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One of education's primary goals is to cultivate citizens who want to contribute to society. However, surprisingly little research has been conducted on how students' desire to contribute to society is related to crucial learning-related outcomes. The aim of this study was to examine how the desire to contribute to one's society, which we call societal motivation for shorthand, is associated with optimal learning-related outcomes such as self-regulated learning, deep learning, and achievement. The sample included 8,773 secondary school students from Hong Kong. The mean age of the students was 13.28 (SD = 1.09) years old. Students were asked to respond to self-reported surveys and answer achievement tests across two-time points, one year apart. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. Results indicated that Time 1 societal motivation positively predicted Time 2 self-regulated learning and deep learning. These associations held despite controlling for auto-regressive effects and other relevant covariates such as Time 1 goals (mastery, performance, social, and extrinsic) and demographic variables. Our results showed that societal motivation is associated with optimal learning-related outcomes. This paper has theoretical implications for educational research by showing that societal motivation is an important yet neglected aspect of student motivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on intrinsic and extrinsic future goals has mostly focused on their impact on wellbeing with relatively lesser attention being focused on key learning outcomes. This study investigates how the pursuit of different future goals (i.e., society‐, family‐, career‐, wealth‐, and fame‐oriented goals) affects students' self‐control, and whether self‐control mediates the relationship between future goals and distal learning outcomes (i.e., students' affect to school and academic achievement 1 year later). The study adopted a longitudinal design involving 8,354 secondary students from 16 schools in Hong Kong. Students had to complete English and Mathematics achievement tests and answer questionnaires measuring the key variables. Structural equation modeling analysis indicated intrinsic future goals were more adaptive compared to extrinsic ones. In particular, results revealed the importance of society‐oriented goal on self‐control and distal learning outcomes. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hong Kong's bioinformatics sector is attaining new heights in combination with its economic boom and the predominance of the working-age group in its population. Factors such as a knowledge-based and free-market economy have contributed towards a prominent position on the world map of bioinformatics. In this review, we have considered the educational measures, landmark research activities and the achievements of bioinformatics companies and the role of the Hong Kong government in the establishment of bioinformatics as strength. However, several hurdles remain. New government policies will assist computational biologists to overcome these hurdles and further raise the profile of the field. There is a high expectation that bioinformatics in Hong Kong will be a promising area for the next generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health literacy tests in the Chinese-speaking parts of the world have been mainly developed in traditional Chinese to be used in Hong Kong or Taiwan. So far no validated tool in simplified Chinese to assess functional health literacy in Mainland China has been developed. The aim of the study was to validate the simplified Chinese version of the Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (S-TOFHLA). The traditional Chinese version was translated into simplified Chinese and 150 interviews in an outpatient department of a public hospital in Mainland China were conducted. Predictive validity was assessed by known predictors for health literacy and convergent validity by three health literacy screening questions. The Cronbach's a for the reading comprehension part was 0.94 and 0.90 for the numeracy items. Participants with lower education and men had significantly lower levels of health literacy. The reading comprehension part was significantly correlated with two of the health literacy screening questions. Our results indicate that the simplified Chinese version of the S-TOFHLA is a reliable measure of health literacy to be used in Mainland China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]