Developing Food Science Core Competencies in Vietnam: The Role of Experience and Problem Solving in an Industry‐Based Undergraduate Research Course

Although many educators now recognize the value of problem‐based learning and experiential learning, undergraduate‐level food science courses that reflect these pedagogical approaches are still relatively novel, especially in East and Southeast Asia. Leveraging existing partnerships with farmers in Vietnam, a food science course for students at Nong Lam Univ. was designed and taught. The aim was to give students the opportunity to work in small groups and conduct evidence‐based research with farmers, apply food science principles, and develop Success Skills, including the ability to think critically and communicate clearly. Drawing on the experience of 2 student groups, this exploratory study describes what students learned from the process of conducting research. In one group, students learned to work through and resolve the challenge of initial disagreement and misunderstanding with farmers and ultimately carried out a project that aligned with the students’ research interests and farmers’ needs. Another group of students learned to consider the financial limitations of farmers when attempting to develop solutions for problems and ultimately worked with farmers to address a different problem that was less financially taxing. It is important to note the challenges of planning and teaching a course in which instructors are not able to predict exactly what students will learn or experience. This is largely dependent on each student's prior knowledge, experiences, and interests; yet this study demonstrates the transformative potential of teaching a research‐based food science course that gives students authentic opportunities to identify and address real‐world challenges.     

An Examination of English Teachers' Opinions About the Ontario Grade 9 Reading and Writing Test

Interest in the use of large-scale achievement testing for accountability purposes and to drive instructional reform has been increasing in Canada. In the 1995 publications in Interchange, several researchers debated the merits and demerits of standardized achievement testing, including among the latter a tendency to reduce the curriculum and overemphasize routine learning (i.e., "teaching to the test"). Almost no studies have found empirical evidence for such testing's purported benefits. We set out to investigate these issues in Ontario: We present findings from a mail survey designed to find out, from Grade 9 and Grade 10 English teachers in Ontario, their perception of the quality of the Ontario Grade 9 literacy testing program and the effects it has had on the teaching and learning processes. Based on the responses of 107 teachers, our results paint a negative picture of teachers' opinions of the Grade 9 test in terms of its quality and its impact on teaching and learning. Three years after the Grade 9 test was first introduced, Grade 9 and 10 English teachers are still not convinced of its value. Our findings (and those from two other similar surveys) appear to suggest, at least based on teachers' self-reporting, that the purposes of the test — improving the quality of education and learning — as envisioned by the Ontario Ministry of Education and Training have not been met. These findings support those of other assessment impact studies in Canada, namely British Columbia and Alberta, regarding the adverse consequences of large-scale standardized testing (either multiple-choice test or performance-based assessment), and the lack of evidence for its purported positive educational influences. We recommend future research to investigate further the validity and the educational impact of the provincial tests and the reasons responsible for the observed impact or lack of it, and to determine resources, such as teacher training and materials, that are necessary to supplement the provincial testing program's effort to improve teaching and learning.     

Design principles for the blend in blended learning: a collective case study

This paper reports on a collective case study of three blended courses taught by different instructors in a higher education institution, with the purpose of identifying the different types of blend and how the blend supports student learning. Based on the instructors’ and students’ interviews, and document analysis of course outlines, two major principles, consolidation and extension, differentiating the design of the three courses, are identified. The consolidation principle emphasises designing different types of activities for students to think again, so that their knowledge can be consolidated. The extension principle emphasises the extension of the space of learning and catering the diverse needs of students. There are also design principles commonly found, with the emphases on student autonomy, interaction and feedback, and the awareness of student diversity. The findings contribute to the design of blended learning, especially on how the face-to-face and online components can be combined.     

香港初小学生识字测试报告

本文汇报了香港初小学生识字测试的工作。识字测试兼及汉字字音、字形、字义的认识。测试的汉字从香港小学语文大纲所列生字表分级随机抽出。测试结果显示香港初小学生对初小阶段的字,字音得分较高,字义次之,字形得分最低,表明学生对初小阶段的字的字音掌握较佳,字形掌握较低。当加入高小的字测试时,字音,字形,字义得分相对地下降,字音、字形、字义每项得分差别不大。识字测试结果也显示香港初小学生最先掌握字的音义,其次才掌握字的形义,最后才掌握字的音形。     

Project on the Effectiveness of Learning Strategies and Metacognitive Skills

Teachers should not only be concerned with the products of learning but also with the processes of learning as good teaching involves teaching pupils how to learn effectively. The importance of teaching pupils ‘to learn how to learn’ has gained momentum as recent research provides more and more evidence that substantial variance in learning outcomes can be attributed to learning approaches adopted by pupils (Marton, 1976; Marton and Sayo, 1978; Svenssin and Theman 1983; Marton and Saljo, 1984; Biggs, 1987; Chew 1988; Cheng, 1985).     

Teachers’ professional knowledge construction in Assessment for Learning

This article attempts to unpack the complexity of teachers’ professional knowledge construction in Assessment for Learning (hereafter, AfL). It presents a qualitative study of a school‐based AfL Project which took place in a secondary school in Hong Kong. Thirty lessons video‐recorded in the AfL Project and nine teacher interviews conducted after the Project were analyzed. The findings enrich our understanding of professional knowledge construction in four aspects: (1) personal nature of teachers’ practical knowledge construction in contrived situations; (2) confined integration of AfL into pedagogical content knowledge in terms of ‘skill progression that accompanies experience’; (3) more sophisticated integration of AfL into pedagogical content knowledge as ‘practicalizing theoretical knowledge’; and (4) reflection, conscious deliberation, and ‘theorizing practical knowledge’ associated with more sophisticated professional knowledge integration. Implications for enhancing teachers’ professional learning are discussed.     

The relationship between conceptions of teaching and approaches to teaching

The relationship between conceptions of teaching and approaches to teaching was explored in a study of 18 secondary school art teachers in Hong Kong. Conceptions of teaching approaches were fitted to a four‐category model. Each of the categories was distinguished by reference to six relevant dimensions. As is the case in higher education, approaches to teaching lower forms, with little pressure from external examinations or school ethos, followed logically from conceptions of teaching. There was also evidence that contextual influences, if they were sufficiently strong, could play a part in teachers’ approaches to teaching in the lower forms. For senior forms, the most marked contextual influence on approaches to teaching came from the external examination syllabus. Of the 13 teachers who taught senior form students, eight reported using approaches to teaching that were significantly different from those they used for lower forms. The remaining four used essentially the same approach for junior and senior forms because these were consistent with the orientation of examinations that measure skill and knowledge acquisition. Finally, the data suggest that both the educational background of the teachers and the banding levels (designation of the school as high or low achieving) of the schools they were teaching in were related to the combined conceptions and approaches. The influence of banding levels could be due either to teachers choosing a type of school consistent with their beliefs or the environment of the school influencing teachers’ beliefs and practices.     

Reflections on teaching and research: two inseparable components in higher education

Teaching and research are two inseparable components in higher education. There are continuous debates about the relationship between the two. Does good teaching always lead to good research, and vice versa? This paper critically examines the impact of current policy on the two academic practices and discusses how it shapes one’s professional values and career development. It begins with a discussion of the education policy development and the global trends in higher education, the ontological and epistemological positions of knowledge and education and proceeds to the set of axiological beliefs that educators should embrace. The critical reflective review presented connotes with notions of self-interrogation towards the improvement of professional practice. Its relevance to other disciplines is illustrated though examples contextualised in the marketing discipline.     

Defining the Effects of Transformational Leadership on Organisational Learning: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

The present study attempts to address three specific problems. First, amidst a large volume of literature on transformational leadership and its role on school operations in diverse domains, it hopes to identify its contribution to organisational learning. Second, as the intricate relationships that exist among leadership, structure and culture of the school are widely documented in the current literature, there is a need to determine the precise contribution transformational leadership makes to the collective search for adaptation strategies. Third, there is also a need to know whether the overt roles of transformational leadership in the context of organisational change is universal or culturally specific. Findings from schools in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Western Australia and Central Canada provided interesting generalised as well as specific patterns of leadership behaviours that shed light on the last question raised.