A webpage developed by the Department of Information and Applied Technology allows teachers to monitor and have a better understanding of students' learning

A commitment to excellence in research and scholarship, especially that which directly supports Hong Kong's schools, underpins the Institute's mission. More importantly, it gives our staff essential tools in their main task: producing young teachers of quality with the potential to lead.

Support for research and scholarship
The work of the Research Committee and the Centre for Research and International Collaboration (CRIC) underpins this strong culture of innovation. The staff development activities at the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Supervision (CeLTS) make an important contribution also. Add in the HKIEd Jockey Club Primary School and the Hong Kong Institute of Education HSBC Early Childhood Learning Centre, both operating on the Tai Po campus, and there exists a full framework for field research which is strongly applied in its orientation.

The Research Committee provides a quality assurance mechanism for Institute level research and encourages research initiatives at all levels, administering funding for pilot studies undertaken by academic staff. This year the committee revisited the draft guidelines on ethics in research.

CRIC provides essential technical and consultancy advice, helping staff find the best formulae for their research studies. It monitors external funding, organises seminars, workshops and lectures and ensures the right kind of information relating to general research and specific activities is available throughout the Institute.

	A multi-media kit produced by the Chinese Department to improve the listening and speaking skills of secondary school students

One example of the support provided by CRIC is the New Education Knowledge Alert Service (NEKAS). This service was launched in May 2002, building on an earlier prototype, the Research Information Alert System (RIAS). RIAS served to identify, from an immense database, information pertinent to academic staff members in 24 Special Research Interest Groupings. NEKAS is an enhanced version serving all staff and students of the Institute. New education related information of relevance to teaching, learning and scholarship is disseminated to subscribers, who are able to make use of 258 relevant links useful for teaching, learning, and research purposes.

The support of the Research Committee and CRIC enables Schools, departments and individual staff to develop the kind of applied research that underpins teaching and learning. Often they do it where it matters most: in the classroom and in the community.

Research at School level
Staff groupings at the level of the School conduct research which is applied in nature and often interdisciplinary.

	Books co-published by the Centre for Research and International Collaboration and Kluwer Academic Publishers of the Netherlands

The achievements of the Centre for Technology-based Creativity in Performance Related Education of the School of Creative Arts, Sciences and Technology have attracted additional funding from the University Grants Committee's Teaching Development Grants. A grant of $3.8 million has been awarded for a project which brings together educational researchers and practitioners committed to teacher education in cultural subjects. The project, entitled the Alliance for Educational Innovation, will explore the potential of technology in enhancing the construction and mediation of knowledge, the improvement of pedagogical practice and the development of multiple intelligences within the context of public education.

The School of Foundations in Education is adding to our international reputation by joining the University of Minnesota to create the Civic Education Partnership Programme in response to the unprecedented challenges for citizenship education worldwide. This project will benefit local schools through improved teacher preparation programmes for citizenship education.