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Financial literacy is a multicomponent construct comprising financial knowledge, attitude, behaviors, and well-being. Financial literacy in young people helps them to achieve financial independence and escape from intergenerational poverty. Recent assessments, however, reveal that youth financial literacy is unsatisfactory. Financial education should be provided for students during secondary school as a natural context in which to establish young people's financial literacy. Empirical evidence from randomized experiments studying the impact of financial education on secondary school students, however, is limited. To address this research gap, we performed a randomized experiment with 270 Form-3 (U.S. equivalent Grade 9) secondary school students in Hong Kong. Structural equation modeling (SEM) results demonstrated that objective financial knowledge, financial attitudinal variables, and financial well-being variables could converge into the latent construct of financial literacy, while all financial behavioral variables converged into another latent construct of financial behavior; of note, the two latent constructs were not significantly correlated. SEM results also revealed that our financial education program significantly improved financial literacy, but did not have a significant effect on financial behavior in the short term. These findings contribute to existing financial literacy research by facilitating more accurate measurement and detailing the near-term effects of financial interventions at the adolescent stage in young people.

From September 2009 onwards, a new business curriculum which focuses on three key business disciplines, namely management, accounting and finance, has been implemented in Hong Kong senior secondary schools. A new assessment guide has been also proposed in light of the new curriculum. Such business curriculum and assessment reform move in the direction of preparing pupils to be more adaptive to the fast-changing business society; an innovative school-based pedagogical design will definitely be needed. This paper examines and analyzes the nature of the existing Hong Kong business curriculum and assessment reform from a competence-based perspective, discusses the critical issues in the areas of curriculum design, assessment practices, teaching approaches and teacher development, and suggests innovations in these areas for enhancing pupil competence development in the context of Hong Kong senior secondary education. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

This article examines four categories of teaching strategy used in business classes by a group of 26 secondary school business teachers in Hong Kong, using grounded theoretical coding techniques in the analysis. Each of the teaching categories is illustrated with typical extracts from interviews and is discussed in relation to its effectiveness and the formulation of teaching strategies. The study found that the teachers used varied teaching approaches to develop students' competence, with diverse considerations of influential factors in formulating their teaching strategies. It is recommended that teachers increase their awareness of their teaching approaches in classroom practice, formulate the most effective teaching strategies for their business classes, and develop an open learning space to promote their professional judgment on the formulation of teaching strategies.

Purpose: This paper is an empirical study which aims to investigate the development of social interaction and their impacts on developing learners' entrepreneurial characteristics throughout their participation in an authentic enterprise activity. Design/methodology/approach: The sample of this study was drawn from the participants of an enterprise activity called the Teen Entrepreneurs Competition for the high school students in Hong Kong. With the use of a mixed approach involving both qualitative and quantitative methods for data collection and analysis, the development and impacts of social interaction of the participants were investigated during their venturing process in the competition. Findings: The findings showed that the participants' entrepreneurial characteristics would be developed and enhanced through the four key types of social interaction, including the interaction with team members, instructors, schoolteachers and business stakeholders. However, the impact of social interaction was more direct on the development of task-oriented entrepreneurial characteristics, but less direct on the conceptual-oriented entrepreneurial characteristics. Research limitations/implications: This study provides useful insights into making a good use of social interaction in authentic enterprise education activities. Further studies can be conducted on studying the change in attitude towards entrepreneurship and the impacts of such change on the developing of entrepreneurial characteristics through social interaction in enterprise education. Practical implications: It is recommended that enterprise programmes and activities should be maximised with participants' social interaction opportunities particularly with business practitioners and opportunities provided for participants to reflect on their social interaction from time to time in order to achieve better learning outcomes. Originality/value: The results complement the existing literature on enterprise education by extending the current focus on the experiential aspect towards the interactive aspect during the learning process. (Contains 6 tables.)

This paper identifies and describes Hong Kong secondary business teachers' conceptions of student competence in business education, and their choice of teaching approaches to developing such competence. It also addresses the relationship between the conceptualisation of competence and teaching approaches in developing student competence. Phenomenography and grounded theoretical coding techniques were employed in the study, and the participants were 26 in-service business teachers. These teachers' conceptions of competence and their choice of teaching approaches were found to be multifaceted and semi-hierarchical. The identified conceptions address the basic and higher levels of competence that require different approaches in teaching. On the basis of the findings, it is recommended that teachers should not adopt an over-simplified view of the constitution of business students' competence and their competence development. They should be aware of their conceptions of competence, choice of teaching approaches and facilitation of student reflection in competence development. (Contains 2 tables.)

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of social interaction on participants' learning experience in enterprise education. Design/methodology/approach: On a sample of 420 high school students who participated in an enterprise activity in Hong Kong, two questionnaires surveys were conducted to collect data on them at the beginning of and after the enterprise activity. Hypotheses were tested on the impacts of two particular aspects of interactive learning--interaction with facilitator and interaction with team members in the enterprise activity. Findings: The results support the hypotheses that both types of social interaction are positively correlated to students' affection on the enterprise activity and the change in their perceived level of personal competencies before and after the activity. Research limitations/implications: Although two types of interaction are identified in this study, it is possible to extend the scope of interactive learning toward a broader range of social interaction. Also, the impacts of social interaction on other learning outcomes may be considered in further studies. Practical implications: It is necessary to maximise social interaction and develop participants' interpersonal skills for achieving effective enterprise education. More guidance and supervision on social interaction should also be provided in enterprise programmes and activities. Originality/value: The studies help to address the importance of the social interaction aspect in enterprise education, as the majority of the focus has been centred on the uses of experiential learning approaches. (Contains 2 tables.)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to introduce a case of an increasingly popular enterprise education programme in Hong Kong called the Teen Entrepreneurs Competition (TEC) and to examine its sustainability in different dimensions. Design/methodology/approach: Post-activity evaluation feedback was obtained from the participants and the stakeholders of the activity. Three systematic research studies were also conducted for investigating the impact of entrepreneurial characteristics and social interaction on the participants throughout TEC. Findings: Participants and stakeholders generally provided positive feedback towards TEC. The research findings also showed that TEC was able to draw a positive impact on developing the participants' entrepreneurial characters and in turn made TEC sustainable on the provision of an enterprise education programme in the local community. Research limitations/implications: It is suggested that the sustainability of TEC is attributed to three dimensions, namely, opportunities for individual comprehensive understanding, context for collaborative learning, and network for institutional support. Practical implications: Suggestions on how to further strengthen the sustainability of enterprise education programmes through these three dimensions are provided, for example, maximising individuals' practical experience, improving the quality of collaboration and developing a closer working relationship with various stakeholders. Originality/value: Enterprise education is recognised to have a significant influence on the development of entrepreneurial knowledge, skills and attitudes for youths. In order to widen the impact of enterprise education in society, it is necessary to sustain such enterprise education programmes over an extended period of time. (Contains 3 tables and 3 figures.)