Returning to Campus HKU’s teaching staff made enormous efforts and adaptations over the past two years to ensure students could continue to fulfil graduation requirements, even in hands-on clinical programmes. Teachers have been ably supported by the Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning, which has supported course re-design and helped staff navigate new pedagogies and tools for online and hybrid teaching, and the Technology-Enriched Learning Initiative, which has developed new teaching tools. Technological innovation has been a major focus of this work, but at the same time it has made one thing resoundingly clear: technology cannot replace the rich experiences and personal development of in-person encounters. Surveys of both teachers and students have found overwhelming support for face-to-face learning, which the University endorses. From September 2021, arrangements have been made for 75% capacity in classrooms, while still giving highest priority to health and safety. Student enrichment activities are also moving offline. Although virtual exchanges were held with some partners during 2020–21, we plan to return to in-person exchanges in 2021–22 as far as possible and to send and receive about 1,500–2,000 students in total. We will continue to explore the use of virtual engagement, for instance in enabling more students to interact with their counterparts in less-privileged parts of the world, but it will not be a replacement for the advantages of being physically immersed in another place and culture. The disruptions caused by the social movement and the COVID-19 pandemic have been a trial for teaching and learning over the past two years. But the University has emerged with a strongly affirmative message: we returned to nearly full face-to-face learning in September 2021, while drawing on the experiences of online learning to enhance our teaching. We have also reaffirmed our core educational values after wide-ranging consultations and will continue to pivot the curriculum towards innovation, interdisciplinarity, internationalism and the opportunities of the Greater Bay Area (GBA). Top Students Continue to Choose HKU The University’s success in providing a rigorous, valueadded education even during the pandemic has sustained our ability to attract outstanding students. Students were admitted from more than 40 countries and among them were more than 100 top scorers of qualifications such as the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE), IB, Gaokao, GCE A-levels and national examinations. To recognise and support high achievers, the HKDSE Top 1% Scholarship was launched, offering at least HK$50,000 to new students who score among the top 1% in the HKDSE; 115 students were eligible. The University encourages students to pursue their dreams in different disciplines by giving out generous scholarships. The President’s Scholars admitted in 2021 have chosen such areas of study as architecture, arts, business, dentistry, engineering, law, medicine and social sciences. A new Direct Admission Scheme for Top Athletes was also announced and will start to admit students to selected academic programmes mainly based on sporting achievement from 2022–23. Supporting Students’ Development To welcome new students, the Co-Curricular Support Office was established in summer 2021 to provide administrative support for student clubs and societies in organising orientation and induction activities in conjunction with the Centre of Development and Resources for Students. The latter also continued to organise the inauguration ceremony, non-academic induction talks (held online) and orientation sessions for non-local students, as well as a wide range of support services, such as psychological counselling and a virtual job fair that attracted more than 140 companies and organisations offering well over 2,000 vacancies. To provide new graduates with options during uncertain times, the University extended the Taught Postgraduate Scholarship Scheme and HKU Graduate Internship Programme. Enrichment activities have also continued through outings around Hong Kong and, as mentioned, virtual exchanges. The Common Core supports a range of interdisciplinary virtual student exchange projects in Europe, the UK, and Australasia. It also, through its TransDisciplinary Undergraduate Research Initiative, continues to provide a structured format for all students to step beyond their disciplines into guided inquiry, which aligns with the wider goal of expanding research across the curriculum as supported in our 2020–21 review of teaching and learning. Our Educational Values Reaffirmed That overarching review involved input from more than 550 teaching staff and more than 1,000 students and recent graduates, and drew on the lessons learned during COVID-19 to create a teaching and learning strategy for 2021–28. The strategy, approved by the Senate in July, reaffirms the soundness of our core educational aims: critical intellectual inquiry, tackling unfamiliar situations and illdefined problems, critical self-reflection, understanding and respecting cultural differences, effective communication and collaboration, and leadership and advocacy for a better world. At the same time, new elements have been moved to the forefront to support the University’s wider vision of innovation and impact. In addition to undergraduate research, these include interdisciplinarity and cosmopolitanism (for example, having an international Students admitted to HKU have come from places as diverse as Brazil, Denmark, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritius, Panama, Spain and Turkey. NATIONALITIES Top scorers achieved the highest results in the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE), IB, GCE A-levels, Gaokao and national examinations. TOP SCORERS 100+ 40+ element in capstone projects). The strategy also recognises that some aspects of online learning are here to stay as we explore the possibilities of changing up and enhancing classroom learning. New Ways to Contribute to the Future of Hong Kong and the GBA As well as nailing down our educational principles, we have been developing new data-driven undergraduate programmes to meet the needs of Hong Kong and the GBA as they develop into an innovation hub. The new Bachelor of Engineering in Data Science and Engineering, Bachelor of Arts in Humanities and Digital Technologies, Bachelor of Science in Bioinformatics, Bachelor of Business Administration in Business Analytics, and Bachelor of Science in Marketing Analytics and Technology will produce graduates who are adept at applying AI and data to a wide variety of issues and challenges. New teaching and student facilities are also being developed to accommodate growing enrolments. Learning spaces are being added at Pokfield Road and the medical campus, and new student residences are under construction. In the longer term, the new Shenzhen campus, announced in 2021, will enable students to engage more directly with the burgeoning opportunities of the GBA. COVID-19 may have restricted learning opportunities in the short term, but it has also accelerated innovation and underscored the value of our educational mission. Teaching and learning at HKU is emerging stronger from this difficult test of our will and commitment. From September 2021, most students are back attending classes on campus, in rooms filled to only 75% capacity as an ongoing social distancing precaution. HKU offers scholarships to outstanding student athletes admitted through the Sports Scholarship Scheme. Last year’s Inauguration Ceremony for New Students was held online due to the pandemic. This year, the ceremony returned to the Grand Hall and first-year students were able to attend – and be welcomed to the University – in person. Teaching and Learning HKU ANNUAL REPORT 2021 10 | 11
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy ODI4MTQ=