This paper reports on the development of an online inventory to measure the preferences for open education programmes among school leavers and adults in Hong Kong. The study was a collaborative effort headed by the Centre for Research in Distance & Adult Learning at the Open University of Hong Kong and included a local Student Guidance Centre (the Hok Yau Club) and eight secondary schools in Hong Kong. Trait-factor theory and personality type theory were employed. The inventory was developed by the project team and consisted of academic scholars and practitioners in education. The final version consisted of 128 items and was validated by 7 local guidance counselors and 20 international experts in psychology. 1,288 respondents in Hong Kong were surveyed. Schools were selected based on geographical location, academic level and language of instruction. Ten personal attributes were found including: Influential, Mechanical, Scientific, Sociological, Organizational, Mathematical, Literary, Musical, Aesthetic, and Social Service. The test-retest reliability coefficient was 0.72. It is hoped that the inventory could help school leavers and adults in Hong Kong in making wise decisions on their career path and strengthen their opportunity for academic success.
[Copyright © 2004 The Asian Society of Open and Distance Education.]

In order to build a knowledge‐based society and meet the needs of lifelong education, open learning opportunities are growing at exponential rates. While such growth is commendable, there appears to be a very strong demand for distance guidance services in open education programme selection. The purpose of this study was to develop the online self‐directed inventory, the Academic Programme Preference Instrument (APPI), for the lifelong learners in Hong Kong. The methods of questionnaire survey and standardized psychological measurement were employed. In this study, 2775 respondents were surveyed in order to identify and verify the inventory, using a multistage stratified cluster sampling technique. The inventory consists of 112 items under nine personal attribute types, namely: organizational; mechanical; scientific; sociological; mathematical; literary; musical; aesthetic; and social service. Eighty‐nine distance and continuing education professionals were invited to help to determine the most important personal attributes that a learner should possess in order to meet the minimum entry requirements of each of the 73 education programme categories that account for over 800 open education programmes in Hong Kong. The online APPI, in English and Chinese versions, has been linked to the homepage of the Hok Yau Club in Hong Kong for the public to use freely. As Hong Kong aims to foster lifelong learning in a knowledge‐based society, it is expected that the APPI can help lifelong learners to make wise open education programme selection and to enhance learners’ success in pursuing continuing education.
[Copyright of International Journal of Lifelong Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02601370600990952]