Keepers of the sacred flame: patriotism,politics and the Chinese history subject community in Hong Kong

Chinese history (a subject entirely separate and distinct from ‘history’) has long been the most politically sensitive subject in Hong Kong's school curriculum. Previous studies have analysed the policies of the colonial and postcolonial Governments towards this subject. Here, we examine the role played by the Chinese history subject community (comprising teachers, academics and officials in the Government's educational bureaucracy), and look at the way in which this has operated as an autonomous interest group. We conclude that the influence of this subject community has been a key factor limiting the extent to which the local educational authorities have been able to develop a coherent policy in relation to history education in general, and the teaching of national history in particular. Specifically, advocates of the maintenance of Chinese history as a separate subject within the school curriculum have been able, by associating themselves with the post‐1997 agenda of ‘patriotic education’, to effectively hoist the local educational bureaucracy with its own petard.     

Faculty research behaviour and career incentives: The case of Taiwan

This paper aims at exploring how faculty research behaviour changes before, during, and after promotion. Testing research hypotheses generated from behavioral reinforcement theory and an alternative claim on the learning effect of familiarity with publishing norms, the study collects career history data and longitudinal records on faculty research performance to fill literature gaps. The main findings include: (1) behavioral reinforcement theory receives support; (2) among different field groups, the research behaviour change curve of the natural sciences and engineering faculty best fits the theory; (3) different levels of anticipated promotion rewards have different effects for motivating subjects to publish.     

Multistage Computerized Adaptive Testing With Uniform Item Exposure

This article describes a computerized adaptive test (CAT) based on the uniform item exposure multi-form structure (uMFS). The uMFS is a specialization of the multi-form structure (MFS) idea described by Armstrong, Jones, Berliner, and Pashley (1998 Armstrong, R. D., Jones, D. H., Berliner, N. and Pashley, P. June 1998. Computerized adaptive tests with multiple form structures, June, Champaign-Urbana, IL: Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Psychometric Society.  [Google Scholar]). In an MFS CAT, the examinee first responds to a small fixed block of items. The items comprising that block may be unrelated to each other, or they may comprise a testlet (Wainer and Kiely, 1987 Wainer, H. and Kiely, G. L. 1987. Item clusters and computerized adaptive testing: A case for testlets. Journal of Educational Measurement, 24: 185–201. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) After the first block of items has been administered, adaptation takes place in the choice of the next block to be administered and subsequent blocks. The uMFS design integrates item exposure control, as well as content balancing and other test development needs, into the design of the CAT, instead of placing those activities in the online implementation. We show that it is possible to implement item exposure control, in a very thorough way, in the psychometric specifications of the item blocks.     

Factors affecting achievement in a satellite‐delivered Japanese language program

Abstract

This article reviews previous research and reports on a study relating to six factors relevant to achievement in learning a new language: motivation, language learning styles, language learning strategies, gender, course level, and previous experience in learning a foreign language. Although motivation, learning styles, gender, and learning strategy use were all found to be influential, motivation was the single most important predictor of success. The authors suggest that awareness and understanding of the influence and interaction of student characteristics on achievement will allow instructors to provide optimal learning opportunities for all students.     

To What Degree Does the Desire for Promotion Motivate Faculty to Perform Research? Testing the Expectancy Theory

Based on the rationale of expectancy theory, this article examines to what degree the desire for promotion motivates faculty to do research. Using Taiwanese faculty survey data, it is found that faculty members who show higher motivation for promotion display better research performance than their colleagues who show lower motivation for promotion. This article also indicates that different kinds of rewards have different motivating effects on various types of faculty research performance. After controlling for the effects of demographic, educational, and institutional variables, the results of logistic regressions show that faculty who think promotion and the satisfaction of curiosity are important tend to publish articles; faculty who want to demonstrate their mastery of their disciplines tend to publish books; and faculty who care about personal income are more likely to seek and receive the National Science Council Research Outcome Grant.     

What elements in a sustainability course contribute to paradigm change and action competence? A study at Lincoln University,New Zealand

A significant shift in the dominant paradigm governing the relationship of humans with nature and society is crucial in order to change the current unsustainable practices. This article describes a pilot-study based on a Masters level sustainability course, which explored what specific content, activities and resources may contribute to promoting paradigm change and action competence among university students. Paradigm change and the development of action competence were assessed by analyzing students’ weekly written reflections on their learning experiences and by comparing pre- and post-course questionnaires. At the end of the course students had enhanced their beliefs regarding socio-economic aspects of sustainability and gained an increase in awareness about local sustainability issues. Also some students showed a reframing of certain assumptions related to the dominant paradigm concerning beliefs about the environment and society at large and an increase in self-confidence about promoting change towards sustainability. The main course elements contributing to these results were the class discussions and a structured debate on green growth; an exercise that asked students to reflect on ‘what does my happiness depend on?’; weekly feedbacks which stimulated reflection on what they had learnt; and guest speakers′ accounts of their experiences of putting sustainability into practice.