Purpose: Learning to do research has been understudied in the context of professional development in postgraduate programs. This exploratory study investigated the agency and experiences of five Chinese students who learned to design their research project in a Master of Education program at an English-medium university in Hong Kong SAR. Design/Approach/Methods: We obtained the data from semi-structured interviews and documents to establish data triangulation. Findings: The findings revealed that (1) the students' agency in research design and proposal writing was associated with their personal/professional backgrounds, (2) their English proficiency affected their agency in the proposal writing, (3) the supervisors' feedback would stimulate students' agency in changing/refining their research design, and (4) ineffective supervision and learning resources would impede students' achievement of agency on their way to creating a robust research design. Originality/Value: This study adds empirical evidence to the field of research training through the lens of learner agency. It demonstrates the applicability of using the ecological framework of agency in theoretically interpreting the contextual facilitators and constraints in making postgraduate students active agents. Copyright ©Sage Publications Ltd.

This paper reports a case study of the manifestation of the teaching-research nexus in a research-active professor's classroom teaching of a research methods course targeting a cohort of Master of Education (MEd) students in early childhood education (ECE). The study was conducted at a research-intensive English-medium university in Hong Kong where excellence in both teaching and research is emphasized. Data were gathered through classroom observation and interviews with the focal participant. Data analyses showed that in teaching the research methods course the focal professor aimed to train the students to become critical 'consumers' and novice 'producers' of research through a 'PBL-triple'--problem-based, practice-based, and project-based--approach, and his identity as a prolific researcher also influenced his class teaching. Our study contributes to the literature by providing a new perspective on research-teaching relationships from the classroom. Copyright ©Springer.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the differences between Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and Mainland in terms of education and also the influence of it on doing comparative educational research. Hong Kong SAR is ruled by the Chinese Government under the framework of "One country, two systems." It makes Hong Kong SAR different from other Mainland cities based on different aspects including, education. The finding of this paper provides a systematic review about the differences between these two Chinese societies in terms of education and also implication for conducting comparative educational research in these two societies and also generating some implications for cross-national and cross-cultural study in education.Design/methodology/approach: This paper made references from the framework proposed by Bray and Thomas (1995) in relation to comparative educational research to make comparison between Hong Kong SAR and Mainland China. Multi-level comparison is conducted between two societies in terms of education, especially aspects relating to conducting educational research sat social, school and individual levels.Findings: This paper identified the influence of “One county, two systems” on education at different levels such as ideology, school management system and use of languages in teaching. Such differences affect the choice of topics, sampling strategy, research design, data analysis and interpretation and also ethical considerations when conducting comparative research between Hong Kong SAR and Mainland China.Originality/value: This paper is an integrated analysis of conducting educational research in two Chinese societies and provides insights for further discussions and possible research about this topic. Copyright © 2019 Emerald Publishing Limited.

Background: Collaborative Action Research has been a popular form of research method conducted by the BEd (Hons) in-service and pre-service students studying the early childhood education at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. With a thorough understanding of the theory and practise of the collaborative action research by these novice teachers in this form of research methods, they could be benefited by an understanding on how they might develop a genuine school-based curriculum for an educational change in their schools. Aims: This paper aimed to provide guidelines on how to conduct a Collaborative Action Research for facilitating school-based Curriculum Development by theory and practise. A case study on how to carry out a collaborative action research is quoted for reference of those who would conduct this kind of research for the first time. The insertion of this case study is to highlight the meaning of 'collaborative' in an action research; it is not suffice to provide chances for teachers to voice out their opinions. What needs more to be done is to incorporate voices of teachers when formulating the plan in next action research cycle. With a thorough understanding of the theory and practise underpinned the Collaborative action research, it is anticipated that the novice teachers would gain in knowledge of what a "child-centred" curriculum and its pedagogic application would be like. In view of the variation in practices among today's teacher researchers, the theoretical and philosophical perspectives of Action Research will be reviewed to inform practitioners of the historical roots of their practise. What has been mentioned by Coulter (2002) as the essence of what constituting an authentic education "action' research would be revisited. Arguments: Allied with Coulter's argument in his What Counts as Action in Educational Action Research (2002), the author of this paper is keen to reiterate the differentiation of the three forms of Action research. In order

In the past decade, there have been numerous researches on motivation, which is generally agreed to be the key to student learning. Concepts like intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, students’ perception of their own competence and sense of control over their study, mastery-oriented goal or performance goal theories are much explored. These researches have generated theoretical support and arguments for educational reforms taking place in the 1990s in the educational scene in Hong Kong. However, the outcome of the research findings, which is vital to successful teaching and implementation of new education policy, is always given only fragmented and superficial treatment in most teacher training courses. Consequently, teachers in Hong Kong cannot see why they are forced into adopting new practices different from traditional methods, creating a huge gap between beliefs and actual practices. This paper argues that the rich knowledge base on motivation has already had its impact in shaping educational reforms in Hong Kong but teachers and educational practitioners are not ready to cope with the changes mainly because of the lack of coherent effort to organize this important body of knowledge into programs that help teachers see the linkage between old and new educational practices.

Exploring teachers' attitudes towards research is always interesting. Following the decision of the Education and Manpower Bureau to create a position of Primary School Master/Mistress (Curriculum Development) (PSM(CD)) in Hong Kong primary schools, it becomes significant to understand and beliefs which these curriculum leaders hold with respect to action research - as a means to help schools to reflect upon their strengths and to decide how best to bring about reform in curriculum. A survey of 209 PSM(CD)s suggested that in general they favoured using research in their work. A four-factor model indicated that the majority of the respondents perceived themselves as having the ability to do research, valued research for professional development and providing solutions to teaching and learning deficiencies, and found the action research course useful. The survey results showed that demonstrated research experience and holding higher degree qualification had no significant impact on attitudes to action research, but that those attitudes were associated positively with the participants' sense of self-efficacy, an internal locus of control and their commitment to their school. The work will contribute to gaining an understanding of how curriculum leaders' participation in school-based curriculum research and development can be facilitated.
[Copyright © 2008 Academic & Professional Book Centre.]

在香港，無論是小學、中學、還是幼稚園的老師，要想在繁忙的工作日程之上再抽出額外的時間來做教育研究，實屬不易。而當他們下決心去做研究時，卻往往不知如開始，又如何在搜集好資料後寫出研究報告。本文旨在為本港的幼稚園教師或幼教專業的大、中專學生提供一些由小範圍的質化研究起步的方法。本文希望能夠在幾個方面解答一些重要的問題，並且提供相關、實用的策略，包括如何做準備、如何選題、如何進行文獻探討、研究方法的選擇、研究結果以及討論的撰寫等。最後，本文還提供一些簡單而基本的研究論文撰寫的要訣。
[Copyright © 2008 The Hong Kong Institute of Education.]

Action research is a type of applied research. It is action-oriented and a form of professional development. It is conducted by practitioners and is geared toward the improvement of professional practice. Action research as a tool of inquiry can be used to discover solutions to discrete problems that emerge in any classroom or school. Presented here are three cases of action research that aim to improve areas of concern in teaching and learning at the individual subject, school and across-schools level. Queenie CHENG and her team present "The Action Research on Classroom Learning and Professional Development of Teachers" which is a subject-based action research; Stephen LUI presents a whole school action research, "Working on What Works: A Case Study to Improve the Effectiveness of a Government Secondary School in Hong Kong"; and Paul LEE, Siu -Wai WU and Peter TANG of The Hong Kong Primary Education Research Association present "Sharing and Action research on School Self-evaluation in Primary School", an action research project joined by nine primary schools. This symposium provides a chance for open discussion.