Computational thinking (CT) practices have gained increasing importance in primary school education. However, there are few tools to measure primary school students' CT practices that are based on rigorous psychometric approaches. This study developed an operational definition for CT practices by exploring the key dimensions of their composition and, more importantly, developed and validated a generic test tool that can effectively assess students’ CT practices. Items to measure CT practices were developed using the evidence-centered design (ECD) approach. These items prompted students to exhibit behaviors that demonstrated their skills in the four dimensions of CT practice, namely testing and debugging, algorithmic thinking, reusing and remixing, and abstracting and modularizing. A test consisting of these items was administered to 13,956 Grade 4–6 primary school students from 56 public schools in Hong Kong. The data were analyzed based on the item response theory (IRT) approach, together with other psychometric tests. A bi-factor three-parameter logistic model was ultimately adopted for test validation, as it fitted the data better than the corresponding two-parameter and one-parameter logistic models. The results validated the four-dimensional structure of the CT practices test. The reliability, test item characteristics, and CT practice abilities of students are also discussed. Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In the era of information explosion, it is surprising to find that most of our students have not learned to self-regulate their own studies well. It might be explained by the common use of spoon-feeding teaching method since the beginning of public schooling in Asian countries. The individual differences in intelligence or diligence of students may not have been taken into careful consideration in mass class teaching. Students seem to be expected to overcome their personal limitations in order to benefit from the school curriculum. In recent studies, it is found that students’ failure to learn may be caused by insufficient ability to manage their own learning due to the lack of learning motivation, effective learning habits and skills. Self-regulated learning is widely perceived as a crucial element of successful, independent and life-long learning. Therefore, equipping students with self-regulated learning skills and empowering them to become self-regulated learners have become the major concerns of educators.The professional development programme entitled “Integrating Self-directed Learning in Classroom Pedagogy” has been offered to in-service teachers by the Education University of Hong Kong since 2017. It is a five-week block-release programme for practicing teachers. During those five weeks, the participants are encouraged to put theory into practice. They are divided into several learning circles according to their subject disciplines. Each learning circle is asked to develop effective ways of integrating self-regulated elements in their lesson design and implement the research lesson in their own schools.This paper reports an interdisciplinary lesson study of the professional development programme mentioned. Five teachers teaching the subjects of Business, Accounting and Financial Studies (BAFS), Liberal Studies, History and General Studies in primary and secondary schools were grouped together as a learning circle to plan a lesson on empowering their students

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a mobile User-Generated-Content (m-UGC) tool on enhancing primary students’ vocabulary learning motivation and learning outcomes. A total of 40 primary students in Hong Kong participated in this study. The results showed using the m-UGC tool could increase primary students’ learning motivation and significantly improve their vocabulary learning. Copyright © 2020 Yanjie Song, Yin Yang.

The development of children’s fundamental motor skills (FMS) is shaped by the environment surrounding them. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the changes of children’s FMS after an intervention program differed between classes conducted in different schooling conditions. Participants were 295 preschool children (62 boys, 133 girls; M = 5.4 years; SD = 0.28) from eight preschools in Hong Kong. Children participated in an 8-week FMS program and their FMS were assessed using the Test of Gross Motor Development-2 (TGMD-2). A linear mixed model was used to analyze the association on the changes of FMS score between children in different schooling conditions: (1) teaching venue size (large or small); and (2) class size (large, medium, or small), while accounting for the clustering of participants within preschools. The changes of object control skills were significantly different between groups with different teaching venue size (p = 0.000) (small: 5.54 (SD = 5.84) vs. large: 2.46 (SD = 6.42)) and different class size (p = 0.000) (small: 8.12 (SD = 6.34) vs. medium: 2.92 (SD = 6.26) vs. large: 4.00 (SD = 5.79)). The findings have practical implications for the teaching of FMS in that the social and physical environment in preschools should be considered for the design of FMS intervention programs. Copyright © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Previous studies have associated L2 teachers' use of motivational strategies with learners' motivated behaviours in class such as raised attention and participation. The after-class effects of L2 motivational strategies, in contrast, have drawn less attention. This paper reports a study examining how L2 teachers' motivational interventions cause changes in learners' perceived attitudes and behaviours, both within and beyond the L2 classroom. To this end, 84 reflective journals were collected over one semester from 42 tertiary students in Hong Kong enrolled in a range of English courses. The results indicate that reported increases in the use of additional self-learning materials, attempts to put newly acquired English knowledge into practice, efforts to reduce mistakes, and in-class engagement were attributable to L2 teachers' motivational efforts. This provides evidence that the benefits brought by L2 teachers' motivational practice can transcend the classroom. Copyright ©Routledge.

In this study, we investigated the factors affecting the motivation of studio-based instrumental learners in Hong Kong. We interviewed a total of 13 participants who learnt the violin and/or the piano. We analyzed the interview data by selective coding accordingly to the three basic needs in the conceptual framework of Basic Psychology Needs Theory, which is one of the mini-theories from Self-Determination Theory. The thematization of basic needs are (1) autonomy, (2) relatedness, and (3) competency. We found relatedness and competence were more related to our participants. This study contributes to the understanding of studio-based, learning-environment characteristics as well as specific motivation factors attributed to the distinctions between the violin and the piano learning environments in Hong Kong. We also discussed the issues of music learning in school and teacher's style of teaching practice. Copyright ©Sage Publications Ltd.

Flipped classrooms emphasise a learner-centred and results-oriented approach. They have been widely adopted in recent years, to enhance the effectiveness of student learning and encourage students to understand and apply new information. This approach is also regarded as a type of blended learning, given that tutors decide on the pre-class work, which is often characterised by online materials, and in-class time is devoted to collaborative tasks. This paper proposes teaching English narrative genres by combining digital drawing with active learning approaches – storymaking and storytelling. It also examines Hong Kong university students' perceptions of gamified flipped classrooms, as well as their understanding of the narrative concepts taught. Based on a combination of surveys, narrative writing scores, and focus group interviews, this study found that participants regarded the group-based game task as more effective than the group discussion task. The collaborative group-based game fostered a positive classroom atmosphere, served as a review session that allowed students to identify areas for improvement and prepare for the exit examination, and reduced their anxiety and reticence toward using English. These findings confirmed previous research findings that students' behavioural, cognitive, and motivational engagement could be enhanced through a gamified flipped classroom. Pedagogical implications for ESL teachers were also discussed. Copyright ©Routledge.

The current literature on the impact of high-stakes testing largely focuses on Western countries, is adult-centric, and mainly considers the impact on teaching and learning. This study not only examines the learning experiences of children, but also other aspects of their wellbeing, including their social relationships, leisure activities, and health, in the high-stakes testing environment of Hong Kong, from the perspectives of children. A qualitative approach using focus group interviews was employed to listen to the views of primary school children. The children’s perceptions of the school learning environment revealed the negative consequences of high-stakes tests, with major findings concerning skewed curricula, the spillover of major subjects, major subject-centered scheduling, undermining recess, exam-oriented pedagogy, endless homework and drilling, and overemphasis on grades. The findings also show that children’s wellbeing is jeopardized in this environment, with major themes including schoolwork as a source of family conflict, distant relationships with teachers, friendship as a comfort zone (though it may be hampered by competition), no real leisure time, deprived sleep, enduring pressure and stress, and overall happiness reduced by academic study. Implications of the findings are discussed. Besides the short-term measures of improving children’s experience in learning and wellbeing, reforming the educational system to be less emphasizing academic achievement and making student wellbeing a policy priority can be the long-term strategies. Copyright ©Elsevier Ltd.

Due to the challenges of all-round development, higher-education students are increasingly demanding more flexible learning that goes beyond the on-campus/online dichotomy. However, university students miss learning opportunities because of the conflict of time and space. Blended learning is an effective way to create more learning opportunities and support university students’ flexible learning, but its implementation varies across contexts. This study proposed an alternative blended teaching and learning approach to solve practical problems defined in the context of a traditional classroom in a university in Hong Kong when students pursue flexible learning and global learning. A three-round action research approach was used to improve the effects of blended synchronous teaching and learning. Data collection and analysis in each round showed that the students positively rated the implementation of blended learning according to their needs, the quality of the technologies adopted, and the benefits gained. This blended synchronous teaching and learning mode was structured based on the implementation of different actions in three rounds, bridging the gap between research and practice in blended synchronous learning.
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