CELT Newsletter, Fall 2004

Abstract

[evdate 2004-09-15] Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Celt - Center for Enhanced Learning & Teaching Fall 2004 Second Teaching and Learning Symposium Teaching Innovations: Continuous Learning and Improvement The Second HKUST Teaching and Learning Peer Learning Symposium was held on 17 May 2004. The aim of Teaching Innovations the Symposium was to nurture and showcase Tertiary Language Learners Support continuous improvement in the quality of teaching and learning at the University; emphasizing collaboration of practices and innovations within the University The Teaching Innovation Awards were also presented. community. A keynote speech and a luncheon seminar The winners included: were given by Prof Jim Boyle of the University of Strathclyde and Dr Stephen Draper of the University of Glasgow respectively. Apart from a teaching and learning exhibition, over 30 papers were presented by the UST teaching community. They were categorized under these topics: . Visualization and Simulation Web-supported Learning and Teaching Prof Michael Wong and Prof T K Ng’s teaching team from the Department of Physics Prof Rudolf Fleischer from the Department of Computer Science Prof Rashmi Adaval from the Department of Marketing Dr John Milton from the Language Center For full stories, please visit <http://celt.ust.hk/tlsymp04/tiaward/ 2004 CELT The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology CELT Fall 2004 Teaching and Learning Symposium 2004 Panel Discussion -Sustaining and Growing a Continuous Teaching and Learning Improvement Culture at UST. The symposium was brought to an end by a panel discussion. The panel was composed of Prof Peter Dobson as the panel chair, Prof Jim Boyle (the keynote speaker of the Symposium) as the summarizer, Dr Stephen Draper, and faculty representatives Prof Irene Lo from the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, Prof Michael Wong from the Department of Physics, Ricky Lau as the student representative. The conclusions made from different voices have shed light on the possible initiatives that UST can take to sustain its continuous teaching and learning improvement culture. The panel agreed that both the teaching community and the students here look for quality teaching, which has to come from a realization of its importance. “...we are not separating the good teaching and good research into two different compartments; instead we think that they are integrated together. An institution-wide motivation would help to make it happen. There has to be a balance between research, teaching and administration. Another focus of the discussion was on our “sharing of teaching”- teachers need to come together and talk about it. A Teaching and Learning Symposium like this one is one of the many ways for teaching professionals to come together to share what works and what does not. “Observing other people teach” could also be of great help because it opens up new ways to bring good elements into your own teaching. “Team teaching”, which is being done by the teaching staff in some of the departments at UST, is one of the practices that could help to foster this sharing culture. In addition to that, more attention needs to be paid to the form of evaluations to be conducted because valuable data should come out if the objectives are clearly defined. Ideas of remedial actions would then come into shape for improvement and innovations. A good feedback system should exist between teaching staff and students. 2004 CELT The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology CELT Fall 2004 Continuous Learning and Improvement (CLI) Through Teaching Innovation - 3rd Round of Call for Proposals

Continuous Learning and Improvement (CLI) is a 3-year UCG funded Teaching Development project. It is now entering its final year with the call for adaptations of 1st and 2nd round sub-projects. The Key objectives of the CLI project are nurture a culture of continuous improvement in teaching; encourage peer support/ learning through Special Interest Groups (SIG); encourage a systematic and reflective approach to teaching development through Action Research. The deadline of submission is 17 Sept 2004. What is an adaptation? This refers to any attempt to modify, extend or enhance the innovation, which could be a teaching aid or method, implemented in any one of the 31 CLI full-sub-projects. At the moment, there are already 4 adaptations approved and being developed from the 2nd round. Where can I find information about CLI sub-projects? There are now a total of 35 sub-projects funded under CLI, each with their own timeline. Among which the 4 adaptations are listed in this leaflet. For details about each one and their progress, please refer to the CLI website (http://celt.ust.hk/cli/ subproject.html). Action Research For proposed adaptations, applicants are encouraged to adopt an action research approach (http://celt.ust.hk/ ideas/ar/intro.htm) which fosters a systematic and reflective method for teaching development. Reflect Observe Act Plan The Action Research Approach Assessment Criteria First-time applicant to the CLI project Teaching innovations targeting large classes Involvement of peers Inter-departmental collaboration Wide applicability Clarity of proposal Feasibility of adaptation sub-project 2004 CELT The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology CELT Fall 2004

CLI Projects Available for Adaptation 2004 The Project Committee has approved and funded a total of 31 full sub-projects and 4 adaptation sub-projects in the 1st and 2nd round. Faculty members are invited to extend any of the current 21 full sub-projects to fit their teaching and learning purposes. All sub- projects come under of the three interest areas, namely special interest groups (SIGs) on Peer Learning, Visualization and Simulation, and Web-supported Learning and Teaching. Title: Understanding the Practical Consequences of Metabolic Interactions Using Computer Simulations Project Leader: Professor John Barford, Associate Professor and PG Programs Coordinator, CENG, barford@ust. hk Possibilities for adaptation: This package should be applicable to a range of courses from biochemistry to cell biology to biochemical engineering and environmental biotechnology. Any application that requires the quantitative understanding of metabolism is a potential user /application. The package can be used in conjunction with regular learning activities, such as demonstrations in class, for online self-directed use, or as the basis for home work assignments, etc. For more information contact: Professor John Barford, x7237, barford@ust.hk Title: SOAS: Assessment in Large Classes Through a Secure Online Assessment System” Project Leader: Professor Surendra K Mansinghka, Adjunct Professor, FINA, suren@ust.hk Student interface lEST.03 Possibilities for adaptation: SOAS is a very useful tool, providing a secure assessment system, hence overcoming limitations inherent in WebCT. Furthermore such a system provides instructors and students in large classes with timely feedback about their learning, and enables both instructors and students to take necessary remedial action if necessary

For more information contact: Professor Surendra Mansinghka, x7668, suren@ust.hk

Title: All-round Development of Science Students Through Project Courses Project Leader: Professor K Y Michael Wong, Associate Professor, PHYS, phkywong@ust. hk Possibilities for adaptation: This project course can enhance the all round development for a large number of UG students in the School of Science. Our experiences, including the setting up of the senior-junior UG students helper system, will be useful for other schools/departments who want to build similar courses. The external network and database for school-based assessment can be shared with other schools/departments as well. For more information contact: Professor K Y Michael Wong, x7480 , phkywong@ust.hk SOAS homepage 2004 CELT The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology CELT Fall 2004 0 2004 CELT The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology CELT Fall 2004

Processing CLI Proposals This is how the 3rd round of CLI proposals will be processed: Flow Chart for Processing Third Round CLI Proposals May 2004 Inform Proposer of results Vetting by CLI Project Committee week of 11th Oct2004 week of 27th Sept 2004 Contact proposer for Sign Agreement Formally accepted as a CLI adaptation sub-project Submission of adaptation proposal Initial processing by CLI Team Clarification with proposers required Proposal to be revised Proposer revised porposal Details of this can be found at http://celt.ust.hk/cli/3rdproposal.html 2004 CELT The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology CELT Fall 2004 Project Committee Dr Grace AU Director CELT Prof Shiu Yuen CHENG Associate Dean School of Science Prof Chi Ming CHAN Associate Dean School of Engineering Prof Kar Yan TAM Associate Dean School of Business and Management Prof Alvin So Associate Dean School of Humanities and Social Science Mr Keith TONG Associate Director Language Center

Progress Report Summer 2004 CELT has continued to work towards our mission to advance the quality of learning and teaching at HKUST. Key accomplishments from the academic year 2003-2004 include: For Faculty and Other Teaching Staff Following the success of the first symposium held in Winter 2001, the second HKUST Teaching and Learning Symposium, organized by the Senate Committee on Teaching and Learning and CELT, was held on 17 May 2004. For more details about the symposium, please refer to p. 1 & 2 of this edition. A number of workshops and seminars were held to continuously support teaching for faculty members at UST: “Bridging the gap between instructional developer and content expert”, with an objective to enhance the collaboration and understanding between the instructional developer and the content expert, brought by Dr Mike Keppell, Principal Lecturer and Head, Centre for Integrated Technology in Education, Hong Kong Institute of Education. “Complex Learning and Learning-Oriented Assessment by Dr David Carless (HKIEd) and Dr Peter Knight (Open University, UK), in which some potential and challenges in transforming assessment practices were discussed, and the promotion of complex learning was reviewed. . “New Directions for Learning - Highly Adaptive Computer-based Tutorial Learning”, by Prof Alfred Bork, University of California, Irvine, in which he shared his experience in effective use of highly interactive multi- media technology to make order of magnitude improvements in learning at all levels. . “Sharing learning resources: What’s in it for me?” by Dr Ian Hart, Consultant, LEARNet (Hong Kong Learning Resources Network)and LRC3 (Learning Resource Catalogue), in which several issues about sharing valuable teaching resources among the university community are discussed. For Teaching Assistants The Teaching Assistant Program was run smoothly in the academic year, with a growing number of TAs benefiting from the two-tier support system adopted in the previous semesters, by which CELT supports Teaching Assistant Coordinators (TACs) who in turn support their peers, the TAs. In terms of training the TAs, CELT has continued to run the Teaching Assistant induction Program. In Fall 2003, this facilitated over 300 TAs. They benefited from the mixed mode of on-line and face-to-face delivery of the modules and the program of collaboration with their experienced peers, with CELT staff acting as facilitators. New workshops such as “Maximizing PowerPoint Presentations”, “Systematic Web Development with FrontPage” and “Dynamic Flash Presentations” were introduced and received positive feedback from the TAs. The Best TAC Award Presentation was held on Apr 22. 2004. The results are as follows: Nina Lam SIOW (BIOL) Derek Kin-Yip LO (BICH) For Students New General Education Courses As the third in a series of Lifelong Learning, General Education courses, GNED006 Career Management Skills was launched in Spring 2004 for the first time. It is being offered in parallel with GNEDOOI Effective Thinking and Learning Skills and GNED005 Team and Leadership Skills, as a means to tie together the initiative to embed employability into HKUST undergraduate majors. Based on the Windmills Careers programme for undergraduates, the course has focused on lifelong career management, particularly 21st century career tactics for knowledge workers and was run in cooperation with the Career Center. The PEAKS (Portfolio of Essential Attributes, Knowledge and Skills) system was used by the students as an additional tool for personal development planning in the area of career management. A new course from the Creative Media series was also launched - GNED007 Creative 3D Visualization and Animation. With the aim to facilitate students in developing an aesthetic sense, knowledge and technical competence in exploiting the media and utilizing the tools for form exploration, artistic expression, effective communication, and presentation, the course focuses on 3D digital art together with concepts and basic techniques for 3D modeling, material definition, cinematography, animation, rendering, and digital collage. Open Lecture for GNED Students Mr Chip Tsao , a popular writer in Hong Kong, came to UST to share with our students about critical thinking in an open lecture - “Success to Critical Thinking - the Experience of Chip Tsao”. He shared his own thoughts and experience about being a critical thinker and offered tips for our students to excel in critical thinking. The lecture was well received by the students. For the Wider Education Community The “Creative Thinking and Expression 3-Day Camp for Diocesan Girls’ Junior School was held in mid June, to develop the creative thinking and expression skills for Primary 6 students to better equip them for their ongoing projects at school. The program consisted of a series of work- shops including “Creative Expression”, “Drama”, “Debate”, “Web Authoring” and “Video”. Having spent 3 days at UST, the students brought the program to a fruitful end by delivering presentations in groups to demonstrate their enhanced creativity. Results of Hong Kong CyberFair for Schools 2004 have been announced and the award presentation ceremony was held in July. A total of 33 schools, 149 teams and 856 students registered for the competition in the two age levels. Ten Outstanding Awards have been chosen from each of the age levels (Primary level and Secondary level). Within the Primary level, one Outstanding Visual Award and five Honorable Mentions were selected; whilst at the Secondary level, two Outstanding Visual Awards and three Honorable Mentions were selected. This is a localized program for an international authentic educational program designed for stu- dents to conduct research on their community and present it through a web project. Johnson Hexin ZHANG (CIVL) Susanna Shuk Ying HO (SBM) Ricky Wai Kay LAU (COMP) Jean Jin KONG (MATH) For more details, visit http://cyberfair.ust.hk 2004 CELT The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology CELT Fall 2004

TIME - A Web-based environment for managing teaching related information After almost 21 months work, the development of the The system is expected to be launched by the end Web-based TIME system is nearing completion. It is of this year. Members of the teaching staff who are now going through its testing phase. Once completed, interested can contact us to set up a trial account (MS the system will be released for trial by users. We hope this application will become a useful tool for faculty and instructors to manage their teaching resources and to support their teaching development effort. The main features of the system consist of: An online file cabinet where users can store and share their resources with anyone of their choice in HKUST and outside. Access to the user’s past and current course evaluation reports, and hopefully in the future it will include information captured by other teaching related applications (e.g. OSSPE which is online system for student peer evaluation). A module for teachers to create their own teaching portfolio. Fanny Lee, ctfanny). Special thanks go to the faculty and instructors who provided us with useful feedback on the design of the system. A New Learning Management System for HKUST This is a new initiative to develop our own learning all the features in your wish list, we certainly hope that management system which will probably replace the new system will be able to better cater for the needs WebCT by late 2005. CELT is now in the process of of the university. More importantly, because the collecting opinions from faculty, instructors, staff and system is owned by the University, there is always the students about the features and functionality of the new option for us to enhance it whenever resources are system. Special thanks to those of you who took the time available. Members of the university who are to meet with us to share your views and to help us plan the interested in contributing to this project are welcome new system. Though we might not be able to implement to contact us (Mr Eric Lo, ericlo). 2004 CELT The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology CELT Fall 2004

Calendar of Events (Fall Term, 2004) Subject to change without notice Date and Time Event Venue An introductory workshop on the NEW WebCT (Campus Edition 4.0) Fall 2004 Teaching Assistant Program Mass Orientation and Departmental Briefing Session Fall 2004 Teaching Assistant Program Information Sessions and introduction Workshops Information Session on Teaching and Learning at HKUST for new faculty TEE Party (Teaching Enhancement Enthusiasts) Preparing Material for Web-based Teaching (optional for training workshop) Systematic Web development with FrontPage Maximizing power-point presentations I- Creative Visual Presentation Maximizing power-point presentations II – Integrated Multimedia Presentation Dynamic Flash Presentations Effective Presentation Skills 中文及普通話課程的設置與教學法 陶傑