CELT Newsletter, Spring 2003

Abstract

[evdate 2003-03-15] Hong Kong university of Science and Technology Celt Center of Enhanced Learning & Teaching Spring 2003 The Teaching and Learning Knowledge-Base To help with the effective implementation and dissemination of innovations and improvements to teaching and learning, and as a means of archiving best practices within UST and internationally, CELT has developed a teaching and learning knowledge-base search engine. The Teaching and Learning Knowledge-Base was launched in Fall 2002 in response to a felt cross departmental need. It is a database of searchable resources for teaching staff and researchers to learn more about a particular topic without having to search through a massive amount of information. The Knowledge-Base, searchable either by a range of pre-selected topics or users’ own keywords, is also an essential starting point for those who want to find out about teaching innovations within a specific discipline from the rich collection. This collection is continually being expanded from the outcomes of UST-based teaching initiatives, as well as other local and international, on-line and off-line, instructional development resources. The resources and experiences cover a wide range of subjects and disciplines and are taken from local sources, including the IDEAS portal c http://celt.ust.hk/ideas/>, the HKUST Teaching & Learning Symposium < http://celt.ust.hk/tlsymp/>, and workshops held at UST, as well as various overseas sources. The types of resources include: videos and presentations from experience sharing sessions by your colleagues in HKUST of their teaching innovations; papers, presentations and videos from local and overseas conferences; l journals and articles available through the HKUST Library’s electronic databases; links to books held in the Library; and links to key websites. 2003 CELT Hong Kong University of Science and Technology CELT Spring 2003 CLI - A New TDG Project With funding from the UGC’s Teaching Development Grant (TDG), a major teaching development project, entitled “Continuous Learning and Improvement (CLI) through teaching innovation” has been launched. This Project will implement a framework which attempts to create some continuity into otherwise isolated and ad hoc teaching development efforts initiated by faculty and instructors through a system of peer mentorship and partnership scheme. It is hoped that the project can help to nurture a culture of continuous improvement in teaching and contribute to the innovative teaching and learning knowledge base within the HKUST teaching community. The committee is made up of representatives from the 4 Schools and the Language Centre, and the Director of CELT. Dr Grace Au, CELT Prof Shui Yuen Cheng, School of Science Prof Ting Chuen Pong, School of Engineering (currently, Assoc. VPAA) Prof Kar Yan Tam, School of Business Prof Alvin So, School of Humanities and Social Science Mr Keith Tong, Language Center During its conception phase, an invitation was sent to all faculty and instructors calling for expressions of interest in implementing innovative ideas in teaching. Response to the invitation was quite enthusiastic. After much deliberation, the Project Committee selected 13 of the expressions of interest to be the first batch of sub-projects supported by CLI. Each sub-project, with the exception of 2 sub-projects which are supported by CELT’s internal resources, receives a grant of $200,000. To promote continuity to the teaching development effort of the sub-projects, small grants will be made available to faculty and instructors to adapt the outcomes of those sub-projects to their own teaching practice. There will be two further rounds of call for expressions of interest, one in June 2003 and another in June 2004. Faculty and instructors can choose either to start a new sub-project or to build on the foundation of an existing one. Action Research To foster a systematic and reflective approach to the improvement of teaching and learning, CLI has adopted an Action Research methodology. This requires all sub-projects to go through the 4-stage action research cycle, from planning, action, evaluation to reflection. Through careful planning, collection of evidence of student learning, and subsequent reflection, the methodology encourages a continuous improvement culture. Special Interest Groups To encourage sharing and peer collaboration among faculty and instructors, four special interest groups have been set up. Initial membership consists of the leaders of sub-projects in CLI as detailed below. Faculty and instructors are all welcome to join. It is hoped that communities of practice with a focus on innovative teaching and learning methods will be formed, where members can share experiences and learn from each other. In this way, such SlGs will serve as a repository of expertise and best practice in innovative pedagogy. The CLI core team provides administrative support for the SIGs. Each SIG will have their own website and online discussion forum. SIG meetings will be held regularly. The first meeting of the ‘Peer Learning’ and ‘Teaching/Learning Tools’ SlGs have been held on 10, 11 Dec 2002 respectively. The Peer Calendar of Events (Spring Term, 2003) Subject to change without notice Date and Time Jan 6-17 (every Mon, Wed, Fri) Jan 21 (Tue) Jan 22 (Wed) Jan 23 (Thur) Jan 24 (Fri) Jan 27 (Mon) Feb 7 (Fri) Feb 8 (Sat) Feb 15 (Sat) Feb 22 (Sat) Mid Feb Mar 1 (Sat) Mar 13 (Thur) Mar 26 (Tue) Mar 29 (Sat) Mar 29- April 4 (Sat-Fri) 09:30-16:30 DIY Workshop Series: “How to prepare multimedia instructional 14:30-16:30 15:15-16:30 14:00-17:oo 14:00-17:oo 15:00-16:00 lO:OO-12:oo 09:30-11:30 09:30-11:30 09:00-12:oo TBA 09:30-11:30 14:30-16:30 12:30-14:00 10:30-12:00 09:00-17:oo Event DIY Workshop Series: How to prepare multimedia instructional materials for physical science subjects?” Introduction to WebCT TA Program - Departmental Briefing Session TA Program - Conducting Tutorials (INA) TA Program - Introduction to WebCT TEE Party (Technology-Enhanced Education) Introduction to WebCT TA Program - Conducting Tutorials (INA) TA Program - Introduction to Microsoft FrontPage TA Program - Presentation Skills Workshop Visualization and Simulation Special Interest Group Meeting TA Program - introduction to Macromedia Flash Advanced WebCT TA Certification of Achievement Presentation Ceremony IMAG Media Art Competition Award Presentation Interactive Media Art Gallery Exhibition Venue Room 2122 (Lift 19) Room 4402 (Lift 17-18) Various locations Room 4333 (Lift 3) Computer Barn C Room 7332 (Lift 13-15) Room 3005 (Lift 4) Room 2404 (Lift 17-18) Room 3005 (Lift 4) Room 3027 (Lift 1) TBA Room 3005 (Lift 4) Room 3005 (Lift 4) Tin Ka Ping Hall Lam Woo Theatre Chia-Wei Woo Academic Concourse Q 2003 CELT Hong Kong University of Science and Technology CELT Spring 2003 Learning SIG meeting was attended by the group members and the CLI core team. During the meeting, members shared what they were doing in their projects, and how the SIG would be administered in the future. The meeting on 11 Dec was open to all faculty and instructors. About 20 faculty, instructors and staff members participated in the event. Participants had the chance to watch demonstrations of the beta version of 3 teaching and learning tools developed of the sub-project leaders, namely, SOAS, a secure online assessment system, by Prof Suren Mansinghka; Gong, an online discussion tool which supports both audio and text conversations by Prof David Rossiter; and a computer-aided marking system by Dr John Milton; and also a presentation by Prof Gary Chan about his sub-project. Leader Dept Sub-Projects visualization and Simulation Prof Karl Tsim BlOL Introduction to neurobiology: Interactive 3D Animation Pro-totype Development of Cranial Nerves Prof T K NG PHYS Multimedia teaching development for Physics courses Prof KYM Wong PHYS All-round development of sciences students through project courses Dr Ice Ko AMCE Introductory environmental chemistry& microbiology Prof John Barford CENG Understanding the practical consequences of metabolic interactions Teaching/ Learning Tools Prof David Rossiteer COMP Enhancing learning through online audio communication Prof Gary Chan COMP Using the Internet and wireless technologies to achieve interactive delivery of lecture Prof Suren Mansinghka FINA Assessment in large classes through a secure online assessment system Dr John Milton LANG Development of a computer-aided marking system and learner reference for language teaching and teaming Problem-based Learning Prof K Y Tam ISMT A scenario-based learning system to train students in situational handling and managerial decision making Peer Learning Prof Rudolf Fleischer COMP Promoting active learning through just-in-time-teaching end peer interaction Prof James Kwok EMT Knowledge transfer and reuse in group project work Prof Suren Mensinghka FINA Using peer mentoring to help students learn in a large class CLI Core Project Team The CLI core project team is located in CELT. They are responsible for carrying out the daily administrative of the project, which includes administrative support for the Project Committee and the SIGs. The team also assists some sub-project leaders to collect evidence for evaluation purposes and prepare project documentation. A website (http://celt.ust.hk/cli/) has been set up to keep the teaching community in HKUST updated of the activities and progress of the project. Other CELT’s staff members are also involved in CLI in various ways. Our ID team is providing instructional design support to some sub-projects leaders to develop educational software using pedagogical sound principles. Our TT’ team is involved in the development of new computer software systems for two sub-projects. In this way, CELT serves as a partner to the sub-project leaders in their effort to experiment and develop innovative teaching techniques, thus contributing to the continuous effort to improve teaching and learning in HKUST. Another important role or CELT in this project is to document and disseminate the teaching innovation outcomes and experiences in the project through the University’s web portal IDEAS @ 2003 CELT Hong Kong University of Science and Technology CELT Spring 2003

Progress Report Fall 2002 An on-line version is available at http://celt.ust.hk/ecelt/05/ecelt01.htm Here are the highlights of CELT’s accomplishments for Fall 2002: For Faculty and Other Teaching Staff The IDEAS portal was revamped. Now with a new interface, contents of the six sub-portals have been re-organised into a more standardized and structured format to serve as an effective means to support faculty members and instructors’ teaching initiatives. Seminars and Workshops have been continuously held to support teaching and learning at UST: An Information Session on “Teaching and Learning at HKUST” was held in late August with the aim of providing new, as well as existing faculty and teaching staff, the opportunity to obtain first hand information on HKUST’s teaching environment. Our sincere gratitude goes to Prof Jimmy Fung (MATH), Prof Rudolf Fleischer (COMP) and Mr Nick Noakes (CELT/ LANG) for sharing their experiences with the audience. In conjunction, CELT also held a TEE Party (Technology Enhanced Education) for faculty and teaching staff in which web-based teaching tools and instructional development projects were demonstrated to the audience. Dr Susan Wolcott, an educational consultant from the US was invited to conduct a workshop on “Focusing on Cognitive Development to Assess and Improve Student Thinking”. How to Enhance your Lecture Materials for Classroom and On-line?” was conducted by CELT’s staff. Instructional Development Projects were carried out as collaborations with schools and departments including the School of Science (BISC112, BIEN501, BISCOO2), the Language Center (Self Learning Kit for Simplified Chinese Characters, Writing and Speaking through the Curriculum), and the Library (Informational Literacy Tutorial). Two Teaching and Development Grant projects have both heralded a great start to this academic year: Continuous Learning and Improvement through Teaching Innovation Project (CLI) and the Teaching Information Management Environment (TIME) project. (Please refer to center page for more details of CLI.) TIME is a project co-investigated by UST, CityU and HKBU. TIME aims at providing a Web-based environment to help teachers in universities document, archive and reflect on their teaching related activities and to create their personal electronic teaching portfolios. As an initiative of the CLI project, CELT facilitated the formation of four Special Interest Groups (SIG). Two SIGs: Peer Learning and Teaching and Learning Tools had their first meetings in December. Please refer to the center page for more details. For Teaching Assistants In Fall 2002, the Teaching Assistant (TA) Orientation and Induction Program coached approximately 270 TAs. They benefited from the mixed mode of on-line and face-to-face delivery of the induction modules and orientation session. TA Coordinators and CELT are now busy planning on the Spring Support Program to be conducted in late January For Students CELT collaborated with the MATH department and the SBM Dean’s Office in offering a pilot program for the Statistics and Global Business students respectively. This is an initiative launched to embed employability into HKUST undergraduate majors. Embedding is carried out through program audits of teaching, learning and assessment activities and learning outcomes in order to identify, and make explicit, opportunities for the development of generic skills and attributes sought after by employers. This embedding is supported by a series of general education courses and an online personal development planning and portfolio system, called PEAKS. This portfolio system was first launched with the GNEDOOI course in Spring 2002. A series of General Education Lectures was organized for the students of the General Education (GNED) courses. . “To Learn is to Play- If This was Only True”, by MS Christine Loh, CEO of Civic Exchange and Council Member of HKUST. . “21st Century Enterprises and their Employees”, by Mr Albert Wong, Personnel Manager of Strategies and Relations Development, Cathay Pacific. . “China, Fashion Capita/?!” by Mr William Tang, famous fashion designer. . “Being creative - a self-representation.” by Mr Edwin Lung, an active artist I choreographer in Hong Kong. . “Cantonese Opera - Creativity and Art by Mr Ng Kwok Leung, stage director and actor. For Wider Education Community The IMAG Media Art Competition, which is one of the key events of the UGC Interface 2000 Project: Interactive Online Media Art Gallery (IMAG), has closed registration for participation on November 30 with an encouragingly enormous intake of 2,400 students from primary, secondary and tertiary sectors. An award presentation ceremony will be held on March 29, 2003, with Dr Alice Lam, JP, Chairman of the UGC, being the officiating guest. MathVenture, a Quality Education Fund (QEF) project, has come to a successful end. The MathVenture portal was launched to the public in November. 30,000 copies of a CD-ROM were produced and disseminated to over 560 local schools for off-line access. The Professional Certificate in eLearning for Schools Program has continued with its second intake in Fall. Principal Chow Hin Cheung from Buddhist Chi Hong Chi Lam Memorial College commented: “This program helps me to develop a much deeper understanding on eLearning, which facilitates future eLearning strategy deployment in our school. It is also an unexpected, yet rewarding experience to have classmates from diverse educational backgrounds, including teachers of primary and secondary schools and other educational institutions and organizations, to come together and share experiences. I9 MS Sung Wai Mui, Lecturer of Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education also thought that “the program provided participants with sufficient hands-on experience in applying and evaluating various online learning resources. It is a program with great value and is highly recommended to interested parties.” CELT has recently become the Affiliate Partner of the International CyberFair program for Schools in leading its development in Hong Kong. CyberFair, originating in the US, is an award-winning, authentic learning program used by schools around the world. This program is for students, their schools and their local communities to share resources, establish partnerships and work together to accomplish common goals via the Internet. D 2003 CELT Hong Kong University of Science and Technology CELT Spring 2003