Curriculum reform and restructuring of senior secondary science education in Hong Kong: Teachers’ perceptions and implications

Appendix I. Interview Instrument

Interview Questions (for Phy/Chem/Bio Teachers)

Which science subjects will your school going to offer? How does your school decide the science subjects to be offered (e.g. Integrated Science, Combined Science?)
Are there any changes in the F1-3 science curriculum of your school in order to prepare students for the NSS?

How familiar are you with the NSS subject curriculum? Which parts are you less familiar with?
What training courses have you attended? How useful were they?
What areas/aspects of training do you think are still needed?

What are the major differences between the existing (CE/AL) and the NSSC?
What do you think about the foci of the new curriculum (with respect to aims, contents, teaching approach, assessment, etc.)?
The NSSC emphasizes “scientific inquiry”, “STSE connections” and “Nature of science”? Do you agree with these emphases? Are they feasible in your context?
How do you think about the introduction of elective parts in the subject?
Do you think the contents of the core and elective parts are appropriately chosen and articulated?
Are the elective parts suitable for your students and meet their interest and learning needs?
How would your school make the choice of elective modules?

What would be your own emphases in planning and teaching the new subject?
What teaching strategies would you emphasize in teaching NSSC?
How are you going to structure and organize the curriculum contents, particularly the more advanced contents and topics (e.g. formerly AL topics)?
How would you cater for students of mixed abilities in your subject?

What do you think about SBA? Is it achievable? How far would you support it (the experimental and non-experimental parts)? How would you prepare students for both SBA and the public written exam?

What resource implications would the school have in NSS?
What roles do you think the laboratory technician(s) shall play in the NSS?
What other difficulties would you foresee in teaching NSS? How would you overcome them?

Would there be any coordination in your school in the teaching of NSS subjects that are inter-related? (E.g. Physics/Math, Sciences/LS, etc)

What are the perceived levels of attainment of NSS graduates when compared to those of CE or AL graduates in terms of

scientific knowledge and inquiry skills;
generic skills (e.g. critical thinking, collaboration, learning ability, IT, problems solving, mathematical ability etc.);
scientific attitudes, learning attitudes and
language/communication competency.

Compared with other NSS subjects (science or non-science), how do you rate this subject in terms of

Appendix II. Parts of the Questionnaire Instrument for Physics Teachers

Questionnaire Survey of New Senior Secondary Curriculum - Physics

6. What is your level of understanding of the physics curriculum?	Very low level of understanding				Very high level of understanding
	1	2	3	4	5	6
A. Elective content knowledge	□	□	□	□	□	□
a. Astronomy and space science	□	□	□	□	□	□
b. Atomic world	□	□	□	□	□	□
c. Energy and use of energy	□	□	□	□	□	□
d. Medical physics	□	□	□	□	□	□
B. Teaching methods	□	□	□	□	□	□
C. School-based assessment	□	□	□	□	□	□
D. Public examination	□	□	□	□	□	□

7. How would you deal with learning diversity in teaching physics? (You may choose more than one option)

a. Supplementary classes after school	□
b. Remedial class for the less able	□
c. Homogeneous grouping	□
d. Heterogeneous grouping	□
e. Tailoring assessment modes and standards to student ability	□
f. Using different textbooks for students of different abilities	□
g. Allowing a choice of English or Chinese medium of instruction	□
h. Tailoring teaching materials to student ability	□
i. Adapting curriculum contents to cater for mixed abilities	□
j. Streaming according to student ability	□
k. Allowing students to drop subjects if proven too difficult for them	□
l. Allowing students to change pure science subjects to Combined Science	□
m. Extension tasks for the more able students	□
n. Extended curriculum for the more able students	□
o. Others (Please specify:____________________________________)	□

8. What is your level of emphasis for the following aspects of the NSS physics curriculum?	Very unimportant				Very important
	1	2	3	4	5	6
a. Disciplinary content knowledge	□	□	□	□	□	□
b. Disciplinary practical and investigation skills	□	□	□	□	□	□
c. NOS	□	□	□	□	□	□
d. Inquiry of STSE issues	□	□	□	□	□	□
e. Scientific attitudes	□	□	□	□	□	□
f. Problem-solving ability	□	□	□	□	□	□

10. How often will you adopt the following teaching methods?	Never	Occasionally	Sometimes	Regularly
a. Exposition	□	□	□	□
b. Concept map construction	□	□	□	□
c. Searching for and presenting information	□	□	□	□
d. Reading to learn	□	□	□	□
e. Group discussion/role play/debate	□	□	□	□
f. Experiments and scientific inquiry activities	□	□	□	□
g. Project	□	□	□	□
h. Problem-based learning	□	□	□	□
i. IT for interactive learning	□	□	□	□
j. Life-wide learning (including field trip)	□	□	□	□
k. Context-based learning	□	□	□	□

11. How do you perceive the level of the NSS physics curriculum?	<	F.5					F.7	>
	F.5	1	2	3	4	5	6	F.7
a. Depth of content knowledge	□	□	□	□	□	□	□	□
b. Breadth of content knowledge	□	□	□	□	□	□	□	□
c. Generic capacity	□	□	□	□	□	□	□	□
d. Scientific attitudes	□	□	□	□	□	□	□	□
e. Scientific investigation	□	□	□	□	□	□	□	□
f. Practical manipulative skills	□	□	□	□	□	□	□	□
g. Inquiry ability on STSE issues	□	□	□	□	□	□	□	□
h. Understanding of NOS	□	□	□	□	□	□	□	□
i. Problem-solving ability	□	□	□	□	□	□	□	□