Speakers Details
Shahla Ali
Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong
Abstract
In todays increasingly fractured world, students are in need of developing a set of tools that can not only help develop their critical thinking and analysis skills but also assist them to bridge divides. This presentation will examine both the research and practice behind participatory efforts to foster an integrative learning experience in the context of a diverse student body.
Bio
Shahla Ali’s research and teaching center on questions of governance, development and the resolution of cross-border disputes in the Asia Pacific region. She is as an Associate Professor and Associate Dean (International) and Deputy Director of the LLM in Arbitration and Dispute Resolution in the Faculty of Law at HKU. She has consulted with USAID, IFC/World Bank and the United Nations on issues pertaining to access to justice, peace process negotiation training and land use conflict resolution. In 2018 she was awarded the University Outstanding Teaching Award. She holds a BA from Stanford and JD/PhD from UC Berkeley.
Ben Chan
Associate Professor, Engineering Education, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Associate Director, Center for Engineering Education Innovation, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Abstract
The word “Innovation” is often overused but is not addressed enough, especially in the education sector. We demand our students to think outside of the box but we are largely teaching inside the box bounded by lecture hours, content (ILOs), classroom size and setting, grading scheme, etc. The project aims to provide an avenue that breaks the boundaries of time, space and requisites in students’ learning process. This is achieved through the development of virtual and physical experiential learning infrastructure, in the form of a student-centered makerspace and modularized online learning platforms. Flexibility in this design-based pedagogy nurtures students’ attributes related to with an innovative mind-set, and a holistic appreciation of multi-disciplinary engineering education, at scale.
Bio
Prof. Ben CHAN is currently an Associate Professor in Engineering Education and the Associated Director of the Center for Engineering Education Innovation, HKUST. Ben has worked extensively in Engineering Education related areas, including academic advising, experiential learning and teaching pedagogies investigation. He accumulated over $20M teaching and learning related grants as a PI and has over 50 journal and conference papers published between 2011 and 2018. Ben received a number of teaching awards from different levels over the past 3 years, including the School of Engineering Teaching Excellence Appreciation Award in 2016 and the Common Core Teaching Excellence Award 2016 – Honorary Mention.
Jason Chan
Lecturer, Department of Chemistry, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Abstract
Dr Jason Chan will share upon his experience and practices in managing and engaging large classes with over 300 students with diverse backgrounds and his adoption of experiential learning approaches in both small and large classes. Jason will also discuss his involvement in STEM education, including bringing Chemistry into popular TV programs and social media.
Bio
Dr Jason Chan is a Lecturer of Chemistry at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology since 2014. He received two awards in recognition for his teaching, the UGC Teaching Award 2018 (early career faculty member) and the 2016 HKUST Common Core Teaching Excellence Award. Jason obtained his BA and MSci degrees at the University of Cambridge, and PhD in Bio-organic Chemistry from the University of St Andrews in 2014. Passionate in chemistry experiments and teaching, he also earned a nickname as ‘Dr Fire’ due to his lively experiments on educational TV programs and his intriguing demonstrations in classes.
Kennedy Chan
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong
Abstract
Classroom video is widely used in teacher education and teacher professional development programmes. This presentation describes various innovative strategies of using authentic classroom videos to promote teacher professional learning. Strategies include the use of interactive classroom video cases, thematic reviews of video clips and progressive reflection on the same video. The presentation will be of interest to educators who would like to make use of videos to promote reflective practices in developing professionals.
Bio
Kennedy Chan is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Education at the University of Hong Kong. His research areas include teacher professional knowledge and use of videos in teacher education. He is a recipient of five teaching awards including the University Early Career teaching award (2017-18), the inaugural student-led University Teaching Feedback Award (TFA) 2017. He is active in publishing his own teaching practices and innovative teaching ideas in research journals and practitioner journals. He has been invited to share his insights about teaching in seminars, workshops, talks in various organisations both locally and internationally.
Kit Chan
Lecturer, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong
Abstract
The 2017 and 2018 Chief Executive’s Policy Addresses have both placed heavy emphasis on education, in particular, Special Education and Early Childhood Education in response to the needs of schools and the community. Universities take up a critical role of teacher education to well prepare future quality teachers. Quality should include three aspects: excellence in professional knowledge, teaching experience, and dedicated commitment. How can university teacher education programmes equip future teachers not just with knowledge, but also practical skills to work in an inclusive education system while nurturing their passion for educating our next generations?
Bio
Mrs. Kit Chan is currently a Lecturer in Education at The University of Hong Kong. She is the winner of both Faculty and University Early Career Teaching Awards 2017/18. She was the Vice Principal of an international special school under the English Schools Foundation. Over the years, she has given consultation to local special schools’ curriculum development and run numerous seminars, workshops, and projects in Hong Kong, Macau, and China on Special Education, Autism Spectrum Disorder, building positive behaviours, and parental training. Each has received very positive feedback from the audience because of her wealth of knowledge and practical experiences.
Eva Chen
Assistant Professor, Division of Social Science, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Abstract
As universities around the world seek to foster a diverse community on campus, considering how diversity should be defined and encouraged among students, faculty, and staff deserves closer attention. What does it mean to have a diverse educational experience? What are some challenges faculty and student face in the classroom? How should stakeholders consider inclusion when building a diverse community together?
Bio
Eva E. Chen is currently an assistant professor in the Division of Social Science at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. She has taught secondary students in Taiwan and mainland China, as well as both undergraduate and graduate students in the United States. Currently, she teaches several psychology courses to undergraduate students at HKUST. In 2017, she received the HKUST School of Humanities and Social Science Award for Teaching Excellence.
Cecilia Chun
Director, Centre for Learning Enhancement And Research (CLEAR), The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Abstract
Active learning requires learners to interact with course content and make connections with their prior knowledge thus making student engagement crucial. Setting clear expectation for engagement and providing meaningful learning tasks are among the many success factors for student engagement.
Bio
Professor Cecilia Chun is the Director of the Centre for Learning Enhancement And Research (CLEAR) of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). Before joining CLEAR, Professor Chun served as the Associate Dean (Undergraduate Studies) of the Faculty of Education of CUHK. She has extensive experience in teacher education, working with teachers of various levels of schooling on local and non-local initial teacher education and continuing professional development programmes.
Frederick Tsz-Ho Fong
Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Abstract
It has been widely acknowledged by Math teachers that PowerPoint presentations are not effective for teaching Math courses. It is largely because Math needs to be taught by step-by-step and train-of-thought manner, which old school, hand-written styles on blackboard and visualizers are much preferred by most Math teachers. The recently invented tablets such as iPad are potentially a better candidate to blackboard and visualizers, and the speaker has been using it for teaching Math in all lectures since 2015. In the short presentation, the speaker will share his experience of using tablets on teaching, and will explain what aspects of a tablet could make it a better replacement of classical blackboard and visualizers.
Bio
Frederick Tsz-Ho Fong obtained his B.Sc. and M.Phil. from HKUST, and his Ph.D. from Stanford, all in Mathematics. Prior to returning to HKUST as a faculty in 2015, he was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Brown University in USA. He has taught a variety of mathematics courses at all levels in both HKUST and Brown, all of which received very positive reviews from students. In 2017, he was elected by students as one of the Top 10 Lecturers in HKUST. In the same year, he was also awarded the HKUST School of Science Teaching Award.
Courtney J Fung
Assistant Professor, International Relations, The University of Hong Kong
Abstract
My 10-minute talk brief abstract: How do junior faculty balance excellence in teaching and research? Both teaching and research are time-consuming, iterative tasks that require practice, skill and dedication. HKU promotes teaching excellence by supporting grassroots communities of teaching practice and headline initiatives that underscore that the University values teaching excellence. I will reflect on my own experiences as junior faculty to share insights on these ‘push’ and ‘pull’ initiatives regarding teaching excellence.
Bio
Dr. Courtney J. Fung is an assistant professor of International Relations at the University of Hong Kong. Her teaching and research focus on global governance and rising powers, like China and India. Courtney brings her research back into the classroom using advanced negotiation simulations as an assessment method, which she has published on in PS: Political Science and Politics. Courtney’s forthcoming Oxford University Press book, a project supported by the the HK Research Grants Council, explains China’s varied response to intervention at the UN Security Council. She is a 2016 recipient of the HKU Early Career Teaching Award. Courtney holds a PhD from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University and was previously a post-doctoral fellow with the Columbia-Harvard China and the World Program.
Connor Graham
Senior Lecturer, Tembusu College, National University of Singapore
Research Fellow, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore
Abstract
Numerous attempts have been made in recent educational literature to articulate and broadly categorise the various connections between teaching and domain research. Through a case study of an interdisciplinary, first-year undergraduate module at a residential college at the National University of Singapore, I explore the various ways research and teaching can be articulated in practice. This practice-oriented approach draws on and extends work on the teaching-research nexus from the University of Melbourne, reflecting student feedback and my own experiences. At the end of the presentation I consider the descriptive adequacy and discreteness of various categories explicating how teaching and research connect.
Bio
Dr Connor Graham is a senior lecturer at Tembusu College and a research fellow at the Asia Research Institute, both at the National University of Singapore (NUS). A teacher with 17 years of experience at tertiary level, he has won seven teaching awards at three different institutions, four at the residential college level at NUS. His research centres on living and dying in the times of the internet, with a particular focus on new information and communication technologies. Recently he has been situating his research in Asia.
Gary Harfitt
Associate Professor, The University of Hong Kong
Associate Dean for Learning and Teaching, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong
Abstract
In this presentation Dr Gary Harfitt will draw on three decades of teaching and research experience at secondary and tertiary level in Hong Kong to illustrate his philosophy about what constitutes teaching excellence in our complicated world and why it is something that all universities must strive for. He will address several key questions, namely how universities and teachers can provide students with the optimal learning experience and how excellence in teaching can and should drive quality research. He will also highlight how universities can engage with the wider community to better promote good practices in teaching and learning.
Bio
Dr Gary Harfitt is an Associate Professor and currently the Associate Dean for Learning and Teaching at the Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong. He has worked in Hong Kong since 1989 first as an English language teacher and Department Head in a local secondary school and since 2002 as a teacher educator at the Faculty of Education. The recipient of several individual and team teaching awards, Gary has worked with pre- and in-service teachers on multiple preparatory programmes and has overseen the introduction of Experiential Learning (EL) into teacher training programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate levels in the Faculty.
Ho Shen Yong
Principal Lecturer, Assistant Dean (Academic), College of Science, Nanyang Technological University
Abstract
In an ideal world, each student will have his own personal teacher for every course. However, this is quite impossible in the set-up of some of our university systems. I will share some approaches used to best cater to individual student learning needs. These examples are taken from the freshmen engineering Physics course which is a large class (about 1000 students) and the Making and Tinkering course which is a smaller class (about 50 students). I will also encourage the audience to share their experiences.
Bio
Shen Yong joined the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences in Nanyang Technological University (NTU) as a lecturer in 2011. He graduated from Imperial College (London) in 1995. He started his teaching career at Hwa Chong Junior College in 1998. Subsequently, he did his PhD at the University of Toronto from 2004 to 2009. He spent the next two years at University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign and Centre for Quantum Technologies, National University of Singapore. After joining NTU, he has won several education awards, including the Nanyang Education Award (University) in 2018. Shen Yong has been teaching the freshmen engineering physics course and some courses for Physics majors. He was involved in many initiatives to improve the quality of undergraduate Science education, including developing the “Making and Tinkering” courses and using technology to enhance learning. He is presently also serving as the Assistant Dean (Academic) in College of Science, NTU.
Allen Huang
Associate Professor, Accounting Department, The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology
Abstract
I plan to discuss how I connect my course to the real world. Stimulating student interest in the course subject, especially for accounting, is as important as delivering the contents of the course. Building a connection to what happens around us can help achieve just that. During teaching, I often give students articles from the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Economist, and help them analyze current events. Students were surprised to find how relevant their accounting concepts are. It gives them a sense of accomplishment when they realize what they have just learned can be applied seamlessly to the real world and help them develop an in-depth understanding of the subjects.
Bio
Allen Huang is an Associate Professor at the Accounting Department at The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology. He has taught extensively both at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels at Duke University and HKUST. At HKUST, he has won Franklin Prize for Teaching Excellence in 2012 and 2018 and Best Ten Lecturer in 2011 and 2012, and received Dean’s Recognition of Excellent Teaching Performance every year. Prior to joining HKUST, he worked in the Quantitative Equity Strategy group in Lehman Brothers and Barclays Capital in New York. Allen holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration from Duke University and a B.S. in Electronics from Peking University in China.
Swati Jhaveri
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore
Abstract
This talk will look at the importance of empathy in an educator. It will seek to granulate the nature of empathy that may be required of an educator. This will include a consideration of subject-matter empathy: an appreciation of what it feels like to encounter new and complex material for the first time. The talk will also consider learning-centered empathy: understanding the different approaches to learning across the student body and how to respond. Finally, it will consider the need for experiential empathy: how do different students respond to classroom experiences (whether speaking up orally or dealing with conflict and disagreement during discussions).
Bio
Swati Jhaveri joined NUS Law in August 2012. She teaches the Law of Torts and Constitutional & Administrative Law. She previously taught at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Faculty of Law where she was awarded the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Exemplary Teaching. Her areas of research are comparative constitutional and administrative law, with a focus on the latter. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Jurisprudence (First Class Honours) and Bachelor of Civil Law (Distinction) from the University of Oxford and is currently a DPhil candidate at Oxford. She previously practiced law at Allen & Overy, specialising in international commercial arbitration. She is a Solicitor of the High Court of the Hong Kong SAR and England & Wales and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. She was awarded the Faculty and University’s Annual Teaching Excellence Awards at NUS for three consecutive years and has been placed on the University’s Honour Roll for Sustained Excellence in Teaching.
Lau Siew Tiang
Senior Lecturer, Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, National University of Singapore
Abstract
Teaching and learning approaches have important implications as they prepare healthcare students for the real-world experience. Experiential learning can help stir passion, reinforce ideas, solidify learning, and build critical thinking. It was found that the context, settings, culture and professional collaborative practice have an impact on students’ experiences, and strategies need to be carefully developed in order to establish the best model.
Bio
Lau Siew Tiang is a senior lecturer at the Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore. As the Programme Director (Clinical), she oversees the clinical education programme for the undergraduate nursing students. Her contribution towards nursing education for the past decade have been recognised through receiving teaching grants and teaching excellence awards from NUS. Her research interest is in clinical education and optimizing students’ clinical learning experience.
Adrian Lee
Deputy Director, Centre for Development of Teaching and Learning, National University of Singapore
Abstract
In this talk I focus on the development and implementation of individualised homework assignments that use principles of fading to scaffold student learning over the course of a semester. The challenge that I faced in my course was that it didn’t authentically teach or assess real-world spectroscopic data analysis; students need to be able to use technology to do such data analysis. My solution was to integrate technology throughout the learning activities, but also especially in the course assignments. This required individualising the assignments so that students could learn from each other in terms of method, but wouldn’t be able to circumvent learning by sharing answers. It also required developing assignments that built up in terms of cognitive complexity that allowed students to recognise their developing mastery in data analysis.
Bio
Adrian Lee is currently the Deputy Director of the Centre for Development of Teaching and Learning (CDTL) at the National University of Singapore (NUS). His primary responsibility is overseeing professional development programmes. However, his background is in the Sciences — he holds a PhD in Chemistry. He came to Singapore in 2002 on a Singapore Millennium Foundation Scholarship and subsequently joined the Chemistry Department at NUS in 2005. His interests in education are wide-ranging and include technology-enhanced learning, especially blended learning, interdisciplinary education, and student living–learning experiences. In academic development, Adrian looks to build programmes within a collegial culture and to further a conversation that is both evidence-based and research-informed that becomes part of an academic’s scholarly reflective teaching practice.
Lee Kooi Cheng
Deputy Director (Publications and Outreach), Centre for Development of Teaching and Learning , National University of Singapore
Hall Master, King Edward VII Hall, National University of Singapore
Faculty, Centre for English Language Communication, National University of Singapore
Abstract
Drawing from a module that aims to enhance students’ critical thinking and communication competencies through an interrogation of applicability of community leadership within students’ respective contexts, this session will demonstrate a snapshot of blended learning approach in practice. In particular, the module refers to Paul and Elder’s critical thinking framework and the constructivist’s theory of communication (Burleson, 2007). Participants will sample a complete cycle of a 3-part lesson, namely (1) online delivery of content, checking of understanding, and discussion; (2) case study discussion during face-to-face classroom interaction; (3) online quiz and written response to lesson-related task. For an effective demonstration of the lesson, participants’ active involvement is anticipated.
Bio
KC Lee holds concurrent appointments as Deputy Director (Publications and Outreach) at the Centre for Development of Teaching and Learning (CDTL), National University of Singapore (NUS), Hall Master of King Edward VII Hall, and faculty member at the Centre for English Language Communication where she teaches communication and writing modules. KC is at present working on a case study reflecting on and analyzing her teaching practices for the past 10 years. KC has a keen interest in enquiring the impact of technology for teaching and learning in higher education, and living-learning programmes on undergraduate students’ university experience. KC has successfully co-coordinated two grant projects, each with an amount exceeding S$400,000.
Marshal Liu
Senior Lecturer, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Abstract
Nowadays, it seems increasingly difficult to attract students’ attention or arouse their interest just through lecture-style teaching. Teachers are obliged to grasp versatile teaching skills if they aim to inspire more students and achieve their intended learning outcomes. Experiential learning and interactive classroom have proved two effective pedagogies in my courses. Experiential learning is the learning through doing, and more specifically, through reflection on doing. The talk will share how students are guided to go through David Kolb’s 4-stage experiential learning cycle (concrete experience—reflective observation — abstract conceptualization —active experimentation) in real life contexts, e.g. two food processing courses and one community heritage course. Interactive classroom is a two-way teaching, which dispels student passivity, engages and excites more students. This talk will demonstrate how students are involved in discussing, debating, asking and answering questions in various classes. There will be more fun to pass the mic to students and open the floor to all.
Bio
Dr Marshal Liu is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Marshal has been extensively involved in teaching courses in different level and nature. He is a versatile teacher who changes his pedagogy depending on the subject and the audience, and enables those in his classes to maximize their individual potential. He constantly looks for ways to improve teaching. For example he is an enthusiastic advocator for experiential learning, interactive classroom, blended learning, case study, etc., and spares no efforts to nurture critical thinking and lifelong learning. Marshal’s passion in teaching and versatility in delivering knowledge has helped him gain several teaching awards, including the Distinguished Teaching Award in the Faculty of Applied Science and Textiles, at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2011, the Distinguish Teaching Award in School of Engineering in 2015, and The Common Core Teaching Excellence Award Honorary Mention in 2017 at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Liu Qizhang
Senior Lecturer, Business School, National University of Singapore
Abstract
While business schools worldwide are transforming themselves to be more STEM-driven in order to prepare the students for the more technology driven and data driven business world, many students entering business schools still view business study as an escape from Mathematics-intensive subjects like engineering and science and thus mentally hate quantitative modules offered in business programme. In this talk, we will share our experience of overturning this mindset by adopting flipped classroom and case teaching method in a 1st year core quantitative module.
Bio
Dr. Liu Qizhang is currently a senior lecturer of NUS Business School. As an active researcher and practitioner in business analytics, he has developed a series of analytics systems for SMRT, SIAEC, Singapore Polytechnic, Hainan Airlines and Shenzhen Airlines, and provided consultancy services to many organisations including MinDEF and NLB. As an educator, he is winner of NUS Teaching Excellence Award and Faculty Outstanding Educator Award for his teaching innovation and excellent classroom delivery. He has designed and developed several education systems used in NUS and Singapore Polytechnic to facilitate teaching and learning.
Robin Loon
Senior Lecturer, National University of Singapore
Abstract
This presentation will argue a case for adapting and integrating Practice Research (formerly known as Practice-as-research) principles and methodologies into higher education learning. I will be presenting two case studies. The first will be a discipline-specific Theatre Studies module at NUS that uses Practice Research as a mode for student research. The second is a general education module which adopts some of the philosophies and modalities of creative-doing that underscore Practice Research to encourage student to uncover insight into the topics and reflect on their own positions to the topic.
Bio
Robin Loon obtained his PhD in Intercultural Theatre from Royal Holloway, University of London. Currently a Senior Lecturer in Theatre Studies at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, he is also a practicing playwright and dramaturg. In 2014, he co-founded Centre 42 (a centre in Singapore dedicated to the documentation, promotion and creation of texts for the Singapore stage) where he adapts a lot of the pedagogies in his NUS teaching into the programmes he designs for the centre. Robin see himself as an educator-playwright-dramaturg: he circulates his knowledge and experiences in teaching and theatre practices, mapping complementary expertise across the domains.
Rujing Meng
Director of Master of Finance Programme, the University of Hong Kong
Principal Lecturer, the University of Hong Kong
Abstract
I Love teaching and I genuinely care about my students. I am a true advocate of Student-Centered Teaching and Learning as well as Learning-by-Doing Principle. I currently teach two quite different subjects. One is about mathematical finance that is quite technical to business school students and the other is about investments and portfolio management that requires a lot of practical discussions and students have high expectations. In the talk, I will discuss how I design and teach the two courses such that the courses are student-centered teaching and learning and students learn by “doing”.
Bio
Dr. Rujing MENG is the Director of Master of Finance Programme and a Principal Lecturer at the University of Hong Kong (HKU). She was awarded B.A. from Guanghua School of Management, Peking University and Ph.D. from Fuqua School of Business, Duke University.
She teaches and conducts executive education in the area of Capital Markets and Investments, Corporate Financial Management, and Derivatives Pricing. She has received a number of teaching awards, including the University Outstanding Teaching Award 2017; the Faculty TPG Outstanding Teaching Award 2017, 2012, 2006; the Faculty UG Outstanding Teacher Award 2017; and the HKU-Fudan International MBA Teaching Award 2014.
Rujing’s main research interests include Capital Markets and Investments, Corporate Finance, Real Options, and Risk Management. She has published research papers in reputable international journals. Her research honors include the SAAJ Research Excellence Award in Corporate Finance 2008.
Rujing also regularly writes articles on hot topics of the financial markets in Hong Kong and Mainland. Her articles have been published in Bloomberg Businessweek (China), CAIJING Magazine, Caixin, Financial Times (Chinese), and Shanghai Securities Journal.
Eva Ng
Assistant Professor, School of Chinese, The University of Hong Kong
Abstract
This paper explains how a bilingual glossary compilation project for interpretation students initiated to help improve their bilingual competence in Chinese and English evolved into the building of a website and a mobile app to promote teaching innovation, online learning and knowledge exchange in the community. It also illustrates how experiential learning is achieved through interdisciplinary, class simulation as well as onsite visits, to enhance student learning. Evidence of the impacts achieved will also be demonstrated.
Bio
Dr Eva Ng is an Assistant Professor of Translation in the School of Chinese, HKU. Her areas of teaching and research include translation and interpreting, with a focus on court interpreting and bilingual courtroom discourse analysis. Dr Ng has successfully obtained a number of grants (both internal and external). The fruitful completion of the series of impactful Knowledge Exchange (KE) and Teaching Development Grants (TDG) projects has also won Dr Ng multiple awards, including a Faculty Teaching Excellence Award (2014), a Faculty Knowledge Exchange Award (2016) and a University Teaching Innovation Award (2017).
Ng Woon Lam
Assistant Professor, School of Art, Design & Media (ADM), NTU Nanyang Technological University
Fellow of The Teaching Excellence Academy (TEA), Nanyang Technological University
Dolphin Fellow (AWS DF) of American Watercolor Society
Abstract
Since young learners in art do not see the true challenge of the real world, thinking creative or innovative ideas evolve randomly by chance; my teaching of art aims to connect students’ learning experience through fragmenting complex creative behavior into understandable and learnable modular structure resembling an engineering problem solving structure. There are 2 major areas that are critical to students’ learning:
- Developing professional practical through co-constructing a problem-solving framework while learning the fundamental art skills in modular manner.
- Connecting students’ experience through them failing in exploration which is closer to industrial truth than purely striking for academic excellence.
Bio
- Assistant Professor, School of Art, Design & Media (ADM), NTU Nanyang Technological University
- Fellow of The Teaching Excellence Academy (TEA), Nanyang Technological University
- Dolphin Fellow (AWS DF) of American Watercolor Society
- Master of Fine Art (MFA) in Painting, New York Academy of Art, 2007
Recipient of numerous international art awards which include 2 Bronze Medal of Honor from the American Watercolor Society 142nd and 147th International Annual Juried Show in 2009 and 2014 respectively.
David Rossiter
Associate Professor, CSE Department, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Abstract
In this seminar Professor David ROSSITER, recipient of HKUST’s top teaching award in 2017, shares and contrasts a variety of approaches he uses for classroom and MOOC teaching. Both his classroom and MOOC courses have been very well received. Over the past 7 years his average SFQ for classroom based teaching is 92%, for 3,800 students over 6 different courses, and his MOOC course received an average student appraisal of 93%, from 130,000 students. In this presentation he will discuss his approaches and thoughts on how to engage the attention and interest of students in both environments.
Bio
Professor David Rossiter is an Associate Professor of Engineering Education in the CSE Department at HKUST. He has won 17 teaching related awards at HKUST, including 6 from the Engineering School (with 2 of those given extra recognition as ‘Distinguished Teaching’), 5 for teaching at the Master’s Degree level, and many others including 2016 Great Minds of UST and 2014 Best Lecturer. This performance culminated in him being the recipient of the University’s top teaching award, the Michael G Gale Medal, in 2017.
Soo Yuen Jien
Senior Lecturer, School of Computing, National University of Singapore
Abstract
10 hours per week over 13 weeks gives 130 hours, that’s all the time you have to capture the fleeting attention, thoughts and imagination of the students enrolled in your course. In this talk, Yuen Jien shares his teaching approach on i) Using simple mechanisms to engage student physically during lecture to retain their attention; ii) Designing challenging assessments to engage student’s mind to train their higher order thinking skills; and most important iii) Firing up the interest and passion in students’ heart for the module topic and the entire discipline to motivates them beyond the course.
Bio
As of 2018, Yuen Jien has spent 20 over years of his life at NUS. He started his journey at NUS as an undergraduate student (B.Sc(Hon) in 1999) and postgraduate students later (M.Sc in 2001, Ph.D in 2006). Overlapping his PhD years, Yuen Jien caught the “teaching bug” and started as a teaching assistant in School of Computing in year 2000. He is now a Senior Lecturer in the same school. Yuen Jien has received multiple teaching awards, including the Faculty Teaching Excellence Award Honor Roll, Annual Teaching Excellence Award Honor Roll and Outstanding Educator Award 2018. He was inducted to the National University of Singapore Teaching Academy since 2012. He teaches a wide range of courses, from undergraduate to postgraduate level in the area of Computer Organization/Architecture, Operating System, Data Structures, Algorithms and Software Engineering.
Tan Joo Seng
Associate Professor, Nanyang Technological University
Coming Soon
Julian Tanner
Associate Director (T&L), School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Hong Kong
Assistant Dean (Biomedical Sciences Curriculum), LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong
Abstract
A critical challenge in undergraduate education is providing structured opportunities for students to develop creative, logical and persuasive writing skills in collaborative teams, ideally within a feedback-rich environment. The scholarly peer review process that we as academics engage in for our research is ideally suited for this purpose – integrating creative team-based writing with rigorous peer evaluation and feedback, justification of one’s position through critical thinking, before synthesis into a final written product. Here, I will report our experimentation with this concept in an undergraduate Biomedical Sciences course at HKU.
Bio
Julian Tanner is Associate Director (T&L) of the School of Biomedical Sciences and Assistant Dean (Biomedical Sciences Curriculum) of the LKS Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong. He has a keen interest in developing active learning approaches in particular at the nexus between teaching and research. He was awarded HKU’s Outstanding Teaching Award in 2016, Outstanding Young Researcher Award in 2017, and Outstanding Research Student Supervisor Award in 2018.
Gang Wang
Associate Professor, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Abstract
Field trips and site visits are indispensable authentic learning experiences for civil engineering students to construct concepts and apply knowledge in the real world. In this discussion, I share my experience in conducing field trips for undergraduate engineering geology education, and discuss the benefit and constraints of these learning activities. Taking advantage of recent advancement in virtual reality (VR) technology, I introduce an ongoing project of developing 360° VR-geological field trip video library to enrich students’ field experience in an immersive virtual environment, which has great potential to be used in many other infrastructure-related courses in civil engineering curricula.
Bio
Dr. Gang Wang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He obtained B.Eng. and M. Eng. from Tsinghua University, and Ph.D. from University of California, Berkeley. He is presently Vice President of Hong Kong Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (HKSTAM), former President of American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Hong Kong Section. His major research interests are geotechnical earthquake engineering, soil dynamics and numerical modeling. He received various awards for research and teaching, including the 2018 School of Engineering Distinguished Teaching Award at HKUST.