The present study evaluated the implementation and impact of the "general university requirements" (GUR) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitative methods included a four-year longitudinal online survey, Collegiate Learning Assessment Plus (CLA+), and secondary analyses of student feedback data in different years. Qualitative methods included focus groups and qualitative evaluation forms involving students and teachers as well as a longitudinal case study. Results showed that students displayed positive development based on different developmental indicators of the five desired graduate attributes of PolyU in their study of the four-year program. Both students and teachers also generally showed positive perceptions of the GUR, with reference to its subject content, teaching and learning, and benefits. Several major concerns regarding the GUR were also identified.
[Copyright of International Journal of Child & Adolescent Health is the property of Nova Science Publishers, Inc.]

This study investigated the conceptualization of children's socioemotional competence among parents and teachers of preschool children in Hong Kong, China. Focus groups were conducted with 16 parents and 18 teachers from three preschools. Thematic content analysis revealed that, reflecting the cultural as well as contextual characteristics of Hong Kong, parents and teachers expected socioemotionally competent children to master skills in emotion understanding, emotion expressivity, emotion regulation, relationship building, conflict management, and inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility. There was diversity within parents' and teachers' interpretations of the characteristics of emotionally regulated and socially skilled children. Findings highlighted the ecosystemic nature of societal ideas about children's developmental competence, demonstrated the utility of qualitative research in exploring these ideas in culturally sensitive manners, and called for the mobilization of parents and teachers as research-informed scaffolders of holistic development of children. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

As one of the essential skills for success in work and studies, English communication is often made a key component in the GE curriculum of tertiary study programmes. In addition to the provision of required English proficiency courses, many tertiary institutions have established English centres of some description to promote English learning on campus. Yet from students' perspective, what kinds of programmes and activities should be offered, and how they feel about these initiatives is not very widely discussed in the existing literature. This paper aims to address these questions with practical experiences gained from a project to establish an English language enhancement centre by one self-financing tertiary institution in Hong Kong. Funded by the Quality Enhancement Support Scheme (QESS), the centre, titled the Centre for Academic and Professional Language Enhancement (CAPLE), was set up in March 2016. Cognizant of the benefits of life-wide learning, independent learning and collaborative peer learning, CAPLE offers a series of workshops and various kinds of English and culture learning activities that adopt these pedagogical approaches. Centre usage figures and user feedback were continuously collected for evaluative purposes. Data collected through student diaries, online surveys, usage records of the online programmes and other resources and a focus group interview showed varying levels of popularity of different types of workshops/activities, suggesting there is a need for programme designers to have a more realistic view about students' actual English learning needs and learning motivation. Recommendations are made accordingly for more economical use of resources.
[Copyright of English Language Teaching is the property of Canadian Center of Science and Education]

Based on a qualitative analysis of a group of parents' perceived outcomes and experiences in a parent education program in Hong Kong, this paper discusses how a transformative approach provides a new frame of reference from which to explore the new directions of parent education. The research findings suggest that parent transformation can be achieved in numerous ways comprising consciousness raising, growth facilitation, life integration, relationship enhancement, support generation and community building. The findings provide a knowledge base for an investigation of its applicability. They also offer reference materials to guide other parent education practitioners in applying the transformative approach in actual practice.
[Copyright of Journal of Social Work Practice: psychotherapeutic approaches in health, welfare and the community is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02650533.2012.732046]

The study involved student teachers enrolled in the Bachelor of Education English Language Programme at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. Students (N = 77) participated in a pilot study by electronically submitting their field experience portfolios in their third and fourth year of study. Student teachers were invited through e-mails to participate in focus group interviews. The purpose of this interview was to examine the merits and challenges of digitising the existing FE paper-based portfolio, using a digital portfolio platform, and to plan for future development using Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as the research framework. All participants were required to create e-portfolios to showcase their achievements, the effects of actual system used led to long-term behavioural intention to use, diverging from the TAM's original model, which predicted actual system use. Student teachers either participated in a semi-structured interview (n = 7) or replied via e-mails (n = 2). The results indicated that attitude towards usage (ATU) evidenced a direct relationship to behavioural intention to use. Furthermore, for those who had mixed ATU, perceived usage was the determining factor. The findings provide insightful information not only for the next implementation phase of an e-portfolio, but also for those considering implementing e-portfolios.
[Copyright of Issues in Informing Science & Information Technology is the property of Informing Science Institute. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://www.informingscience.us/icarus/journals/iisit/]

This study developed and validated an instrument, the Chinese Early Parental Involvement Scale (CEPIS), that can be widely used in both local and international contexts to assess Chinese parental involvement in early childhood education. The study was carried out in two stages: (1) focus group interviews were conducted with 41 teachers and 35 parents in Hong Kong and Shenzhen. Teachers and parents were found to hold different perceptions of parental involvement. Responses further revealed that Chinese parents practiced more home-based involvement than preschool-based involvement, and that Chinese parents also have layers of responsibilities that limit their level of involvement in children's early development; (2) items of the CEPIS were developed using focus group responses. To validate the scale, 319 parents were asked to complete the new CEPIS. Results from principal-components factor analyses established that the resultant 26-item CEPIS consists of six parental involvement dimensions. Further analyses revealed that parental involvement differed as a function of parents' marital status and employment status. The major findings, implications and limitations of this research are discussed, together with directions for future research.
[Copyright of International Journal of Early Years Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09669760.2012.743099]