Doctor of Education

Candidates shall be required to satisfactorily complete 4 core courses, 2 Graduate School modules on research integrity and 3 to 4 elective courses with a total of at least 72 hours.  The core courses and the Graduate School courses on research integrity must be completed by the end of the probationary period.  The elective courses should be completed before the submission of thesis and should consist of one of the following: (i) 3 “Discipline-specific Courses”, (ii) 2 “Discipline-specific Courses” plus 2 “Specialised Courses in Research Methods”, (iii) 2 “Discipline-specific Courses” plus 1 course from the Faculty’s Taught Master’s Degree programmes; or (iv) 1 “Discipline-specific Course” plus 2 “Specialised Courses in Research Methods” plus 1 course from the Faculty’s Taught Master’s Degree programmes.

CORE COURSES

All candidates should complete EEDD6701, EEDD6702, EEDD6800 and EEDD6900.

EEDD6701 Research Methods I

This course provides an overview of quantitative research methods in education.  Topics include locating and reviewing research literature, formulating research questions, understanding common statistical methods, and issues in quantitative research design. Students will also be provided opportunities for hands-on practice with standard statistical packages.

EEDD6702 Research Methods II

This course focuses on doing research in education, including interviewing, observations, transcription, coding, and other procedures, as well as issues of ethics, research integrity, and validity, and generalizability. 

EEDD6800 Thesis Writing Workshop

The aim of this course is to help students to become more aware of important aspects of writing that contribute to overall communicative success of their thesis, so that they can approach the writing of their theses more systematically and confidently.  Topics to be covered include: the structure of different types of theses; the discourse features and language used in reviewing research literature, making explicit the research gap, stating hypotheses or research questions, reporting and discussing results as well as findings; the writing of abstracts, introductions and conclusions; the use of verbal signposts and verb tenses across the thesis; and issues of academic language and delicacy.

EEDD6900 Issues in Education

This course is structured as a forum consisting of multiple sessions for students to explore various generic educational issues.  Each session may comprise a combination of a guest lecture, discussions, group/individual work, presentations, and debate. 

GRADUATE SCHOOL COURSE

GRSC6101 Responsible Conduct of Research (3 hours)

The aim of this course is to reinforce the importance that HKU places on the preservation of the values and principles of research integrity in all research conducted at the university.  It equips students with essential vocabulary, principles, and practices conducive to the promotion of responsible conduct of research in general and in their relevant disciplines.  Students will also encounter terminology, texts, and tenets that relate to good conduct in the teaching and research professions. Students are expected to attend this module before taking the stream-based responsible conduct of research module.

GRSC6102 Stream-based Responsible Conduct of Research (3 hours)

The aim of this course is to provide opportunities for students to further examine and discuss responsible conduct of research in their own disciplines, thereby enabling them to apply the principles and practices as emphasised in GRSC6101 in their research fields.  It addresses responsible conduct of research in a number of topics germane to different disciplines, and students are required to choose to take one three-hour workshop to complete this module.  Possible topics of the workshop include, but are not limited to: working with human participants; working with animals; lab safety; working on sites; working on big data; and working on texts.

Note:

1. Classes are normally scheduled in evenings during weekdays, and/or Saturday mornings or afternoons.