Pedagogical Research Consultation Service

Introduction

In the Teaching Development and Language Enhancement Grant (TDLEG) for the 2022-25 Triennium, our existing Teaching and Learning CoP (T&L CoP) will be extended to address teachers’ pedagogical research needs. This capitalises on the strength of another project, “Virtual Teaching and Learning (VTL) Pedagogical Research Service,” funded in 2021 by The University Grants Committee (UGC) and The Quality Assurance Council (QAC) under the Special Grant for Strategic Development of Virtual Teaching and Learning in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. While the VTL Pedagogical Research Service project may seem to be born out of the pandemic, it, in fact, had its genesis four years earlier, evolving from the eLearning consultation service established in 2019.

Underpinned by our established Research (Planning), Implementation, and Dissemination (RID) model (see Figure 1 below), we strive to provide in-depth and recurrent pedagogical research consultation service to members of the T&L CoP across eight faculties and other academic units at CUHK.



The scope of work

The RID wheel encapsulates three areas of individualised consultations that we offer to our teachers. The consultations take different forms, including face-to-face, online, telephone, or email. In addition, the consultations can vary in length, ranging from an hour meeting to quick phone calls for clarifications.

Stage 1: Research planning

  • Discussion of research backgrounds and literature

  • Exploration of potential educational concepts and directions

  • Co-construction of research project strategies and frameworks

In the research planning stage, teachers can schedule a consultation with us. During the meeting, we discuss with teachers on their initial research ideas and some of their burning questions. Teachers’ ideas and questions are documented and researched. After exploring their specific topics in the literature, they receive our responses in a Q-and-A format, detailing their questions as well as our feedback and suggestions informed by the literature and others. The sole purpose of our consultation service at this stage is to assist teachers in exploring potential research topics and directions so that they have an idea of the next steps. For example, they may start working on their existing research projects or apply for further funding to experiment the new ideas.

Stage 2: Implementation

  • Co-construction of research instruments

  • Administration of online surveys, interviews, and/or focus-group interviews

In the implementation stage, teachers will again schedule a meeting with us if they seek additional support to co-create and administer research instruments. Teachers will receive advice on adapting their existing surveys to a new project or developing research instruments from scratch. They are also given support to distribute their research instruments through CLEAR’s networks.

Stage 3: Dissemination

  • Arrangement of dissemination opportunities, including workshops, case stories, and exemplary practices on websites

  • Advice on avenues for potential publication outlets

  • Advice on manuscript/reference styles for publications

In the dissemination stage, we organise a range of dissemination opportunities for teachers to share their research studies with other like-minded colleagues. Teachers who aim to publish their work could also receive advice on manuscripts, such as reference styles.

The double-headed arrows in Figure 1 represent the interrelationships between components in the RID wheel. For example, research can inform implementation as can dissemination. The iterative process will help teachers research their teaching practice, potentially enhancing student learning experience.