For Each and Everyone: Catering for Individual Differences through Learning Studies

Contents

Contents Foreword Paul MORRIS, President, The Hong Kong Institute of Education ix Acknowledgements xi Research Team Members xii 1 Predominant Explanations of Individual Differences 1 and Methods of Handling These Differences LO Mun Ling and PONG Wing Yan Introduction 1 Difference in learning outcomes and difference in ability 2 Difference in learning outcomes and difference in motivation 3 Difference in learning outcomes and difference in teaching 6 arrangement Summary 8 2 Catering for Individual Differences: Building on Variation 9 LO Mun Ling and PONG Wing Yan Introduction 9 Difference in learning outcomes and difference in the 9 way of seeing the same thing Our view of teaching and learning 14 Conclusion 25 3 Making Use of Learning Studies to Cater for Individual 27 Differences LO Mun Ling, PONG Wing Yan, and KO Po Yuk Learning Study 27 The three-year research project 32 Trustworthiness of data 38 Generalizability 39 vi Contents 4 Learning Studies: Development and Impact 41 LO Mun Ling, Pakey CHIK Pui Man, KO Po Yuk, Allen LEUNG Yuk Lun, PONG Wing Yan, Priscilla LO-FU Yin Wah, and Dorothy NG Fung Ping The three-year development of the project 41 Impact of the project 43 Teacher empowerment 57 School development 68 Dissemination activities and their impact 70 Factors contributing to or hindering the project’s implementation 71 Summary 73 5 Two Learning Studies 75 LO Mun Ling, Priscilla LO-FU Yin Wah, Pakey CHIK Pui Man, and PANG Ming Fai Introduction 75 Primary 4 General Studies: Electricity 76 Primary 4 General Studies: Price 96 Summary 114 6 The Effect of Learning Studies on Student Learning 117 Outcomes KWOK Wing Yin and Pakey CHIK Pui Man Comparisons of students’ gain scores on the pre-test and 118 post-test Triangulation with the Hong Kong Attainment Tests 123 Conclusion 132 7 Drawing Insights from the “Catering for Individual 133 Differences: Building on Variation” Project LO Mun Ling Introduction 133 Advancing the professional knowledge base of teaching 133 Empowerment of teachers 138 The way forward 139 Conclusion 142 8 Conclusion: For Each and Everyone 145 LO Mun Ling and Ference MARTON Contents vii Appendix 1 151 Appendix 2 159 Appendix 3 162 Appendix 4 164 References 169 Index 175 viii Contents ...