Newsletter No. 126

2 No. 126 4th May 1998 CUHK Newsletter New Postgraduate and Certificate Programmes T he University Senate recently approved the introduction of six new programmes in 1998. • Postgraduate Diploma Programme in Education (Primary) • Postgraduate Diploma Programme in Applied Geoinformatics (part-time, self-financed) To be offered by the School of Continuing Studies: • Diploma Programme in Office Administration and Office Technology • Diploma Programme in Policing/Security Technology (Distance Education) • Certificate Programme in Computer Education (Primary School Teachers) • Certificate Programme in Putonghua (Basic, Intermediate, Advanced) Exhibition on Art Criticism T he exhibition ' A rt Critics — The Bridge Between Audience and the Wo r l d of A r t ' by the I n t e r na t i onal Association of Theatre Critics (Hong Kong) took place at the Un i ve r s i ty Library from 15th to 22nd April. The exhibition gave a general review of the development of art criticism, wh i ch included a general introduction to art c r i t i c i sm, the h i s t o r i cal and social background of art criticism, the relationship between art critics, the audience, and the world of art, and photographs of recent Hong Kong drama productions. Profiles The Profiles column aims at introducing new members of staff to the campus community. Contributions are voluntary. All new staff members are welcome to contribute their profiles by filling out a form tenable at their unit/ departmental offices and returning it to the Editor of the CUHK Newsletter via their unit heads. Michael McClellan 麥嘉倫 PhD Assistant Professor in the Department of Music from 1st August 1996 (Ext. 6493); previously Ph.D. student. Prof. McClellan teaches 18th and 19th century music history and western opera. He also teaches Western music history in the part-time degree programme and partakes in the coordination of the department's concert series. Tony Mok Shu-kam 莫樹錦 BMSc, MD, FRCP(C), FHKAM(Med), FHKCP Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical Oncology f r om August 1996 (Tel. 26322166); previously internal medicine and oncology consultant at the Scarborough Grace General Hospital in Toronto, Canada. Prof. Mok provides clinical teaching to Years 3 and 5 medical students in the oncology rotation. His research interests include the clinical study of novel drugs, the pharmacokinetic study of chemotherapeutic agents, and hepatocellular carcinoma screening. Timothy Francis Weiss BA, MA, PhD Associate Professor in the Department of English from 15th August 1997 (Ext.7017); previously professor at the University of Kansas, Iowa State University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the University of Maine. Prof. Weiss teaches writing and literature. He has published articles on 19th and 20th century literature and on composition and professional communication. John Yau Kwok-fung 丘國峰 BApplSci (Materials Science), PhD (Materials Science & Engineering) Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics from 1st December 1997 (Ext. 6278); previously working at the Australian Research Council. Prof. Yau teaches materials science and supervises research in materials science. RESEARCH FOCUS Looking at a Self-Perpetuating Cycle A Survey of the Effectiveness of the Hong Kong Secondary School System Background and Objectives Quality school education was the focus of the Education Commission Report Number 7 (1997). The essence of quality school education, according to the report, lies in the 'delivery of educational outcomes which meet the needs and expectation of the community in an efficient, accountable, and cost-effective way'. In line with the emphasis on quality school education, a group of researchers from the Faculty of Education (see box below) conducted a large-scale study of the effectiveness of the Hong Kong secondary school system, which involved not only school administrators and teachers, but also students, parents, business employers, and policy-makers in and connected to the civil service. The primary objectives of the study were to identify the goals expected of the Hong Kong secondary school system, measure its capability in attaining them, study the relationships between learning outcomes and crucial aspects of schooling, and identify those schools and educational practices which can bring about positive learning outcomes. Members of the research team • Prof. Leslie Lo Nai-kwai (Educational Administration & Policy) • Prof. Tsang Wing-kwong (Educational Administration & Policy) • Prof. Chung Choi-man (Curriculum & Instruction) ‧ Prof. Chung Yue-ping (Educational Administration & Policy) • Prof. Cheng Yin-cheong (Educational Administration & Policy) • Mr. Paul Sze Man-man (Curriculum & Instruction) • Prof. Esther Ho Sui-chu (Educational Administration & Policy) • Prof. Ho Man-koon (Curriculum & Instruction) Sampling Units and Surveys Fifty local secondary schools were randomly selected, with the assistance of the Hong Kong Education Department, from high, medium, and low academic performance categories according to a ratio of 15:20:15. From these schools, the responses of 30,000 students, 28,000 parents, 1,500 teachers, and 50 academic masters/mistresses, disciplinary masters/ mistresses, and principals were obtained. Other subjects in the study included 850 employers in the business sector selected from lists of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Hong Kong Industries, the Chinese Manufacturers' Association, and the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, as well as 500 policy-makers chosen from educational policy-related consultative bodies on the Civil and Miscellaneous List compiled by the Government Secretariat. Between January 1993 and December 1994, the research team conducted four surveys. The first studied the perceptions and expectations of employers and policy-makers of the secondary school system. The second examined the socio- economic background and academic achievement levels of students studying in Secondaries 1,2,4, and 6 of the sample schools. Academic achievement was measured using an achievement test of English, Chinese, and Mathematics, designed by the researchers. The survey also studied the perceptions and expectations of the stakeholders, i.e., the students, parents, teachers, and school administrators. The third survey, on educational processes, examined various organizational features of the sample schools by distributing seven sets of questionnaires to the different groups of personnel in the schools. The last survey, as a follow-up to the second survey, retested, using another