Staff:
IEA Research Projects:
Dr. Frederick K.S. Leung, and Dr. Nancy W.Y. Law
Project title: The Hong Kong component of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) (1992-1995)
It is an international survey of mathematics and science achievement of students in more than fifty countries throughout the world under the auspices of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). Data at the intended, implemented and attained levels of the mathematics and science curricula of nine year old, thirteen year old and pre-university students are collected. The results will be used to compare with achievement in the second international mathematics and science studies conducted in Hong Kong during the 1980s. The study also examines changes in the Hong Kong curricula and other factors that influence achievement compared with developments in other countries participating in the study.
Analysis of the Hong Kong data is in progress, and a report will be published in early or mid 1997. In the report, the achievement of the Hong Kong students will be compared with the rest of the world. The possibility of a comparison among the East Asian countries will also be explored.
Dr. Lee Wing-on, and Dr. Mark A. Constas
Concepts of effective citizenship and the implementation of civic education: an international IEA study of civic education in Hong Kong and other school systems. (1995-1998)
The objective of the study is to examine the ways in which young people are prepared to undertake their role as citizens in Hong Kong society in this period of political transition, as well as the aspects of political identity that are important to them, in the context of an international comparative study on civic education. A central focus of the study is the school, but the interest of this study is not restricted to the formal curriculum in any particular subject area; it includes several subject areas across the curriculum.
There are two phases in the study. During phase one, Hong Kong and other participating countries will construct case studies for detailed information on current policies, practices, and issues concerning preparation for citizenship. In phase two, content analysis of phase 1 data will be carried out in order to develop a first draft of a survey instrument. Within target countries, survey data collection will be distributed, and factors such as socio-economic status, ethnicity, and political affiliations of families will be considered. Dissemination of the results of both phases of the study is planned at both the international and national levels through reports, meetings, and press releases. International reports will be prepared for audiences of participants in policy-making networks, for scholarly audiences, and for audiences with more general interests.
Research Projects on Education in China:
Prof. Cheng Kai-ming, Dr. Lee Wing-on, Dr. Wong Kam-cheung
Transition from Planned to Market Economy: Post-compulsory Education in Shanghai. (1996-1998)
The purpose of the study is to understand the dynamic interactions between education and the economy, and the impact of such interactions on the ideology of the young adults during the transition from planned to market economy in China, using students at the completion of their compulsory education in Shanghai as a microcosm of such dynamics.
Dr. Winnie Y.W. Auyeung Lai
Project title: The Chinese Language Curriculum in the People's Republic of China from 1978 to 1986: Curriculum Change, Diversity and Complexity (1995)
This study aims to investigate the nature of the development and dissemination of school curriculum in the People's Republic of China. The focus is on outlining the complexity and diversity of curriculum development and dissemination. The period studied is from 1978 to 1986, when the central government determined to re-centralize the control of curriculum development. The secondary school Chinese Language curriculum (the CLC), the mother tongue subject was used as an example of school subjects.
Two key sets of operational concepts were central to the organisation of this study. These were the distinction between the three orientations in Chinese Language education and the classification of the agents involved in curriculum development into Superordinate, Intermediate and Subordinate groups.
The three orientations identified in the Chinese Language curriculum were political-ideological, linguistic-usage and literature-cultural. The political-ideological orientation was associated with a strong Maoist tendency that was at its strongest in the Cultural Revolution. The linguistic-usage orientation was associated with vocationalization and modernization which was prioritized in the early '60s and by Deng Xiaoping. The literature-cultural orientation, which was associated with the study of Chinese classics, has its roots in the Imperial Examinations in China in the Xu dynasty and was predominant when Chinese Language first became a school subject in 1903. This way of analysing the Chinese Language curriculum is distinctive from the "literary form" and the "contemporary text versus classical text" dichotomy that has been used to analyse the CLC in the past.
This study has contributed to the existing literature on curriculum development in China in the following ways. First, it outlines the conception and the particularities undertaken in curriculum development in China. Second, it outlines how the official curriculum was interpreted and defined by the Intermediate agencies whose task was to operationalize and disseminate the intended curriculum. Finally, it identifies the mechanisms and processes used to disseminate the official curriculum and the problems encountered. These data are crucial to the understanding of curriculum change and development in China in general, and the Chinese Language curriculum in specific.
Dr. Law Wing-wah
The higher education systems of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China: a comparative study (1994)
The study explores the tension between the preservation of cultural and political identity and economic modernization in the higher education systems in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC) between 1949 and 1993. The comparative motif argued in the thesis is that, despite the conventional and frequently stressed differences between the social and national belief systems of the PRC and ROC since 1949, both higher education systems have been affected in their curricular and institutional structures by the establishment of different external links with foreign countries and the rejection of those foreign values which were deemed challenging to the national value system by the respective Chinese political leaders. In particular, citizenship education, and science and technology education are selected to illustrate the tension between cultural and economic tasks of higher education in these two Chinese societies. After identifying the patterns of similarities and differences between these two Chinese higher education systems, the thesis offers a theory to explain their relations with cultural continuity and economic change.
Dr. Gerard A. Postiglione
Education and manpower in South China (1994-1996)
The purpose of this research is to investigate the connection between the human resource needs of non-state enterprises and state sponsored education. The significance of this study concerns the human resource needs of Hong Kong based firms which, taken together have an enormous investment in South China, especially since they employ over 3 million people in that region. The current part of the study is focused at the institutional level. Schools and enterprises are being surveyed. The principal investigator is Chung Yue-ping of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Each co-investigator has an area; Dr. Postiglione's concerns the sociological aspects of the study, particularly the stratification of schools and the degree of correspondence with the system of occupational stratification.
Dr. Gerard A. Postiglione
National minority border education: attendance and non-attendance in border schools (1993)
The main objective of the research was to identify associations between various indices relating to region, school and family to school attendance and non-attendance within selected border counties of three national minority regions (Yunan, Guangxi, and Inner Mongolia) in China. Early analysis of only a selected part of the data links the problem of school non-attendance to a number of factors: inadequate school facilities, shortage of qualified teachers, low achievement levels, irrelevance of the school curriculum to practical needs contributing to a lack of interest in learning, lack of parental and community support, inability of families to pay school fees, necessity to travel long distances to attend schools, a shortage of school places in lower secondary school, backward thinking about the role and importance of schooling, especially for girls and necessity of students to contribute to household labour and/or financial support. Other reasons more specific to national minorities include the lack of instructional support in national minority languages, and beliefs and values that do not contribute a great deal of support to mainstream patterns of schooling.
Hong Kong's Participation in a Carnegie Foundation Project:
Dr. Gerard A. Postiglione
Academic profession in international perspective: the case of Hong Kong (1993, 1995-6)
The purpose of this research is to investigate the attitudes and attributes of members of the academic profession in Hong Kong's institutions of higher education. The study is part of a larger international survey of the academic profession in Hong Kong and 13 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, Germany, Israel, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Russia, South Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States, coordinated by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
This research focuses on several areas: a profile of the academic profession, their views about working conditions, teaching, research, service, and governance as well as the international discussion of academic work. More than three-quarters of Hong Kong faculty feel themselves without influence in shaping academic policies at the institutional level. Whatever the reason, this is a key point for further investigation. The influence exerted by the academic profession within the institutions cannot be decoupled from faculty attitudes about the major issues facing society and their role and influence in society.
Hong Kong's Participation in UNESCO, UNICEF, & Commonwealth Project:
Mark Bray
Privatisation of Secondary Education (1995-1996)
The world has seen a general shift in the centre of gravity towards greater private ownership, financing and control of schools. This transition has not occurred uniformly, and in some countries a shift in the opposite direction has been more evident. Nevertheless, the privatisation movement is sufficiently widespread to be called a global phenomenon.
However, in many countries the nature privatisation is controversial. Some forms of privatisation are unplanned, and the impact on equity and resource-use may be problematic. This project, which is being conducted in conjunction with UNESCO's Commission on Education for the 21st Century, focuses particularly on secondary education. It examines the range of experiences in both capitalist and socialist countries. It shows a wide range of models for privatisation, and helps to advance understanding of a complex topic.
Dr. Mark Bray
Counting the Full Cost: Parental and Community Resourcing of Education in East Asia (1995-1997)
This project focuses on nine countries in East Asia, namely Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. It is being conducted in conjunction with UNICEF and the World Bank. The project documents the real costs of primary and secondary education to parents and communities in the nine countries. It shows that in some cases these costs are substantial, even in countries which allege to have free education. In most cases, parents and communities are forced to contribute resources simply to bridge the gaps in government provision. This raises questions of equity which cannot easily be resolved.
Examination Systems in Small States (1995-97)
Dr. Mark Bray
A growing body of research demonstrates that national scale is a significant determinant of the nature of educational provision. For example, while large states can organise highly specialised forms of tertiary education, this is less easy in small ones. Also, within the smallest states the highly personalised nature of the societies has a major impact on the nature of educational administration.
The project on examination systems in small states is being conducted in conjunction with the Commonwealth Secretariat. Among the Commonwealth's 53 members, 28 have populations below 1.5 million. Building on earlier research projects sponsored by the Commonwealth Secretariat the project primarily focuses on public examinations taken at the end of the secondary school cycle.
A major focal point for the project will be a workshop in Barbados in May 1996. That workshop will be attended by participants from small states in all major regions of the world, who will share experiences, strategies and constraints in the ways that they manage examination systems. The workshop will examine the advantages and disadvantages of national systems, of regional cooperation, and of reliance on the examinations systems of larger states.
Research Students:
Language & Education:
A comparative study of the knowledge of assessment principles and practices of teachers of English (on-goint)
Cheng Liying
This project is a comparative study of the knowledge of assessment principles and practices of teachers of English in different countries and their beliefs and attitudes towards the impact of public examinations on their teaching in the secondary school system.
As Hong Kong prepares to implement a new curriculum and concomitant assessment system, it will be of help to educators and teacher trainers to compare the knowledge, beliefs and attitudes of Hong Kong teachers with those of other countries, some of which have introduced similar innovations, others have not. This study will help to determine the levels of preparedness of Hong Kong teachers for the new forms of assessment for evaluative feedback and future adaptation. By examining the beliefs and values of teachers from different countries, it will enable us to report on how likely Hong Kong secondary school teachers of English are to respond positively to the new assessment initiatives of the Hong Kong Government.
The Target Oriented Curriculum and its new assessment practices will be introduced into all Hong Kong primary schools in 1996. Thereafter, it will be introduced into secondary schools. In curricular and assessment term, this TOC initiative represents a paradigm shift from a quantitative learning / assessment pattern to a qualitative framework. Teachers will have to prepare for a completely new form of assessment and involvement in the assessment process. This will require knowledge of and sensitivity to the key issues involved. Therefore, this study will provide information about those who have experienced the new assessment practices and those who have not experienced them in order to determine where Hong Kong teachers can be ranked in comparison with those of other countries.
This study has employed a survey study followed by in-depth case studies into Hong Kong secondary schools. A questionnaire survey of eight countries intends to investigate the differences in teachers' attitude and belief toward the impact of public examinations on their teaching, and differences in the assessment practices they employ in their daily teaching. Earlier pilot survey study had been in process since 1994. The major survey will be finished toward the beginning of 1996. After initial analysis, follow-up interviews will be conducted in Hong Kong with selected teachers to investigate beliefs and practices more fully through interview protocols and classroom observation.
Vocabulary learning strategies of Chinese EFL learner (on-going)
Peter Yongqi Gu
In less than two decades, economic reforms in China have brought forth not just a boom in economy but also a spectacular change of status for English. The despised 'imperialist' language of the past is now enjoying its lion's share of popularity. For millions of Chinese youngsters, English has become synonymous to better job prospects, more promotion opportunities, and chances to further their studies abroad. Finding out how they go about learning English, especially the vocabulary of English, one of the most difficult aspects of language learning, and providing these learners with sensible suggestions would be an extremely meaningful endeavor in both social and academic terms.
In this connection, the present study was designed to explore 1) the range of vocabulary learning strategies used by Chinese learners of English at the tertiary level; and 2) how these strategies and strategy combinations are related to learning results. Two major phases of research have been completed. Phase one focused on a qualitative exploration and involved 24 subjects from the top, middle, and bottom 3% of a whole grade (as determined by a national English test, CET Band 4) at Beijing Normal University. Think-aloud procedures and immediate retrospective interviews were used during and after a reading task similar to those used in the Intensive Reading class by which most Chinese students learn their English. Protocol analyses of these results revealed a wide spectrum of strategies these Chinese learners employed. Results also showed striking contrasts of vocabulary learning strategies used by different types of good and poor EFL learners (see Gu, 1994). Based on these findings, phase two was designed to explore in quantitative terms strategy patterns of Chinese learners and to test some of the hypotheses generated in phase one. A Vocabulary Learning Questionnaire was administered to all second-year students at BNU (N=850 in the final analysis). In addition, two vocabulary size scores and an overall English proficiency measure were also obtained from the same subjects. Results from phase 2 largely confirmed most of the observations made in phase one. For example, contrary to popular claims that Asian learners are rote learners, the Chinese students in this study employed a wide range of strategies, and they used much more meaningful strategies than rote strategies. Furthermore, both multiple regression and a subsequent cluster analysis seemed to suggest that 1) good learners tend to be active learners; and 2) strategies that aim for the memory of word-meaning pairs of decontextualized words are related to vocabulary size, but these same strategies may not necessarily be conducive to a higher general proficiency in English (Gu and Johnson, 1994).
Environmental factors affecting the bilingual development of Korean children in Hong Kong (on-going)
Moon Lee, Hue Kyung
One of the most significant features of child development is language acquisition. Recently, the area of early childhook bilingualism has received increasing attention due to the changing patterns of world population mobility. These have resulted in more and more parents raising their children in a foreign country. This research was carried out on the type of bilingual families which involve those who use a native language different from that used by the community where the families reside. The aim of this study is to explore variations in the patterns of bilingual development of Korean young children aged from 4 to 6 in Hong Kong, and to try to identify the sociolinguistic factors which affect that development
A number of environmental factors can be expected to influence the bilingual development through the language socialization of the child at home and in preschool/school. The variables concerned in this study were categorized into three groups: (1) the child's bilingual backgrounds, (2) the child's language interactions, and (3) the parents' and teachers' attitudes. This study also measures the individual's proficiency in two languages, Korean and English, and the degree of bilingualism as the dependent variables. It is hoped that the findings which are now in process may provide parents and educators with more understanding of bilingual development and adjustment of Korean children in Hong Kong. Also, this research should be of some use to the parents belonging to other bilingual community.
Teaching & Learning Approaches:
Teachers' conception of school physics teaching and their students' approaches to learning in Guangdong China (on-going)
Gao Lingbiao
This research investigates the teachers' conceptions of teaching school physics and their influence to student learning. Samples of this research are 18 secondary school physics teachers and 1215 students whom they teach in 14 middle schools in Guangzhou China. Both qualitative and quantitative techniques are employed.
After interviewing the teachers, four general categories of conceptions of teaching have been developed. The first category is called "quantitative conception of teaching". Teachers view teaching as a one-way deliverance from teacher to student. What a teacher delivers is knowledge, both declarative and procedural, such as facts, events, skills and procedures related to the discipline, etc. Drilling or training of manipulative skills may also be included. The second and third categories of teaching conception are called "intellective development conception of teaching" and "affective development conception of teaching". They both refer to the qualitative aspect of teaching. Teachers with these teaching conceptions relate teaching to learning and aim their teaching at facilitating student learning and development. The fourth category is "institutional conception of teaching". Teachers holding this teaching conception treat teaching as a process of fulfilling some institutional and social tasks.
The researcher is now in the second phase of the project and trying to develop a questionnaire based on the findings in the first phase to identify the conceptual categories in a bigger number of teachers. The relationship between teachers' conceptions of teaching and their students' learning qualities will be further analysed.
Cultural & Policy Studies:
The culture of Beijing University (Beida) (on-going)
Tian Ling
Kluckhohn once said that " Culture is like a map. ...if you know a culture, you will know your way around in the life of a society"(1968, p.35). The concept "culture" has different meaning from different perspective. Here, it indicates ways of looking at life. In this interpretation, culture displays the characteristic of collective spirits of a group, community, etc., such as ways of thinking and doing. The ways of thinking cover assumptions, values, attitudes, artifacts and the ways of doing refer to behaviors and rites & ceremonies. The researcher tries to describe the cultural map of Beijing University and let people know the way around in the life of Beijing University through investigating the ways of thinking and doing of Beida members.
Qualitative methods such as in-depth interviews and document analysis are used in this research. Moreover, the researcher also went to places such as bookshops on campus, student affairs department, the Youth League Committee, various functional departments, Beida library, as well as individual students and staff, to collect the documents relevant to Beida. Furthermore, photos of Beida noticeboard were taken because they reflect the everyday activities of students and the propaganda of the Beida authority.
On the basis of the literature review and first analysis, the initial frame of inductive and deductive analysis of Beida culture have been shaped. In the next stage, the second round interview data will be analysed to gain final conclusions.
Equity and student financial support policies in China (on-going)
Zhang Minxuan
Student financial support policies changed dramatically in the world since late 1970's. Finance constraint was the direct factor in many countries. Yet some other important factors involved in the process. The concept of the change of equity was one of them. This research tries to explore the relationship between the change of equity conception and the transition of the policies from "Free higher education with grant to all" to "Tuition fee based on array of conditioned supports".
As for the methodology, the researcher tries to combine empirical survey, documental study and use of official and non-official statistics, while putting the change into international and comparative context. Up to now 400 student questionnaires and nearly 100 administrator questionnaires have been collected. The preliminary finding is as follows:
Equity conception on student financial support in China is shifting from simple egalitarian equity to multidimensioned deserved equity, in relevance the policy changed and new support schemes and criteria are various, and even contradictory. Yet to realize the balance between different deserved interests and schemes, there is still a long way to go.
Environmental Studies:
Comparative analysis of environmental education in three Chinese communities --- Hong Kong, Singapore and Guangzhou with particular reference to their curriculum context (on-going)
Francis B.K. Wong
This study is concerned with the cross-cultural comparison of environmental education (EE) in three Chinese communities of the Asia Pacific regions --- Hong Kong, Singapore, and Guangzhou in People's Republic of China. The aim is to compare and contrast the nature of the EE curricula in three regions and the values that underpin them. It also seeks to identify the forces which have shaped the curricula and led to the similarities and differences. The main concern is the similarities and differences between the EE curricula in these regions and why they have occurred. This study will look at, on the one hand, the pattern of EE in the three communities, the methods and focus of teaching, and on the other hand, the factors such as teacher beliefs, organization structure and aims of education.
The cross-cultural comparison of EE curricula being attempted uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative approach. The paradigm adopted is largely naturalistic and is used because the comparisons involve realities which are multiple, constructed and holistic. In such a context, the researcher and the subjects are interactive and inseparable. A largely naturalistic approach in this study suits the situation of data collection as the researcher is the instrument to collect data from different sources in communities which he may not be familiar with. Indepth but subjective interpretation is enhanced in interviews.
Some preliminary findings include the following:
EE development in Guangzhou is largely administered by the Environmental Protection Bureau and the Education Bureau, and the former takes a more active role. An intended curriculum in EE was formulated in 1990 by a group of EE workers who set up the "Environmental Education Profession Committee". The suggested approach is integration and permeation in existing subjects.
EE in Guangzhou, and in other parts of China, largely depends on propaganda education. In nearly all papers written by EE workers, the fact that environmental protection is one of China's fundamental national policies is often propagandised. Propaganda rhetoric gives people an impression that EE is systemmatically implemented all over Guangzhou. However, the reality shows taht there are great differences in implementation between schools.
EE in Singapore was arguably considered as part of the city's cleanliness campaign since the government legislated strict rules on city cleanliness and order in the early 1970's. The "Singapore Green Plan" was formulated by the government in 1993 and it consisted of intended EE curricula for the primary, secondary and tertiary levels. The Singaporean government takes a positive intervention in the development of EE. Adequate resources are provided such as teacher training, guidelines, information booklets and handbooks. However, the inexaminable nature of EE in the country poses many constraints for implementation in the Singapore context. The education system is competitive and students are largely progmatic.
The Hong Kong government adopts a positive non-interventionist administration in which EE development is no exception. EE was first attempted in the early 1970's by non-government organization (NGO). In the 1980's, the government still did little in EE whilst the establishment of many environmental groups contributed to the development of different aspects of EE. Implementation of EE, as suggested by the government's "Guidelines for EE in schools" in 1992, is via permeation and integration with existing subjects. The ED provides continual teacher training seminars mainly for secondary teachers. Laisser-faire and unsystemmatic implementation is a characteristic of EE in Hong Kong.
Recent Consultancies
UNESCO & UNICEF Projects:
Training Programme of "Basic Education: Administration and Teaching Training of UNESCO"
Consultant: Wong Kam Cheung
Dr. K.C. Wong of the Department of Education is serving as a consultant on a UNESCO project conducted by the National Academy of Educational Administration in Beijing. The project is designed to train trainers in colleges of education. Dr. role in the project is to advise and assist in the training program.
Capacity Building in Education in Human Resources Sector Management
Consultant: Mark Constas
Dr. Mark Constas of the Department of Education is serving as a consultant on a UNESCO project based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The project is designed to develop an educational management information system for administrators throughout Cambodia. Dr. Constas' role in the project is to advise and assist in the development of a set of baseline indicators derived from a large scale survey of educational administrators.
The Costs and Financing of Primary Schooling in Bhutan
Consultant: Mark Bray
In 1993, the Royal Government of Bhutan undertook a major evaluation of its New Approach to Primary Education (NAPE), which it had launched in 1986. Mark Bray, who in 1991 had undertaken an assignment in Bhutan under the auspices of UNESCO, was invited by UNICEF and the Royal Government to return to Bhutan as Chief Moderator of the NAPE review process. A far-reaching report which formed the basis for subsequent reshaping of NAPE was published in November 1993.
During the process of preparing the 1993 report, it became evident that the information base on the costs and financing of education suffered from serious deficiencies. The Royal Government, in conjunction with UNICEF, decided to commission a separate report in 1994. Dr Bray returned for a month of field work in July and a workshop on the draft report in November 1994. The fieldwork included a survey of 19% or primary-level schools. In addition to examining the use of government funds, the survey collected data on community contributions of cash, labour and materials. No data of this type had previously been collected in Bhutan ¾ or indeed in many other places. The report has attracted considerable attention not only in Bhutan but also internationally. Staff at the UNICEF headquarters in New York have used the report as a basis for a comparative document examining issues in Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Myanmar, Uganda and Vietnam.
ODA Project:
Community Schools in Malawi
Consultant: Mark Bray
The year 1994 brought a massive surge in primary school enrolments in Malawi: from 1.9 to 3.1 million pupils. This surge had been stimulated by political change and by the abolition of school fees. To help expand the supply of school places, the government decided to establish a network of community schools. Dr. Bray was employed by the UK Overseas Development Administration (ODA) to help design the framework for the project. The community schools were to cover the initial four grades of education, and were mostly to be constructed by rural communities in partnership with the government. The ODA was prepared to provide assistance worth £12 million over a seven-year period. The task required the consultant to draw on his previous experience with such projects in Nigeria, Botswana and Papua New Guinea, to visit schools and other institutions, and to liaise with central and district officials of the Ministry of Education. The project was officially launched in 1995, and is now gathering speed.
Education and Cultural Preservation for Tibetans
Consultant: Dr. Gerard A. Postiglione
Dr. Gerard A. Postiglione of the Department of Education recently returned from the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) of China as part of a delegation of specialists sponsored by the National Committee on United States - China Relations (NCUSCR) in New York. Their mission was to study the preservation of Tibetan culture and their host was the State Nationalities Affairs Commission. Dr. Postiglione's role in the delegation was to focus on national minority education. The visit offered many opportunities to visit schools, families, teachers, teacher training institutions and to talk with education officials. While advances are being made, education indicators in the TAR are still modest when compared nationally. While enrolment rates have increased, the challenge is to increase retention and graduation rates. Much will depend on the improvement of language instruction. A report is in progress.
Basic Education III Appraisal Mission of the World Bank
Consultant: Lee Wing On
Dr. Lee Wing On served as a member of the consultancy team in Beijing late last year. The major task was to improve in-service teacher training in seven project provinces (Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Henan, Hebei, Jilin, Qinghai). It included reviewing reference/course outlines and making suggestions to the seven project provincial teams on how to improve them; helping with the design of a research project/activity which would help improve the assessment of effectiveness of the major approaches of in-service teacher education.