The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a mobile User-Generated-Content (m-UGC) tool on enhancing primary students' vocabulary learning motivation and learning outcomes. A total of 40 primary students in Hong Kong participated in this study. The results showed using the m-UGC tool could increase primary students' learning…

Based on an integrative model of emotional labor, the present study examined the relationships among teachers' emotional labor strategies, the emotional job demands of teaching, trust in colleagues and teacher efficacy. The results from a sample of 1115 Hong Kong primary school teachers showed that surface acting plays a dysfunctional role, but…

Hong Kong attained champion of the PIRLS 2011 that aroused keen interest in understanding the underlying reasons of a non-alphabetic language. The study aimed at unravelling various aspects of the student and home factors which contributed to remarkable Chinese reading performance. Totally 3,875 students from 132 primary schools completed the…

This paper reports an investigation of assessing students' information literacy (IL) in a naturalistic classroom environment by using a set of rubrics. A total of 72 lessons from 15 classrooms in Hong Kong were examined. Results indicate that the rubric is generally valid and usable in assessing students' IL skills but three more attributes which…

Drawing on 1386 questionnaire responses, 11- and 12-year old primary students in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan valued the same six orientations in their mathematics learning. These are achievement, relevance, practice, communication, information and communication technologies [ICT], and feedback. Each of these six values was also embraced…

This study investigated pre-service primary teachers' knowledge and beliefs about mathematics, the curriculum in Hong Kong, and teaching practices. Pre-service teachers from all four years of the program who were majoring in mathematics teaching completed a questionnaire. A sample participated in an interview and provided lesson plans for…

This paper presents the findings from a small-scale case study of Hong Kong primary teachers' perceptions of the factors affecting teachers' participation in continuing professional development (CPD). The study applies a multiple approach with mixed research methods, including using a self-developed survey questionnaire on the basis of the CPD…

This paper describes a pilot study which is part of a larger research project into theories underpinning the teaching and learning of early mathematics in Hong Kong. In this pilot study we focus on the relationship between teachers' beliefs and their instructional practice in pre-school and lower primary school. Findings reveal that there were…

This paper will begin by discussing some of the important theories relating to the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in learning. It then explores problems affecting the implementation of educational technology in Hong Kong's primary schools, including issues of cost effectiveness. A survey was administered to school heads and…

Elementary school teachers in Hong Kong (n=527) responded to survey items about formative outcomes, summative outcomes, perceived purposes of appraisal, overall effectiveness of appraisal, and summative purposes such as promotion and dismissal of staff. Principal components analysis and confirmatory analysis yielded the two a priori outcome…

The recent educational reform in Hong Kong has emphasized students' learning to learn. To facilitate the ability of learning to learn, students need to: trust their own capabilities; like academic work; be intrinsically motivated such that they are task and effort oriented; be ready to broaden their knowledge and skills by reading and exploring;…

This study investigated cultural differences in self-perception of competence and mathematics achievement in Canadian and Chinese elementary school students. The Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC) was administered to 125 fourth-grade Canadian children randomly selected from schools in an urban school district. The SPPC was translated into…

Teachers attending a 5-week in-service retraining course completed a survey asking them to rate their current competencies and training needs in 24 variables (N = 210). Intuitively, teacher competencies and their perceived needs of retraining should be negatively correlated. However, the correlations between teacher competencies and perceived…

The degree of parental awareness of their children's homework style and homework behavior and its effects on academic and homework achievement and homework attitude were investigated in 329 Chinese fifth graders (172 boys and 157 girls) and 244 seventh graders (130 boys and 114 girls) and their parents in Hong Kong. Parental awareness of their…