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University students in Macao are required to attend computer literacy courses to raise their basic skills levels and knowledge as part of their literacy foundation. Still, teachers frequently complain about the weak IT skills of many students, suggesting that most of them may not be benefiting sufficiently from their computer literacy courses. This research proposes an enhanced framework based on constructivist principles by using peer-tutoring to increase cost effectiveness and to improve student outcomes. Essential to this proposed model is the training of former course graduates as peer-instructors to achieve high quality learning results. At Instituto de Formação Turistica (IFT), a case study was used to evaluate its effectiveness using a qualitative analysis. In Macao, most students have a Confucian Heritage Cultural (CHC) background and the current findings demonstrate that students share more easily their learning difficulties within their group as their interpersonal relationships improve. It is suggested that since CHC cooperative learning is primarily based on bonds, students involved in this 'relationship-first, learning-second' type shared a larger amount of knowledge and social skills, a dual positive outcome. Moreover, English language is a major barrier for the understanding of the teacher’s message to Chinese students. Meanwhile, the negative Western concept of plagiarism is replaced, under the CHC, as the ‘face giving’ and it is directly based on the relationship intensity to 'help friends'. At last, peer-tutors play a key role in the student increase internal motivation regarding the joy of the learning process.

This study will discuss the following Old Testament texts: Gen 32:23-32; Jon 1:17; Tob 6:1-9; and Exod 4:24-26 and will argue that these are about the initiation of a person to do a divine mission. Some parallels from Asia—Epic Gilgamesh, texts from Tibetan Buddhism, Hinduism, and the Philippine epic, Biag ni Lam-ang will also be taken into consideration to shed light on them. It will also present their interpretation as typoi of the sacraments of initiations found in early Christian literature and art.

From a reason-faith perspective, I reflect on “Vatican II: Gaudium et Spes Fifty Years Later.” In the introduction, I speak briefly on the Second Vatican Council, and on its Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes (“Joy and Hope”) and its ethical and social teachings.

Three key concepts will make up the pillars of this paper: second, foreign and heritage languages. Whenever appropriate “additional language” will be used as an umbrella term. A study of the domains of language use will be applied to these three different sociolinguistic contexts. To date, there are not many empirical studies on the domains of language and, more specifically, among young learners in different areal contexts, as it is the case of this study.

The territory of Macao is composed of several granitic intrusions belonging to one of the biggest granite provinces in the world, the Southeast China Magmatic Belt (SCMB), located in the southeast (SE) area of the Cathaysia Block. The SCMB is known by the occurrence of large volumes of Mesozoic magmatic rocks (over 90% are granitic rocks and equivalent volcanic rocks with minor basalts), occupying a total outcrop area of nearly 200.000 km2. The geology of Macao (~30 Km2) is dominated by granitic rocks displaying a wide range of textural, mineralogical and chemical features, making it an ideal region to study these rocks and the petrogenetic processes responsible for their diversity. This study employed a wide range of research methodologies, namely field studies, petrography, zircon geochronology, mineral chemistry, whole-rock elemental and isotopic geochemistry to determine the nature of the source, the petrogenetic processes and the tectonic regimes of the Mesozoic magmatism in this region. Thus, the data collected along this study aims to provide new knowledge on the tectono-magmatic evolution of Macao, in particular, and of SE China, in general. The results obtained from the high-precision U–Pb zircon geochronology, acquired through isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry (ID-TIMS) and in-situ laser ablation multi-collector inductively coupled mass spectrometry (LA-MC-ICPMS), revealed different ages for Macao granites. Despite its relatively small area, the determined ages tightly constrain the Macao granitic magmatism to two periods, ranging from 164.5 ± 0.6 to 162.9 ± 0.7 Ma (MGI – Macao Group I granites) and 156.6 ± 0.2 to 155.5 ± 0.8 Ma (MGII – Macao Group II granites). In addition, younger dacitic rocks were dated at 150.6 ± 0.6 Ma and <120 Ma. The existence of two proximal but distinct granitic pulses, spanning for a time of about 9 Ma and separated by ca. 6 Ma, in the Macao granitic suite suggests that it was incrementally assembled. This hypothesis is also extendable to the neighbouring Hong Kong region, where the magmatic activity occurred in four major pulses spanning for about 24 Ma. However, the MGII granites indicate the occurrence, on the Pearl River Delta region, of a magmatic pulse between those defined in Hong Kong at the origin of Lamma Suite (165–160 Ma) and the Kwai Chung Suite (148–146 Ma). In addition, Rare Element Earth (REE) ratios suggest that this pulse may only occur in Macao area, while MGI granites show evolving trends of REE ratios similar to those of Jurassic granites outcropping in vast areas of the Cathaysia Block (SE China). Inheritance patterns in the zircon U–Pb data indicate the presence of a population of antecrysts (165–180 Ma) crystallized from earlier magmatic pulses and a population of inherited zircons, from Precambrian to Phanerozoic sources, incorporated into the magmas during melting and/or ascent/emplacement at crustal levels. The oldest inherited ages (2.4 Ga and possibly 2.9 Ga) suggest contribution of Proterozoic and possibly of late Archaean crustal sources for the Macao magmatism. The granitic rocks of Macao are mainly high-K calc-alkaline metaluminous to weakly peraluminous I-type granites with variable degrees of fractionation. Fractional crystallization played an important role in the evolution of these granites, though the fractionation paths differ for the highly fractionated facies of both groups mainly due to distinct accessory fractionating phases. Such difference is evident by distinct REE evolution trends: while MGI magmas seem to have evolved by gradual enrichment in heavy REE relatively to light REE, originating progressively flatter REE patterns, magmas from MGII are marked by depletion of middle REE, leading to progressively concave upward REE patterns. However, while most of the geochemical variation of the MGII granites can be explained by fractional crystallization, the same is not true for MGI granites. The MGI highly fractionated granites show evidence for the REE tetrad effect and are characterized by non-CHArge-and-RAdius-Controlled (non-CHARAC) behaviour of trace elements, suggesting late-stage melt/fluid interactions involving F-rich fluids. The stage of evolution represented by the MGI highly fractionated granites corresponds to the onset of fluid/melt interaction in a highly evolved granitic system, which may have led to enhanced hydrothermal activity in more evolved stages, as those represented in neighbouring areas in SE China. Significant differences in isotopic composition were also observed, with the MGII being characterized by a much narrow range of initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios and εNd(t) and εHf(t) values than MGI. Based on these differences, the MGII granites are considered to be part of a comagmatic suite that has evolved in closed system, contrasting with what can be inferred for MGI. The increase in initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios with degree of evolution, the presence of metasedimentary enclaves and the high percentage of inherited zircon with Paleozoic ages in MGI, suggest the occurrence of an assimilation fractionation crystallization (AFC) process. The AFC processes were a major cause for the I-S transitional characteristics of the MGI highly fractionated granites and possibly of the other similar Jurassic biotite granites in SE China. The observed decoupling of Sr, Nd and Hf isotope systems might have resulted from magma mixing between the granitic and more mafic magmas, which caused the homogenization of Sr isotope ratios but not of the Nd and Hf ones. Such process is also supported by the occurrence of Microgranular Mafic Enclaves (MME) hosted by the granites. Isotope and major element compositions together with model ages strongly suggest that Macao granitic magmas were generated by partial melting of infracrustal medium-to-high K basaltic Paleo-Proterozoic to Mesoproterozoic protoliths heated by, and mixed to some degree with mantle-derived magmas. The temporal and spatial association of Macao and SE China Jurassic I-type granites with basaltic/gabbroic rocks, syenites and A-type granites, displaying typical intraplate chemical features, indicates an extensional regime rather than an active margin for the origin of these rocks. It also points to an important role of mantle-derived magmas in the production of SE China Jurassic granites. Adiabatic decompression melting of the asthenospheric mantle produced mafic magmas, which underplated at the base of the crust (Moho), subsequently triggering partial melting of the lower crust to generate the granitic magmas. The Jurassic Macao granites are interpreted as being produced in an intraplate extensional setting related to the break-off and foundering of a previously flat-slab (Paleo-Pacific plate) beneath the Eurasian plate. The boundary between east and west Cathaysia blocks is roughly along the Zhenghe-Dapu Fault (ZDF), which intersects the SE China coast near Hong Kong and is thought to have played a major role for the Mesozoic magmatic activity in this region. The stronger isotopic affinities of Macao granites with the other granitic rocks and lower crustal xenoliths from the western Cathaysia Block suggest that the ZDF is likely to pass south of Macao, a fact that has not been mentioned before. In addition to the Early Yanshanian (Jurassic) granitic magmatism in Macao, the younger ages obtained for the dacite dykes indicate that the territory was also affected, to a lesser degree, by Late Yanshanian (Cretaceous) magmatism. The transition from granitic to dacitic magmatism most likely corresponds to a change in the regional tectonic regime, which induced a significant change in the magma genesis processes. In contrast with the intraplate features of Macao and SE China Jurassic granites and coeval mafic rocks, the geochemical features of the Macao dacite dykes (e.g. high LILE/HFSE ratios and negative anomalies of Nb, Ta and Ti) are identical to those characterizing arc-like subduction-related magmas. These dacites are most likely evolved products of arc-like magmatism and may testify the reestablishment of a normal subduction system in this area of SE China.

In 2014 Macao Baptist Church celebrated it’s 110th anniversary. How did the Baptist church come to be established in the Portuguese, predominantly Catholic and Buddhist city of Macao? Through careful examination of letters and reports from the main protagonists, John Laurels and Lilian Reeves Todd Galloway, the process of establishing the Baptist church can be revealed and understood within the greater context of the Baptist missionary work in China. The Galloway’s work will be evaluated through a framework of missions eras presented by Dr. Ralph D. Winter. This work looks at the material in two major sections; first, the lives of the Galloways in Macao from 1908 to 1968, and second, the missionary methods of the Galloways over the same period. Using missiological methods of the Kingdom Mission era, the Galloways stood firmly in the Church Mission era focusing their efforts on Personal rather than Social Transformation efforts. Their work laid the foundation for a century of Baptist work in Macao by local Christians as well as foreign missionaries.

The study builts on Bateman and Schmidt’s (2011) and Tseng’s (2009) research on film as a form of “cinematographic document,” and continues their efforts to construct a semiotic mode of film. The author recognizes the complexity of undertaking research in the domain of semiotic discourse. This study argues that as film analysis is about ways of seeing and synthesizing different cinematic styles, strategies; learnt cinematic conventions and reflective viewing is imperative. The interaction of robust multimodal resources, well-defined analytic units, based on dependable models, and conducted through a discursive process should align to produce fruitful filmic discourse. The study premised on the assumption that film is more than a “self-enclosed signification system” but a crucial “cultural practice” that “reflect and inflect culture.” Taken together, this view underscores the importance and interactivity of cinema, culture and society. To this end, the study contributes to filmic meaning making, the New Hong Kong Cinema, and finally, the present study invariably serves as a form of “social document” or “cultural artifacts” in its exploration of Hong Kong ever changing identity, culture and moods.

Macao, a developing city, has been undergoing rapid and significant changes economically, culturally, and socially, partly as a consequence of the changes to the economy brought about by the gaming and tourism industry. Changes in Macao have had a major impact on its schools. Parents have a significant impact on students in school, and Macao’s secondary schools are having to handle a range of challenges and problems brought by students and their parents, many of these as a result of the changes in the wider society of Macao. The response of many schools to the challenges faced is limited, and they understate and under-use the important role played by more developed forms of parental involvement in schools. This study examines the nature, scope and extent of the problems that secondary schools in Macao are having to handle from parents and students, how the schools are handling them, and what needs to be done in order to address the problems and handle them more effectively. Through a large scale survey, interviews and a small scale questionnaire, the thesis identifies key problems facing the schools from students and parents, and it reveals that many of Macao’s secondary schools are ill-equipped to handle these, and there are many signs that the problems are becoming more acute. The thesis finds that negative parental behavior has had a stronger effect on students than positive parental behavior, and it finds that there are several reasons why the schools, in their present state, cannot address these matters effectively. A significant gap is found between what the schools indicate they should be doing and what they are actually doing to address increased parental involvement in order to impact positively on Macao’s students. Recommendations are made for intervention and action

Vehicles solely powered by electricity are a major technological innovation that combines individual transportation needs and environmental sustainability, yet their market penetration is low. Research has traditionally indicated factors such as the vehicle’s purchasing price, driving range, and charging time as the main barriers to adoption. However, the decision to adopt a technology also depends on what the technology represents to the user; therefore, other factors may be important to explain individuals’ behavior. This study is a quantitative and cross-sectional look at the behavioral intention to adopt battery electric vehicles (BEVs) technology in the context of Macau. The research builds on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology 2 (UTAUT 2) (Venkatesh et. al., 2012) to explain the characteristics of the local consumers. Besides the addition of image and environmental concern to the theoretical model, the study also put forward and evaluate the construct of technology show-off, an original measure of the visible and experiential characteristics of a technology. A sample of 236 Macau residents was analyzed by structural equation modeling (SEM). The analysis of the data supported the explanatory and predictive power of our model and helped to describe the idiosyncrasies of local residents. The results provide insights related to individual technology acceptance that could be useful in designing more accurate strategies and fostering the uptake of BEVs in Macau or markets that share similarities

This commentary reviews recent research in terms of tourist’s mobilities in terms practices of walking, cycling and driving. It concludes by reflecting on the contemporary lock down of travel in terms of the global pandemic and its consequences for waiting, stillness and immobility – particularly in terms of flying.

Hydrology modeling became a relevant topic for the Cidade da Praia, Cabo Verde, Africa, due to negative impact risk to local population and its assets. The modeling via Geographical Information Systems (GIS) can help the decision-making process of space occupation and characterization for this type of risk. Under the municipalities of Praia, the phenomenon of flash flood is common, causing soil erosion and landslide. This constitutes a risk for the local habitat, particularly in districts with a lack of strong human infrastructures. To simulate, analyze and generate risk maps using GIS to help this county governance authorities for decision-making, thus, becomes the main aim of this article.