HKU Bulletin February 2004 (Vol. 5 No. 2)

27 26 Teaching Fellowship Awards The latest round of awards for teaching excellence have come and gone but The Bulletin has delved behind the scenes to ask some of the teachers and students about what makes a winner. The University Teaching Fellowship is awarded to acknowledge the outstanding contributions that members of staff make towards teaching within the University. Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor John Spinks, who oversees the scheme, said that the complex evaluation process ensured that the scheme went beyond being a ‘popularity contest’. He said: “We are looking to highlight quality teaching and contributions to the standard of learning in the University and trying to ID individuals who can be exemplars of good practice. “It is extremely difficult to … home in on just a few because the quality is so high.” D r Lam Tai Pong, Associate Professor, Family Medicine Unit of the Department of Medicine, said: “Teaching should be the opportunity for students to stand up and learn rather than teachers simply standing up and saying what they want. “In teaching sessions I identify their deficiencies and by throwing the right questions I can see how they respond and help them realise their weaknesses and act on them. “I also research medical education developments and attend educations seminars to gain a conceptual framework. “In medicine it is very important to have positive role models because, after all, we are looking after human beings not machines and this is something my students must understand. “They must get the agreement of pat ients through understanding and cooperation. “Obviously I am very pleased with this award and felt it was a great honour but I also see it as an endorsement of the faculty’s decision to introduce a new curriculum in 1997. His student Rudolph Chow said: “I have known Dr Lam for seven years. I started off as a colleague but later became a student on two postgraduate courses: Postgraduate diploma in community geriatrics and postgraduate diploma in community psychological medicine. “Tai Pong is a very kind man who always helps students and is always there for you. But there is also his teaching style. Instead of rote learning he uses the time to i l lustrate pr inciples and asks many quest ions and promotes interactive teaching.” Teaching Fellowship Awards RESEARCH AND TEACHING M s Juanita Ho, Teaching Consultant, Department of Social Work and Social Administration, said: “A few years ago we changed to a problem based learning (PBL) curriculum. The philosophy is to encourage self-directed learning because our mission is to encourage life long learning. “There are two parts to the teaching. The first is this PBL which focuses on group work. We will have a few case details but then it is up to the student to find the materials and references to present at the next tutorial for presentation and discussion. My role is as a facilitator rather than a teacher. “Then there is the practicum group which involves a real task. Students will work on projects with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) where the group will try to assess the NGO and write up their proposals. “This is a really exciting area and with PBL I can feel a different momentum when you are teaching these experiential proje “W cts it . h such a diverse set of students, each with their own experiences and perspectives, they can contribute different ideas. A lot of my teaching stems from my own experiences as a student. “To have my work recognised has been a great honour.” Joanna Lai, who is a recent master in social work graduate and is now working as a social worker, said: “She is very impressive, very talented and organised, with a fast and analytical mind. She can lead a group well and insured that whenever the lesson was coming to an end we had discussions to review the session. This is important because it can be quite critical. You are forced to assess the contributions of yourself and your classmates which can be difficult. But without this critical input you will not improve. “Her group skills were very strong and we learned a lot from her on group dynamics but at the same time she was very caring. I remember during my second year – even though she no longer taught me – she was only too willing to help me out when I went to her with questions or problems.” Juanita Ho