This book focuses on the topic of academic publishing. It discusses the mounting, serious problems that researchers, particularly new researchers, encounter when trying to publish their research. The book addresses the issues of publishing as well as the salient factors militating against academic publication and the mitigating factors encouraging academic publication. It provides potential solutions, suggestions, and strategies for overcoming some of these problems.Growing researc...

This edited volume explores, investigates and analyses Free Learning – an innovative approach to student-directed learning which seeks to challenge educational norms from within. The volume is framed by a recognition of the urgent need for transformation of our educational systems.In traditional education, students work through a teacher-directed linear syllabus, at a pace dictated by the teacher, with summative assessment hurdles at too-frequent intervals. Progression and directio...

This book discusses Hong Kong’s use of onscreen marking (OSM) in public examinations. Given that Hong Kong leads the way in OSM innovation, this book has arisen from a recognised need to provide a comprehensive, coherent account of the findings of various separate but linked validation studies of onscreen public examinations in Hong Kong. The authors discuss their experience of the validation process, demonstrating how high-stakes innovation should be fully validated by a series of researc...

This book provides a detailed account of the origin, development, administration, revision and subsequent research findings on the benchmarking initiative from 1996-2016. It presents an overall assessment of the initiative’s impact on major stakeholders, predictions regarding the way forward, and implications for other countries, especially in South East Asia. In addition, the book discusses what the larger global community can learn from Hong Kong’s two-decade experience of conceptualizin...

This volume gathers contributions in the closely linked fields of English language assessment and language education. The contributors from China and Hong Kong represent a mixture of established and new scholars. Areas covered in the language education section range across major developments in the redefining of Hong Kong’s secondary and tertiary curricula, as well as the huge field of China’s vocational education curriculum. Regarding assessment, the contributions reflect major changes in...

Starting with the basics and fully grounded in the context of actually doing research, this practical book is the perfect companion as students tackle a business research project head on for the first time.Guiding readers through the research process in author David E. Gray’s approachable style, the book helps them build their understanding and develop the skills they need to establish good practice when planning and doing research in the business world. This second edition offers:...

This book examines the crucial role that sound file selection plays in assessing listening ability and introduces the reader to the procedure of textmapping, which explores how to exploit a sound file. The book discusses the role of the task identifier, the task instructions and the example, and analyses the strengths and weaknesses of different test methods. Guidelines for developing listening items, and procedures that can be used in peer review and task revision are also provided. A ran...

Why use qualitative methods? What kinds of questions can qualitative methods help you answer? How do you actually do rigorous and reflective qualitative research in the real world?Written by a team of leading researchers associated with NatCen Social Research (the National Centre for Social Research) this textbook leads students and researchers through the entire process of qualitative research from beginning to end - moving through design, sampling, data collection, analysis and r...

With expert advice from the author and real-life experiences from students, this book shows you how to go from the ideas of research to the practicalities of designing, conducting, and writing about your research yourself.What’s new in this edition:· Fully interactive digital field guide including video tutorials and real data to practice with· An improved structure that takes you step-by-step form start to finish· An overview and practical guidance on mixed...

Teaching is changing. It is no longer simply about passing on knowledge to the next generation. Teachers in the twenty-first century, in all educational sectors, have to cope with an ever-changing cultural and technological environment. Teaching is now a design science. Like other design professionals – architects, engineers, programmers – teachers have to work out creative and evidence-based ways of improving what they do. Yet teaching is not treated as a design profession.Every d...

Questionnaires in Second Language Research: Construction, Administration, and Processing is the first guide in the second language field devoted to the question of how to produce and use questionnaires as reliable and valid research instruments. It offers a thorough overview of the theory of questionnaire design, administration, and processing, made accessible by concrete, real-life second language research applications. This Second Edition features a new chapter on how an actual ...

Research evidence indicates that formative assessment is one of the most effective ways of enhancing student learning. It is, however, difficult to implement successfully, principally because what is tested through summative assessment has such a powerful influence on teacher and student actions. This book scrutinizes the relationship between testing and learning from alternative perspectives to the dominant literature from the major Anglophone countries. It develops the notion of contextu...