3,223 research outputs found
Social goals and learning strategies among Hong Kong students: a longitudinal analysis
No full textThe 2010 Annual Conference of the Hong Kong Psychological Society, Hong Kong, 12 June 2010
Designing a research with profound practical impact
No full textBased on his knowledge and expertise in information and library science, computer and design science, e-learning and psychology, Dr Samuel Chu has created an e-quiz platform, Reading Battle (RB), which is highly effective in boosting primary students’ reading interest and motivation, as well as strengthening their reading comprehension ability in both Chinese and English. As a deliverable of a Quality Education Fund project (HK$2,846,000), RB has benefitted over 6,000 students from 50 schools/libraries in Hong Kong, Taiwan, mainland China, and the US.
The platform is unique in its application of game mechanics and content, with 4 kinds of questions (fact finding, integration of ideas, drawing inferences, and evaluation) specifically designed for each book, according to the standard of the international reading ability test, PIRLS. The 4 question types also map to Bloom’s Taxonomy, which classifies the spectrum of educational learning domains into 6 levels.
In addition to the well-designed questions that tap into students’ comprehension ability, another key element that contributed to the success of RB is the utilization of gamification principles, which successfully turned something usually considered by students as boring and dreadful (reading quizzes) into an exciting and rewarding experience (visually attractive and challenging reading comprehension 'games').
In this seminar, Dr Chu will share how he has worked with frontline practitioners in schools to conceptualize the project, and how he has collaborated with researchers from various disciplines, professional game designers and programmers to transform his ideas and expertise into a highly practical research that has impacted thousands of students
A tale of two cities: Effects of air pollution on hospital admissions in Hong Kong and London compared
Full text linkThe causal interpretation of reported associations between daily air pollution and daily admissions requires consideration of residual confounding, correlation between pollutants, and effect modification. If results obtained in Hong Kong and London--which differ in climate, lifestyle, and many other respects--were similar, a causal association would be supported. We used identical statistical methods for the analysis in each city. Associations between daily admissions and pollutant levels were estimated using Poisson regression. Nonparametric smoothing methods were used to model seasonality and the nonlinear dependence of admissions on temperature, humidity, and influenza admissions. For respiratory admissions (> or = 65 years of age), significant positive associations were observed with particulate matter < 10 microm in aerodynamic diameter (PM(10), nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and ozone in both cities. These associations tended to be stronger at shorter lags in Hong Kong and at longer lags in London. Associations were stronger in the cool season in Hong Kong and in the warm season in London, periods during which levels of humidity are at their lowest in each city. For cardiac admissions (all ages) in both cities, significant positive associations were observed for PM(10), NO(2), and SO(2) with similar lag patterns. Associations tended to be stronger in the cool season. The associations with NO(2) and SO(2) were the most robust in two-pollutant models. Patterns of association for pollutants with ischemic heart disease were similar in the two cities. The associations between O(3) and cardiac admissions were negative in London but positive in Hong Kong. We conclude that air pollution has remarkably similar associations with daily cardiorespiratory admissions in both cities, in spite of considerable differences between cities in social, lifestyle, and environmental factors. The results strengthen the argument that air pollution causes detrimental short-term health effects
In-situ dehydration studies of fully K-,Rb-, and Cs-exchanged natrolites
No full textIn-situ synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction studies of K-, Rb-, and Cs-exchanged natrolites between room temperature and 425 degrees C revealed that the dehydrated phases with collapsed frameworks start to form at 175, 150, and 100 degrees C, respectively. The degree of the framework collapse indicated by the unit-cell volume contraction depends on the size of the non-framework cation: K-exchanged natrolite undergoes an 18.8% unit-cell volume contraction when dehydrated at 175 degrees C, whereas Rb- and Cs-exchanged natrolites show unit-cell volume contractions of 18.5 and 15.2% at 150 and 100 degrees C, respectively. In the hydrated phases, the dehydration-induced unit-cell volume reduction diminishes as the cation size increases and reveals increasingly a negative slope as smaller cations are substituted into the pores of the natrolite structure. The thermal expansion of the unit-cell volumes of the dehydrated K-, Rb-, and Cs-phases have positive thermal expansion coefficients of 8.80 x 10(-5) K-1, 1.03 x 10(-4) K-1, and 5.06 x 10-5 K-1, respectively. Rietveld structure refinements of the dehydrated phases at 400 degrees C reveal that the framework collapses are due to an increase of the chain rotation angles, psi, which narrow the channels to a more elliptical shape. Compared to their respective hydrated structures at ambient conditions, the dehydrated K-exchanged natrolite at 400 degrees C shows a 2.2-fold increase in psi, whereas the dehydrated Rb- and Cs-natrolites at 400 degrees C reveal increases of psi by ca. 3.7 and 7.3 tiles, respectively. The elliptical channel openings of the dehydrated K-, Rb-, to Cs-phases become larger as the cation size increases. The disordered non-framework cations in the hydrated K-, Rb-, and Cs-natrolite order during dehydration and the subsequent framework collapse. The dehydrated phases of Rb- and Cs-natrolite can be stabilized at ambient conditions.X111614sciescopu
Local and regional anthropogenic influence on PM2.5 elements in Hong Kong
No full textHong Kong's persistent unhealthy level of fine particulate matter is a current public health challenge, complicated by the city being located in the rapidly industrializing Pearl River Delta Region of China. While the sources of the region's fine particulate matter (PM2.5) are still not well understood, this study provides new source information through ground measurements and statistical analysis of 24 elements associated with particulate matter collected on filters. Field measurements took place over 4 months (October 2002, December 2002, March 2003, and June 2003) at seven sites throughout the Pearl River Delta, with three sites located in Hong Kong and four sites in the neighboring province, Guangdong. The 4-month average element concentrations show significant variation throughout the region, with higher levels of nearly every species seen among the northern Guangdong sites in comparison to Hong Kong. The high correlation (Pearson r > 0.8) and similar magnitudes of 11 species (Al, Si, S, K, Ca, Mn, Fe, Zn, Br, Rb, and Pb) at three contrasting sites in Hong Kong indicate that sources external to Hong Kong dominate the regional levels of these elements. Further correlative analysis compared Hong Kong against potential source areas in Guangdong Province (Shenzhen, Zhongshan, and Guangzhou). Moderate correlation of sulfur for all pairings of Hong Kong sites with three Guangdong sites in developed areas (average Pearson r of 0.52-0.94) supports the importance of long-distance transport impacting the region as a whole, although local sources also clearly impact observed concentrations. Varying correlative characteristics for zinc when Hong Kong sites are paired with Shenzhen (average r = 0.86), Guangzhou (average r = -0.65) and Zhongshan (average r = 0.45) points to a source area located south of Guangzhou and locally impacting Zhongshan. The concentration distribution and correlative characteristics of bromide point to sources located within the Pearl River Delta, but the specific location is yet inconclusive. Uniquely poor correlation of eight species (Al, Si, K, Ca, Mn, Fe, Rb, and Pb) for the pairing of Hong Kong sites with Guangzhou, in addition to the relatively higher concentrations measured at Guangzhou, indicates a significant regional impact due to land development and industrial activities in the Guangzhou vicinity. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Environmental SciencesMeteorology & Atmospheric SciencesSCI(E)EI0ARTICLE285994-60044
Measurement Invariance of the Internet Addiction Test Among Hong Kong, Japanese, and Malaysian Adolescents
Full text linkThere has been increased research examining the psychometric properties on the Internet Addiction Test across different ages and populations. This population-based study examined the psychometric properties using Confirmatory Factory Analysis and measurement invariance using Item Response Theory (IRT) of the IAT in adolescents from three Asian countries. In the Asian Adolescent Risk Behavior Survey (AARBS), 2,535 secondary school students (55.91% girls) in Grade 7 to Grade 13 (Mean age = 15.61 years; SD=1.56) from Hong Kong (n=844), Japan (n=744), and Malaysia (n=947) completed a survey on their Internet use that incorporated the IAT scale. A nested hierarchy of hypotheses concerning IAT cross-country invariance was tested using multi-group confirmatory factor analysis. Replicating past finding in Hong Kong adolescents, the construct of IAT is best represented by a second-order three-factor structure in Malaysian and Japanese adolescents. Configural, metric, scalar, and partial strict factorial invariance was established across the three samples. No cross-country differences on Internet addiction were detected at latent mean level. This study provided empirical support to the IAT as a reliable and factorially stable instrument, and valid to be used across Asian adolescent populations
The prospects of different last-mile delivery modes of e-commerce logistics in Hong Kong
No full textIn recent years, online shopping is becoming more and more popular in Hong Kong, which brings some new challenges to e-commerce logistics, especially in the last-mile delivery, a crucial link that cost a lot in e-commerce supply chain. The selection of delivery modes in last-mile delivery depends on the delivery environment so that different areas have different delivery strategies. In addition, few of studies have been conducted to analyse the last-mile delivery in Hong Kong. Therefore, this study aims to discuss the prospects of different last-mile delivery modes in Hong Kong.
Based on the first-hand questionnaire survey on the Hong Kong consumers and the other consumer surveys conducted by UPS and Google, the online shopping behaviours and the logistics preferences of Hong Kong consumers are found. The consumer’s shopping behaviour is relevant with the characteristics of the products while the logistics preferences reveal the delivery demand of the consumers. Both of which have significant impacts on the decision of choosing delivery strategies.
Combining the situation of Hong Kong, the study analyses the advantages and disadvantages of different last-mile delivery modes from different aspects including vehicle type, delivery coverage, time windows, parcel types and delivery cost. The findings show that choosing an appropriate delivery mode is often a trade-off between delivery efficiency and service level. As a result, although collection-and-delivery point (CDP) is a cost-effective mode in Hong Kong when compared with attended home delivery (AHD) and reception box (RB), it is unwise to simply use CDP as the only delivery mode in last-mile delivery. Under some special condition, for instance, when delivering some high value and large size products, it is better to use AHD rather than CDP and RB.
Hence, the dissertation concludes by giving some recommendations on how could logistics service providers formulate delivery strategies and the general procedures they could follow. In addition, the government should also make efforts on facilitating the promotion of green fuel vehicles and the construction of corresponding infrastructures. However, due to the limited data and the complexity of last-mile delivery, further studies are still need to be done in the future.published_or_final_versionTransport Policy and PlanningMasterMaster of Arts in Transport Policy and Plannin
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