Research Areas
The Faculty has more than 100 full-time academic staff members drawn from various parts of the world. In addition to performing teaching duties, academic staff are engaged in an extensive range of research which provides a focus for supervision of research degrees. Members of the Faculty lead both local and international projects. Many of them sit on different advisory committees contributing to the formulation of policies related to education in Hong Kong.
The major research areas in the Faculty are listed in the following seven Division groupings:
Division of Chinese Language and Literature
Chinese language and literature education; language curriculum development and evaluation; general Chinese linguistics; psycholinguistics-Chinese; Chinese sociolinguistics; language testing, measurement and evaluation of Chinese; cognitive aspects of Chinese language learning; linguistic aspects of Chinese language education; computers in Chinese language teaching and learning; application of functional linguistics to teaching Chinese.
Division of English Language Education
English language curriculum; language teacher education and development; second language acquisition; classroom interaction; language learning strategies; language across the curriculum; sociolinguistics; discourse studies; literacy studies; language policy; language and ideology; second language writing; assessment for learning; feedback and scaffolding of student learning; autonomy in language learning; literature and language arts in the curriculum.
Division of Information and Technology Studies
Information technology implementation in education and pedagogical innovation; socio-cultural issues regarding technological practice and change; design and use of information technology across the curriculum; e-learning and learning objects; planning and managing information technology in education; information technology and educational leadership; computer supported collaborative learning; information technology support for school administration; library and information services; information literacy and information behaviour; knowledge management; information management; social responsibility and librarianship; collection management issues; management of libraries; bibliometrics; information policy.
Division of Learning, Development and Diversity
Educational psychology
Child and adolescent development; educational psychology; developmental psychology; positive psychology; pre-school, primary, secondary, and higher education; school psychology; educational assessment and measurement; test theories; single case study; statistical modeling of educational data; quantitative and qualitative research design; psychology of teaching and learning; cognition and instruction; knowledge building; higher-order thinking; giftedness; intellectual styles, personality and student learning; motivation; experiential learning; computer-supported collaborative learning; conceptual change; reading processes; student development; teacher-pupil interaction; applied behavior analysis; classroom management; social psychology of education; cross-cultural psychology; self-concept/self-esteem; stress management; gender identity development and transgender; educational psychology program design and evaluation.
Special education
Special education needs; children with learning difficulties; all categories of disabilities ranging from gifted learners and learners with sensory difficulties to multiple disabilities; pre-primary to post-secondary education; transition from compulsory education to further education (i.e. inclusion of all regardless of race, ethnicity, disability, gender, sexual orientation, language, socio economic status, and any other aspect of an individual's identity that might be perceived as different, employment and adult life); teacher training; continued professional development; teaching assistants and other support staff; inclusive education; curriculum modification/adaptation; assistive technology; home-school partnership; inclusion in low-income countries.
Guidance and counseling
General guidance and counseling; school guidance and counseling; personal-social education; affective education; teacher stress; forgiveness intervention and education; student stress and adjustment; suicide prevention and intervention; bereavement and death education; life satisfaction; school satisfaction; positive youth development; children's spirituality; students' and teachers' perception; human helping relationship; group guidance; career counseling; life skills development; counseling, education, leadership and affective development for the gifted; adventure based counseling; peer counseling; teacher self development; teacher self-efficacy; counseling efficacy; guidance personnel supervision and education; school consultation; parent education; cross-cultural studies in guidance and counseling; counseling program design and evaluation.
Division of Policy, Administration and Social Sciences Education
Curriculum and assessment; curriculum implementation and evaluation studies; business studies; curriculum innovation and development; economics education; economics of education; education and national development; educational administration and school organisation; educational change and leadership; educational philosophy; educational planning and policy analysis; environmental education; ethnic minority education; geographical education; history education; social sciences education; sociology of education; teacher thinking, beliefs and knowledge; education and professional development of teachers from initial through in-service stages; values education; women and education; educational policy, system and development in China.
Division of Science, Mathematics and Computing
Science education; environmental education; physics education; chemistry education; biology education; mathematics education; statistics education; computer education; health education; substance abuse preventive education; studies of student thinking, learning and achievement in different school subjects; classroom processes (strategies of teaching and learning); use of information technology in teaching and learning; curriculum innovation and development; curriculum implementation and evaluation studies; evaluation of health education interventions; use of ICT for resources development in teaching and learning; evaluation of mentoring provision in schools; integrated curriculum development in science, health and humanities; comparative studies; teacher education; teacher thinking, beliefs and knowledge.
Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences
Speech and language studies
Speech and language development in Cantonese- and Putonghua-speaking children; speech and language development in bilingual children; cross-linguistic comparisons of normal and atypical language development; screening and assessment of developmental speech and language disorders; intervention for children with speech and language impairments; developmental reading and writing disorders in Chinese; normal speech and language in Chinese-speaking populations; communication impairment and aging; assessment and intervention for acquired language impairment in Chinese; acquired reading and writing disorders in Chinese adults; speech and language disorders in Cantonese-speaking children with hearing impairment; speech disorders associated with cleft palate and dysarthria; traditional Chinese medicine approaches in treating voice problems; efficacy of voice therapy programs; development of cost-effective voice assessment and treatment protocols; functional communication in communication disorders; evidence-based practice in speech, language and audiology; laryngectomy speech rehabilitation; Holistic rehabilitation of communicative disorders.
Speech and Hearing sciences
Acoustic analysis of speech; speech perception; Accent identification, quantification, and modification; vocal tract configuration analysis.
Clinical audiology
Application and performance of hearing aids; development of hearing assessment tools; neonatal and infant hearing screening; childhood hearing loss in developing countries.
Click here for a summary listing of the research interests of professoriate staff in the Faculty.