not influenced by advertisements or other people to join EPT lessons, (c) attend face-to-face tutoring, (d) have a specific tutor, (e) like the tutor more than their teachers, (f) are interested in English, or (g) have greater English self-concept. The results of this study can contribute to our understanding of which motivation and tutoring factors affect students' enjoyment of EPT and inform EPT improvements. Copyright © 2020 De La Salle University.

This study investigated the relationships between students' self-efficacy and self-concept for learning languages and students' academic achievement in learning English and Chinese. 1092 eighth to eleventh graders from four Hong Kong secondary schools completed questionnaires reporting their self-efficacy, self-concept and academic results for Chinese language and English language. Results indicated that Chinese language self-efficacy and self-concept were significant predictors for Chinese language learning achievements. English language self-efficacy and self-concept predicted both students' English and Chinese learning achievements. These results provide some support for both the domain specificity of self-efficacy and the internal/external frame of reference effect. There is also support for the notion that learning English language facilitates the learning of Chinese language but not the other way around.
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Educators and policy makers have increasingly recognized the importance of computational thinking (CT). Despite the growing body of CT literature, how to cultivate CT is still underexplored and undertheorized in early childhood education. Informed by Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development, this exploratory study was conducted with a focus on three CT skills: pattern recognition, sequencing, and algorithm design. The framework for the study was developed in two stages. First, we designed two sets of unplugged activities (relying on tangible materials), aiming to (1) provide students with more concrete experiences of CT and (2) equip them with the necessary vocabularies/instructions for the subsequent plugged activity (with a digital device). The theoretical foundation for such an unplugged and plugged design comprised Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development and Asher’s Total Physical Response. In the second stage, we offered our CT course in a kindergarten in Hong Kong, involving six teacher participants and a total of 11 students from K1 to K3 (aged 3 to 6). After 10 h of CT training, almost all students demonstrated their mastery of pattern recognition and sequencing. However, the K1 students could only partially complete the tasks of algorithm design while the others generally reached the target level of achievement. Strengthening preschoolers’ training on CT language and differentiated instruction are some possible strategies to improve the CT instructions. Copyright © 2019 De La Salle University.

In contrast to a burgeoning research literature on the role of emotions in learning and instruction in Western culture, research on how emotions impact student and teacher development in Asian countries is lacking. The present paper reviews seven publications included in the 2019 Special Issue of The Asia--Pacific Education Researcher examining the role of emotions in Asian learners and in Asian educators. Three studies conducted with Asian students across education levels (primary, secondary, post-secondary) and countries (China, Singapore) explored students' emotions ranging from global constructs (engagement, satisfaction) to discrete experiences (hope, gratitude) in relation to personality, self-regulation, persistence, and contextual variables (perfectionism, self-compassion, resilience, relatedness). Four studies additionally investigated the emotional experiences of pre-service and practicing Asian teachers (China, Hong Kong, Philippines) in relation to varied motivational variables (self-efficacy, self-theories, passion, psychological capital), social-environmental factors (cooperative interactions, practicum evaluations), as well as psychological and physical health (coping styles, burnout, sleep quality). Study findings and protocols are discussed with respect to specific directions for future research on academic emotions in an Asian educational context.
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