HKU Bulletin September 2007 (Vol. 9 No. 1)

21 D r Joe Lau Yen Fong, Associate Professor in the School of Humanities , said: “I have been teaching at HKU for over ten years. My own research area is the philosophy of mind and cognitive science, but the foundation of all my courses lies in the emphasis on critical thinking skills. The ability to think clearly and rationally is useful to all students. It is the basis of science, and it also contributes to the healthy development of a modern liberal democracy. “I have developed lots of online resources related to thinking skills, including an open courseware web site at www. philosophy.hku.hk/think. The site receives over one thousand visitors each day from all over the world, and the free course material has been used in over 20 universities and community colleges. I am very grateful for the teaching award, which I think affirms the importance of the teaching of critical thinking.” Dr Kelly Inglis said she has been learning from Joe Lau, in the capacity of student and junior colleague, for over six years. “In that time, I have come to have a great appreciation of his style of teaching, observing how he is able to relate philosophical issues to the real lives of his students, using technology to appeal to the interests of the young technophiles, using references to local and international pop culture and current events, and providing time and opportunity for interaction with the students through experiments and discussions, even within the course of lectures. “But, most importantly, I appreciate the way that Joe presents philosophy as an ongoing project, giving students access to contemporary debates, and even letting his students glimpse his own ideas through discussion of his current projects and developing theories. “When I was an undergraduate in the United States, I was an English Literature major, but having some leanings towards philosophy, I also took a few philosophy courses. Unfortunately, the teaching approach there was entirely unlike Joe’s, and the courses I took concentrated on issues that seemed antiquated and entirely irrelevant to modern life. “I came away with the impression that philosophy was merely a history of ideas, and genuinely had no idea that it was an evolving discipline with exciting, ongoing debates and controversies. I don’t think Joe’s students will make the same mistake. On the contrary, they have the opportunity to taste the real deal: real philosophy conducted by real philosophers in real time. “Joe was also my supervisor, seeing me through the long process of doing my dissertation. Although he was even more impressive as a supervisor than as a lecturer. Perhaps another time, he will be given recognition for his work as a research student supervisor, and I would feel privileged, then, to tell you how much his patience, intelligence and insightful feedback meant to me as I struggled through the PhD process. “Let me just say in conclusion, that the students of HKU are lucky indeed to have such a teacher as Joe Lau.” D r Robert Fox, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education and Honorary Deputy Director of the Centre for Information Technology in Education (CITE) said he felt strongly about making his courses relevant to what is happening in the real world. He is fortunate, he said, to have access to the excellent bank of research generated by CITE. “This research not only informs my teaching and curriculum but provides a platform for student enquiry as they are encouraged to adapt emerging practices to their own workplace”. He l inks theory and research to the workplace by encouraging his students to read and discuss their ideas with regard to the current research on technology in education. They then reflect and collaborate on how the research might influence their own practices with a view to trialing new ideas, developing and changing their current practices. His students are then encouraged to contribute to the research by disseminating their experiences to the wider Hong Kong community. Fox mentors his students through the process of becoming scholar teachers by encouraging them, throughout the course, to edit and submit their best assignment work for publication in ITEC, a CITE peer reviewed e-journal which he established in 2004. He makes the experience of becoming scholar teachers even richer for his students by encouraging them to present their research to the Hong Kong community at an annual research symposium called CITERS, which he first instigated in 2002. Fox said he was greatly honoured to receive the award and believed that in order to develop life-long learning and scholarship, university students need to be exposed to good teaching. “It is gratifying to see excellence in teaching being valued and rewarded across the University. I will use this award to further validate my own efforts in raising the profile of excellence in teaching within the University.” His student Helen Law said: “Bob is pr imar i ly concerned with ‘making a difference’ to the lives of his students and in helping us to think differently about the use of technology in our professional lives. “He sees the role of technology as facilitating new educational processes in teaching and learning practices, and he is passionate in sharing this vision with his students and his colleagues. “We are proud to be Bob’s students, and enjoy the positive learning environment he creates in his classroom. He ensures it is non-threatening, supportive, and based on mutual respect, and encourages experience sharing and collaborative learning. He is always sensitive and responsive to student feedback and we are grateful for his outside class support through email, blogs or appointments in person. All in all he is an excellent teacher and facilitator who fosters life long enquiry and learning beyond the classroom. “Finally, the quality that makes Bob such an outstanding teacher is that he encourages his students to identify their own learning problems and make learning decisions, and then fully supports them in their efforts to achieve their own personal goals. He stresses the importance of the close relationship between research and teaching and learning and in establishing partnerships between staff and students. His award is richly deserved.” 20 TEACHING AND RESEARCH