scholarly journals Impact of secondary education reform on tertiary students’ generic competencies: A case study of associate degree freshmen in Hong Kong

Author(s):  
Ka Wai Ng ◽  
Joseph C.H. So

This paper examines the correlation between curriculum reforms and the development of generic competencies among Hong Kong tertiary students (or secondary leavers who were admitted to Associate Degree and Higher Diploma). A total number of 3626 freshmen completed a set of self-assessment questionnaires, which were used to analyse the correlation between five generic competencies, across three academic years from 2010 to 2012. Five of the generic competencies, which were highlighted in the proposed new three-year New Senior Secondary (NSS) academic structure, were measured and compared between students from different academic backgrounds. The finding of the study indicated significantly higher scores in generic competencies for the traditional Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination (HKALE) secondary school curriculum in 2012 compared to earlier cohorts, whilst in general no significant difference was found between students from the traditional curriculum and the new academic structure of the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) in the mixed ‘double cohort’ year of 2012. The result points to the potential early impact of NSS on students’ generic skill development across both the old and new curriculum.

Author(s):  
Ayman Aied Mohammed Mamdouh, Essa Ahmad Alfaifi

This study aims at identifying the Effect of Using Technology and Modern Techniques (Ayat) that is based on the connectivism theory, in developing Quran recitation skills among curriculum's students of secondary school in Saudi Arabia. In order to achieve the study's objectives, the researcher uses the semi-experimental method. The study examines a sample of (71) students of secondary school curriculum system in the first semester of the academic year 1438H - 1439H in the government schools in Riyadh. They were divided into two equal groups (experimental and control). Students of the experimental group were taught according to the software program based on connectivism theory, and the others were taught in the traditional way. An oral test is used as a study tool to measure the existence of recitation skills (correct reading, smooth reading, recitation, and chanting), and to measure the Effect of Using Technology and Modern Technique in developing these skills. After analyzing the statistical data, the results of the study indicated the Effect of Using of the Modern Techniques, based on the connectivism theory, in the development of recitation skills (correct reading, smooth reading, recitation, and chanting) among curriculum's students of secondary school in Saudi Arabia. The study also showed a statistically significant difference of (0.05) between the average scores of the two groups in the post-measurement of the recitation test in the recitation skills such as (correct reading, smooth reading, recitation, and chanting) after adjusting the pre-measurement.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karly O.W. Chan ◽  
Maggie K.W. Ng ◽  
Joseph C.H. So ◽  
Victor C.W. Chan

PurposeA new academic structure for senior secondary and higher education was introduced to Hong Kong in 2009/2010. This paper aims to: (1) compare the cohort from the old academic structure (Cohort 2010) and the cohort from the new academic structure (Cohort 2015) on the 14 categories of generic competencies; and (2) compare these attributes among students from different divisions in a tertiary institution in Hong Kong.Design/methodology/approachSelf-Assessment of All-Round Development (SAARD) questionnaires were distributed to students who took the two-year sub-degree programmes offered by the College of Professional and Continuing Education, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2010 and 2015 on a self-administered basis. A total of 4,424 students have returned the questionnaires. Data were analyzed with t-test to compare between the two cohorts.FindingsWhen comparing Cohort 2015 with Cohort 2010, significantly higher scores were observed on five areas such as global outlook and healthy lifestyle (p<0.05). Significantly lower scores were observed on the other five areas such as problem solving, critical thinking and leadership (p<0.05). Students from all divisions unanimously showed higher perceived rating on social and national responsibility but lower perceived rating on leadership (p<0.05).Originality/ValueThe elimination of one public examination, the newly included components such as Other Learning Experiences (OLE) and the compulsory Liberal Studies were believed to contribute partially to the diverse responses of the two cohorts. The dramatic change of the curriculum has not changed the examination culture in Hong Kong which may hinder the development of generic skills among students.


Author(s):  
Daniel T.L. Shek ◽  
Florence K.Y. Wu

AbstractWith the launching of the education reform in Hong Kong, the secondary school structure was changed from 7 years to 6 years in the 2006–07 school year. This paper describes Secondary four students’ views about the new secondary school curriculum, including their confidence and related stress. The students were also asked to assess the importance of life skills and its perceived adequacy in the formal curriculum. Results showed that roughly four-tenths of the students did not feel confident about their study and around six-tenths felt stressed. Although most of the students agreed that life skills were important, around 37% of them thought that the coverage of such knowledge in the formal curriculum was not adequate. Consistent with our hypotheses, academic confidence, academic stress, support provided by the school, and positive youth development were significantly related, with positive youth development predicting academic confidence.


1999 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-48
Author(s):  
Kian Lam TOH

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in English; abstract also in Chinese.The notion of leisure education can trace its roots far back to Ancient Greece. The aim of leisure education is not to increase the number of subjects offered by the schools, but rather to infuse the values of leisure into the existing subjects. The objective is to guide the students in making good use of their leisure, which in fact is one of the secondary school curriculum aims. Besides presenting some of the important developments of leisure education in American public schools, this paper also highlights some of the reasons why leisure education fails in the United States. These problems are relevant to us especially if we want to make leisure education in Hong Kong a reality one day.休閒教育的起源可追溯到古希臘時代。休閒教育的目的不在於增加學校的科目,而是將休閒的價値溶入目前學校既有的科目中,引導學生善用閒暇時間,這也正是香港的教育目標之一。美國學校的休閒教育可說是失敗的。本文首先提出休閒教育在美國的一些重要發展,然後舉出一些造成他們失敗的可能原因,若是有朝一日休閒教育在本港萌芽,那麼我們就不得不重視這些我們也可能面對的問題。


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