HKU Bulletin April 2010 (Vol. 11 No. 2)

'PS BMNPTU B EFDBEF UIF 6OJWFSTJUZ IBT TBMVUFE FYDFMMFODF JO UFBDIJOH 5IJT ZFBS XF MBVODIFE UIF 6OJWFSTJUZ %JTUJOHVJTIFE 5FBDIJOH "XBSE GPS UFBDIFST XIP IBWF EFNPOTUSBUFE BO PVUTUBOEJOH DPNNJUNFOU UP FYDFMMFODF JO QFEBHPHZ 5FBDIJOH "OE 3FTFBSDI "XBSET 5FBDIJOH "OE 3FTFBSDI "XBSET 24 The University of Hong Kong Bulletin 25 April 2010 6/*7&34*5: %*45*/(6*4)&% 5&"$)*/( "8"3% Professor Chan Lung-sang Professor Chan Lung-sang Department of Earth Sciences Professor Chan’s PhD supervisor would be proud. His former student has become an inspiring, highly-regarded teacher at HKU, instilling in his students a passion for learning, especially experiential learning, and taking that passion into the community to share with secondary school teachers and students. And he has done all this by following the supervisor’s advice. Professor Chan completed his PhD at the University of California, Berkeley, where his supervisor treated students as family and encouraged both their learning and where he taught at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Clair and dreamt of being able to help his home city produce its own Earth Sciences specialists rather than relying on outside consultants. He found it immensely satisfying to be involved in the Department from its early days, and he has ploughed his enthusiasm into educational development elsewhere in the University. Professor Chan was involved in re- designing the Science Faculty’s admission policy and restructuring its curriculum to foster a holistic learning experience for undergraduate students. Moreover, he is a member of the Steering Committee of the University’s four-year Undergraduate Curriculum Reform. This has involved him in overseeing the planning and implementation of the new curriculum, and facilitating inter- Faculty and inter-disciplinary collaboration. He has also taken a leadership role in the Scientific and Technological Literacy Area of Inquiry in the Common Core Curriculum. Professor Chan’s teaching excellence, his commitment to the whole-person development of his students, and his dedication and impact on the University’s core mission of teaching and learning, mark him out as a teacher of rare exception. personal growth. One day on a field trip to Italy Professor Chan asked him how he could repay him, and the supervisor replied, “Just treat your own students in the future the way I have treated you.” The advice was taken to heart. Professor Chan regards his relationship with students as a learning and working partnership, an approach that has earned their deep respect. In 2004 he was awarded the University Teaching Fellowship in recognition of his teaching excellence. His students said he was “inspiring”, “humorous” and that he “encourages us to think critically”. They still seek his advice many years after they graduate and, echoing his own experiences as a student, they regard Professor Chan as family. “I’m invited to a lot of weddings!” he said. His personal warmth has been matched by high standards and a commitment to evolving and improving the curriculum, both at the Faculty and University-wide level. Professor Chan arrived at the University in 1995, when the Department of Earth Sciences had just been set up as the only department of its kind in Hong Kong (which it still is). He came from the US, Mr Richard Anthony Glofcheski Mr Richard Anthony Glofcheski Department of Law Rick Glofcheski, Associate Professor of Law in the Law Faculty, is a familiar face at this annual Teaching Awards Ceremony. In 2004 he scooped a University Teaching Fellowship and in 2008 he received the Outstanding Teaching Award. He is an equally familiar face around campus, having taught at HKU for twenty years. He is described by his students as one of the most sought-after teachers in the Faculty, and is regarded as a teacher, mentor, counsellor, and friend – someone committed to encouraging them to perform to the best of their abilities. Regardless of the size of his class he makes an effort to know each student by name, believing that this gives them “an identity and a sense of belonging in the classroom, and shows that the teacher cares about the student and his or her learning progress. They feel respected and valued.” Rick’s deep knowledge of his subject matter is clear from his research articles, his recently published book, Tort Law in Hong Kong , and the forthcoming publication Employment Law and Practice in Hong Kong . He is of the view that a teacher should be well-versed in his subject matter and that his lessons should be well prepared. To this end, he designs well thought-out activities that engage his students in deep and active learning and creates a classroom culture that he describes as ‘participatory democracy and equality among intellectuals’. It is this practice that enables him to inject ‘Law’, often considered a dry subject matter, with the interest necessary to engage all students. In 2001 Rick became a founding member of the department’s Teaching and Learning Quality Committee, and ensured coherence in the first-year LLB curriculum in his capacity as First Year Course Coordinator (2001 – 08). His enthusiasm for teaching often spills beyond the classroom as he mentors tutors in the Faculty, providing them with clear guidance on how to bring about high quality discussion in tutorials. Rick considers himself a reflective practitioner, and as such is tireless in his exploration of ways to improve his teaching. In collaboration with his colleagues, both inside and outside the Faculty, he has conducted two complementary research projects, one on ‘How Law Teachers Teach’ and another on ‘How Law Students Learn’, and has published and presented the findings in Faculty seminars and international conferences. He is firmly of the view that students maximize their learning opportunities only when they take full responsibility for that learning. Outcomes-based learning, one of the major initiatives of the new four-year Undergraduate Curriculum Reform, helps students achieve this goal by informing them from the outset of the learning outcomes of a course, the learning activities that will achieve these outcomes, and the way they are to be assessed. Since the inception of outcomes-based learning at University level, Rick has been deeply involved in investigating how it can be implemented in his own teaching. He has also promoted this approach in his Faculty by hosting seminars to share his experience and research findings.