TEACHING AND LEARNING THE REVIEW2020 International Honours for Education Team A belief that student teachers should learn in the community as well as the classroom helped the Experiential Learning (EL) team from the Faculty of Education win the Gold Award in the Presence Learning and Teaching Category at the 2020 QS Reimagine Education Awards, the ‘Oscars’ of education. The team, led by Dr Gary Harfitt, have integrated EL into all programmes in the Faculty, including a mandatory requirement for undergraduate students – the first in Hong Kong and Asia to do so. Since 2016, more than 1,400 students have enrolled in 16 credit-bearing EL courses that range from mentoring local underprivileged children to working with partners in countries such as Cambodia and Sri Lanka. “We have long believed that there is another knowledge space beyond HKU’s classrooms and lecture halls where our teachers-to-be can learn about how to ‘become’ a teacher – namely the community,” he said. Boris Lau Ho-kiu, a fifth-year student of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education in Language Education (English), has been to Cambodia to develop sustainable teaching tools for students there, mentored a secondary school student in Yuen Long, and helped create educational games about environmental conservation at Ocean Park. “The most important thing I have learned is that teaching and learning can happen anywhere, and that with that, we also understand more about our students,” he said. Since his Cambodia EL in his first year, he has also been involved with a student-initiated group, Beyond Belief, that has built a playground for a school in Siem Reap and a house there for a family without parents. Gary Wong Yu-yeung, a fifth-year Bachelor of Education and Bachelor of Science student, joined EL programmes in Thailand and Tibet and others in Hong Kong on design thinking and developing STEM / STEAM-related materials and activities for secondary school students. These experiences propelled him to set up a climate advocacy group that aims ultimately to improve understanding of climate change in the local education curriculum. “EL makes learning realistic and meaningful,” he said. Early Career Award for Business Lecturer Experience outside academia – in consulting, law, entrepreneurial ventures and finance – has given Mr David S Lee of the Faculty of Business and Economics (HKU Business School) a deep appreciation of the value of teaching. He has put that insight to productive use with his students and in September 2020, was awarded the University Grants Committee’s Teaching Award for Early Career Faculty Members. Only one teacher is selected for this award each year in Hong Kong and Mr Lee is the first recipient from a business discipline to be awarded. Mr Lee teaches ethics, FinTech, law and corporate governance in undergraduate and Master’s programmes and was the co-creator of a massive open online course, FinTech Ethics and Risks, that was the first of its kind in the world and has enrolled about 12,000 students globally. He embraced technology in learning well before COVID-19, although he sees it as the supporting act to teaching, not the main attraction. “I regularly reflect on and strive to improve my teaching practice. I’ll be working to develop additional multimedia resources going forward, as well as more case studies, especially in ethics and leadership,” he said. “But honestly, I’ve found that one of the most powerful catalysts for student learning and discussion is asking the right question at the right time, which is a skill I’m still refining.” Future Leaders Pick HKU A new scholarship to support students from developing countries in pursuing their dreams at HKU has attracted applications from some of the best students in the world, from countries as diverse as Ghana, Madagascar, Nepal, Nigeria, Belarus and Turkey. The HKU Scholarship for Future Leaders, launched in 2019–20, provides full tuition waiver and an allowance for living and accommodation. Among the recipients was Michael Obeng, a Ghanaian student whose SAT score of 1560 placed him among the top 1% in the world. He is pursuing a Bachelor of Engineering degree and hopes one day to help find solutions to his country’s transportation problems, which include widespread lack of access to efficient transportation and a high motor vehicle accident rate. “My dream is to use technology to put an end to motor accidents completely, first in my country Ghana and then the rest of the world,” he said. He hopes to learn how to apply nanotechnology to the problem. Atilla Kaan Erisir from Turkey is studying for a Bachelor of Science after winning the Most Innovative Award at an HKU-sponsored international symposium on STEM education. He developed an AI-based blind stick after being inspired by a visually-impaired friend. The HKU event was his first encounter with Hong Kong and HKU. “I learned that Hong Kong is a city very supportive of technological innovations. [And] I applied to HKU in particular because of its reputation as a leading university in Hong Kong and the world. I was also attracted by the flexible curriculum that allows students to mix and match courses in an interdisciplinary manner.” Atilla hopes to do research in molecular biology and biotechnology to help find innovative remedies for incurable conditions such as paralysis. Mr Carlson Tong (right), Chairman of the University Grants Committee (UGC), presenting the 2020 UGC Teaching Award for Early Career Faculty Members to Mr David S Lee (left). The Experiential Learning team – (from right) Dr Gary Harfitt, Ms Jessie Chow and Ms Ivy Chung – were awarded for the project ‘Nurturing a twenty-first century teaching force through community-based experiential education’. Michael Obeng (left) and Atilla Kaan Erisir (right) are among the four international awardees of HKU Scholarship for Future Leaders. EXCELLENCE Recognition was received and given for teacher and student achievements. 14 | 15
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