Hong Kong students＇ approaches to learning： Cross-cultural comparisons

Anecdotal evidence abounds in Hong Kong to the effect that students entering tertiary education are predisposed to a ＂rote＂ learning approach. With the internalisation of higher education in many countries, there is still insufficient understanding of how Chinese students approach their learning. Except few studies were conducted locally, there have been no systematic studies undertaken and there is a tendency to rely on anecdotal statements about Hong Kong students＇ approaches to learning. This study was designed to see if Hong Kong Chinese students who enrolled into a 3-year undergraduate programme in occupational therapy predisposed to a surface or deep approach to learning react differently when moving progressively from one stage to the next stage in their curriculum. The study adopted a longitudinal design method and measured students＇ changes in their approaches to learning using the Biggs＇ Study Process Questionnaire （SPQ）. The internal consistency reliability estimates for SPQ scales for samples of Hong Kong, Australia and UK were compared. The results of this study indicated that Hong Kong Chinese students demonstrated a higher mean for the deep approach learning and a lower mean for the surface approach, similar to other Hong Kong studies conducted in other tertiary institutions in Hong Kong and Australia.     

Machines as readers： A solution to the copyright problem

INTRODUCTION Everyone associated with digital libraries, and especially participants in the joint China-India-USA Million Book Project, assumes that it will be benefi- cial to mankind to digitize all the works ever pub- lished and make them available over the Internet, whether for fee or otherwise. However, it is difficult to find a clear printed agenda explaining how society will be enriched aside from the obvious advantages of preservation, indexing and efficient digital distribu- ti…     

PM10 and CO Exposure of Hong Kong Population in Public Transit Facilities

Taking public transit facilities (PTFs) is the major transport style in Hang Kong. Human exposure to indoor air pollutants may cause adverse health effects to the passengers. Exposure assessment on air pollutants is important for the control of human diseases caused by indoor air pollution. In this paper, the indoor PM10,CO and C02 levels in various PTFs, such as public bus, subway, railway and ferry in Hong Kong, were measured. Combining with the time budget survey of Hong Kong population, the human exposures were calculated through Monte-Carlo simulation.     

Application of the Non—Stationary Oil Film Force Database

The technique of non-stationary oll film force database for hydrodynamic bearing is introduced and its potential applications in nonlinear rotor-dynamics are demonstrated.Through simulations of the locus of the shaft center aided by the database technique,nonlinear stability analysis can be performed and the natural frequency can be obtained as well.The easiness of “assembling” the individual bush forces from the database to form the bearing force.makes it very convenient to evaluate the stability of various types of journal bearings,Examples are demonstrated to show how the database technique makes it possible to get technically abundant simulation results at the expense of very short calculation time.     

AUTltORITY CONTROL REGARDING CHINESE PERSONAL NAMES：Enhancement and Linkage with the Bibliographic Database

Authority control is critical for the quality of the bibliographic database. Authority control is important in guiding users from variant forms of headings to the controlled forms of headings and providing users with the related headings. With authority control, the forms of headings in the bibliographic records are consista,t and easy to access. Authority control not only increases the accuracy of searching but also makes retrieving records from the online bibliographic database easier. In the first part of the paper, the author brings out three formats for Chinese personal names in the online environment. Tire second part presents a new model for better authority control regarding Chinese presonal names. In the last part, the author emphasizes the importance of linking the online authority records with the bibliographic database. The quality of the database can be improved dramatically by providing vernacular access capability to the name authorty, records and ensuring that every personal name heading in the bibliographic records have corresponding Library of Congress name authority records。     

It works in practice

More tested lessons, suggestions, tips and techniques which have all worked for ETρreaders. Try them out for yourself - and then send us your own contribution.All the contributors to It Works in Practice in this issue of ETρwill receive a free copy of The Language Teacher's Voice by Alan Maley, published by Macmillan. Macmillan have kindly agreed to be sponsors of It Works in Practice for the coming year and contributors will be given copies of books in their Teacher Development Series.     

Preserving the literary past, looking to the future： the first Hong Kong Literature Database

INTRODUCTION In the last two decades of the 20th century, there was an emerging interest in and emphasis on the study of Hong Kong literature among academic scholars. Since the first biennial conference “Conference on Taiwan and Hong Kong Literature (Tai Gang Wen Xue Xue Shu Tao Lun Hui)” held in 1982 in Mainland China, various conferences with diverse themes on Hong Kong literature have been held both locally and overseas in these twenty some years (Huang, 1988; Liu, 1997). The…     

Language Right of the Accused in Criminal Proceedings in Hong Kong — A Case Study of The King and Kwok Leung & Others

In the case of The King and Kwok Leung & Others [HKLRD] Centenary Supplement 1,the evidence was not translated to the accused,this was the case which didn’t respect the accused’s language right and human rights.And there is an irregularity in the criminal proceedings,it should be a mistrial.This essay will study this case and discuss it from the perspective language right and human right of the accused in criminal proceedings in Hong Kong.     

Computer-Adaptive Testing of ESL Reading Proficiency

With the advent of modern computer technology,there have been growing efforts in recent years to computerize standardized tests,including the popular Graduate Record Examination(GRE),the Graduate Management Admission Test(GMAT) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language(TOEFL).Many of such computer-based tests are known as the computerized adaptive tests,whose major feature is that,depending on their performance in the course of testing,different examinees may be given with different sets of items(questions).In doing so,items can be efficiently utilized to realize maximum accuracy for estimation of examinee’s ability. In this short paper we will introduce briefly the computer-adaptive test(CAT).The application of CAT to the assessment of reading comprehension in a second language will also be illustrated in this paper.The advantages and disadvantages will be analyzed,based on which some recommendations will be given for future study.     

Managing Chinese Catalogingat The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Library

This paper describes the experience and the observation of the author as a cataloger of Chinese publications at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Library. The trends in collection development of Chinese language materials in the Library have a crucial impact on Chinese cataloging. The way that Chinese cataloging has been haudled in this rapidly changing environment is reported here.     

Semantic support environment for research activity

Scholarly activities are a collection of academic related activities such as research, teaching and consultation work which result in research outputs such as journals, theses and articles in proceedings. The output will then be disseminated to researchers all over the world by means of the WWW. The four pillars of this scholarship i.e. discovery, teaching, application, and integration of knowledge are supported by research activities which often start with the process of identifying key research questions. The ocean of information available on the interact could sometimes cause the scholars to be ＂lost in Cyber Ocean＂ Thus, this study aims at recognizing the key research questions and suggesting a support environment for scholarly activities for novice researchers. A structured interview was conducted among researchers to capture three pertinent aspects of research activities： becoming proficient in the new field of research, reviewing a research paper and identifying special research interests in specific research areas. The analysis of the interview shows pertinent questions that scholar make while carrying out their research. The feedback provides an overview of the range and altitude of support needed by scholars in seeking information especially in the electronic joumal environment. Based on the result of the study, a proposal for system prototype and future work will be discussed.     

The Bank Clerk

Who hasn't dreamed o!having so much money that it runs throughthe fingers like sand?The only way most of us could ever do this wouldbe to work in a bank.If you start as a junior bank clerk,you will begin inthe book-keeping department and you will have minor responsibilitiesconnected with the handling of cheques.You will learn the routine of thebranch and the banking industry as a whole.You will most likely besent to the bank's school for special tuition.Within a short time,youmay be working as a cashie,and then you will be handling the public'smoney.By the time you have worked your way up to the post of branch     

Understanding British Mass Media

The present paper concerns itself with a general review and analysis of British mass Media.The first part starts with an introduc tion to the history and development of British mass media.The second part will focus on the analysis of the two major branches in the realm of British Mass media-the Broadcast Media and the Print Media.Thirdly,the British media’s coverage of Beijing Olympics is pre sented to have a better knowledge of the well accepted classification of UK mass media,especially newspapers and television as well as its in fluence.     

Methods for progressive collapse analysis of building structures under blast and impact loads

Progressive collapse of building structures under blast and impact loads has attracted great attention all over the world. Progressive collapse analysis is essential for an economic and safe design of building structures against progressive collapse to blast and impact loads. Because of the catastrophic nature of progressive collapse and the potentially high cost of constructing or retrofitting buildings to resist it, it is imperative that the progressive collapse analysis methods be reliable. For engineers; their methodology to carry out progressive collapse evaluation need not only be accurate and concise, but also be easily used and works fast. Thus, many researchers have been spending lots of effort in developing reliable, efficient and straightforward progressive collapse analysis methods recently. In the present paper, current progressive collapse analysis methods available in the literature are reviewed. Their suitability, applicability and reliability are discussed. Our recent proposed new method for progressive collapse analysis of reinforced concrete frames under blast loads is also introduced.     

The Jixia Academy and the Birth of Higher Learning in China: A Comparison of Fourth-Century B.C. Chinese Education with Ancient Greece

This is a very timely book,as the international educational community becomes more and more aware of the shift in global geo-politics towards Asia,and the likelihood that Asian educational ideas and values will have a more direct and explicit influence on educational policy and cultures of learning and teaching in future.The high scores of East Asian students in TIMMS and PISA have already attracted considerable attention,but little is known of the deep underlying culture of learning and thought that goes back to the axial age and Kong Qiu,the Chinese philosopher who lived from 551 to 479 BC,and was introduced to 16th century Europe as Confucius or the Master Kong (Kong Fuzi).Most recently,China has launched a unique approach to cultural diplomacy in the establishment of hundreds of Confucius Institutes around the world,most as joint ventures between Chinese universities and school boards,universities and NGO's in more than 90 nations or regions.So far,most of these institutes have focused on the teaching of Chinese and the training of Chinese languages teachers,few have the capacity to introduce or explain the rich educational and philosophical heritage that is summed up in the term Confucianism.     

Individualism and Collectivism

The world could be analyzed in many dimensions,like rich and poor,peace and warfare,equal and oppressive,but one of the most important dimensions may be the difference between different societies of individualist and collectivist.This article is trying to discuss is the difference between individualism and collectivism in the western and eastern cultures,and also will explain and discuss it in some aspects,such as their viewpoint,their attitude on self-enhancement and self-criticism,and the goal setting and motivation,and take some cases which some researches and psychologists did and some cases found for example to describe it.Also it presents that social orientation and environment,and culture background will take important role to impact people’s mind and choice on individualism and collectivism.No matter individual or collective,it all have advantage and disadvantage for each,it needs comprehensive evaluation for differential environment which can obtain relative reasonable conclusion.     

Copyright Information

正For Authors As soon as an article is accepted for publication,authors will be requested to assign copyright of the article(or to grant exclusive publication and dissemination rights)to Zhejiang University and Springer.This will ensure the widest possible protection and dissemination of information under copyright laws.More information about copyright regulations for this journal is available at www.springer.com/11585 or     

Copyright Information

正For Authors As soon as an article is accepted for publication,authors will be requested to assign copyright of the article(or to grant exclusive publication and dissemination rights)to Zhejiang University and Springer.This will ensure the widest possible protection and dissemination of information under copyright laws.More information about copyright regulations for this journal is available at www.springer.com/11582 or     

Real-time temperature control for high arch dam based on decision support system

It is important and difficult to control the temperature of mass concrete structure during high arch dam construction.A new method with decision support system is presented for temperature control and crack prevention.It is a database system with functions of data storage,information inquiry,data analysis,early warning and resource sharing.Monitoring information during construction can be digitized via this system,and the intelligent analysis and dynamic control of concrete temperature can be conducted.This method has been applied in the construction of the Dagangshan Arch Dam in China and has proven to be very convenient.Based on the decision support of this system and the dynamic adjustment of construction measures,the concrete temperature of this project is well-controlled.