全球化、国际化与高等教育交流:香港的经验

为了应对日益激烈的全球市场竞争,许多新兴国家和地区的政府近年来都纷纷起草教育改革蓝图,并出台一系列针对教育体制改革的措施。香港特别行政区也把教育作为一项优先发展的公共政策,以增强本地公民的全球竞争力。在认识到人力资源是特别行政区拥有的唯一资源后,香港特区政府亦斥巨资投资教育。尽管特别行政区目前面临严重的预算赤字,但教育仍占到2004-2005年政府预算公共支出的最大份额22.5％。本文着重对在全球化的背景下,香港特别行政区采取怎样的措施来改善其高等教育体制,以及香港的大学如何与海外大学加强学术交流,以增强本港大学的国际竞争力进行论述。     

Implementing Effective Group Work for Mathematical Achievement in Primary School Classrooms in Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Education Bureau recommends that primary school pupils’ mathematical achievement be enhanced via collaborative discussions engendered by group work. This pedagogic change may be hindered by Confucian heritage classroom practices and Western-dominated group work approaches that predominate in Hong Kong. To overcome these obstacles, we introduced a relational approach to group work in a quasi-experimental study. Our sample included 20 teachers randomly allocated to experimental (12) and control (8) conditions and their 504 mathematics pupils (aged 9–10). The relational approach focused on the development of peer relationships in a culturally appropriate manner and was implemented over 7 months. Pupils were pre-/post-tested for mathematical achievement and systematically observed, and the teachers were assessed for subject knowledge and pre-/post-tested for pedagogic efficacy. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) results show enhanced mathematical achievement, supported by improved peer-based communication skills and time-on-task for the experimental pupils. Experimental teachers raised their pedagogic efficacy. Results indicate the potential of the relational approach for boosting academic achievement via enhanced child-peer-teacher interaction and the need to reassess the role of peer-based latent collectivist learning in Confucian heritage classrooms.     

Educational Reform and Research in Hong Kong: A Request for Comprehensive Knowledge

When Hong Kong is moving towards a knowledge society in the new millennium, research is clearly necessary to provide a knowledge base for educational development and reform to meet the challenges of globalization and high technology in the world. This report aims to review the education policy environment in Hong Kong and see whether research can be encouraged to support policy development and practice improvement. Particularly, the report will give a brief introduction to the recent initiatives in Hong Kong school education since the establishment of the Special Administrative Region in 1997 and discusses the potential research agenda to support the ongoing education reforms at the school system. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Does learner expertise matter when designing emotional multimedia for learners of primary school mathematics?

Educational technology research and development - Recent research on multimedia learning has considered the integration of cognitive and affective aspects of media processing. The literature...     

Globalization and educational restructuring: University merging and changing governance in China

This article sets out in the context of globalization to identify, examine and discuss issues related to structural adjustment and educational restructuring in China, with particular reference to university merging and changes in higher education governance models. While it is basically an historical and documentary analysis of policy change in Chinese higher education, this article focuses on restructuring strategies that the Chinese government has adopted to make its university systems more competitive and efficient in the global market context. University merging in China should not be simply understood as a pure higher education reform but rather a fundamental change in higher education governance model from an ‘interventionist state model’ to an ‘accelerationist state model’. Rather than globalization bringing about the decline of the nation state, this article shows transformations taking place in Chinese universities may not necessarily diminish the capacity of the state but instead make the Chinese government a more activist state in certain aspects.     

Computer-based collaborative problem-solving assessment in Taiwan

Abstract

The current study explores students’ collaboration and problem solving (CPS) abilities using a human-to-agent (H-A) computer-based collaborative problem solving assessment. Five CPS assessment units with 76 conversation-based items were constructed using the PISA 2015 CPS framework. In the experiment, 53,855 ninth and tenth graders in Taiwan were recruited, and a multidimensional item response analysis was used to develop CPS scales and represent the students’ collaboration and problem solving performance. The results show that the developed H-A approach is feasible for measuring students’ CPS skills, and the CPS scales are also shown to be reliable. In addition, the students’ CPS performance scores are further explored and discussed under the PISA CPS framework.     

Predictors of Chinese reading and literacy skills among Chinese school children: a 3-year longitudinal study

Abstract

This study aims to identify the predictors of Chinese reading and literacy skills among Chinese school children in Taiwan. Participants recruited in the study were 182 Grade 1 elementary school students. First, data were collected on these students’ literacy skills, which comprised morphological awareness, orthography processing, visual perception skills, phonological awareness, and rapid automatised naming. In Grade 2, data were collected from these students on their word decoding skills, which comprised character recognition and reading fluency. Finally, in Grade 3, data were collected on the Chinese comprehension skills of the same students. A structural equation model examined the direct and indirect effects of students’ literacy skills at Grade 1 on their reading comprehension at Grade 3, with students’ word decoding at Grade 2 acting as a mediator. Results showed that reading comprehension of students at Grade 3 was predicted by their literacy skills at Grade 1.     

访国家自然科学奖二等奖获得者香港科技大学数学系黄劲松教授

在2002年度国家科学技术奖的竞选中,香港学者获得两项国家自然科学奖二等奖(全国共23项),一项国家技术发明奖二等奖(全国共21项),为历来获奖成绩最好的一次。 2003年4月3日,我们到香港科技大学数学系,采访了国家自然科学奖二等奖获得者之一的黄劲松教授。     

Reflecting globalization effects on local policy: higher education reform in Taiwan

Recent comparative education policy studies show that even though there seems to be similar patterns and trends in higher education reforms in East Asian societies, the recently initiated higher education reforms have had very diverse agendas. Thus, the considerable convergence of policy rhetoric and general policy objectives may not satisfactorily explain the complicated processes of changes and the dynamic interactions between global, regional and local forces that shape education policy-making in individual countries. This article discusses globalization effects on national policy, with particular reference to how the higher education sector in Taiwan has transformed itself under the global tide of marketization and decentralization. There are a lot of changes similar to both higher education in Taiwan and that of elsewhere, which suggests that Taiwan's higher education has been affected by the trends of globalization. But before we jump to this conclusion, maybe we should also bear in mind an alternative hypothesis that local factors are crucial and determining factors for change. The core of the article is to examine the ways and strategies the Taiwan Government has adopted to reform its higher education systems in response to the changing local socio-economic political context and regional-global environments, with a particular focus on provision, regulation and financing.