Helping Hong Kong business students to appreciate how they learn

Hong Kong students enrolling in the tertiary sector exhibit tendencies to passivity and non-participation. There is also some evidence that, in common with other countries, the tertiary educational environment in Hong Kong may encourage the adoption of inappropriate approaches to learning. A programme was developed within the first year of a business studies degree with the purpose of enhancing students’ approach to learning. This was attempted by making them aware of different approaches, giving them the analytical tools to examine their own conceptions of and approaches to learning and by involving them in different forms of learning experience. Most students conceived ofieaming as a quantitative increase in knowledge. They exhibited similar patterns in respect of SPQ scores to other Hong Kong students, scoring slightly higher than their Australian peers with respect to “deep” and “achieving” approaches and slightly lower on the “surface” approach. Evaluation of the programme was based on a range of sources including unprompted views using the “slip” technique, course evaluation questionnaires and a second administration of the SPQ at the beginning of the students’ second year. The evaluation shows that student reaction to the programme was mixed, though with an overall balance in favour. The SPQ results showed.that although the mean scores for the “surface” approach rose and those for the “deep” and the “achieving” approach fell, they did so to a much lesser extent than on similar programmes.     

Interaction of normal children with anatomical dolls

Anatomical (sexually explicit) rag dolls are frequently used in interviews of children suspected of being sexually abused. Abused children have been noted clinically to be aggressive and sometimes sexually precocious in their doll play, and testimony to that effect is often accepted in the courtroom as pertinent evidence. However, to date, normative data on the play behaviors with the sexually explicit dolls have been unavailable. This pilot study provides empirical information on the play interaction of a relatively large number of normal (nonreferred) children with anatomical dolls. One hundred forty-four children (ages 3 to 8 years) were observed in a playroom containing these special dolls during three conditions: (1) with an adult present, (2) without an adult, and (3) with the dolls undressed. The observations showed that nonreferred children found these dolls no more interesting than other toys. Little aggression and no explicit sexual activity were observed. In contrast to clinical observation of abused children, the doll play of nonreferred children is unlikely to be characterized by aggression or sexual concerns; thus these behaviors when observed in interaction with these dolls should be taken seriously.     

Values in Tension: Israel Education at a U.S. Jewish Day School

The Naphtali Herz Imber Jewish Day School proudly proclaimed its commitment to Israel, yet many of its students experienced profound ambivalence toward the Jewish State. Why? The school was committed to a series of contradictory values which surfaced in its approach to Israel education. This article outlines three distinct yet interrelated tensions: tensions between an open exchange of ideas and a non-debatable loyalty to Israel; between pluralism and Zionism; and between inclusivity and expertise. It demonstrates how American Jewish students—when confronted with values in tension—struggled to make sense of Israel and their relationship to it.     

“I’m Going to Israel and All I Need to Pack Is My Imagination”: Pretend Trips to Israel in Jewish Early Childhood Education

ABSTRACT

This article examines the practice of pretend Israel trips in Jewish early childhood education. Jewish early childhood educators who work in markedly different preschool settings, and who have differing beliefs about Israel and Israel education, nonetheless converge on a practice of pretend trips to Israel that remains remarkably stable across settings. This article examines how and why these pretend trips have become part of the “grammar” of Jewish early childhood education, illuminating a practice that is simultaneously beloved and unsatisfying for Jewish early childhood educators who care about early childhood education and Israel education.     

The Implementation of Peer Assessment: An action research approach

This paper examines the process of implementing peer assessment in higher education. In order to discover the aspects by which the method could be utilised to its full potential, it has been tried out among diverse types of students using an action research approach. The paper depicts the way the method was introduced and portrays students' reactions. It demonstrates the contribution of previous exposure to peer assessment, of a good preparation process and of student involvement in criteria setting to building up student confidence in using the method. It further shows how student involvement in establishing the assessment criteria contributes to their learning process. Based on the results of the action research, the paper recommends introducing peer assessment into the curriculum gradually and in a consistent way while involving students in the process of criteria setting and making the method relevant to student learning and future careers.     

Supervised Teaching Practice as a Partnership Process: Novice and experienced student-teachers' perceptions

The article examines the views trainee teachers on a Postgraduate Diploma in Education Course have about their Supervised Teaching Practice (STP). Data obtained through quantitative and qualitative methods revealed that in general the trainees held a positive view of the STP. A closer examination indicated some differences between novice and experienced trainees in their perception of the role of the STP and its impact on their teaching and learning. Experienced trainees tended to evaluate the STP from a pedagogical perspective, perceiving it as a valuable mechanism for facilitating their teaching. But novice trainees tended to be more concerned with the contextual and technical aspects of the STP being less ready to contemplate its impact on their teaching. Results suggested that trainees' years of teaching experience is an important factor to be considered when conducting the STP. Implications are drawn about the role of the supervisor in helping novice trainees overcome their concerns associated with the early stages of professional development; clarifying the role of the supervisor; the need for involving a school mentor in the STP, and strengthening the existing school-university partnership in teacher education.     

Preschool child development: implications for investigation of child abuse allegations

Allegations of mistreatment by adults made by children of preschool age are often dismissed as fictitious with the suggestion that children of this age are prone to fantasy and unable to discriminate fact from fiction. This paper is intended to familiarize those with a general concern about child abuse with the research and theories in child development. Specifically, it reviews those aspects of normal child development which have direct relevance to the question of the veracity of reports made by children ages 2 to 5 years. Examination of the research on children's thought and language, memory and learning, fears, fantasy, and play, as well as the research on the influence of television on children of this age, led to the conclusion that preschoolers base their play on the reality of their experience.     

A qualitative study of secondary-school students’ perceptions of interpersonal teacher behaviour in Hong Kong

Learning Environments Research - This qualitative study explored Hong Kong students’ views and reactive emotions towards interpersonal teacher behaviour in their classrooms. Fifteen...