r. jiang chunlian, fed, won “outstanding faculty of education · letter of intent with dsej, fed...

Faculty of Education

Newsletter

May - June, 2009

Issue 5

http://www.umac.mo/fed/newsletter/index_en.htm

� Dr. Jiang Chunlian, FED, won “Outstanding

Paper Award”

� FED student awarded scholarship by French

Consulate in Hong Kong

� About 6,000 15-year-old Macao students

participated in PISA Test

� “Improving Middle School Science

Curriculum and Instruction in Macao”

Workshop

FED NEWSLETTER

Mission

To disseminate educational ideals and

academic and student activities of

FED;

To provide an easy and user-friendly

platform for academic staff;

To promote a sharing culture and boost

teacher education and professional

development.

Editorial Board

Prof. Sylvia S.L.Ieong [email protected]

Cady [email protected]

Sophie [email protected]

Room J527 8397 8727

Issue 5 Contents

Staff Activities

Dr. Jiang Chunlian, FED, won “Outstanding Paper Award” 1

2009 Cross-strait Conference on “School Improvement and

University-School Partnership”

1

FED Prof. Cheung Kwok Cheung was invited to attend

ASUM School Seminar

3

About 6,000 15-year-old Macao students participated in

PISA Test

3

Seminar on “From simplicity to complex: Links among

regression, factor analysis and structural equation

modeling”

4

Student Activities

FED student awarded scholarship by French Consulate in

Hong Kong

5

All FED 1st year master students attended a meeting on

thesis writing

6

Lunch Seminar Series V “Once upon a time, there was a

city called Macao: Revisiting Macao through its city space”

7

Academic Exchanges

Prof. Ruth Hayhoe from Toronto University visited FED of

UM

8

Seminar on Spatial Measurement Content in Elementary

Curricula in the States

9

“Improving Middle School Science Curriculum and

Instruction in Macao” Workshop

10

FED NEWSLETTER (University of Macau)

Mayayayay ———— June 2009 5th Issue

http://www.umac.mo/fed/newsletter/index_en.htm 1

SSttaaffff AAccttiivviittiieess

Dr. Jiang Chunlian, FED, won

“Outstanding Paper Award”

May 24-29, FED Assistant Professor

Jiang Chunlian attended The 13th

Global Chinese Conference on

Computers(GCCCE2009) organized by

Taiwan Normal University, and

presented her paper entitled “A Chinese

Software SSP for the Teaching and

Learning of Mathematics: Theoretical

and Practical Perspectives”. Her paper

was a product of cooperation with Prof.

Jingzhong ZHANG and Xicheng PENG,

Central China Normal University. For

more details, please visit:

http://www.gccce2009.org/

2009 Cross-strait Conference

on “School Improvement and

University-School Partnership”

22-24 May, organized by the

University of Macau, and co-organized

by the Chinese Educators' Association

of Macau and the Macao Catholic

Schools Association, Cross-strait

Conference on “School Improvement

and University-school Partnership”

2009 was held at UM. Ten renowned

cross-strait scholars were invited to be

the keynote speakers and 33 papers

were presented at the conference. The

keynote speakers were Prof LO Nai

Kwai, Prof WONG Hin Wah, and Dr

CHUI Chi Shing from the Chinese

University of Hong Kong, Prof WANG

Jian Jun and Prof. YANG Xiao Wei

from East China Normal University,

Prof GAO Hong Yuan from Beijing

Normal University, Prof. NING Hong

and Prof. ZHANG Jing Bin from

Capital Normal University, Prof CHEN

Bo Chang from National Taiwan

Normal University, and Prof. LI Jin Yu

from Northwest Normal University.

The conference consisted of five

sessions: Special Reports session,

Conference Key-note Speeches session,

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Forum and Capital Normal University

Forum, General Paper Presentation

session, and Experience Sharing

session. During the opening ceremony,




Prof. SHAN Wen Jing, Dean of FED,

made a keynote speech entitled

“Continuity with Innovations: School

Partnership for Sustainable

Development”, which recalls a series of

events such as UM signing cooperative

letter of intent with DSEJ, FED signing

memorandum with Macao schools, etc.,

and set development direction for

school improvement and

university-school partnership. Next the

keynote speakers from the Chinese

University of Hong Kong team shared

their “Quality School Improvement

Plan”, which is one of the most

integrated programs in Hong Kong.

The plan specified how school

development officer (SDO) and

seconded teacher played the role of a

driving force in teacher personal and

professional development, and how

their growth benefited the development

of the school. The Capital Normal

University team mainly introduced

“Special Project for Supporting

Constructing Key Junior Middle School

in Beijing”, which focused on

school-based curriculum, instructional

research, school group, teacher

professional development, school

culture, leadership etc. Scholars from

both sides of the strait actively




participated in all these activities and

had heated discussions together.

Before the conference, the participants

visited the Affiliated School of the

University of Macau, Taipa

Portuguese-Chinese School, and Macao

World Heritage.

The conference offered a platform for

scholars, school principals and teachers

from both sides of the strait to interact

with one another. They shared their

research projects and experiences. All

this will contribute to the internal

cooperation within each region, as well

as external cooperation among

cross-strait schools and universities.

FED Prof. Cheung Kwok

Cheung was invited to attend

ASUM School Seminar

23-25, May, FED Prof. Cheung Kwok

Cheung, Chairman of Management

Committee of the Affiliated School of

the University of Macau (ASUM), was

invited to attend “Instructional

Reflection---Improving Classroom

Teaching Efficiency” seminar at ASUM.

He delivered a speech to mathematics

teachers from ASUM and Sheng Kung

Hui Choi Kou School on how to

optimize mathematics teaching and

improve teaching efficiency so as to

accumulate school-based math teaching

theories and empirical data. Another

speaker invited was Prof. WANG

Shangzhi, an expert on mathematics

teacher education and training from

Capital Normal University. All

participating teachers discussed

problems and difficulties they

encountered in their teaching, and

proposed the ideas of improving

curriculum design and teaching

efficiency. Also, the guest speakers,

together with all participating teachers,

gave effective suggestions for

mathematics instructional research next

year so as to offer quality education for

Macao students. (Reference from

Macao Daily.)

About 6,000 15-year-old Macao

students participated in PISA

Test

Sponsored by DSEJ, and administered

by Educational Testing and Assessment




Research Centre (ETARC) of FED,

UM, Program for International Student

Assessment (PISA), was recently held

among all 15-year-old students in

Macao.

According to Mr. Chan Keng Lim from

PISA test centre, about 6,000 students

were eligible to take the test this year,

and the participating rate was as high as

99.7%. This year’s PISA mainly tested

reading literacy, as well as mathematics

and science. And electronic reading

assessment (ERA) has been added as an

official subject of PISA, of which the

filed test was completed last year. ERA

was held at The Affiliated School of

the University of Macau, Pui Ching

Middle School, and Yuet Wah Middle

School respectively during 9-10 May,

and the paper test was administered

during 26-27 April.

As the only unified assessment in

Macao, PISA has a great influence on

and promotes the educational policy

development of Macao.

Brief Introduction to PISA

One main assessment research activity

of ETARC is PISA, acronym for

Program for International Student

Assessment. It is initiated by

Organisation for Economic

Co-operation and Development (OECD)

since 2000. It conducts sample surveys

in a 3-year cycle assessing 15-year-old

students’ mathematical, scientific,

reading, problem-solving, and ICT

literacy needed for their life-long

learning. 43, 41 and 58

countries/regions joined the 2000, 2003,

and 2006 PISA Study respectively.

With the help of Hong Kong PISA

Centre, Macau joined the PISA Study

in 2003. Macau subsequently joined the

PISA-2006 and PISA-2009 Study with

strong technical and financial support

by DSEJ.

Seminar on “From simplicity to

complexity: Links among

regression, factor analysis and

structural equation modeling”

A seminar on “From simplicity to

complexity: Links among regression,

factor analysis and structural equation

modeling” was held at JLG213 on 8th

May, and chaired by FED Associate




SSttuuddeenntt AAccttiivviittiieess

Prof. LEUNG Shing On. During the

seminar, Prof. Leung briefed FED

master students on the relationship

among regression, factor analysis and

structural equation modeling.

Prof. Leung answered two key

questions in this seminar:

Why do we need to know SEM?

According to Prof. Leung, even though

one research or thesis only involves one

(or two) methods, the researcher still

needs to know others because he/she

needs to read other studies to broaden

his/her own perspectives. Moreover, if

the researcher uses quantitative

methods, he/she still needs to know

qualitative methods. Also, if the

researcher uses regression, he/she still

needs to know factor analysis, etc. Prof.

Leung illustrated his speech with many

research cases.

How do we know SEM?

Prof. Leung pointed out that, to know

SEM better, the researcher first had to

learn to use statistical software, such as

AMOS (Analysis of Moment Structure),

and followed certain steps: reading data,

defining models to be tested, running

analysis, and modifying models.

Finally, Prof. Leung concluded that to

construct SEM we not only need to

follow certain steps, but also adopt the

right attitude: hard thinking and

consistency.

FED student awarded

scholarship by French

Consulate in Hong Kong

FED student CHEONG Tou Un was

awarded “Linguistic Excellence

Scholarship for Students of Macao” by

the French Consulate with an amount

of �€ 500 to complete a summer course

in France in August 2009. And it is

reported that CHEONG will be invited

to join the French National Day

celebrations soon. CHEONG has

shown great enthusiasm for French

language and has reached a high level

of proficiency in French.

Appendix:

Official name: Bourse linguistique

d’excellence pour étudiants de Macao




(Linguistic excellence scholarships for

students of Macao)

Selection criteria: applicants must be

students registered both at the Alliance

Francaise of Macao (in a advanced

level course) and in a higher education

institution in Macao (any program)

Application requirement: fill in the

application form available on the site of

Alliance Francaise of Macao +

interview for the short-listed candidates

Duration: at least two weeks in one of

the French institution listed in the

Qualité FLE directory

(www.qualitefle.fr)

All FED 1st year master

students attended a meeting on

thesis writing

On 14 May, all FED year-one master

students attended the meeting on thesis

writing. Dr. Wei Bing, Coordinator of

PhD and Master Degree Programmes,

chaired this meeting. Ms Chan Siu

Kuan, Lindi participated and several

teachers of FED were also invited.

Dr. Wei Bing reminded all to contact

their supervisors and decide on the

thesis titles so as to start the research

work as early as possible. Particularly,

Dr. Wei Bing warned part-time master

students that they should focus on their

thesis and finish it without interruptions,

as many part-time master students

postponed their theses until very late

judging by past experiences. He also

emphasized the relationship between

the supervisor and the student. And

Associate Prof. Ieung Shing On,

Assistant Prof. Wu Mei-Jun and

Assistant Prof. Yeung Siu Kwai were

invited to share their research

experience with all.

It is said that Dr. Wei Bing would pass

student feedback to all the supervisors

according to the form filled out by the

students concerning the thesis

composition, with some adjustment.

This meeting gave the students a sense

of urgency and hastened them to work

on the thesis writing.




Lunch Seminar Series V “Once

upon a time, there was a city

called Macao: Revisiting Macao

through its city space”

Lunch Seminar Series V “Once upon a

time, there was a city called Macao:

Revisiting Macao through its city

space”, organized by Educational

Research Centre of Faculty of

Education, was held on 29 April, 2009.

Mr. Lei Chin Pang, a young scholar

from Macao, was invited to be the

guest speaker. Dr. Vong Sou Kuan,

Director of the ERC, chaired this

seminar, and about 60 UM students

participated.

Dr. Vong started the seminar by asking

“As Macanese and local people, how

do you recognize Macao in such a land

where western and eastern cultures

exist side by side?” Mr. Lei then

proposed to re-recognize Macao

through the city space, which is

different from the routine approach by

Hong Kong and Macao mass media.

Among the basic necessities of life,

clothing, food, housing, and

transportation, it is housing that

becomes the biggest issue, due to the

limitation of city space. And the city

space is the ideal illustration of a city’s

change in history. Yeas ago in Macao,

Hotel Lisboa and Chapel of Our Lady

Penha were the symbol of power of

these islands; later, the Bank of China

Building took over and became the

landmark of Macao in 1990’s. Now

numerous grand casinos have been

shaping the city space. Looking at the

trends of the world, from the churches

of the Middle Ages, to the tall

chimneys and black smoke of the

industrial era, then the skyscrapers and

the high tower for communication and

tourism industries nowadays, it can be

seen from the city space that a lot of

change has taken place. And Macao is

no exception. Currently, tourism has a

significant impact on Macao space.




AAccaaddeemmiicc EExxcchhaannggeess

During the Q & A period, some

students referred to the expanding

casinos, taking up more and more city

space, and having more and more

impact on individual life. But people

have got used to this and won’t voice

opinions. A participating teacher talked

about a curious phenomenon of Tap

Seak Square and its inappropriate

design. Mr. Lei had a heated discussion

with all participants on these questions

and at last called on the university

students to have more concern about

these issues and not just care about

themselves. Whenever one comes

across problems, one has to think about

it and face it with courage instead of

keeping silent or just keep complaining

all the time.

Prof. Ruth Hayhoe from

Toronto University visited FED

of UM

On the afternoon of May 25th, Prof.

Ruth Hayhoe from Toronto University

visited FED of UM and met with Prof.

Shan Wen Jin, Dean of FED. In the

afternoon, Prof. Ruth Hayhoe gave

FED students and staff a brief lecture,

sharing her recent research findings on

the Mass High Education in China. She

believed that Chinese universities

would develop dialogues among

civilizations, which means that the

latest international developmental trend

of tertiary education will replace the

current periphery-center point of view.

The periphery-center view implies

exclusiveness and mono center, while

the tertiary education will develop with

multiple centers complementing each

other in the future.

Global cultural development from a

macro perspective was the main focus

of Prof. Ruth Hayhoe’s report, and was

divided into three parts. The first part

presented the developmental trends of

Chinese university students and

discussed the growing importance of

Chinese universities on global cultural




exchanges. Then she explored the

institutional culture of Chinese

universities. She believed that the

tradition of Chinese universities had

impacts on the medieval European

universities, especially the impacts of

self-mastery and self-governance of

Chinese universities on European

universities’ autonomy and academic

freedom, which represented the core

value of Chinese intellectuals. In the

second part, Prof. Ruth Hayhoe

pinpointed two phenomena that

appeared in Chinese or Far East

universities in face of globalization by

recalling the life stories of several

famous rectors from China’s key

universities: first, there is a tendency

for states to impose greater control on

universities for the sake of “national

competitiveness”; second, East Asian

universities, as inventors of

bureaucracy, can demonstrate

effectiveness of autonomy as

self-mastery. In the third part, Prof.

Hayhoe maintained that there exists

different epistemology between China

and Europe hidden beneath the surface

of these phenomena.

Prof. Ruth Hayhoe is a professor from

the Theory and Educational Policy

Department of Toronto University, and

is the former president of World

Council of Comparative Education

Society, and Dean of Faculty of

Education of Hong Kong Institute of

Education. She is a very active and

energetic comparative education

scholar, and can speak English,

Cantonese and Mandarin fluently. She

has served in Hong Kong Institute of

Education for many years, and then has

a good knowledge of Hong Kong and

Chinese culture and education.

Seminar on Spatial

Measurement Content in

Elementary Curricula in the

States

On 15 May ， FED teachers and

students were invited to join a seminar

on educational psychology and

mathematics education held by the

Center of Educational Research on

Well-rounded Growth and

Development at J412. Professor John P.

Smith from Michigan State University

(MSU), who used to be Dr. Sze’s

supervisor, was the invited speaker, and

Dr. Sze, Director of the Center, chaired

the seminar.

Prof. Smith is the Co-director of

Educational Psychology and

Educational Technology Doctoral




Program at MSU. He is an international

well-known scholar in the discipline.

One of his papers, Misconception

reconceived: A constructivist analysis

of knowledge in transition published on

the Journal of Learning Sciences was

seen as a classic in the discipline.

Prof. Smith shared with all participants

his current NSF （National Science

Foundation） funded project, Spatial

Measurement Content (length, area,

and volume) in U.S. Elementary

Curricula. He began by giving a brief

introduction to his personal experience,

and explained the reason why he was

so fascinated with Mathematics. Then

he shared his current research in

Michigan, which was originated from

the phenomena that American children

found it’s difficult to do simple task of

measurement. He gave explicit

explanation to his research process and

findings, which was of great help to all

present.

“Improving Middle School

Science Curriculum and

Instruction in Macao”

Workshop

On 20 May, Prof Mei-Hung Chiu from

National Taiwan Normal University,

Prof. Din-yan Yip from Chinese

University of Hong Kong and Mr. Chen

Jian from the Educational Bureau of

Nashan District in Shenzhen,

Guangdong Province, were invited to

be guest speakers for the workshop

“Improving School Science Curriculum

and Instruction in Macao”, which was

chaired by Dr. Wei Bing from FED of

UM. These three distinguished guests,

having strong academic background in

chemistry, biology and physics

respectively shared their experience of

science teaching in Taiwan, the

mainland and Hong Kong. Prof. Shan,

Dean of FED, was present at the

workshop, and directors, science

teachers from different middle schools

in Macao and master students of FED

also participated.

Dr. Wei Bing first welcomed these

three guests, and briefly introduced

them to the audience and expressed his

hope to improve science curriculum

and instruction in Macao by learning

from the




experience of other regions. Then, Prof.

Shan presented the three special guests

with souvenirs. Next, Prof. Din-yan Yip

delivered a speech on “From an

Investigation of Students’ Science

Concepts in Taiwan to the

Development of Modeling Ability in

Science Education”, during which she

introduced the eight-year project of

junior and senior high school students’

puzzle about the chemical concepts,

and proposed the ideas of double – tier

test items and development of

modeling ability. Mr. Chen Jian

reported “On the Teaching Effect in

Classroom” from four aspects: teaching

objective, basic knowledge, teaching

strategies and assessment, emphasizing

the same level of basic knowledge of

all students in a class and high

relevance between teaching objective

and teaching activities. Prof. Din-yan

Yip gave a talk on “Learning Science

form the History”, advocating the idea

that leaning science through the

conceptual development history and the

story of scientists’ constructing the

theory in history. He also illustrated his

speech with a lot of vivid examples of

biological experiments, which

impressed all participants.

During the Q&A session, the three

guests, together with the audience, had

a heated discussion about the

integration of science subjects, and how

to manage resources when science is

taught and learned from history.

In the unique social context of Macao,

there is a need for new perspectives,

and new teaching methods to interest

the students and make them realize the

importance of science learning, so as to

improve school science curriculum and

instruction. This workshop provided a

good platform for all the science

teachers at the right time.

r. jiang chunlian, fed, won “outstanding faculty of education · letter of intent with dsej, fed...

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