Experience Sharing

Stories on Action Research

As a learning community, faculty members and instructors generously shared their experiences on using Action Research to improve student learning. Below are their stories grouped according to the Schools under HKUST and other Institutions.

HKUST

School of Business & Management

School of Humanities & Social Science

Other Institutions

Use of action research for the improvement of teaching practices in local higher education institutions is not new. In 1994, a grant was obtained from the Central Allocation Vote of the University Grants Committee of Hong Kong for a Project which is known as the "Action Learning Project". Dr. David Kember of the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong was appointed as the Project Coordinator overseeing and directing the project. The Project aimed to encourage and support academics in all UGC institutions in Hong Kong to participate in action research projects concerned with aspects of their own teaching. In 1996, a second grant was received from the University Grant Committee, thus allowing the project to be extended into its second phase.

In the first phase, there were a total of 50 projects supported by the grant. Another 40 projects were then supported through the second funding. Two books containing selected final reports from the two phases have been published. Thanks to Dr. David Kember and his team, the full-text of both publications are made available here for your reference.

"Case studies of improving teaching and learning from the Action Learning Project" edited by David Kember, Bick-har Lam, Louisa Yan, Jessie C. K. Yum and Susan Blumberg Liu.

Assessment

• How Do Students Analyse Assessment Questions?
• Fostering Students' Clinical Competence through Objective Structured
• Implementing Peer Assessment to Improve Teaching and Learning
• Group Decision Support System for Assessment of Projects in Information Systems

Reflective Practice

• Enhancing the Quality of Fieldwork Instruction through Student-Teacher Partnership in Action Research
• Critical Reflection in Community Work Education: A Social Work Curriculum Addressing Social Deprivation and Poverty
• The Process of Integrating Experience with Learning of First Year Social Work Students
• Facilitating the Application of Theoretical Holistic Health Concepts to Professional Practice Through Action Learning
• An Action Learning Study of Teacher-Student Partnership: Integration of Theory and Practice in Health Education
• Promoting Reflective Learning and Practice for the Education of Professionals

Problem Based Learning

• Learners and Teachers: Introducing Problem Based Learning
• Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in Teaching Physiology and Pathology
• Encouraging Active Learning in the General Practice Clerkship

Curriculum Restructuring

• Improving Teaching of a University Module ¡X Application of Action Learning Methodology
• Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Tutorials in a Post-Registration Nursing Degree Programme in Hong Kong
• Development of a Professional Development Programme and Recording System for Information Systems Undergraduates in an Action Learning Environment
• The Integration of Technology and Commerce in Maritime Transport Education

Active Learning

• Enhancing the Integration of Physical Assessment Techniques into Clinical Studies
• The Adaptation of an American-Based Business Simulation: A Hong Kong Environment
• Enhancing Critical Thinking and Daily-Life Application in a Psychology Course: A 'Case Album' Approach
• Action Research in Engineering Design Active Learning Project

English Language

• Establishing Thesis Writing Workshops for Postgraduate Research Students
• A Final Report on the Training of Effective Business Writers
• Towards Learner Autonomy in Postgraduate Language Studies: Self and Peer-Evaluation in the Development of Academic Discussion Skills
• Promoting Student Talk, Reflection and Revisions
• Are You Speaking Comfortably?
• Helping Learners Help Themselves: Counselling for Autonomy in a Self-Access Centre
• Evaluating the English Foundation Programme in the Self-Access Mode at City University
• Exploring Strategies for Stimulating and Fostering English Language Use in Small Group Work in Monolingual Classes of Year 1 Science and Engineering Students
• Learning from Action: Exploring Strategies to Encourage the Use of English in Small Group Discussions in Monolingual Classes of Year 1 Science Students
• Enhancing the Participation of Law Students in Academic Tutorials
• Action Learning in English and Anatomy

Multimedia

• The Future of Multimedia Tools in Engineering Education
• CAL in Construction: Attitudes to Learning
• Computers as Cognitive Tools in Architecture Education
• Information Systems Explorer - An Interactive Multimedia Teaching Support System for Information Systems Training
• Learning Computer Communication Network Through Software-based Experiments
• Perceived Effectiveness of Multimedia Lectures in Non-Major Subjects
• Multimedia-Based Learning System for Database Modeling and Design
• The Introduction of Language Learning Software into the Curriculum under Non-Experimental Conditions
• Computer-based Tutorials and Explorations in Hong Kong

Evaluation

• Enhancing Tertiary Teaching Through Action Learning: A Preliminary Evaluation of the Action Learning Project
• Reference

Back to top

"Further case studies of improving teaching and learning from the Action Learning Project" edited by David Kember, Sally Candlin and Louisa Yan

Preface

Introduction to the Action Learning Project

Learning by Doing

• Teaching Design Integration through a Hands-on Approach
• The Student Experience of Problem-based Learning in Real Estate Studies
• Developing Work-based Transferable Skills for Engineering Students
• Learning Investment through Simulated Practical Experiences
• Enhancement of Sport Skill Learning through Intensive Peer and Teacher Feedback
• Learning by Doing through In-firm Projects

Critical Thinking

• Promoting Active Learning in the Study of Geriatric Rehabilitation
• Case Simulations to Discover Clinical Reasoning Skills in Occupational Therapy Students
• Independent Learning by Implementing Contract Learning in a Clinical Context
• Promoting Students' Critical Thinking: The Use of Videotaped Vignettes in a Baccalaureate Nursing Programme
• Empowering Students in Community Care of the Elderly Through Action Learning
• Social Work Skills Laboratory in Action: Integrative and Reflective Learning through Students¡¦ Participation

English Language Teaching and Learning

• Enhancing the Quality of Adviser Support for Self-directed Language Learning
• Making Self-Access Centres More Effective
• Developing Effective Strategies for Independent Learning: Handling Research Tasks in English for Academic Purposes
• Integrating Telecommunication Technology in a Professional Communication Skills Course
• An Investigation into the Effectiveness of Teacher Feedback on Student Writing
• From Patient's Bedside to English Classroom: An ESP Course for Clinical Training

Teaching and Learning in the Practise Situation

• Making the 'Theory-practice Link' in an Action Learning Framework: Report on a New Pedagogical Approach in an Inservice Kindergarten Teacher Education Programme
• Enhancing the Quality of Learning Effected in the Co-operating Teacher Scheme
• Constructing Conceptions about Science, Science Teaching and Science Learning in Initial Teacher Education
• Introducing Problem-Based Learning to Teacher Education Programmes
• Teaching Field-based Learning: A Reflective Discussion on How We Teach as Practice Teachers
• Peer Support for Professional Learning: Rewards and Challenges

Multi-media and Web-based Teaching and Learning

• Using the World Wide Web for European Area Studies
• Collaboratively Exploring and Creating World Wide Web Learning Materials
• Computer Enhanced Small Group Teaching in Social Policy and Administration
• Resource Data Bases for Self-access Language Learning
• Computer-Assisted Interactive Tutorials on Clinical Problem Solving in Family Medicine
• Action Learning Research in Engineering Design Teaching

Conclusion

• The Suitability of Action Research for Enhancing the Quality of Teaching in Hong Kong
• The Outcomes of the Action Learning Project

Back to top