This study aims to develop and validate a strength-based instrument for assessing the academic advising needs of university students in Hong Kong using the Appreciative Advising Inventory (AAI) as a blueprint. We reviewed the content validity and cultural relevance of the AAI and developed a 37-item AAI Hong Kong Version (AAI-HK). We conducted Rasch analysis and principal component analysis. The AAI-HK has four stable and reliable factors (social competence and support; positive identity and participation; positive values; and commitment to learning and study), which represent key strengths of university students. Four AAI-HK subscales demonstrate good reliability. We found significant differences in AAI-HK scores between students who are under academic probation or not and between students who are local or nonlocal. Copyright © 2021 NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising, Inc.

Universities are increasingly looking into self-service systems with intelligent digital agents to supplement or replace labor-intensive services, such as academic counseling. The Open University of Hong Kong has developed an intelligent online system that instantly responds to enquiries about career development, learning modes, program/course choices, study plans, and graduation checks. The intelligent counseling system (the i-Counseling System) was developed under the Center for Innovation initiative funded by the Hong Kong Government in order to provide an effective 24 x 7 academic counseling service to help prospective and current students plan their studies. The online system uses an animated character with multilingual, text-to-speech, and natural language capabilities as a front end for sophisticated search and information retrieval. In this article, the authors describe the design concepts and features of the i-Counseling System.
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The purpose of this paper is to report on the development of the first online self-directed inventory on the measurement of academic programme preferences (MAPP) for potential students at the Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK). In this study, trait-factor theory and personality type theory were employed. 1,963 respondents in Hong Kong were surveyed using a multi-stage stratified cluster sampling technique. The inventory, consisting of 132 items, was developed and eight personal attributes were found: Influential , Enterprising , Social , Helping , Explorative , Technological , Logical , and Reflective . The minimum desirability of each of these attributes for all programmes offered at the OUHK was assessed by course administrators. Students' ratings on the eight personal attributes were evaluated against the minimum ratings, based on a nine-point scale, to determine their academic preferences. A computer-assisted multidimensional MAPP was set up online in both English and Chinese and was linked to the University's homepage. By completing the MAPP online, distance learners could obtain their personal profiles and a list of suggested OUHK programmes instantaneously. Connected to the University's aim to foster lifelong learning, the MAPP is expected to ease the academic selection process and reduce the number of dropouts by enhancing students' success with their chosen programmes.
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