To date, there has been little research in non-Western contexts exploring the research experience of research higher degree (RHD) students and the effect of research experience on student outcomes. The purposes of this study were to validate the Student Research Experience Questionnaire (SREQ) developed in Australia in the Hong Kong context and to explore the relationships between student research experiences and their perceived skill development and overall satisfaction with their research degree experiences. Data were collected from 599 RHD students. The results supported the construct validity of four SREQ scales (supervision, infrastructure, intellectual climate and skill development). The results of the structural equation modelling suggested that supervision related to students' perceived skill development and overall satisfaction, while intellectual climate and infrastructure were related to overall satisfaction only. The data provide a better understanding of how positive learning outcomes of RHD students can be promoted.
[Copyright of Higher Education Research & Development is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2012.754410]

There is increasing pressure toward professionalisation of university teaching, through the attendance of academic development courses and programmes. This is based on the expectation that such courses lead to more student-focused perspectives on teaching and learning and more effective teaching and learning practices. In this study we interviewed alumni of a Graduate Certificate programme, to explore its effects on teachers' self-reported experiences of teaching and the scholarship of teaching. This suggested that the programme had been successful in fostering the development of more complex experiences for most interviewees.
[Copyright of International Journal for Academic Development is the property of Routledge . Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13601440802242382]