Message from Gallant Ho Experiential Learning Centre
Dear Colleagues,
The 2nd round of Experiential Learning Fund (ELF) for 2014/15 is now open for application by Faculty members. This round of ELF aims to support experiential learning projects to take place in the January term and summer, and the application deadline is 27th October, 2014. Application guidelines and form are available at http://ghelc.hku.hk/experiential-learning-fund/.
The ELF from the Gallant Ho Experiential Learning Centre (GHELC) supports Faculties to introduce, expand or enhance experiential learning in their undergraduate curricula. The funding provided for each successful application will vary according to the expenses incurred. It may cover subsidy for students to participate in the projects and for faculty expenses. The amount of funding allocated to each student may be up to $4,000.
Previously funded projects are listed in the GHELC website for faculty reference http://ghelc.hku.hk/experiential-learning-fund-project-2014-15/. The GHELC offers diverse support for experiential learning. Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the Centre to discuss their project ideas and proposals before submission. For enquiries, please contact Dr. Albert Ko at albert.ko@hku.hk.
An Information session for the Fund will be held with the following details:
Date: 7 October 2014 (Tuesday)
Time: 12:45pm – 2:00pm
Venue: RR321, Run Run Shaw Building
Message from Centre for Information Technology in Education within the Faculty of Education
CITE Seminar Series 2014/2015
CITE Seminar – Teaching in the Virtual Environment at HKU
Date: 19 September 2014, Friday
Time: 12:45 pm – 2:00 pm
Venue: Room 104, 1/F., Runme Shaw Building, The University of Hong Kong
Speaker: Brant Knutzen, Lecturer, Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong
About the Seminar
Are you ready to teach in the virtual world? This seminar will introduce the use of the Second Life virtual environment for teaching at HKU. Current projects will be reviewed and demonstrated, including training for medical students on HKU Medicine Island and a range of teaching environments constructed on HKU Education Island, such as a 1-1 laptop virtual classroom, an art deco bar / restaurant, a small theatre, and two designed to train psychomotor skills in the virtual world: arachnophobia, and a tesseract.
The Fire Safety scenario constructed for the Pathology dept at HKU is designed to be experiential learning for Histopathology lab students, to supplement their normal PPT safety briefing. Students use a Head-Up-Display (HUD) to receive instructions, and make choices. After going through the scenario the individual participants will join small-group online discussions using Participation Forums on Moodle to talk about what went wrong, and why. Video demonstration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6yXVR96sYc
Later we plan to develop Chemical Safety, and Biological Safety scenarios.
The Biochemistry scenario is designed to supplement face-to-face laboratory training for medical students, make it more interesting and engaging, and provide a patient background to the analysis of a bio-sample. Students will participate in teams, and each team will be assigned one of five virtual patients, each unique case history with disease symptoms and bio-sample for analysis. Teams will present their diagnoses to the class.
In part 1 the student doctors meet the patient, reviews her medical history, and views a recorded telemedicine interview based on chatbot technology. Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoM1X2dG9xw
In part 2 the students takes the patient bio-sample from the hospital to the laboratory for lipoprotein separation analysis. Students use a Head-Up-Display (HUD) to receive instructions, and make choices regarding common problems setting up the gel tank electrophoresis equipment, and the basics of analyzing the results.
Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Z0IrDeOAmY
Teaching in the virtual world is ideal for blended and distance education, and implementing a “Global Classroom”.
After the demonstration, an open discussion will follow about resources available, ways to integrate the use of the virtual environment into teaching, and a Virtual Environment Study Group for interested people to join.
About the Speaker Brant Knutzen has been developing innovative educational resources using technology since 1985, when he set up a BBS to coordinate and train PC support technicians for Hughes Aircraft company in Los Angeles. More recently, he built his first virtual world in Second Life for an international school in 2008, to support a Design course. Since 2009 he has been teaching for HKU on the MSc IT in Education programme as a lecturer.
Now in 2014, he has created scenario-based experiential learning on HKU Medicine Island to support TDG studies for Biochemistry and Pathology students. These engaging scenarios are integrated with Moodle learning activities to support formative assessment, including customized discussion forums for small-group social construction of knowledge (see ParticipationForum.org for more info). Another tool he has created to quantify group participation and display qualitative patterns of interaction is the Participation Map, a learning analytic Moodle plugin (see ParticipationMap.org for more info).
Both of these customized Moodle tools were tested in pilot programs at HKU in 2012, and installed on the central HKU Moodle server in 2013 to support online discussions and social constructivism pedagogy. A new addition to the Participation suite of tools is the Participation Glossary, which automatically awards a point whenever a student contributes a new term definition.
For more information, see blog at Brant.Knutzen.se
Date: 8 October 2014 (Wednesday)
Time: 12:45pm – 2:00pm
Venue: RR321, Run Run Shaw Buiding
Speaker: Mr. David Bishop (Principal Lecturer, Faculty of Business and Economics, HKU)
About the Seminar
HKU is working to develop the leaders of tomorrow who will carry Asia through the next 50 years. BUSI2812 helps to accomplish this goal by providing leadership opportunities for students in socially minded companies. It is a a 6-credit experiential learning course that gives students an opportunity to work directly for social ventures in management level roles under the guidance of a faculty instructor and professional mentors. Students are given opportunities to manage teams, solve real-life problems, and gain hands-on business experience, while simultaneously enhancing their soft skills and greatly improving their ability to compete in the job market.
In this seminar you will hear from the course instructor, business leaders, and the students themselves concerning what they have learned along the way. So far our students have helped build 3 businesses from the ground up, and expand others. Their businesses have received
significant media attention and industry praise. Most importantly, these businesses are positively impacting society, and are providing an example of quality social entrepreneurship for the region.
About the Speakers
David Bishop is a Principal Lecturer at the University of Hong Kong and Fudan University, Shanghai. He has broad legal experience in the United States and across Asia, particularly China. He has also acted as outside counsel in connection with various corporate, technology, life sciences and commercial matters for MNCs operating in Asia.
In addition to a robust private legal experience, Mr. Bishop focuses significant time on activities and programs providing direct benefit to the community. He consults companies about their ethics, CSR, pro bono, and social entrepreneurship initiatives, and is founder and director of multiple non-profit companies. He and his students are constantly looking for commercial solutions to complex societal problems
Open for all to attend
(especially Year 1 students)
What is it about?
This playful and interactive workshop will provide students with an introduction to assessment methods in the Common Core and focus on practical advice on how best to actively participate in class and tutorials. The Director of Common Core Curriculum will demonstrate a typical learning environment and request audience participation. AAO will highlight key academic resources and explain how to find academic support.
Who will speak?
Prof. Gray Kochhar-Lindgren, Director of Common Core Curriculum
Dr. Amy Lewis, Academic Adviser, Academic Advising Office
Message from Academic Development and Quality Assurance Section of the Registry
Further to the circular from the Provost dated June 16, 2014, this is to remind colleagues and students that nominations are now invited for the University Distinguished Teaching Award (UDTA) and the Outstanding Teaching Awards (OTAs) under the Teaching Excellence Award Scheme (TEAS) in 2014.
The TEAS aims to recognise, reward and promote excellence in teaching at the University. All Faculties are encouraged to nominate colleagues who have made an outstanding contribution to the leadership and scholarship of Teaching and Learning at both Faculty and University levels for the University Distinguished Teaching Award, and colleagues who have demonstrated excellence in teaching and curriculum development for the Outstanding Teaching Awards. The Outstanding Teaching Award comprises individual and team awards, the latter is to recognise and promote collaborative effort and achievement in enhancing Teaching and Learning.
For further details, please refer to the circular at:
Nominees are encouraged to contact the Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL) for advice on the preparation of teaching portfolios. Two TEAS Workshops organised by CETL will be held on September 29 and November 13, 2014 to support interested staff members to prepare for their submissions. Details about the workshops are available via the following links:
All nominations and the supporting documents should reach Ms. Synthia Chau, Academic Development and Quality Assurance Section, by December 12, 2014. Enquiries may be directed to Ms. Chau on 2859 2440 or via email to schau@hku.hk.
Organized by Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL)
Abstract
This workshop is open to all teaching staff who are interested in finding out more about the Teaching Excellence Awards. Staff will be provided an overview of the award scheme, the key selection criteria and advice in preparing an evidence-based teaching portfolio. Staff who are thinking about applying in the next round are strongly encouraged to attend. Staff who are not sure, or would simply like to know more about the scheme, are most welcome.
Date: 29th September, 2014 (Monday)
Time: 12:30pm – 2:00pm
Venue: Room 321, Run Run Shaw Building
For more information about the workshop and the award scheme, please contact Dr. Cecilia Chan from CETL at 3917 8534 or email her at Cecilia.Chan@cetl.hku.hk
Organized by Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL) and Common Core Curriculum Office (CC)
Speakers: Dr Todd Zakrajsek,
Executive Director, Academy of Educators in the School of Medicine and
Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA. Date : 26th September, 2014 (Friday) Time : 12:30pm – 2:00pm Venue : Room 321, Run Run Shaw Building
Abstract:
Having the opportunity to mould future generations is an amazing opportunity and a daunting responsibility. Teaching well can be very challenging. There is a great deal of research demonstrating the effectiveness of student-centered and engaged learning. In this session we will explore teaching as a “profession,” and look at why teaching is exceptionally important to everyone and how research on teaching and learning can help us to be better at educating others. This session is designed to encourage participants to think about assessment, the roles of teachers and students, teaching, and learning in new and fundamentally different ways.
About the Speakers:
Dr Todd Zakrajsek is the Executive Director of the Academy of Educators in the School of Medicine and an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is the immediate past Executive Director of the Center for Faculty Excellence at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to that, he was the Inaugural Director of the Faculty Center for Innovative Teaching at Central Michigan University and the founding Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Southern Oregon University, where he also taught in the psychology department as a tenured associate professor.
Dr Zakrajsek currently directs three National Lilly Conferences on College and University Teaching and Learning and one International Teaching Conference and also sits on two educationally related boards: Education Research Initiative for Lenovo Computer and Technology Enhanced Instruction for Microsoft.
For information on registration, please contact:
Ms Ivy Lai , CETL
Phone: 3917 8996; Email: laichun2@hku.hk.
To provide new University staff and students with useful information about the wide range of services offered by Information Technology Services (ITS), we will have a series of orientation activities running between late August and mid-September. All new University members are welcome to join.
1. Use of AV/IT Equipment in Central Classrooms
To familiarize themselves with the classroom facility, teachers and class instructors are recommended to join one of the training sessions on use of AV/IT Equipment in Central Classrooms. Through this session, they will be able to learn how to use the control panel, visualizer and other AV/IT equipment in the centrally timetabled classrooms.
The seminar on “Introduction to Information Technology Services (ITS)” gives an introduction on the comprehensive range of central IT and network services offered by ITS. The seminar will be repeated four times.
In addition to the introductory session, different orientation sessions about teaching and learning will be arranged. Staff and students are welcome to attend seminars on “Introduction of Moodle Learning Management System and Panopto Lecture Capture System” and “About the University’s Research Support Computing Environment and the HPC/HTC Facilities” that follow the introduction session. You can also join the “Chi Wah Learning Commons Guided tour” to learn more about our learning spaces.
An Exhibition will be held at Chi Wah Learning Commons G/F in the first two weeks (Sep 1 – Sep 10) of the first semester with display boards showing the core IT Services, in particular the support for teaching and learning and research with University. Staff will be there from 1-2 pm on Monday to Friday (except September 9, 2014) to introduce ITS facilities and answer questions.
Message from Centre for Information Technology in Education within the Faculty of Education
CITE Seminar Series 2013/2014
CITE Seminar – Why Do Some Students Become More Engaged in Collaborative Wiki Writing? The Role of Sense of Relatedness
Date: 21 August 2014
Time: 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm
Venue: Room 104, 1/F., Runme Shaw Building, The University of Hong Kong
Speaker: Dr. Michele Notari, Professor for educational Technology at the University of Teacher Education Bern Switzerland
About the Seminar
This seminar aims to investigate the role of sense of relatedness in students’ engagement in using wikis in collaborative writing.
Focus questions will address the following topics: ‘To what extent does the sense of relatedness predict students’ behavioral engagement in collaborative wiki writing?’; ‘To what extent does the sense of relatedness predict students’ emotional engagement in collaborative wiki writing?’ and ‘To what extent does the sense of relatedness predict students’ cognitive engagement in collaborative wiki writing?’
The presented research was conducted in a Hong Kong secondary school where 422 students participated in the study and answered questionnaires about their sense of relatedness and their level of engagement when using wikis for open collaborative project work. Results from the regression analyses showed that students’ sense of relatedness with their teacher and peers facilitated their engagement in the collaborative wiki writing environment. The results were also consistent with the educational psychology research findings in a traditional classroom setting. Most importantly, the result from this study showed the possible linkage between IT in education research and the educational psychology literature. Implications of psychological factors on students’ learning in technologically-enriched learning environments are discussed.
About the Speaker
Professor Dr. Michele Notari is a lecturer at the University of Teacher Education in Bern, Switzerland and was an honorary assistant professor in the Faculty of Education, the University of Hong Kong. He has published articles in key journals in the area of technology-enhanced learning, a book and several book chapters related to collaborative learning using participative technologies. He is guest editor of a special edition of the Journal of Educational Research and Evaluation, board member of Wikisym, the international symposium on open Collaboration, the international Conference on Mobile Learning, and International Mobile Learning Festival. He holds a PhD in education, master degree in biology and computer sciences from the University of Berne, and a master degree in educational technologies from the University of Geneva. His research focus is on using participative technologies for formative assessment and effective collaboration.
