From the 2012/13 academic year, the undergraduate degree programme in Hong Kong higher education has been transferred from a three-year to a four-year structure, with introduction of a rigorous component of general education in the new four-year curriculum. The present study aims to evaluate the implementation and impact of a new general education program, the "General University Requirements" (GUR), in the new four-year undergraduate curriculum of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) based on the views of teachers. A total of 68 teachers who had taught different GUR subjects in 2013/14 academic year were recruited to fill in an evaluation sheet designed to understand their views towards the GUR subjects. A total of 75 qualitative evaluation sheets were collected. Both close-ended and open-ended questions were used to assess teachers' perceptions. Data analyses indicated that teachers generally had positive evaluation about the GUR. They perceived that the content, teaching methods, and assessment components of GUR subjects successfully engaged students in the learning process and helped students achieve the intended learning outcomes. Teachers also had positive impression and feelings towards the GUR subjects they taught, and perceived the GUR subjects as helpful in broadening students' knowledge, cultivating their characters and important generic competences. Meanwhile, challenges in the implementation process were also noted. Findings from this study indicated the basic effectiveness of the GUR at PolyU based on teachers' views. It also provided indications for further improvements of the GUR and general education programs in Hong Kong higher education.
[Copyright Nova Science Publishers, Inc. 2017]

This study attempted to identify communication as a human relational 'path' through which principal leadership influenced teacher professional learning. The data was collected from a sample of 970 teachers from 32 Hong Kong primary schools. Online survey was administered, with two questionnaires to measure teacher perceptions of principal leadership and school capacity. Baron and Kenny' s (1986) four-step causal process for mediation analysis was employed and integrated with bootstrapping method. Further significance of the mediating effects of communication was tested, and the sizes for both the direct and indirect effects in the relationship were made explicit. The findings affirmed the role of communication as a mediator in the relationship between principal leadership and teacher learning.
[Copyright © 2016 Rowman & Littlefield.]

This study modeled the associations between extrinsic demographic factors and children's speech acquisition in Hong Kong Cantonese. The speech of 937 Cantonese-speaking children aged 2; 4 to 6; 7 in Hong Kong was assessed using a standardized speech test. Demographic information regarding household income, paternal education, maternal education, presence of siblings and having a domestic helper as the main caregiver was collected via parent questionnaires. After controlling for age and sex, higher maternal education and higher household income were significantly associated with better speech skills; however, these variables explained a negligible amount of variance. Paternal education, number of siblings and having a foreign domestic helper did not associate with a child's speech acquisition. Extrinsic factors only exerted minimal influence on children's speech acquisition. A large amount of unexplained variance in speech ability still warrants further research.
[Copyright of Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics is the property of Informa Healthcare. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/02699206.2013.763385]

This study examines the interrelationships amongst and between news attention, education, and political tolerance. Based on the theoretical presumption that the mainstream news media tend to reflect the prejudices and ideologies of the dominant groups in a society, news portrayal of groups regarded as deviant and/or controversial can be expected to be negative in valence. Hence, news attention is expected to lead to more negative attitudes toward such groups, which in turn breeds intolerance toward them. Meanwhile, education may moderate the relationship between news attention and tolerance. Research questions and hypotheses are examined through analyzing the data from a representative survey conducted in Hong Kong. The findings confirm the negative, indirect effect of news attention on tolerance through attitude toward deviant groups. Education is also found to relate to tolerance in a complicated and contradictory manner: while education has a direct positive effect on tolerance, it also strengthens the negative impact that attitude toward deviant groups has on tolerance. The theoretical and social implications of the findings are discussed.
[Copyright of Chinese journal of communication is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17544750.2013.789427]

Objective: This study aims at exploring university students' attitudes towards the application of genomic science and technology (GST) and the rationales behind their judgments.
Background: With the rapid advances in GST, its wide application will become common in the near future. Since understanding the ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) of GST is important for its sustained development, understanding public attitude towards GST application is critical for its acceptance in Hong Kong society.
Participants: Cantonese speaking undergraduate and postgraduate students of the University of Hong Kong (HKU-students).
Methods: The study consisted of two parts. Part 1 was a survey of 400 HKU-students recruited at the library entrance and the written questionnaires were completed immediately. Part 2 comprised semi-structured interviews of 65 of the 400 HKU-students surveyed in Part 1 and each was interviewed individually.
Conclusions: In Part 1, HKU-students had neutral responses for most themes, and Part 2 showed that the neutrality was primarily caused by opposing opinions of proponents and opponents in each theme. HKU-students had a negative attitude towards human genetic enhancement and were worried about GM food, genetic discrimination, and misuses of genetic information. The study did not support the deficit model but confirmed the particularistic view that endorsement of a GST application is determined by specific contextual factors.
[Copyright of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14636778.2012.662040]