Physical education is one of the eight Key Learning Areas (KLAs) of the Hong Kong school curriculum. In line with the recent education reform initiation, Sport Pedagogy & Physical Activity Assessment Laboratory focuses on the study of teaching and learning, curriculum and design, continuing professional development and broader social and educational issues that pertain to Physical Education. For example, fostering a student-centred instructional approach to enable students to achieve all-round development.

Sport Pedagogy & Physical Activity Assessment Laboratory Research Group: left to right (1st row) Mr YAM Chun-ming, Mr So Ka-chun, Mr WONG Chi Wing, Professor Amy HA (Leader of the research group), Mr KWAN Tze Hin , Mr YU Yiu-fai, Dr Johan NG (2nd row) Ms SIU LOK YIU, Dr Taoran ZENG, Ms HUANG Ying, Dr Juanita CHEUNG, Dr Cecilia CHAN, Ms Genevieve YUNG, Ms Sophie FUNG

TEACHER EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Through examining current issues in physical education and sport pedagogy, much of the work has addressed the professionalism of Physical Education teachers and its relation to students’ learning effectiveness. In addition, with Physical Education being one of the KLAs in recent educational reforms, the research team has attempted to explore ways to enhance the students’ learning experiences in formal and informal school curriculum. Through international collaborations with prominent scholars in North America, Australia and China, the team has developed an "East meets West" approach in receiving and informing latest issues in physical education and sport pedagogy research.

Professor Amy Ha and her undergraduate students at a school visit.
Workshops specifically designed to strengthen PE teachers’ continuing professional development.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Professor Amy Ha and her research team are working on projects examining social and psychological factors that affect health-related physical activity (PA) participation and engagement in physical education among primary and secondary school students. These projects are grounded on theoretical frameworks such as constructivism, self-determination theory and social ecological model. Recent studies involve examinations of psychological and social factors associated with students’ PA patterns both during and outside school hours, as well as investigations of the effectiveness of school-based interventions in improving fundamental movement skills (FMS), physical activity, physical fitness and social skills among schoolchildren. Professor Ha has also received donations to promote rope skipping at local schools, as well as funding support to run community-based project to create an active school environment. These research studies and promotion programs inform curriculum development and improve existing teaching practices, thereby helping physical education teachers to adopt a more student-centred approach to giving instruction, and formulating strategies to cater for student diversity.

CHILDREN'S PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND ENGAGEMENT IN PE
As an experienced educator herself, Professor Ha firmly believes that it is vital to engage relevant stakeholders (e.g. policy makers, school principals, teachers, parents, and family members) in initiatives to improve children’s health-related PA participation and engagement in PE. Recently, the team has begun a series research studies aimed at understanding the interplay between barriers and drivers of using family-school partnerships and strategies. Through collaborative relationships and activities involving policy makers, school principals, teachers, parents, and family members, the team aims to create a more supportive environment to promote sustained behaviour change and lifelong participation in physical activity in children and adolescents.

EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICES TO PROMOTE ACTIVE FAMILY & SCHOOL
Being the Principal Investigator, Professor Ha has been leading the Fun to Move@JC project since September 2017 on behalf of the Faculty of Education, CUHK. The five-year pilot project is a collaborative initiative with The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, aiming to develop a sustainable model that enhances primary students’ physical activity level, as well as improving their efficacy and motivation in sports.

The project goals to increase activity levels and enhance movement quality of Hong Kong primary students and their parents, will be achieved with the aid of home-school co-operation and the application of state-of-the-art technology, such as 3D motion capturing and big data analytics. Systematic data collection, adhering to high scientific rigour, will be conducted using wrist-worn sport bands, an automated Fundamental Movement Skills Rater, expert observations, as well as self-reported questionnaires. Involving cross-disciplinary research effort and collaboration, a big data platform will being set up with data serving as useful reference to inform both academia and policy-makers in the future.

The project was officially launched in November 2018. For more details, please visit the project website
(http://www.funtomove-jc.hk).

Director of Leisure and Cultural Services Ms Michelle Li (in the middle), Vice-Chancellor and President of the CUHK Professor Rocky Tuan, Executive Director, Charities and Community of the HKJC Mr Leong Cheung and Principal Investigator Professor Amy Ha, attended the Launch Ceremony for the Fun to Move@JC project.
Professor Amy Ha’s research team builds ties with scholars from international universities for knowledge exchange and experience sharing.
Different initiatives including technology applications were introduced to improve the fundamental movement skills (FMS) of students from kindergartens and primary schools.
Professor Amy Ha led school-family-cooperating projects to promote healthy lifestyle and physical activity behaviors in children and their parents
Professor Amy Ha, founder and President of the Hong Kong Rope Skipping Association, China, received the Leader of the Year 2016 award on behalf of the association on 16 March 2017

• Promoting physical activity in primary schoolchildren through family-school support and state-of-the-art technology: a social ecological approach
• Promoting physical and health literacy in Hong Kong preschool teachers, children and their families
• Investigating schoolchildren’s fundamental movement skills, perceived physical competence and exercise enjoyment
• Does autonomous motivation predict moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and psychological well-being in Hong Kong schoolchildren?
• Active Hong Kong, Healthy Citizens – A family-based physical activity, fundamental movement skill, and nutrition program
• Impact of rope skipping on health-related fitness, fundamental movement skills, bone mineral density, and academic performance in Hong Kong Chinese pre- and early-pubertal girls: A quasi-experiment
• Increasing Hong Kong Chinese students’ physical activity through fitness infusion and an autonomy supportive learning environment: Evaluation of the SELF-FIT program using a clustered randomized controlled trial
• Increasing Hong Kong primary children's fundamental movement skills through an assessment -based teacher led intervention using a clustered randomized controlled trial