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This study uses hierarchical linear modeling to examine the influence of a range of factors on the science performances of Hong Kong students in PISA 2006. Hong Kong has been consistently ranked highly in international science assessments, such as Programme for International Student Assessment and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study; therefore, an exploration of the factors that affect science performances of Hong Kong students can give a lens to examine how science education can be improved in Hong Kong and other countries. The analyses reveal that student backgrounds as male, at higher grade levels, and born in mainland (when in the same grade) are associated with better science performance. Among the attitudinal factors, enjoyment of science and self-efficacy in science play important roles in scientific achievements. Most of the parental factors, on the other hand, are not having significant impacts on achievement after student attitudes are taken into account, with only parents’ value of science having a small effect. School student intake is found to be a strong predictor of school average achievement, as well as a major mediator of the effects of school enrollment size and school socio-economic status. The findings differ from recently reported results, which suggested that school enrollment size was associated with achievement. This study also points out the problems of the use of science instruction time as a school-level variable to explain science achievement in Hong Kong. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The aims of this study were to examine changes in students’ English and math self-concepts and to investigate the effects of gender and school ability level on these changes. Self-concept in English and math were measured thrice across three years among a sample of 2618 secondary school students from Hong Kong. Gender and school ability level were included as time-invariant predictors. Results indicated that students’ English self-concept slightly increased across time, while math self-concept marginally declined. Gender influenced both the initial levels and rates of change for English and math self-concepts, while school ability level predicted initial levels of self-concept. Implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The big-fish–little-pond effect (BFLPE) posits that students with the same ability will have higher academic self-concepts when they are in low-ability classes than in high-ability classes. Our research puts the BFLPE under scrutiny by examining goal orientations as the moderators that may affect the size of the BFLPE. We collected data on mathematics self-concept, mathematics ability and goal orientation from 7334 Hong Kong junior secondary school students in 201 classes. We hypothesised that the BFLPE would be exacerbated for students who endorsed high extrinsic goals while the BFLPE would be attenuated for students who endorsed high intrinsic goals. However, the results did not fully support the hypothesis. We found that students who were highly motivated in general (both intrinsic and extrinsic) experienced stronger BFLPE. The implications of the findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: This study investigates the structure and cross-cultural (in)variance of mathematical self-beliefs in relation to mathematics achievement in two world regions: Confucian Asia (Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan) and Europe (Denmark, The Netherlands, Finland, Serbia and Latvia). This is done both pan-culturally and at a multigroup-level, employing multiple regression analysis and structural equation modeling on a sample of 7167 students (modal age 15.1) from nine countries in Confucian Asia and Europe. As expected, Confucian Asian countries were lower on self-concept and higher on math anxiety than European countries. In contrast, confidence, a relatively new measure of self-belief, shows little difference between regions, yet is the single most important predictor of math accuracy both within each country and pan-culturally. It accounts for most of the variance explained by the other self-constructs combined, has excellent psychometric properties, and is simple to administer. Self-efficacy adds only a very small amount of incremental validity when confidence is in the equation. There are significant differences between the two world regions in terms of calibration – Europeans are more overconfident – due to lower overall mathematics scores of students from Serbia and Latvia. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Current computer-assisted language learning (CALL) research has identified various potentials of technology for language learning. To realize and maximize these potentials, engaging students in self-initiated use of technology for language learning is a must. This study investigated Hong Kong university students' use of technology outside the classroom to self-regulate their language learning. It showed that these students were actively engaged in the use of technology, but there were variations both among the students and in the aspects of language learning that they opted to support using technology. More importantly, this study unraveled the factors that influenced their selective use of technology in language learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study tested a mediation model to predict adolescents' academic achievement in Hong Kong. Generalized expectancies, including personal beliefs about agency and competence (i.e., self-efficacy) and social beliefs about effort and outcome (i.e., reward for application and fate control), were found to be significant antecedents of academic aspiration, a domain-specific mediator that predicted academic achievement positively. Self-efficacy and reward for application were positively related to academic aspiration. The indirect effect of fate control was negative on academic aspiration, but its direct effect was positive on academic achievement. These findings were used to make sense of the equivocal patterns of general self-efficacy, social axioms, and academic outcomes in the extant literature on learning and achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a qualitative analysis of Hong Kong school social workers' experiences in generating empowering practices, this paper discusses how a critical social work perspective provides a new frame of reference in which to examine the concept of empowerment in youth work. The recurrent themes of the narratives collected through in-depth interviews with 15 school social workers suggest that empowerment can be generated through a number of ways and understood in terms of dialogical process, reflexive practice, discourse construction, localized actions, and collective actions. The synthesis of these themes opens up the possibility for developing a framework of empowerment-oriented school social work practice. This framework provides a "map" to guide practitioners to work with power in diverse, dynamic, creative, and contextual ways. It is in many ways parallel to a critical social work perspective that emphasizes a dialectical view between the individual and social environment and synthesizes the critical theory and postmodernism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empowerment has become a popular concept in working with adolescents in recent years. It challenges the deficit model of youth work and focuses on creating a facilitative climate in which young people can make maximum use of the opportunity to learn and grow. While many practitioners have adopted the empowerment approach in youth services, however, we know little about the possibilities for empowerment practice in the field of school social work. Based on the findings of a qualitative study conducted in Hong Kong, this paper explores how school social workers engage in different dimensions of empowerment: (1) the personal dimension in regard to how students recapture a sense of competence to meet life challenges and fight for their own benefits; (2) the school and community dimensions in regard to how practitioners collaborate with service users and partners to initiate constructive changes to school policies and strengthen the school-community partnership for student development; and (3) the institutional dimension in regard to how practitioners play the advocacy role in the education sector. The findings provide rich information for other youth workers, especially those who render service in the school setting, as they apply the empowerment approach in daily practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]