The COVID-19 pandemic has altered learning and teaching approaches in higher education. Research concerning COVID-19 revealed inconsistent results on student engagement, which is a robust predictor of academic performance in higher education. This exploratory study examines the relationship between grit and student engagement in the pandemic through the mediating role of negotiable fate. Although previous research demonstrated that grit could positively predict student engagement, there have been inconsistent findings between the two sub-factors of grit: consistency of interest (grit-CI) and perseverance of effort (grit-PE). Besides, there is a lack of theoretical explanation of the mechanism between grit and engagement. The adaptation of negotiable fate seeks to provide one of the pathways of how grit would be associated with student engagement. To examine these hypotheses, the present study recruited 339 undergraduate students from two universities in Hong Kong to participate in an online survey. The results showed that grit, grit-PE, and negotiable fate positively correlate with student engagement, but the path of grit-CI did not reveal any significant results. After accounting for the mediating effect of negotiable fate, grit-PE still positively correlates with student engagement, suggesting a partial mediation model. This study provides empirical evidence that grit positively predicts student engagement with the mediation of negotiable fate. However, only grit-PE was positively associated with other variables, while grit-CI did not reveal any significant predictions. The present study (1) extends the understanding of the mechanism between grit and student engagement and (2) explores the mediating role of negotiable fate in this relationship in the higher education context. Theoretical and practical implications of this mediation model among grit, negotiable fate, and student engagement were discussed. Copyright © 2023 SAGE Publications.

Purpose: This research is an interview-based study that captures the academics' perspectives toward the planning and design of an interdisciplinary General Education Curriculum for undergraduate students in the Chinese context, using the Common Core Curriculum at the University of Hong Kong as a case study. Design/Approach/Methods: A total of 28 academics with various levels of academic ranking, disciplinary context, proven teaching excellence, and research productivities were individually invited for and consented to a semi-structured and face-to-face interview. Findings: This article suggests four fundamental and interrelated dimensions for consideration when structuring an interdisciplinary General Education Curriculum, namely, how to design, what is worth learning, how to learn and teach, and how to know students have learned. It is suggested that the ideal curriculum should remain coherent and coordinated, broad and balanced, as well as open and flexible, ensuring the capture of knowledge, skills, and attitudes, with the facilitation of active, authentic, and contextualized pedagogies and assessments. Originality/Value: This article has the potential of providing insight for policymakers and educators around the world to better structure an interdisciplinary General Education Curriculum by creating an overall springboard for future discussion. They can also integrate these evidence-based elements and strategies into their everyday practices. Copyright © 2023 SAGE Publications.

Purpose: This study investigated the usefulness of various communication means for providing university study information with prospective students before and during the pandemic for three consecutive academic years. Design/methodology/approach: Students who had recently taken undergraduate program admission indicated how useful communication channels were in providing the information about university studying. Seven communication channels were examined: open/information day, admission talk, campus visit, education fair, admission website, social media and summer activities. The students were asked to complete an online survey at the beginning of an academic year. In the survey, they were asked to indicate the usefulness of each of the communication channels using a five-point Likert scale with the descriptors: 1 = not useful, 2 = slightly useful, 3 = somewhat useful, 4 = useful, 5 = very useful. If students did not have any usage experience with a communication channel, they were asked to choose "no experience." There were 1798, 1735 and 1961 students at a university in Hong Kong participating in the study in academic years 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2021/22, respectively. Findings: The pandemic has transformed the landscape of the university's ways of marketing channels to communicate with prospective students. The top useful channel of information for students during the pandemic was admission website, followed by social media and then open/information day. Before the pandemic, open/information day was the most useful channel of information for students and then admission website; the least useful one was social media channel. Significant differences were revealed in the usefulness rating on open/information day and social media channel among the three academic years. Originality/value: The findings facilitate educational managers to determine the appropriate marketing and recruitment strategies for connecting with prospective students under dynamic context in the era of

The integration of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in English language teaching presents opportunities and challenges for instructors. This study explores the attitudes of higher education English language instructors towards generative AI tools, their intentions to use them and the institutional support and professional development necessary to teach and learn with them. As the field continues to evolve rapidly, it is essential to comprehend the readiness of front-line language instructors. This qualitative interpretive study seeks to identify the digital competencies and pedagogical knowledge required to implement generative AI in education and provide guidance for the design of professional development programmes that address the challenges and concerns associated with adopting AI. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with twelve instructors at a higher education institution in Hong Kong, the findings reveal the significance of familiarity and confidence with using AI-driven teaching tools, the challenges and concerns language instructors face and the need for tailored support and professional development. The study offers ten practical implications to cultivate language instructors’ digital competencies, pedagogical knowledge and positive attitudes towards integrating AI to enhance their students’ learning experiences. Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

This paper explored teacher professional development (TPD) for online and blended learning (OBL) via microlearning in the higher education English language teaching context in Hong Kong in 2021 and 2022. OBL requires teachers to integrate technology. This study drew on quantitative survey data (N = 67) and interviews (N = 12) that took place after the participants were exposed to microlearning. The findings illuminated that microlearning was perceived as flexible and stress-free and allowed teachers to focus on relevant and immediate tasks using bite-sized learning segments to achieve digital growth. Such activities created favourable conditions to equip them with the skills necessary to teach effectively in the context of the “new normal”. Moreover, the study shed light on how previous TPD activities were often considered too general to improve teachers’ digital competence. It concluded with a call for more research on microlearning and TPD for OBL to help teachers gain pedagogical, theoretical and practical knowledge to enhance their teaching. Copyright © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

Impactful innovations in higher education are increasingly dependent on concepts generated through global engagement and international collaborations. Internationalisation of higher education tends to grow in complexity when universities from different jurisdictions are driven by dissimilar governance approaches and developmental goals. Yet, this complexity enhances opportunities for creativity, innovations and collaborations at the same time. In this paper, we examine how world-class universities in Hong Kong, Macao and Guangdong have worked to overcome incongruities and asymmetries inside the Greater Bay Area (GBA), a new and ambitious regional construct of China, by drawing on disparate legacies and capacities in internationalisation of research, education, and service in their jurisdictions. We explore the impact of international dynamics on the universities’ efforts to create a more coherent agenda with respect to international partnerships in the region. The study contributes to conceptualisation of world-class universities’ roles in shaping bridges and synergies regionally and globally, and infuses the rationales of internationalization in higher education with new perspectives. Copyright © 2022 Journal of Higher Education Policy And Leadership Studies.

Hong Kong went through a complete reform in its higher education curriculum, incorporating opportunities for interdisciplinary learning and holistic competency development. Almost eight years have passed since the reform, yet little is known about the current state of students' holistic competency development across different disciplines. Students' self-evaluation of their capacities in holistic competencies can provide us indirect evidence of student development of these competencies for quality assurance. This study does not only aim to explore how undergraduates in Hong Kong self-assessed their holistic competencies, but also to identify whether there were disciplinary differences. To do so, 2192 undergraduate students from six universities in Hong Kong were surveyed using the validated Students' Perception of Holistic Competencies Questionnaire. Analysis of the quantitative data revealed that students generally rated themselves strongest in Moral Values but weakest in Interpersonal and Leadership Competencies. However, no substantial mean difference across the different disciplines was evident in all six holistic competencies investigated. The overall results indicated that undergraduates in Hong Kong generally believe that they have a moderately high level of capability in holistic competencies. Copyright © 2022 Elsevier.

With the increasing interest in entrepreneurship education within engineering education, there are questions on what engineering entrepreneurship education should include. As engineering entrepreneurship education aims to foster entrepreneurial individuals who will contribute to knowledge-based societies and economic growth, student perspectives are crucial. This study assessed first and final year engineering students' perceptions on entrepreneurship education in a university in Hong Kong, identifying important competencies as learning outcomes and motivating and deterring factors for students to pursue entrepreneurship as a career. Findings offer implications for curriculum design and educational practices, particularly on formally offering entrepreneurship education in the engineering discipline, involving competencies development in educational practices and developing opportunities addressing students' factors of motivation and deterrence. Copyright © 2022 Routledge.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally shifted learning from the traditional classroom approach to online learning. As such, this study used a revision centre as a case study to develop the factors that contribute to the theoretical framework of online peer learning in the higher education sector due to COVID-19. This study also explores the integrated effects of online peer learning on students and investigates whether advanced information technology creates new opportunities or additional burdens for students in adopting online peer learning environments. Descriptive statistical analysis, factor analysis, and correlation analysis were conducted on survey data gathered from 204 sub-degree students in Hong Kong. The results addressed four main factors developed from 39 variables: enhancement of learning ability, the attitude toward learning, motivation for learning, and interpersonal relationship which were closely associated. The study findings provide strategies and constructive recommendations for educators to develop a new online learning pedagogy, construct sustainable online peer learning, and effectively manage students’ online learning to meet the needs for post-COVID online education. Copyright © 2022 Springer.

In Hong Kong, which transitioned from a colonial to post-colonial One Country-Two Systems structure, sustainability implementation rests on two institutional pillars: education, which drives the city’s knowledge-based economy, and family system. In light of the recent policy demands to strengthen higher education and family systems by capitalizing on the unique advantages of the post-colonial era, the purpose of this study was to: (1) describe and analyze sustainability values of the first-year university students; and (2) investigate roles of family and educational systems in the process of their formation. The mix-method study stressed the importance of discerning and analyzing sustainability value formation in order to create in-depth understanding of the curricular adjustments that align the sustainability mindset of Hong Kong students in the context of the One Country-Two Systems under the pressing demands of global economy. The study relied on the use of two systems theoretical frameworks employed within sustainability education (Sterling, 2003) and family (Bowen, 1957/1974) fields. Data sources included questionnaires of 4985 Hong Kong first-year university students; and 31 semi-structured interviews of Liberal Studies teachers. The quantitative findings showed that 85% of the students believed that their family influenced their environmental values; reported a significant negative coefficient (-0.044) between the two student cohorts in relation to family influence; and showed that family influence on students’ sustainability values differed by gender. The qualitative results revealed the overarching themes of Family Income, Role Modeling, and Shared Responsibility as three major descriptors of family influences on sustainability values of Hong Kong students. Copyright © 2022 Springer.