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Career choice of tourism students in a triple-whammy crisis
Get PDFHong Kong hospitality and tourism industry has been battered by the triple whammy of social unrest, Sino-US trade war and COVID-19 pandemic in recent years. To understand how vulnerable tourism students may be in terms of career shock when facing the three major challenges, 407 tourism students in Hong Kong were surveyed. Structural equation modelling found a positive correlation between affect (an intrinsic, motivating factor) and extraneous events (an extrinsic, demotivating factor), indicating that motivation and demotivating factors may co-exist. Affect was more positively correlated with three career choice outcomes (intent to join the industry, desire for a lifelong career, and resilience in face of unfavourable circumstances) than was Extraneous. In face of career shock arising from extraneous events, tourism students still tend to have a strong intent to join the workforce, take it as a lifelong career, and remain resilient despite the hardship. However, the career shock was a greater concern for those in hotel-related disciplines and for students aged over 20 than younger ones. The findings offer an empirical basis to guide policy makers, academia and the industry in strategy formulation to ensure sustainable quality and manpower supply in the post-crisis future
Money Attitude and Spiritual Well-Being
Get PDFThis study seeks to explore the relationship between money attitude and spiritual wellbeing amongst Chinese youths in Hong Kong. Cross-sectional data (N = 501) were obtained from 249 Chinese university students in 2021 and 252 Chinese university students in 2022, aged between 19–23 years old. The participants were instructed to answer the SpiritualWell-being Questionnaire (SWBQ) to measure their spiritual well-being in the personal-communal, environmental and transcendental domains. The respondents were then asked to complete the Money Attitude Scale (MAS) to assess their attitudes and beliefs regarding money in three dimensions: power-prestige, anxiety and distrust. Results show that a negative correlation exists between the three dimensions of money attitude and the three domains of spiritual well-being. In addition, the power–prestige dimension of money attitude was the most accurate predictor of spiritual well-being. A stepwise regression analysis unveiled that the power-prestige dimension of students’ money attitudes explained 6.2%, 15.4% and 27.6% of the variance in their sense of spiritual well-being across the personal-communal, environmental and transcendental domains, respectively. Adopting healthy perspectives and attitudes towards money are vital for the development of the youths’ (spiritual) well-being. Thus, financial education and knowledge are crucial for adolescents
Synergistic effect of co‑pyrolysis of tea seed shells and scrap tyres and product evaluation
Get PDFThe co-pyrolysis behaviors of tea seed shell (TSS) and scrap tyre (ST) were studied systematically to discuss the potential synergistic effect. The thermogravimetric characteristics of TSS, ST, and their blends were investigated under various heating rates. The results obtained showed that a significant synergetic effect existed during the co-pyrolysis of the blends, in which the experimental mass loss curves were significantly lower than the calculated curves. Increasing the heating rate of blends led to the increase of reaction temperature due to heat transfer hysteresis. According to the TG data, the kinetics parameters of the co-pyrolysis process were calculated by Coats-Redfern method. The activation energies of the pyrolysis of TSS and ST were from 68 to 81 kJ·mol−1 and 59 to 63 kJ·mol−1, respectively. The activation energies range of the blends were 44–54 kJ·mol−1 using the first-order reaction kinetics model, and 56–64 kJ·mol−1 using the 1.5-order reaction kinetics model, respectively. The co-pyrolysis of the blends required lower activation energy than that of TSS and ST alone, and the energy required for co-pyrolysis reaction decreased with the increase of TSS ratio. Based on the results of DTG, the copyrolysis characteristics of TSS and ST in a fixed-bed reactor were further discussed, and the effects of operation parameters, (e.g., mass ratio of TSS to ST, pyrolysis temperature, and residence time), on product distribution and composition were investigated in detail. The results obtained showed that the experimental yields of liquid and solid were higher than that of the theoretical values, corresponding to a lower experimental gas yield, further confirming the existence of synergistic effect during the co-pyrolysis process. By analyzing the composition of liquid derived from co-pyrolysis of the blend within 40 wt.% TSS, it was found that there was a significant difference between the experimental and theoretical values, and the products containing oxygen and nitrogen were significantly reduced
Cognitive and affective academic self-concepts: Which predicts vocational education students’ career choice?
Get PDFGrounded in self-concept theory, this study examined the predictability of cognitive and affective academic self-concepts in relation to vocational education students’ education and career choice outcomes in the Hong Kong HE setting in two studies (Ns = 384 and 476). Structural equation modeling revealed that sense of competence (i.e., cognitive) is more related to competence/performance-based outcomes (i.e., operational capability and resilience at work in Study 1; and competition in Study 2). Liking of the vocation (i.e., affective) is more related to non-performance-based emotional-motivational outcomes (i.e., career intention in both studies and educational aspiration in Study 2) than is the cognitive component. These findings offer an empirical basis to guide vocational higher education institutes to effectively use educational resources to build a sustainable future workforce
Synergistic effect of Co catalysts with atomically dispersed CoNx active sites on ammonia borane hydrolysis for hydrogen generation
Get PDFThe development of low-cost, highly efficient and durable catalysts is the key to the practical use of ammonia borane as a promising storage material for on-board hydrogen production. Atomically dispersed metal supported catalysts not only maximize the efficiency of metal utilization, but they can also act as a robust support for metal nanoparticles. Herein, we report a facile synthesis of a type of carbon nanotube that consists of both Co nanoparticles and atomically dispersed cobalt single-atoms by direct carbonization of a mixture of cobalt-containing precursors and melem-C3N4. Our results suggested that Co nanoparticles were successfully embedded in the layers of graphitic carbon to effectively prevent them from aggregation and loss of catalytic activity. In addition, the Co single atoms greatly lowered the adsorption barriers of water molecules onto the catalysts for fast hydrolysis of ammonia borane. Interestingly, it was found that when the ratio of Co to melem-C3N4 was 1 : 33.3, the best reactivity and stability towards ammonia borane hydrolysis were achieved. The highest specific hydrogen generation rate can reach up to 7833 mLH2 gCo 1 min 1 at 40 C, which far exceeded most of the non-noble metal catalysts for ammonia borane hydrolysis to date. The durability of the catalyst was successfully maintained for 40 cycling tests and no obvious decay was observed. The current study presents an example of how nanoparticles and single-atoms can be synergistically exploited for heterogeneous catalysis applications
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Project - Sustainability in Education
Get PDFAt HKDI\u27s Centre of Innovative Material and Technology, students and designers are constantly exploring how to achieve more possibilities for sustainability and upcycling through conscious material choices and innovative techniques