Attitudes and aspirations regarding engineering among Chinese secondary school students: comparisons between industrialising and post-industrial geo-engineering regions of Mainland China and Hong Kong     

Peter Kutnick  Zhiyong Zhu  Cecilia Chan  Rosanna Yuen-Yan Chan  Betty Pok-Yee Lee  Veronica Ka Wai Lai 《Compare》2018,48(4):608-629

School-based pipelines/routes for university and technical engineering education are recognised as important for economic development and the high-school years are critical for shaping students’ career aspirations and attitudes. This study examined a range of attitudes/experiences on the aspirations of secondary students to pursue engineering education and vocation. Experiential/attitudinal aspects covered demographic characteristics, family/school support, practical learning experiences, curricular/extra-curricular experiences, attitudes, perceptions and engineering-efficacy that may affect aspirations. A validated questionnaire capturing these variables was administered to respective samples of secondary school students from four Chinese geo-engineering regions (Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and ShanXi; 5965 students) that represent differing degrees of industrialisation. Comparative analyses across regions show ‘doing’ engineering is key to motivating students’ aspirations; while regional variations suggest that schooling and family factors are generally more significant in industrialising Mainland cities, and extracurricular opportunities and personal factors are more significant for students in post-industrial Hong Kong.  相似文献   

Student ability in identifying reasons for different points of view: A learning activity conducted with a group of Japanese High School Students     

Nu Nu Wai  Yukiko Hirakawa  Kyoko Hirasawa  John H. Giles 《Asia Pacific Education Review》2005,6(2):153-157

Problem solving as a skill is emphasized within the revised Japanese Course of Study for schools. This experimental study, conducted among Japanese high school students, evaluates an effort to develop student ability to identify reasons fordifferent points of view, not just personally favored views. First, the ability of all students was tested using a reading literacy question from the 2000 PISA test, which measures the reading skills of evaluation and reflection. The experimental group then participated in a developmental learning activity. After the activity, all students were retested using the same PISA question. Nothing conclusive was found regarding the general effectiveness of the lesson activity, but two insights were gained. It was found that student self-awareness of the importance of the learning task and interactive learning are important to consider.  相似文献   

Providing transparency and credibility: the selection of international students for Australian universities. An examination of the relationship between scores in the International Student Admissions Test (ISAT), final year academic programs and an Australian university’s foundation program     

Kelvin Lai  Susan Nankervis  Margot Story  Wayne Hodgson  Michael Lewenberg 《高等教育研究与发展》2008,27(4):331-344

Throughout 2003–04 five cohorts of students in their final year of school studies in various Malaysian colleges and a group of students completing an Australian university foundation year in Malaysia sat the International Student Admissions Test (ISAT). The ISAT is a multiple‐choice test of general academic abilities developed for students whose first language is not English. Both sets of scores were examined to investigate the relationship between skills measured by the academic programs and the generic reasoning skills measured by the ISAT. The data were examined by looking at correlations and patterns of the ISAT scores, and the total academic program scores and individual subject scores. As well, multiple regression was used to examine if the ISAT could act as a predictor for academic program scores. Although the ISAT and measures of achievement in the academic programs are two completely different instruments, the study showed that: (i) the scores were positively and significantly correlated; (ii) patterns of co‐variation of the ISAT and academic program scores demonstrate a positive relationship; and (iii) there is evidence that achieving a high score in the academic programs requires high reasoning skills, as measured by the ISAT. The findings of this study indicate that the ISAT is a useful predictor of student ability for use in the university selection process for international applicants.  相似文献   

Teachers as Disempowered and Demoralised Moral Agents: School Board Management and Teachers in Hong Kong     

Kwok Kuen Tsang 《British Journal of Educational Studies》2019,67(2):251-267

This study argues that teachers are disempowered and demoralised moral agents. Specifically, it uses a qualitative study of Hong Kong teachers to show that teachers’ agency in the pursuit of the moral goal of education is socially disempowered. The study shows that although teachers are committed to the moral goal of education, the obstacles to attaining this goal result in demoralisation. The difficulties consist of technical disempowerment (deprivation of power over one’s labour) and cognitive disempowerment (deprivation of power to identify the instructional value of teachers’ work), which are induced by managerialist educational reforms and school administration.  相似文献   

Assessment of early handwriting skill in kindergarten children using a Chinese name writing test     

Tse  Linda Fung Ling  Siu  Andrew Man Hong  Li-Tsang  Cecilia Wai Ping 《Reading and writing》2019,32(2):265-284

Reading and Writing - This study developed and validated a Chinese name writing scale (CNWS) for evaluating early handwriting skills of kindergarten children. We then used the validated CNWS to...  相似文献   

Assessment for learning in Singapore: unpacking its meanings and identifying some areas for improvement   总被引：2，自引：1，他引：1  

Kelvin Tan 《Educational Research for Policy and Practice》2011,10(2):91-103

This article examines the meanings and impact of ‘Assessment for Learning’ initiatives in schools against the back drop of assessment reform in Singapore since 1997. It is argued that Assessment for Learning’ is understood in different ways, and these different meanings do not always benefit students’ learning. The different meanings of ‘Assessment for Learning’ in Singapore are unpacked, and three areas for improvement for Assessment for Learning are suggested—clear standards for effective feedback practices, assessment for sustainable learning and assessment for integrating holistic learning.  相似文献   

Statistical extremes and peak factors in wind-induced vibration of tall buildings     

Ming-feng Huang  Chun-man Chan  Wen-juan Lou  Kenny Chung-Siu Kwok 《浙江大学学报(A卷英文版)》2012,13(1):18-32

In the structural design of tall buildings, peak factors have been widely used to predict mean extreme responses of tall buildings under wind excitations. Vanmarcke’s peak factor is directly related to an explicit measure of structural reliability against a Gaussian response process. We review the use of this factor for time-variant reliability design by comparing it to the conventional Davenport’s peak factor. Based on the asymptotic theory of statistical extremes, a new closed-form peak factor, the so-called Gamma peak factor, can be obtained for a non-Gaussian resultant response characterized by a Rayleigh distribution process. Using the Gamma peak factor, a combined peak factor method was developed for predicting the expected maximum resultant responses of a building undergoing lateral-torsional vibration. The effects of the standard deviation ratio of two sway components and the inter-component correlation on the evaluation of peak resultant response were also investigated. Utilizing wind tunnel data derived from synchronous multi-pressure measurements, we carried out a wind-induced time history response analysis of the Commonwealth Advisory Aeronautical Research Council (CAARC) standard tall building to validate the applicability of the Gamma peak factor to the prediction of the peak resultant acceleration. Results from the building example indicated that the use of the Gamma peak factor enables accurate predictions to be made of the mean extreme resultant acceleration responses for dynamic serviceability performance design of modern tall buildings.  相似文献   

A reflective learning taxonomy for an educational tour     

Samuel Kin Tak Cheng  Kwok Keung Ho 《Educational Research for Policy and Practice》2012,11(3):243-260

This study is to investigate the reflective learning in a group of secondary school students who participated in an educational tour to Liannan, which is located in a rural area in Guangdong Province, Mainland China. The specific aim is to develop a framework to describe the learning in an educational tour. For this purpose, data were collected through students?? reflective writing in daily journals and end-of-trip sharing passages, triangulated with participant observation and interviews. The data analysis involved the use of grounded theory??s constant-comparative technique??an inductive method for generating hypotheses that are grounded in data. During the analysis of the data, the types of student learning which emerged were categorized in a Reflective Learning Taxonomy for an educational tour, comprising seven levels which are developmental in nature. The interpretative framework based on such a taxonomy of reflective learning reveals the rich context of learning in an educational tour and so makes a contribution to research on learning outside the classroom.  相似文献   

Is there creativity in design? From a perspective of school design and technology in Hong Kong     

Yi Lin Wong  Kin Wai Michael Siu 《Asia Pacific Education Review》2012,13(3):465-474

As creativity is likely to become a crucial aspect of living in the future, it is important for educators to teach students to think creatively when solving constantly evolving and increasingly complex problems. Supported by the idea that creativity can be taught and learnt, elements of creativity are now embedded in secondary school education. Among all school subjects, design and technology (D&T) is one of the best examples for fostering and cultivating students?? creativity, as the subject offers creative activities that enable students to realize their ideas in the context of the real world. This paper analyzes the creative elements in the D&T curriculum in Hong Kong as seen in the exemplar projects on the Education Bureau website. Some problems and difficulties encountered in fostering creativity in the context of Hong Kong are identified, based on the current teaching environment. The paper also draws attention to East Asian beliefs and implicit theories, which greatly influence teachers?? underlying assumptions about learning and teaching, and at the same time notes that these beliefs may be detrimental to the development of creativity among students. The paper then identifies the problems and inadequacies in fostering creativity in design at the secondary school level and expects to raise awareness of the importance of creativity in D&T.  相似文献   

The effects of a gamified morphological awareness intervention on students' cognitive,motivational and affective outcomes     

Shen Qiao  Susanna Siu-sze Yeung  Xiaoai Shen  Samuel Kai Wah Chu 《British journal of educational technology : journal of the Council for Educational Technology》2022,53(4):952-976

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