In facing up with the challenges of globalization, IT, economic transformation, and international competitions in the new century, there are numerous educational reforms in many countries in the Asia-Pacific region. In these reforms, there is strong demand for a comprehensive knowledge base for educational innovation, policy development and practical improvement, supported by a wide range of research at different levels. This address aims to highlight the changing role of educational research in the emerging paradigm shifts in policy concerns and practical implementation in the nine trends and three waves of educational reforms in the Region. From analyzing the critical issues and challenges in the life cycle of policy development, the speech proposes a framework to draw implications for the future developments of educational research in the coming decade. In particular, the case of teachers and the teaching profession is used to illustrate what key issues that are challenging both policy development and educational research in the Asia-Pacific Region. At the end, it elaborates how educational research should be organized to support educational reforms and paradigm shifts in practice at the national, local, site and operational levels. Various types of local, national, regional and global research networks should be formed across areas and countries in the Region to create critical mass of multi-disciplinary research forces that can support high-level research for educational developments in the Region and other parts of the world. APERA should play a critical role in organizing and developing such networks.

Critical research review The paper will provide an overview of the learning and lesson study research strands in Chinese and English in Hong Kong, from the WALS 1st conference in 2005 to 2012 in classrooms, schools and communities. The presenter will provide an up-to-date overview of Hong Kong's diverse, multidimensional literature. She will focus on the lesson and learning study definitions, mapping of the process(es) and aspects that take priority. In light of this, she will offer a characterization of the research. Discussion will then focus on the implications of the research in terms of ultimate purposes and values, and emerging research trends and future directions. Not only will this be a discussion of the Hong Kong learning and lesson study research literature, but it will also provide a forum to nurture global dialogue.

This paper uses two action research cases to explore the potential for the implementation of assessment for learning in schools. Whilst there have been pockets of success in the UK (e.g. Black et al., 2003), what are the prospects for , assessment for learning in a Confucian-heritage culture, where the summative assessment paradigm has traditionally dominated? In order to show both the potential and challenges for assessment for learning in the Hong Kong primary school context, I decuss two action research cases of 'early adopters' of an ongoing reform. The first case examines a Cyber Zoo project which sought to develop information technology skills, collaboration skills and problem-solving abilities with a class aged 11-12 years old. The second case examines the implementation of peer assessment with the aim of sensitising 10-11 year old pupils to the grammatical errors which they make in their written English. The value of the paper lies in analysing assessment for learning in classroom practice within a specific international context. From this analysis, I draw out an exploratory cluster of the facilitating and inhibiting factors impinging on the implementation of assessment for learning in schools, building on a model of professional growth developed by Clarke & Hollingsworth (2002).

This study is aimed at exploring the evolution and characteristics of higher education research in Hong Kong within the special context where neoliberalization, internationalization and "sinicization" simultaneously drive the development of universities and academic community in the city-state. This study analyzes the research outputs of Hong Kong on higher education between the 1980s and the 2000s. The publication data on higher education research will draw on Scopus database and will focus on journal articles. The selected research outputs will be analyzed by themes and issues so as to explore what types of issues higher education researchers have been most interested in and the extent to which their interests have reflected and responded to the systemic changes in higher education in the last three decades.

This paper addresses some fundamental methodological and ethical issues confronting non-Chinese researchers undertaking research in Hong Kong Chinese society. Among other things, it considers problems pertaining to data collection, the challenges of data interpretation, and the implication that this has for research. Whilst the issues are by no means unique to Hong Kong, there are a number of matters related to outsider research that require special attention in the Hong Kong Chinese context, even when the researchers may be acquainted with both the context and the participants. Understanding the context of research, including the socio-cultural context of which the research participants are a part leads to an enhanced understanding of the issues at hand. This paper intends to serve as an overview that may guide future research in Hong Kong. Issues raised in this paper will need re-theorizing in order to provide a more realistic and comprehensive view of the need to re-examine the paradigms that guide research methodology in Confucian societies.
[Copyright of International Journal of Research and Method in Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1743727X.2012.736484]

University research with associated spin-offs is at the heart of knowledge generation in the biotechnology industry. However, only a few studies have so far dealt with biotechnology university spin-offs in Hong Kong (HK), a latecomer in this industry. The purpose of this research is to gather information about the history and innovative status of biotechnology university spin-off companies in HK in order to understand the dynamics of this phenomenon better. This study arrived at several important conclusions about biotechnology spin-off firms in Hong Kong; specifically that the firms are relatively small in size and young, were mostly formed by university staff, and created with joint effort. In addition, these firms developed commercial products and services, are aware of intellectual property protection, are motivated to create spin-offs in order to apply knowledge to practical applications and utilize market opportunities. However, the firms also face challenges, such as difficulties in accurately estimating the market demand for their products, and technical problems in the development and production of their products. Furthermore, difficulties with financing are also an important inhibitor to success.
[Copyright of Taylor & Francis. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19761597.2012.681439]