The science-technology-society agenda has evolved over time to meet emerging educational aims in the light of changes in society and the environment. There is increasing emphasis on students' decision-making on socio-scientific issues (SSIs) not only to highlight the intricate relationships between science, technology, society, and the environment, but also to allow students to incorporate multiple viewpoints into the development of critical reasoning and responsible citizenship. Most research emphases have been on the rationality of reasoning rather than on the internal psychological context that underpins reasoning. This paper explores how these various aspects of reasoning interact in decision-making on SSIs in health contexts through case studies of recent issues in this field. The case studies reveal the negotiation of multiple influences in addressing SSIs in health contexts and the potential interactions between the psychological processes of individuals, science, and sociocultural perspectives. A tentative model to address these interactions emerges from this explorative study and has implications for the use of health-related issues in promoting SSI education.
[Copyright of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2011.613417]

Two samples of Hong Kong college students completed the English and the Chinese version of the Multidimensional Orientation Toward Dying and Death Inventory (MODDI-F), respectively. Results show substantially lower coefficients of internal consistency in the English version when compared with its Chinese counterpart. The construct validity of the instrument, i.e., the statistical relationships between its subtests, was confirmed. Whenever available, the use of a questionnaire that is worded in the participants' mother tongue is recommended.
[Copyright of Psychological Reports is the property of Ammons Scientific Ltd. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.2466/03.07.12.PR0.110.3.1026-1028]

This research had two objectives. The first was to determine the reliability and validity of the multifaceted assessment of creativity (MAC) for evaluating Hong Kong university students' conceptions of creativity. The second was to establish if the theory–practice and gender gaps discovered among mainland Chinese university students would be replicated. The theoretical foundation for the MAC is the investment theory of creativity. Participants were 156 university students in Hong Kong. Results showed that Hong Kong university students' conceptions of creativity fit well with the six resources for creativity measured by the MAC: intelligence, knowledge, intellectual style, personality, motivation and environment. The present data not only confirmed the theory–practice and gender discrepancies previously found among mainland Chinese university students, but also revealed an additional gap –a theory–practice gap found only in participants' evaluation of female school students. Implications are discussed for research and for the psychology of teaching and learning.
[Copyright of Educational Psychology is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2013.812615]

The beliefs, attitudes, experiences and responses that Hong Kong higher education students have about assessment are an important facet to developing our understanding of the "Chinese learner" using six focus groups, 26 Hong Kong university students drew pictures of assessment. The visual elements of the pictures were content analysed into eight major categories (i.e. negative emotions, being monitored, competition, lifelong, pride and pleasure, marks, inaccuracy, and burden). The most frequent categories were negative emotions and being monitored. Associations between image categories and pre-university academic performance were statistically non-significant. In addition to the portrayal of the Chinese student as an effective, persistent learner, this study shows that Chinese students are very aware of the negative, controlling impact of assessment on their lives. This study contributes to our understanding of Chinese learners in Hong Kong.
[Copyright of Studies in Higher Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2011.616955]

The transition into university life is crucial to the future achievements of the students. However, the experience of the transition may be different between male and female students, but this has not been empirically investigated in previous research. The purpose of this study is to examine the gender differences in the perception of university support. This research is based on a survey of 265 students from five universities in Hong Kong. The findings show that (i) more female students perceive the university as being supportive in their academic adjustment than male students; (ii) more male than female students perceive the university as being supportive in their social adjustment; and (iii) more male than female students perceive the university as being supportive in their psychological adjustment. Finally, the implications of the study are explored and discussed.
[Copyright of Journal of Further and Higher Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2011.645460]