The Hong Kong School Curriculum and the Political Transition: Politicisation,contextualisation and symbolic action

This paper uses a historical perspective to analyse the impact on the school curriculum of the return of Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty. Whilst the transition has relaxed the criteria used by the state to select school knowledge, it has occurred at a time when the selective and allocative role of schooling has become paramount. Consequently, the transition has had a significant impact on the intended curriculum as a result of attempts by the departing colonial government to reform the curriculum. However, these reforms have had a limited impact on the implemented curriculum, which has been more strongly influenced by the emergence of a market in which schools compete for academically more able pupils.     

The Development and Psychometric Evaluation of a Multidimensional Measurement Instrument of Professional Expertise

The aim of the present study was to determine the nature of the knowledge and skills related to professional expertise, and to develop means by which such expertise may be individually measured. An instrument was developed consisting of five different scales (with contents ranging from 12 to 19 items each), each reflecting one of five dimensions: knowledge, meta-cognitive knowledge, skills, social recognition, growth and flexibility. Participants were two different, but relevant, groups of raters: individual employees (N = 558) and their immediate supervisors (N = 454). The item-sets for both groups are nominally identical, except that the wording was adapted when necessary to suit one group or the other. The reliabilities of the developed scales were high with Cronbach's alpha ranging from 0.83 to 0.94, for both the self-ratings and the supervisor ratings. All five scales are homogeneous and distinctive as corroborated by Multitrait-Multimethod and LISREL analyses. Background and construction of the instrument are discussed at length and the instrument is appended in two versions: the original Dutch questionnaire and an English version.     

教育绩效的影响因素:来自比利时弗兰德语区的经验――荷语鲁汶大学Jan Van Damme教授专访

比利时是一个联邦制国家,由荷语区(Flanders,弗兰德语区)、法语区(Wallonia,瓦隆语区)和德语区构成。自1989年宪法颁布实施以后,每一个语区承担自己的文化和教育事务。国际教育评价组织(International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement)组织的六科成绩调查(Six Subject Survey)显示,弗兰德语区和瓦隆语区的教育质量在20世纪70年代处于旗鼓相当的水平。进入21世纪以后,弗兰德语区在各种国际学生评价中的表现均优于瓦隆语区。这种优势体现在各门学科(包括语言,数学和自然科学)和各个教育阶段(小学和中学)。与其他工业国家相比,弗兰德语区的学生在语言和数学两个学科处于领先水平,但是在自然科学学科上却处于落后水平。在本期的专家访谈中,我们将与Van Damme教授就弗兰德语区的中小学教育状况展开讨论。Van Damme教授是荷语鲁汶大学(KU Leuven)的荣修教授,他和他的团队长期致力于学生学业成绩和幸福感跟踪研究。     

Animations and Problem Solving in a Windows Environment

In this article we describe the way we teach our students a systematic problem solving method in a computer assisted learning project on ‘Dynamics for mechanical engineering’, Animations are used to enhance insight and motivation. We briefly discuss the theoretical foundations of systematic problem solving, and the role of animations. One of the dynamics problems will be described in more detail. Finally, we remark on the development tools used in the Windows environment.