Abstract

In view of the fact that the sovereignty of Hong Kong will be returned to China in 1997, the demand for increasing the weighting on China in the junior secondary geography curriculum has gained momentum. The present study aims at revealing Secondary Three students' level of understanding of the geography of China. A test instrument comprised 50 multiple-choice questions were designed and administered to 4556, 2742, 546 Secondary Three students in Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Macau respectively. The results show that the performance of Hong Kong students were inferior than their counterparts in China and Macau. However, the performance of Hong Kong students was not alarming as the average score was 24.79, very close to the 50% mark. The issue of the China element in the junior secondary geography and social studies curriculum is discussed in light of the findings.

摘要

香港將於1997年回歸中國，因此，增加初中地理課程內中國地理的訴求愈來愈大。本文匯報一項香港中三學生對中國地理認識的研究。在這項研究中，研究員設計和發展了一份有50條多項選擇題的測試工具。有4556 名香港中三學生、2742名廣州中三學生及546名澳門中三學生填答這份試題。數據顯示香港學生的中國地理知識比廣州和澳門同級學生稍遜。但是香港學生的表現並非太差，平均答對率接近百分之五十。本文亦就研究的發現討論本港初中地理課程及社會科課程應如何作出修訂。

Abstract

In recent years, job perception and job attitudes of secondary school teachers in Hong Kong have received research attention. These studies are helpful in understanding the professional behavior of secondary school teachers but they focused mainly on the teaching profession. This study compares the job perception and job attitudes of young graduate teachers with university graduates working in other professions. A sample of 1,461 graduates from the Chinese University of Hong Kong were surveyed. Significant differences in job perception and job attitudes were found among various professions after the differences in salary level, gender composition, tenure and undergraduate major were controlled. Results and implications for these findings are discussed.

Abstract

The use of computer in education started more than thirty years ago. In traditional computer assisted instruction systems, all responses have to be preplanned and implemented at the designing stage. The system builders must prespecify all available routes through the space of teaching possibilities. Every test, every decision, every branch leading to some remedial material and every exposition must be written in advance (Goodyear, 1991). When considering the number of decision points with their corresponding responses, the possible number of combinations, even for small tutoring systems, will be enormous. This prevents computer assisted systems from being used in larger subject area. Recently, with the aid of knowledge representation techniques originating from artificial intelligence, human knowledge can be incorporated into computer systems. Based on the knowledge incorporated, computer systems can now make judgments on students' responses and decide on suitable responses to be made in real time. There is no need to pre-install all the possible routes and decision points. The computer system is thus smaller in a sense that less memory space is required on the hardware. Besides, the responses generated in real time can be more flexible and more adapted to students' needs. Logex is an example of such systems, called intelligent tutoring systems, which are designed to help students in simplifying logarithmic expressions by working through the simplification process with the students. This article describes its principles, structure and the ways by which it helps students.

摘要

電腦應用於教育上已有三十年的歷史。早期電腦輔助教學系統的設計，由於每一問題、學生的可能反應、與及隨後的輔助辦法等，都需要預先估計，然後設置於系統內。這種辦法，除了比較繁瑣外，亦需要較大的電腦記憶空間來貯藏這許多資料。所以對於那些需要廣闊學科知識的範疇來說，要使用這種方法來設計電腦輔助教學系統，存在著不少的困難。近年來，由於人工智慧的發展，已能將人類的知識析出，將之設置於電腦系統內。基於此內置的知識，電腦系統可以就學生的反應，即時判斷其對錯，然後提出適當的補救辦法。由於此種系統比較接近真人教師輔導學生辦法的關係，所以被稱為智慧型電腦輔助教學系統（intelligent tutoring syslem）。智慧型電腦系統由於不需要預置所有可能反應及輔導辦法，需要的電腦記憶空間比較少，相應地可以處理的知識範圍亦比較廣闊。本文即介紹一個這樣的智慧型電腦輔助教學系統Logex，其設計內容及幫助學生辦法。

Abstract

This study examined the 155 attempted suicides and 50 fatal suicides of school children in Hong Kong for the three school years in the period September 1991 to August 1994. The annual attempted suicide rate is estimated at 2.7 and 8.4 per 100,000 for male and female schoolchildren respectively. The male to female ratio is about 1:3. The annual suicide rate of the school children is estimated at 1.5 and 2.1 per 100,000 for males and females who have a ratio about 1:1.4. The highest rate of suicide and attempted suicide were found in the group of Females aged 15 or above had the highest rate both in attempted and fatal suicides. Over 50% of the attempters used wrist slashing. Drug overdose was the second most common method in attempted suicides. Over 90% of the fatal cases were jumping from a high place. Drowning, gas, hanging, firearms were the least common methods. Fatal and attempted suicides occurred more often during weekdays and less often on Saturdays and Sundays. The times between successive suicide attempts were not independent.

摘要

這個研究報告是探討由九一年九月至九四年八月，三個學年中發生的五十宗學生自殺和一百五十五宗的企圖自殺個案。學童企圖自殺率分別是，男性是每十萬人有二點七人，女性是八點四。男女的比例是一比三。學童自殺率則是男性一點五而女性二點一，男女的比例是一比一點四，女性年齡十五歲以上是企圖自殺和自殺率最高的組別。超過一半的企圖自殺學童是用利器割脈，其次則是服用過量藥物。超過九成的自殺者是跳樓，採用其他方法如遇溺、煤氣、吊頸及鎗械則很少。企圖自殺和自殺最常發生於週日；星期六、日和暑假期間則較少，企圖自殺個案發生的時間分佈不是獨立。

Abstract

Universities in Hong Kong have been under rapid change after entering the last decade of this century. Academics are urged to have more research outputs besides their teaching. This article investigated the developmental trend of publication outputs among these universities. Data were collected from the annual reports of research and publication outputs of these universities. In order to have a fair comparison of publication outputs of each academic, department, faculty and institution, the author developed a framework from practical experience and literature to investigate the problem. Results indicated that the publication outputs of academics in Hong Kong were about the same as those in other countries. However, pressing faculty too hard for research publications would not necessarily raise output immediately.

摘要

進入二十世紀最後的十年，香港各大學正面臨急速的轉變，其中的學者們不單要教學，且要有更多的研究成果。本文探尋本港各大學的學者們所發表著作的趨勢，資料來源主要是出自各大學每年出版有關其本身各學者的研究及著作概覽。為著能對各學者、院系及大學發表的著述作一個公平有系統的比較，筆者從文獻及其經驗中制訂了一個計算研究著作成果的方法，從而列出香港各大學各學院及各等級的學者們的著作成果，發覺本港學者們在這方面的成就與外國沒有多大分別，而且從上而下壓力不一定能即時提高著作的成果。

Abstract

Recent research in genetics learning showed that students had inappropriate models of meiosis in their minds. These conception research studies are limited in the sense that they did not inform students' problem-solving success in genetics. Contemporary view suggests the inclusion of model-revising problems in problem-solving research in science education. Such problems require students to revise their existing basic models to fit into the anomalous data of the problem. In genetics, it is believed by researchers that both an understanding of the terms and a focus on the whole problem are crucial factors for problem-solving success. In other words, the ability to apply concepts to problem-solving should be examined. The author thus suggests that future integrated trend of research in genetics should also incorporate the phenomenographic perspective to look at the approach to problem-solving of the problem solvers.

摘要

寫作是一個很複雜的思維過程。「暫停」是作者寫作時，停下來做其它思維活動。本研究利用「大聲想」、「錄影法」、「刺激回憶法」等方法，收集研究對象的「暫停」的資料，並比較中英文寫作的暫停的異同，研究結果顯示寫中文時，研究對象比較多想內容，邏輯，轉換方面等問題。寫英文時，他們多想「串宇」，「文法」，「標點」等問韙。「暫停」能反映作者寫作時的內在思維。

Abstract

This research focuses on the sub-process of pausing in the composing process in English and in Chinese. Pauses are moment of physical inactivity during writing. The research subjects were asked to think aloud before writing. They were videotaped during writing and were stimulated to recall their writing activities after writing. It was found that more subjects paused to retrieve and to select information, to reflect on logical problems and to transform ideas when writing in Chinese than in English. However, when writing in English they often paused to look for words, to spell words and to think about matters of grammar and mechanics. To a large extent, the pausal activities can reflect the foci of thinking of the subjects during writing.

摘要

結構方程模式已成教育、社會及心理學等的重要數據分析技巧，本文主要是總結及引用數個新近發表有關擬合優指數的模擬數據研究結果。文章首先從近似及估計差距的概念，討論模式的適合性，繼而介紹數種常用擬合優指數，包括：交互效度確定、增值擬合、省儉及離中指數，除了描述各指數的設計理念及特徵外，亦討論一些評核指數的準則，如：獨立於樣本大小、懲罰覆雜模式、指數的信度等。在比較各指數時，文章亦推介RMSEA, RNI及NNFI作為一般常用的擬合優指數。

Abstract

Structural equation modeling has become an important statistical technique in educational, social, and psychological research. The present article summarizes and presents the results of a number of recently published Monte Carlo studies on goodness of fit indexes. First, the concept behind model fitting is discussed with reference to approximation and estimation discrepancies. Then, the philosophy and characteristics of several common categories of fit indexes are described, which include cross-validation, incremental, parsimony, and noncentrality indexes. Lastly, the criteria in evaluating an index are discussed and it is recommended that RMSEA, RNI and NNFI can be used for routine SEM analyses.