IDU News, Vol. 2, No. 2

Abstract

[evdate 1997-07-15] What's new in IDU? Completion of the Spring Course Evaluation The Spring 96/97 Course Evaluation exercise has been completed and reports have already been sent to departments. Prof. Knapper completed his consuitancy at UST IOU consultant Prof. Chris Knapper from Queen's University, Ontarlo bid farewell to HKUST in late May after six weeks of collaborative work with several departments/schools. tie met with department heads, deans, faculty members and administrators to advise on the use of their evaluation data for teaching improvement, and conducted various workshops/seminars upon request.

What's new in IDU? Staff Secondment Scheme Teaching Development Resources from IDU implementation of a System for On-Line EvaiuaHon of Teaching A grant of 1.4M has been awarded by UGC to fund the implementation of an on-line system for teaching evaluation in local universities, This is a sequel to the project "Development of a System for On-line Evaluation of Teaching." which has been successfully completed. Similar to the previous project, this one will be an inter-university effort and is based here in HKUST. The project aims to implement and enhance the features of the existing on-line system. For more information about the project, please contact Tak S. Ha at ext.6811 or email "ettsha". Some initiatives in using WWW In teaching In the Spring semester, a series of lunchtime seminars were held in relation to using technology, and WWW in particular, in teaching. They were well attended and several faculty members indicated their interest in the subject. IDU is thinking seriously about ways to support faculty members in this effort, including the formation of a support group of interested members, a research project to find out the uses and value of using web in teaching and learning and others. For more information about these initiatives, please contact Tak S. Ha at ext. 6811 or email "ettsha". 0 Action Learning Project - 2"d Round An information session on Action Learning Project 97 was held on May 13 on campus to call for grant applications for Action Learning prajects which aim to improve the quality of teaching and learning in local higher education. Award of grants will be made in late July. The ALP 97, funded by UGC, 1s a continuation of the previous ALP 94 which supported 52 projects, including five from HKUST. "Using WWW in teaching' Is the theme of the coming issue of Teaching-Leurnhg Tips which will be made available to faculty and staff in both printed and electronic forms, in July. (Please ematl "etwinnie" for copies of the previous issues. A list of titles can be found at IDU Homepage-http www.ust.hk webetc/idu/ IDUhtml) Staff Second Scheme A BIG welcome to Dr, Irene Lo, Dr. Jogesh Muppala and Dr. Albert Yu who will be working collaboratively with ETC on their teaching enhancement projects in the coming semester. Dr. Lo from CIVL and Dr. Yu from BIOL both intend to make use of the WWW for the delivery of courses. Staff In ETC will be working closely with them in designing the Web pages, and exploring ways to make the best use of the Web to enhance students learning. Dr. Muppala of COMP a veteran in using web in course delivery, is interested in exploring the many possible uses of WWW for instructional purposes, and hopes to contribute to the creation of a user-friendly environment to support Web-based teaching in this Universtty. Teaching Development services from IDU ng Malwiak Resource Center at IDU in Fall After years of operation, the IDU has accumulated a good number of teaching materials and resources on teaching in higher education from both local and overseas sources, The collection includes more than 150 carefully selected books and references; 10 series of journals from assessment to TA training; numerous articles on all aspects of teaching from day-one teaching to helping to develop critical thinkers; research reports in local context; in-house publications by similar educational development units; video tapes, clippings, work samples, inventories and such. We are working hard to set up a drop-in centre with easy accessibility to all materials available through a keyword search on a PC. The Centre aims to open in the coming semester at Rm. 1028, ETC. All teaching members are welcome! For further information, please contact Winnie Wong at ext. 6809 or email "etwinnie". The ESEP Conference Report is available af IDU The Evaluation of the Student Experience Project (ESEP) Conference was held at City University of Hong Kong on May 17, 1977. The ESEP is an inter-institutional project encompassing 11 sub-projects. These range from

Forthcomming Events "Assessing University Students in Hong Kong" "An Evaluation Sourcebook and Software Package for Higher Education in Hong Kong". "A Week in the Life of a Hong Kong Student" to "Self-Access Language Learning: Students' and Tutor Experiences" The IDU staff, Mavis Kelly, Winnie Wong and Tak Ha are heavily involved in three of the sub-projects, The ESEP is an important contribution to understanding teaching and learning in the context of Hong Kong as well as providing practical assistance with aspects of teaching and evaluation. The Conference Report is now available from IDU and this will be followed by a publication for each sub-project between now and early 1998. Forthcoming events Postgraduate Diploma/Master of Education in Teaching in Higher Education This part-time course is designed for academics who are currently teaching in higher education institutions in Hong Kong. The aim is to enhance the professional teaching of participants in practical and theoretical aspects, Core modules to be offered in 1997/98 are "Evaluating Teaching" and "Student Learning" (Semester 1) and "Assessment of Learning Outcomes" and "Course and Curriculum Design" (Semester 2). The application period is July 12-25 1997. For further information contact: Dr. John Jones, Director of Educational Development, Hong Kong Polytechnic University (etjjones@polyu.edu.hk). Orientation & Workshops for New TAs and New Support System to all TAs For the 250+ PG students who are getting started as Teaching Assistants on campus, we extend a warm welcome through a one-day Orientation program scheduled on August 25, 1997 and a series of workshops in the following fortnight to equip them with some basic skills in their work. In addition, a new ongoing support system to all TAs is also in plan, subject to the availability of resources. The new support system will appoint some experienced TAs as Coordinators who will work collaboratively with IDU and the faculty to provide day-today support and coordination of all TAs in the department/school. TAs' development is the major concern of this initiative. Visits to ETC to know its staff and service Two visits to ETC will be scheduled in late September and early October for faculty and other new members of UST to know our service and meet our staff. Details will be announced later. Hands-on workshops to make use of the audio- visual equipment in lecture theatre and classroom Two sessions are scheduled in late August to help teaching members and their assistants to get acquainted with all the standard audiovisual equipment in the lecture theatres and classrooms to facilitate their teaching. Participants will be briefed on the function of each item, guidelines for use and simple trouble-shooting. Participants are welcome to try their hands at some of the equipment during the workshops! Details will be announced later. local conferences on education Teacher Education in the Asian Region - Teacher Education: Policy and Practice Date: Oct. 28 - Nov. 2, 1997 Venue : Shanghai, China The Shanghai International Conference provides an opportunity for teacher educators and individuals involved in policy making to share ideas about policy and practice in this vitally important area in ways which should encourage analysis and interpretation of its contributions to the improvement of educational equality. For details please contact the Organizing Committee (ITEC'97), c/o Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong. Hong Kong Educational Research Association 14th Annual Conference - Compulsory Education and Beyond Date: Nov. 15- 16, 1997 Venue : to be announced The main theme of the conference is about compulsory education and beyond. It reflects educators' concerns about improving on, and developing beyond, compulsory education (or basic, universal, education, etc., as it may be termed in other contexts). For details please contact the Secretariat, HKERA Conference, c/o The Faculty of Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong