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There has been a clear shift in higher education to prepare and empower the current students for a future quite different and more complex than that faced by previous generations. In particular, it is expected that they will possess comprehensive abilities to deal with challenges arising from new employment demands and beyond. While liberal arts education has a long history in the West, it has been increasingly implemented more recently in East Asia as one response to the need for educational reform. The research reported here is an empirical study of how liberal arts education has affected individuals from two institutions with distinctive interpretations of "liberal arts education" - University N, the first Sino-foreign joint university in mainland China, and University L, the only public liberal arts university in Hong Kong. Drawing on Bourdieu's Theory of Practice, this study illustrates the interplay and balance among students' practical concerns, their sense of social obligation fostered through liberal arts education elements and the wider social structure. Semi-structured interviews with senior students, fresh graduates, and educators were conducted to gather in-depth primary data. These reveal that, by providing interdisciplinary knowledge and transferable skill sets, a liberal arts education experience does enhance individuals' personal agency and intellectual competencies in a professional context - they are trained to become independent thinkers and learners. Moreover, the "humanistic" aspect of liberal arts is also relevant: having engaged in various activities and programs, students in both universities are encouraged to care, cooperate, and make positive differences in their increasingly interconnected communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teachers' emotions and well-being are critical not only for their personal and professional development but also for facilitating holistic development of students. With increasing risks and uncertainties from sociopolitical changes and the global pandemic, teachers are facing tremendous stress which has affected their self-efficacy. This cross-sectional study of 1614 teachers from 50 primary schools in Hong Kong investigates how teachers' perception of emotional competences and their emotional labour strategies relate to their self-efficacy in moral and character education via confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. The results reveal that both teachers' emotional competences and teachers' emotional labour strategies are positively associated with teachers' self-efficacy in moral and character education. Understanding the relationships among emotional competences, emotional labour strategies and teachers' self-efficacy may be the first step in intervention implementation and effective policy development that could improve teachers' self-efficacy in their provision of moral and character education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study reports on the effects of a self-regulated (SRL) writing strategy-based intervention supported with e-learning tools on SRL strategy use in English writing with 468 Hong Kong primary school students. The changes to the students' motivation in English writing, and their e-learning acceptance were also measured. The study adopted a pretest and posttest design and the data was collected through a questionnaire, which consisted of three measures, i.e. SRL writing strategy use, motivation in English writing, and e-learning acceptance. The SRL writing strategy use measure included four types of strategies, i.e. planning, text-generating, monitoring, and revising. The motivation measure had two scales, i.e. interest and self-efficacy, and the e-learning acceptance measure included four scales, i.e. perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude and continuance intention. The intervention saw significant improvements on the students' use of all four types of SRL writing strategies. Positive changes also took place to one scale of motivation, i.e. interest, and three scales of e-learning acceptance, i.e. perceived usefulness, attitude and continuance intention. There was no significant improvement to self-efficacy and perceived ease of use. Additionally, the correlations between all the scales became stronger after the intervention. Important implications for teaching ESL/EFL writing through e-learning are drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Creativity is an important 21st Century skill that enhances students' ability to see new opportunities, confront new challenges, and adapt flexibly to the changing study, work and life situations. To nurture students with strong self-efficacy in creative thinking is as important as the contexts and strategies involved in its application. But how to develop sustainable interventions (without generating excessive workload for teachers) to promote students' self-efficacy in creativity is a long-lasting challenge. This study presents a simple and relatively cost-effective instructional intervention, i.e., self-assessment mind maps, and examines its effect on students' self-efficacy in creativity, self-efficacy in learning English, and academic performance in English language tests. A pretest-posttest non-equivalent design was adopted for the experimental and control groups of students in a Hong Kong primary school in 2021/22 Spring semester. The results show that students from the experimental group significantly outperformed those from the control group on self-efficacy in creativity after the intervention. However, the intervention did not improve students' self-efficacy and test performance in English learning. The findings demonstrate the potential of self-assessment mind maps as an effective and sustainable instruction intervention to promote students' higher-order abilities. This study sheds light on designing sustainable instructional strategies for empowerment in creativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students' attitudes towards science is a long-standing topic in science education. Among various sub-constructs of attitudes towards science, students' motives for learning science and their self-efficacy in science learning may be the most frequently studied. Drawing from the expectancy-value theory (EVT), this study explored the extent to which the interaction between motives for learning science and self-efficacy in science learning can predict students' behavioral tendency to learn science in the classroom. The subjects were 345 tenth graders in Hong Kong. The results of stepwise multiple regression analyses indicated that while there was a significant interaction effect between utilitarian motive for leaning science and self-efficacy in learning science in their impacts on students' science learning, such effect was not found for intrinsic motive. Significant gender differences were revealed favoring boys in all four aspects covered in this study. The moderation of the levels of school on gender difference was found significant in students' intrinsic motive and behavioral tendency to learn science in classroom. This study enriches both the theories about attitudes towards science and the EVT through revealing the value-specific feature of the expectancy × value interaction. It is necessary to consider the multiplicative effect emphasized in the EVT when teachers consider the strategies to influence students' motives and self-efficacy so as to enhance students' engagement into science learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to examine the relationships between motivational variables, self-regulated writing strategy use and writing competence with 511 fourth graders in Hong Kong. The high writing achievers reported a higher level of motivation, i.e. self-efficacy, task values (i.e. interest and utility) and growth mindset in English writing than the low writing achievers. The high achievers also used various self-regulated writing strategies more frequently than their low achieving counterparts. Self-efficacy and growth mindset were found to be almost equally important predictors of strategy use, while the impacts of interest and utility were weaker. The results indicated that self-regulated learning and competence in English writing can be improved through the promotion of motivation. This study highlights the influence of the social-cultural context on motivation. More importantly, growth mindset may emerge as a new research agenda in English as a Second/Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) writing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the efforts of China to reform their curriculum to teach students to self-regulate their learning (SRL), and increase their writing proficiency in English as a foreign language (EFL). Topics discussed include self-efficacy beliefs to predict EFL learners' English proficiency, social behavior strategies, focusing on feedback handling (FH) and peer learning (PL) to measure student's behavior, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).

Teachers have frequent interaction with students and are well positioned to refer students for mental health assistance when needed. Twelve secondary schoolteachers in Hong Kong were interviewed about their experience referring students to mental health professionals (MHPs). Using consensual qualitative research, multiple factors were found to influence teachers' referral decisions, including problem severity, students' willingness, stigma of help-seeking, parent/guardian's beliefs, teacher-parent/guardian relationship, MHPs' effectiveness and availability, quality of interaction with MHPs, and teachers' self-efficacy in handling student issues. Based on the findings, we propose a conceptual model of factors influencing teachers' referral decisions. Implications for research, practice, and training are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses hierarchical linear modeling to examine the influence of a range of factors on the science performances of Hong Kong students in PISA 2006. Hong Kong has been consistently ranked highly in international science assessments, such as Programme for International Student Assessment and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study; therefore, an exploration of the factors that affect science performances of Hong Kong students can give a lens to examine how science education can be improved in Hong Kong and other countries. The analyses reveal that student backgrounds as male, at higher grade levels, and born in mainland (when in the same grade) are associated with better science performance. Among the attitudinal factors, enjoyment of science and self-efficacy in science play important roles in scientific achievements. Most of the parental factors, on the other hand, are not having significant impacts on achievement after student attitudes are taken into account, with only parents’ value of science having a small effect. School student intake is found to be a strong predictor of school average achievement, as well as a major mediator of the effects of school enrollment size and school socio-economic status. The findings differ from recently reported results, which suggested that school enrollment size was associated with achievement. This study also points out the problems of the use of science instruction time as a school-level variable to explain science achievement in Hong Kong. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The aims of this study were to examine changes in students’ English and math self-concepts and to investigate the effects of gender and school ability level on these changes. Self-concept in English and math were measured thrice across three years among a sample of 2618 secondary school students from Hong Kong. Gender and school ability level were included as time-invariant predictors. Results indicated that students’ English self-concept slightly increased across time, while math self-concept marginally declined. Gender influenced both the initial levels and rates of change for English and math self-concepts, while school ability level predicted initial levels of self-concept. Implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The big-fish–little-pond effect (BFLPE) posits that students with the same ability will have higher academic self-concepts when they are in low-ability classes than in high-ability classes. Our research puts the BFLPE under scrutiny by examining goal orientations as the moderators that may affect the size of the BFLPE. We collected data on mathematics self-concept, mathematics ability and goal orientation from 7334 Hong Kong junior secondary school students in 201 classes. We hypothesised that the BFLPE would be exacerbated for students who endorsed high extrinsic goals while the BFLPE would be attenuated for students who endorsed high intrinsic goals. However, the results did not fully support the hypothesis. We found that students who were highly motivated in general (both intrinsic and extrinsic) experienced stronger BFLPE. The implications of the findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: This study investigates the structure and cross-cultural (in)variance of mathematical self-beliefs in relation to mathematics achievement in two world regions: Confucian Asia (Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan) and Europe (Denmark, The Netherlands, Finland, Serbia and Latvia). This is done both pan-culturally and at a multigroup-level, employing multiple regression analysis and structural equation modeling on a sample of 7167 students (modal age 15.1) from nine countries in Confucian Asia and Europe. As expected, Confucian Asian countries were lower on self-concept and higher on math anxiety than European countries. In contrast, confidence, a relatively new measure of self-belief, shows little difference between regions, yet is the single most important predictor of math accuracy both within each country and pan-culturally. It accounts for most of the variance explained by the other self-constructs combined, has excellent psychometric properties, and is simple to administer. Self-efficacy adds only a very small amount of incremental validity when confidence is in the equation. There are significant differences between the two world regions in terms of calibration – Europeans are more overconfident – due to lower overall mathematics scores of students from Serbia and Latvia. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

One hundred four Hong Kong Chinese fifth graders completed a questionnaire on eight separate motivational subscales related to reading separately for Chinese as a first language (L1) and English as a foreign language (EFL) in addition to measures of both Chinese and English reading comprehension. Motivations related to self-efficacy, curiosity, involvement, recreation, and social-peer attitudes were significantly higher for L1 as compared to EFL reading. No difference across EFL and L1 was found for the motivational subscales in the areas of school grades, instrumentalism, and social-family attitudes. Furthermore, instrumentalism was particularly strongly correlated with EFL reading comprehension, whereas recreation had the highest association with L1 reading comprehension. The eight subscales collectively explained 16% variance in Chinese and 12% variance in English reading comprehension. Results underscore the importance of different types of motivation for reading comprehension and the different roles each motivational aspect may play in L1 and EFL reading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current computer-assisted language learning (CALL) research has identified various potentials of technology for language learning. To realize and maximize these potentials, engaging students in self-initiated use of technology for language learning is a must. This study investigated Hong Kong university students' use of technology outside the classroom to self-regulate their language learning. It showed that these students were actively engaged in the use of technology, but there were variations both among the students and in the aspects of language learning that they opted to support using technology. More importantly, this study unraveled the factors that influenced their selective use of technology in language learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the relationship between family factors and students’ scientific literacy performance in Hong Kong, which has excelled in science performance in previous international studies. Data were obtained from the 2006 Programme for International Student Assessment. Multilevel analysis was used to examine the relationship between parental involvement and investment and students’ scientific literacy performance. It was found that students’ scientific literacy performance, which was measured by their science achievement and self-efficacy towards science, were significantly associated with certain types of parental investment and involvement even after controlling background factors of both students and schools. Parental investment in cultural resources and parental involvement in terms of organising science learning enrichment activities at an early age were found to be significantly associated with students’ scientific literacy performance. Activities that could be provided at an early age (e.g. watching TV programmes about science, reading books on scientific discovery, watching, reading or listening to science fictions) were found to be highly effective activities for promoting children’s science achievement and self-efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study tested a mediation model to predict adolescents' academic achievement in Hong Kong. Generalized expectancies, including personal beliefs about agency and competence (i.e., self-efficacy) and social beliefs about effort and outcome (i.e., reward for application and fate control), were found to be significant antecedents of academic aspiration, a domain-specific mediator that predicted academic achievement positively. Self-efficacy and reward for application were positively related to academic aspiration. The indirect effect of fate control was negative on academic aspiration, but its direct effect was positive on academic achievement. These findings were used to make sense of the equivocal patterns of general self-efficacy, social axioms, and academic outcomes in the extant literature on learning and achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a qualitative analysis of Hong Kong school social workers' experiences in generating empowering practices, this paper discusses how a critical social work perspective provides a new frame of reference in which to examine the concept of empowerment in youth work. The recurrent themes of the narratives collected through in-depth interviews with 15 school social workers suggest that empowerment can be generated through a number of ways and understood in terms of dialogical process, reflexive practice, discourse construction, localized actions, and collective actions. The synthesis of these themes opens up the possibility for developing a framework of empowerment-oriented school social work practice. This framework provides a "map" to guide practitioners to work with power in diverse, dynamic, creative, and contextual ways. It is in many ways parallel to a critical social work perspective that emphasizes a dialectical view between the individual and social environment and synthesizes the critical theory and postmodernism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the study which investigates the self-efficacy perceptions of Chinese primary-age students with specific learning difficulties (SpLD) in Hongkong, China. It explores the perceptions of self-efficacy in terms of academic and non-academic domains with the use of the Academic and Non-Academic Self-efficacy Scale (ANASS). Findings indicate that SpLD students had significantly weaker beliefs in their self-efficacy in the academic learning domain compared to the students with normal progress. It also revealed that Chinese children with SpLD have more positive belief in their own efficacy than what is implied for their counterparts in other cultures.

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Empowerment has become a popular concept in working with adolescents in recent years. It challenges the deficit model of youth work and focuses on creating a facilitative climate in which young people can make maximum use of the opportunity to learn and grow. While many practitioners have adopted the empowerment approach in youth services, however, we know little about the possibilities for empowerment practice in the field of school social work. Based on the findings of a qualitative study conducted in Hong Kong, this paper explores how school social workers engage in different dimensions of empowerment: (1) the personal dimension in regard to how students recapture a sense of competence to meet life challenges and fight for their own benefits; (2) the school and community dimensions in regard to how practitioners collaborate with service users and partners to initiate constructive changes to school policies and strengthen the school-community partnership for student development; and (3) the institutional dimension in regard to how practitioners play the advocacy role in the education sector. The findings provide rich information for other youth workers, especially those who render service in the school setting, as they apply the empowerment approach in daily practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]