1. CUHK»
  2. Positive Psychology and Education Lab»
  3. People»

Director

Prof. Ronnel B. KING
Prof. Ronnel B. KING is an Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, The Chinese University of Hong Kong where he directs the Positive Psychology and Education (PoPE) Lab. Prior to this, he worked as Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, where he also received his PhD in Educational Psychology. He holds adjunct appointments in The Education University of Hong Kong, The University of Macau, and Far Eastern University (Philippines). He conducts research examining motivation, socio-emotional learning, and well-being. He is also interested in designing positive education interventions to enhance these optimal states. Ronnel has received numerous awards, including the Highly Commended Global SELF Dissertation Award in 2012, the APS Rising Star Award in 2017, and the Michael Bond Award for Early Career Contributions to Social Psychology in 2021. According to data drawn from Essential Science Indicators (ESI), he is in the top 1% of the most highly cited authors (https://hub.hku.hk/local/top1pc/top1pc.jsp). He is also among the top 2% most highly cited researcher according to lifetime and recent-year citations drawn from the Scopus database (https://www.fed.cuhk.edu.hk/en/feature2022s2.html). In a recent review of highly productive researchers in Educational Psychology Review, Fong and colleagues (2022) identified him as one of the most prolific early career educational psychology researchers in the world and the most productive in Asia (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10648-022-09704-2). His work has been published in top educational psychology journals including the Journal of Educational Psychology, Educational Psychologist, Educational Psychology Review, and Contemporary Educational Psychology among others. He is currently serving on the editorial boards of Contemporary Educational Psychology, Learning and Individual Differences, Social Psychology of Education, and Asian Journal of Social Psychology. He is also an associate editor of The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher and The Educational and Developmental Psychologist.

An interesting fact about him is that he is trilingual. As a 3rd generation Chinese-Filipino, Ronnel speaks English, Chinese, and Filipino (Tagalog). In his spare time, he likes to hike, swim, and play tennis.

Staff

Faming WANG
Dr. Faming WANG is a post-doctoral research fellow in the Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning at The University of Hong Kong. His research focuses on using large-scale educational databases to explore students’ motivation, learning experience, academic achievement, and socio-emotional skills in K-12 and higher education settings.
Prior to joining HKU, Faming earned his PhD degree from the University of Macau. He also holds an MA degree from Beijing Normal University and a BA degree from the University of Jinan.

Lingyi FU
Miss. Lingyi FU is a research assistant at the Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning at the University of Hong Kong (HKU). After graduating from East China Normal University (ECNU) in China with a double Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education and Applied Psychology, she earned her Master’s degree in Data Science (Analytics in Teaching and Learning) from the University of Macau (UM). Miss FU’s research focuses on utilizing big data analysis techniques (i.e., machine learning and text mining) to mine more valuable information in education and psychology.

Students

Yikang CHEN
Mr. Yikang CHEN is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Educational Psychology at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He holds an M.S.S. in Psychology from City University of Hong Kong and a B.S. in Applied Psychology from Hefei University. His research interests lie in the fields of motivation, socio-cultural influences, and mental health, with a particular focus on the fear of failure and self-determination among Chinese students.
In addition to his academic pursuits, Yikang was a debater in the Chinese debate, and he also enjoys photography and Jazz music in his spare time.

Siya LIANG
Miss Siya LIANG is currently a Ph.D. student in the Faculty of Education at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Sun Yat-sen University and received her master’s degree in the field of Psychology. Her research interests lie in positive youth development, resilience and coping.
Miss Liang used to play the keyboard and bass in a band. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking and bicycling.

Cheuk Ming Hades HO 
Mr. Cheuk Ming Hades HO received his bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. After ten years of working as a corporate trainer, Outward Bound instructor, secondary school vice-principal and playgroup teacher, he started to pursue a postgraduate degree in Education at The Education University of Hong Kong. He is interested in character education in early childhood. Now his research focuses on Character education intervention in Hong Kong 

Jiajing LI
Miss. Jiajing LI is a Ph.D. candidate at the Faculty of Education at the University of Macau (UM). She obtained her Master’s degree in English Teaching from Shaanxi Normal University and her Bachelor’s degree in Business English from Xi’an International Studies University. Her research interests lie in positive psychological factors, higher education, and English as a foreign language learning. She also has a keen interest in large-scale educational assessments like PISA and PIRLS. She is currently working on a longitudinal study on students’ self-efficacy in English learning. Her upcoming plan is to explore service learning in higher education.

In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, swimming, and hiking. She is also a hot pot lover.

Jianhua ZHANG
Miss. Jianhua Zhang is currently a Ph.D. student in the Positive Psychology and Education (Pope) Lab. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in engineering and master’s degree in education from Tsinghua University.  With a keen interest in motivation and engagement, she carried out innovative studies and developed core expertise in research design, methodology, data analysis, and academic writing. Her research interests include but not limit to motivation, engagement, epistemic emotions, and educational neuroscience. Specifically, she hopes to apply her findings to practice. Jianhua loves classical Chinese philosophy and always employs its ideas to guide her life!

Yi WANG
Miss Yi WANG is a Ph.D. candidate at the Faculty of Education at the University of Macau (UM). After she obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Applied Psychology from Beijing Sport University, she went to UM to pursue her Master’s degree in Educational Psychology. Her research areas cover student well-being, need-supportive teaching, the application of machine learning in educational settings, and large-scale educational assessment (e.g., PISA). She is also interested in integrating technology into educational practices. She is currently researching the effects of need-supportive teaching practices on students’ well-being, and the exploration of top predictors of students’ well-being across different cultural groups.
An interesting fact about her is that she is a Squash player who won first place in Macau University Squash Championship that was held in 2022 and a Squash coach for novice young players.

Miss Karen LO
Miss Karen LO received a Bachelor of Social Sciences (Hons.) in Psychology at the University of Hong Kong and earned a Master of Education in Counseling and Sport Psychology at Boston University, USA.

Karen works full-time as a Sport and Performance Psychologist and manages her own private practice, Inner Edge, where she works with athletes across all sports, in Hong Kong and within Asia. The bulk of her work involves guiding athletes, performers, coaches and instructors on the development and maintenance of successful mental and emotional resources that would lead to improvements in their respective roles.  Apart from performance enhancement, she also assists them in building their capacity to manage adversity, attaining wellbeing in their careers, as well as managing the demands of life alongside their performance ambitions. Due to the competitive nature of sport and performance in HK, most of the clients she works with are at the youth level. She therefore collaborates closely with parents on defining their roles as sport parents, guiding them in sending the right messages to their children, and ensuring that their children gain the most positive competitive experiences. She also teaches sport psychology at the undergraduate and graduate level.   

Karen’s work as a practitioner has led her to dive deeper into examining the levels of motivation that are hindering student-athletes’ abilities to perform consistently at a high level and maintain mental well-being. She is keen on transferring her years of observations and work with the student-athlete population to identifying and answering research gaps that explain their motivation, engagement and achievement. Outside of work, she spends her pastime painting, curling up with a good book, or being in nature.

Miss. Yuen Suet Ying
Miss. Yuen Suet Ying is currently a research associate in the Department of Educational Psychology CUHK and a part-time EdD student in the lab. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in school guidance and counselling. Her research interests include child development and well-being.

Research Intern

Zhoutiao LI
Miss Zhoutiao Li is currently a Research Intern in the POPE Lab. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts in English from NENU(Northeast Normal University) and Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from CUHK(Chinese University of Hong Kong). Her research interests lie in the Effectiveness of AI-supported lessons and the Improvement of students’ self-learning ability and well-being.

Mengjie Liu
Miss Mengjie LIU is currently a Research Intern in the POPE Lab. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in arts from Sun Yat-sen University and master’s degree in education from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her research interests lie in teachers’ and students’ well-being.

Ruyi LI
Miss Ruyi LI is currently a Research Intern in the POPE Lab. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Chinese Language and Literature from the University of Macau and master’s degree in Education from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her research interests lie in Teaching Chinese as a Second/Foreign Language, Technology-enhanced Learning, and Learning Motivation. 

Shuxin LIU
Miss Shuxin LIU is currently a Research Intern in the POPE Lab. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Kunming from Yunnan University and master’s degree in Hong Kong from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her research interests lie in motivation and language education.

Yuan HENG
Mr. Yuan HENG is currently a Research Intern in the POPE Lab.  He will obtain his bachelor’s degree in education from Zhejiang University. His research interests lie in educational psychology, curriculum, and instruction.

Alumni/Honorary Members

Norman B. MENDOZA, PhD.
Dr. Norman B. MENDOZA is an RGC Postdoctoral Fellow at the Education University of Hong Kong, where he also earned his doctoral degree in Educational Psychology and Assessment. His 3-year government-funded fellowship is focused on fostering resilience in the post-pandemic world through growth mindset and self-assessment practices. Norman has a decade-long experience in educational and psychological research, handling core research and teaching roles. He published 18 peer-reviewed journal articles during his Ph.D., 12 of them as a first-author. Currently, he has a total of 22 peer-reviewed journals published in top journals (e.g., Computers & Education, Educational Technology Research and Development, European Journal of Psychology of Education, Learning and Individual Differences, Studies in Educational Evaluation, Social Psychology of Education, Current Psychology, among others). Aside from Norman’s scholarship, he also co-founded LifeRisksPH in 2018, which is a non-profit youth organization registered in the National Youth Commission of the Philippines, focused on youth well-being and suicide prevention. Norman is a registered Psychometrician in the Philippines.

Norman’s current research is focused on (1) assessing and (2) intervening on the internal and external mechanisms that underpin student learning, in-person or online. Specifically, he applies a wide range of quantitative methods to examine the dynamic interplay between beliefs (motivation/mindset) and behaviours (self-directed learning practices) that make learners grow and improve and uses psychologically “wise” interventions to facilitate such growth and improvement.

Norman’s research topics also include:

  1. Motivation and mindset
  2. Self-directed learning practices (self-assessment practices; growth practices)
  3. Need-supportive instruction
  4. Social contagion in educational contexts
  5. Well-being

Norman is the eldest of three brothers and is a die-hard Miami Heat fan. He likes watching movies, walking, and talking. Find him on twitter: @normscode.

Fr. Joseph HAW, Ed.D.
Dr. Fr. Joseph Haw is an ordained Catholic Priest. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and a Master’s Degree in Theology. He obtained his Doctor of Education degree from The Education University of Hong Kong in 2022. Fr. Joseph is the incoming  School President of a K-12 Chinese-Filipino School in the Philippines (beginning April 2004). Prior to his Doctoral Studies,  he also held the same leadership position in another K-12 school in his home country.

Fr. Joseph is currently a Research Fellow at Ateneo de Zamboanga University in the Philippines. His research focuses on teacher and student motivation from Self-determination Theory perspective. His doctoral dissertation examined the relationship of school leader support with teacher motivation and best practices, and how these relationships may also be associated with student motivation, engagement, and achievement. Majority of his published works involved analyzing the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a prime indicator of student achievement across the globe. He has also delved into using machine learning approaches in complementing the classical statistical analysis.

Fr. Joseph likes watching anime and Korean historical fiction TV series. He enjoys going out for a hike or walk and likes doing it best with a group. He loves cooking and experimenting on food. It excites him especially when he has to use leftovers or whatever ingredients he find in the refrigerator.

Miss Joana Tse Ka YANG
Miss Joana Tse Ka YANG is a Master’s graduate with distinction in Early Childhood Education from the University of Hong Kong (HKU). She is currently preparing to pursue a Ph.D. in the same field at HKU in early 2024. Joana has over 10 years of experience teaching early childhood education in both Hong Kong and overseas kindergartens.

Her passion lies in promoting children’s social-emotional development and positive education. In addition to teaching, she has participated in research projects related to children’s character strengths and well-being. She is exploring the effective implementation of positive education in schools through a whole-school approach that fosters a positive culture.

Joana also founded an organization in Hong Kong that provides school services, training programs for teachers and parents, and various children’s programs to promote children’s well-being through positive education. She is dedicated to making a positive impact on the lives of children and families through her work and research in this field.

Dr Karen ZHOC
Dr Karen ZHOC is a Lecturer in Psychology in the Department of Psychology, Health and Professional Development, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University.  Karen is a Chartered Psychologist of the British Psychological Society (Division of Educational and Child Psychology). She completed her PhD in Educational Psychology from the University of Hong Kong.  Prior to joining Oxford Brookes University, she was a Postdoctoral Fellow of the Positive Psychology and Education Group at the Education University of Hong Kong.  Her research interests focus on understanding the associations among emotions, wellbeing, and student engagement across school and higher education settings.  She is keen on transferring research knowledge and applying theories of positive psychology to design interventions that improve students’ learning and wellbeing.  For evidence-based research and practices, her research also covers psychometric evaluation of various psychological measurement scales.  For more details, please refer to the link below: https://www.brookes.ac.uk/profiles/staff/ching-hsiang-zhoc

Ma. Jenina NALIPAY
Ma. Jenina NALIPAY’s research interests include teacher motivation, well-being, and professional development. She loves food, reading, and hiking.

Yuyang CAI
Prof. Yuyang Cai is Shanghai Eastern Scholar Professor (2018-2021) and Distinguished Professor of Language Education and Assessment in School of Languages, Shanghai University of International Business and Economics. He obtained his Ph.D. in language testing and assessment from The University of Hong Kong, and had rich experience developing large-scale English language tests in mainland China and Hong Kong. His areas of research interest also cover educational psychology and quantitative research methods. His research has been focusing on learning and he had a few original contributions to the field. He developed a new language testing framework called Dynamic Language Ability System (DLAS), a new theory of educational psychology called the Island Ridge Curve (IRC), and a new statistical model called multi-layered moderation analysis (MLMA). Apart from doing research, Yuyang also likes hiking, jogging, playing table tennis, and listening to pop and light music.

Miss Cherry E. FRONDOZO
Miss Cherry E. FRONDOZOis currently a Ph.D. student at the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK). She has worked on research consultancy projects with UNICEF, Save the Children and the International Red Cross-Philippines, among others. She has worked in various capacities as a researcher for more than 10 years, working in psychology, cognitive science, and education research labs in the Philippines, Italy, and Hong Kong. Her main research interest is on students’ emotions and emotion regulation in assessment contexts.