Developing Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Teaching a New Topic: More Than Teaching Experience and Subject Matter Knowledge

Teaching experience has been identified as an important factor in pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) development. However, little is known about how experienced teachers may draw on their previous experience to facilitate their PCK development. This study examined how two experienced high school biology teachers approached the teaching of a newly introduced topic in the curriculum, polymerase chain reaction and their PCK development from the pre-lesson planning phase through the interactive phase to the post-lesson reflection phase. Multiple data sources included classroom observations, field notes, semi-structured interviews and classroom artefacts. It was found that the teachers’ previous experience informed their planning for teaching the new topic, but in qualitatively different ways. This, in turn, had a bearing on their new PCK development. Subject matter knowledge (SMK) can not only facilitate but may also hinder this development. Our findings identify two types of experienced teachers: those who can capitalise on their previous teaching experiences and SMK to develop new PCK and those who do not. The critical difference is whether in the lesson planning stage, the teacher shows the disposition to draw on a generalised mental framework that enables the teacher to capitalise on his existing SMK to develop new PCK. Helping teachers to acquire this disposition should be a focus for teacher training in light of continuous curriculum changes.     

Explaining student and home variance of Chinese reading achievement of the PIRLS 2011 Hong Kong

Hong Kong attained the top place in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2011, an international study of reading achievement, which arouses keen interest in understanding the reasons behind this remarkable achievement. Although factors associated with reading achievement in English have been widely studied, similar studies using Chinese as a different language system are limited. The present study proposes and tests a hypothetical model that attempts to explain the variance of reading achievement of Hong Kong pupils in the PIRLS 2011 study, focusing on parental and student factors. Data of 3,875 fourth graders from 132 primary schools and their parents or caregivers (n = 3,682) are involved in the analysis. Structural equation modeling supports the hypothesized model as tenable explaining 34% of the variance of reading achievement. Parental background acts as the fundamental factor that exerts an indirect effect on reading motivation, reading self‐efficacy, and reading achievement of students via books at home and early reading abilities. Reading motivation and reading self‐efficacy are found to be significant in influencing reading achievement. Implications for educational practices and future research are discussed.     

An assessment of the role of Hong Kong schools in promoting civic learning

Hong Kong underwent tremendous changes after the transfer of its sovereignty to China in 1997. This study attempts to explore the changing role of schools in preparing students for future democratic citizenship in the post-colonial era. Different researchers have postulated that schools play a crucial role in the political socialization process in meeting the developmental needs of adolescents. A mixed-method sequential explanatory research design was adopted to assess the effectiveness of Hong Kong schools in promoting civic learning. The significance of the present study was to analyse the school context by using the assessment framework from the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) Civic Education Study (CivEd) to generate citizenship education studies. An extensive review of research related to the role of schools through formal and informal curricula was conducted. This process helped extend the current understanding of the effectiveness of the political socialization in secondary schools in Hong Kong and contributed to the further development of the research on political socialization in the Chinese context. The findings from this study would help educators or policy makers rethink the future role of schools in citizenship education.     

校本课程开发——理想与现实的冲突

校本课程开发成为了我国基础教育响亮的口号,作为一种新的课程开发策略,它追求学生的个性发展、追求教师的专业发展、追求学校办学理念的明晰、追求特色教育的形成,但在具体实践中,理想的追求与现实存在诸多冲突,主要体现为六对矛盾的冲突。     

泡沫陶瓷的研究现状及展望

概述了泡沫陶瓷材料的研究现状、制备工艺、性能以及国内外生产水平；展望了泡沫陶瓷材料的发展前景。     

Evaluation by medical students of the educational value of multi‐material and multi‐colored three‐dimensional printed models of the upper limb for anatomical education

For centuries, cadaveric material has been the cornerstone of anatomical education. For reasons of changes in curriculum emphasis, cost, availability, expertise, and ethical concerns, several medical schools have replaced wet cadaveric specimens with plastinated prosections, plastic models, imaging, and digital models. Discussions about the qualities and limitations of these alternative teaching resources are on‐going. We hypothesize that three‐dimensional printed (3DP) models can replace or indeed enhance existing resources for anatomical education. A novel multi‐colored and multi‐material 3DP model of the upper limb was developed based on a plastinated upper limb prosection, capturing muscles, nerves, arteries and bones with a spatial resolution of ～1 mm. This study aims to examine the educational value of the 3DP model from the learner's point of view. Students (n = 15) compared the developed 3DP models with the plastinated prosections, and provided their views on their learning experience using 3DP models using a survey and focus group discussion. Anatomical features in 3DP models were rated as accurate by all students. Several positive aspects of 3DP models were highlighted, such as the color coding by tissue type, flexibility and that less care was needed in the handling and examination of the specimen than plastinated specimens which facilitated the appreciation of relations between the anatomical structures. However, students reported that anatomical features in 3DP models are less realistic compared to the plastinated specimens. Multi‐colored, multi‐material 3DP models are a valuable resource for anatomical education and an excellent adjunct to wet cadaveric or plastinated prosections. Anat Sci Educ 11: 54–64. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.     

Principal change leadership competencies and teacher attitudes toward change: the mediating effects of teacher change beliefs

This study investigates the relationship between Principal Change Leadership Competencies, Teacher Change Beliefs and Teacher Attitudes toward Change. A total of 936 teachers from 47 High Performing Secondary Schools in Malaysia completed the survey. Structural equation modelling was applied to test the models. Firstly, the results showed that Principal Change Leadership Competencies was significantly related to Teacher Change Beliefs and implied that if school principals equipped themselves with sufficient Principal Change Leadership Competencies, Teacher Change Beliefs can certainly be enhanced. Secondly, Teacher Change Beliefs was significantly related to Teacher Attitudes toward Change whereby the stronger the Teacher Change Beliefs, the greater the enhancement of Teacher Attitudes toward Change. Thirdly, Teacher Change Beliefs was indeed a total mediator in the relationship of Principal Change Leadership Competencies and Teacher Attitudes toward Change. Put simply, via Teacher Change Beliefs, the impact of Principal Change Leadership Competencies on Teacher Attitudes toward Change was relatively strong as Teacher Change Beliefs greatly facilitated the influence of Principal Change Leadership Competencies on Teacher Attitudes toward Change. Thus, in-depth enhancing Teacher Change Beliefs is one of the effective ways to increase the likelihood of teachers to embrace change. Fourthly, Principal Change Leadership Competencies was more influential than teachers’ self-influence in enhancing Teacher Attitudes toward Change. Therefore, concerted effort must be given to prioritize the continuous development of principal change leadership in effective change management. The study encourages a fresh look at change leadership development and ultimately alters the traditional approach of school principals in managing change.     

大学生在积累知识资本的同时应注重体质资本的投入——谈体育概念、体育功能与终身体育

当今社会 ,传媒的无孔不入 ,信息的快捷 ,导致体育拥有众多的体育爱好者队伍 ,而大学生是其中的一个最活跃的群体。从体育概念到体育功能 ,不难发现 ,现代体育既是一个完整的科学体系 ,又是一个庞大的功能体系 ,必须促使大学生们树立终身体育意识 ,实施终身体育锻炼 ,更好地积累体质资本和知识资本 ,以迎接新世纪的挑战     

The politics of sexual morality and evangelical activism in Hong Kong

This paper aims to review the discourse of sexual morality as recently staged by Christian evangelical groups in Hong Kong and the effects of this new round of evangelical activism on the shaping of recent political culture in Hong Kong. Unlike the moral campaign against decriminalization of homosexuality in the 1980s, which eventually lost to the reasoning of British rule of law implicit in Hong Kong legislature, this new Christian movement for the defense of sexual morality in Hong Kong is situated at the juncture of political contestation between the local democratic movement and the pro-establishment political forces, including pro-Beijing businessmen, political organizations and personnel. With a high degree of ideological and strategic affinity with the Christian Right movement, which collaborates with conservative Republican groups in the United States, the evangelical campaigners of Hong Kong, whether consciously or not, have gained much political currency in collaborating with the pro-establishment forces of Hong Kong. As a result, sexual morality articulated in the name of the preservation of traditions, whether they are Christian or Chinese, has fed an autocratic political movement of Hong Kong that partakes the dangerously divisive politics of the fundamentalist religious movements around the globe.