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Smart card-based E-payment systems are receiving increasing attention as the number of implementations is witnessed on the rise globally. Understanding of user adoption behavior of E-payment systems that employ smart card technology becomes a research area that is of particular value and interest to both IS researchers and professionals. However, research interest focuses mostly on why a smart card-based E-payment system results in a failure or how the system could have grown into a success. This signals the fact that researchers have not had much opportunity to critically review a smart card-based E-payment system that has gained wide support and overcome the hurdle of critical mass adoption. The Octopus in Hong Kong has provided a rare opportunity for investigating smart card-based E-payment system because of its unprecedented success. This research seeks to thoroughly analyze the Octopus from technology adoption behavior perspectives.

Cultural impacts on adoption behavior are one of the key areas that this research posits to investigate. Since the present research is conducted in Hong Kong where a majority of population is Chinese ethnicity and yet is westernized in a number of aspects, assuming that users in Hong Kong are characterized by eastern or western culture is less useful. Explicit cultural characteristics at individual level are tapped into here instead of applying generalization of cultural beliefs to users to more accurately reflect cultural bias. In this vein, the technology acceptance model (TAM) is adapted, extended, and tested for its applicability cross-culturally in Hong Kong on the Octopus. Four cultural dimensions developed by Hofstede are included in this study, namely uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, individualism, and Confucian Dynamism (long-term orientation), to explore their influence on usage behavior through the mediation of perceived usefulness.

TAM is also integrated with the innovation diffusion theory (IDT) to borrow two constructs in relation to innovative characteristics, namely relative advantage and compatibility, in order to enhance the explanatory power of the proposed research model. Besides, the normative accountability of the research model is strengthened by embracing two social influences, namely subjective norm and image. As the last antecedent to perceived usefulness, prior experience serves to bring in the time variation factor to allow level of prior experience to exert both direct and moderating effects on perceived usefulness.

The resulting research model is analyzed by partial least squares (PLS)-based Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach. The research findings reveal that all cultural dimensions demonstrate direct effect on perceived usefulness though the influence of uncertainty avoidance is found marginally significant. Other constructs on innovative characteristics and social influences are validated to be significant as hypothesized. Prior experience does indeed significantly moderate the two influences that perceived usefulness receives from relative advantage and compatibility, respectively. The research model has demonstrated convincing explanatory power and so may be employed for further studies in other contexts. In particular, cultural effects play a key role in contributing to the uniqueness of the model, enabling it to be an effective tool to help critically understand increasingly internationalized IS system development and implementation efforts. This research also suggests several practical implications in view of the findings that could better inform managerial decisions for designing, implementing, or promoting smart card-based E-payment system.

This chapter focuses on the objectives of historical interpretation (particularly teaching objectives outside of the traditional name- and date-driven curriculum), ideas that lead to creating a safe environment for students to be willing to try character portrayal themselves, content typically taught using this strategy, and successfully implemented sample lessons and activities by the authors that effectively utilize and harness the power of historical interpretation. These activities involve intense and intentional skill–based instruction that scaffolds students throughout their coursework, filling the school year with meaningful student-researched and student-produced historical interpretation. The authors discuss their teaching philosophy in relation to history and social studies, explaining why historical interpretation benefits teaching and learning. Through teacher- and student-driven character portrayals, the authors have created vibrant, secure classroom environments where students become responsible for their own learning and enthusiastic about research, writing, and performing. The chapter contains recommendations for coaching students in artifact analysis, performance, historical thinking strategies, storytelling, and creative writing. While they acknowledge that living history is not a “one-size-fits-all” solution to teaching history and social studies, they demonstrate that the unique learning culture that can result, providing student reflections to illustrate that point. The authors include and explain several effective resources that they have developed for student analysis of artifacts/objects, for guiding historical thinking, and for researching and writing. The chapter concludes with suggestions for individual and large group performance activities and advice on how to grade living history projects, keeping learning in mind as a component of holistic grading of creative student products.