HERDSA Hong Kong Branch

Many universities in Hong Kong require postgraduate students to teach as they need to assist professors in undergraduate courses, playing the role of teaching assistants (TAs) in these courses. Enhancing TAs’ ability to teach is important as it effectively promotes the teaching and learning processes in the universities. The ability to teach in itself contributes to the professional growth of the postgraduate students as well.

In this dinner dialogue, representatives from different Hong Kong institutions are invited to share their different practices in preparing TAs to teach.

In the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, all new TAs are required to attend a total of 14 hours of workshops in a TA Training Programme.

In The Chinese University of Hong Kong, research students with teaching duties are required to complete professional development programme offered by the Centre for Learning Enhancement And Research (CLEAR) or other comparable programmes recognised by her/his own department. These TA Programmes cover areas such as fundamental teaching and learning concepts, presentation skills and communication skills.

Date: Wednesday 19 October 2011, from 7:00pm to 9:30pm
Venue: Shing Hin Chinese Restaurant, 8/F Amenity Building, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong

Speakers:

Nick Noake
Director
Rowena Liu
Teaching Associate
Centre for Enhanced Learning & Teaching
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Keith Thomas
Associate Professor
Centre for Learning Enhancement And Research
The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Fee: $150 for non-members; $140 for members
For registration and enquiry, please email paul.lam@cuhk.edu.hk

Paul Lam
Centre for Learning Enhancement And Research
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Email: paul.lam@cuhk.edu.hk
Phone: 3943 4055

HERDSA Dinner Dialogue: ePortfolio Developments

All seats in this dinner dialogue are reserved. Please look forward to other HERDSA HK events in the near future.

Some educators have suggested e-portfolio as the ultimate assessment tool in the digital era. Students collect artifacts, reflect on learning and showcase success to generate a holistic view of their studies. At CityU of Hong Kong, to promote the use of e-portfolio for learning is part of the 2010-2015 strategic plan (http://www.cityu.edu.hk/provost/strategic_plan/ under Goal 3.4, Area A). However, a platform is never defined to be official and the responsibility of assessing e-portfolio has not be widely discussed. With experts from different universities in Hong Kong sharing their experiences and plans, we hope the larger education community can learn more about the local development in e-portfolio utilization. Dialogues after the presentations will focus on institutionalization of e-portfolio utilization for teaching and learning.

Date: Wednesday 2 March 2011, from 7:00pm to 9:30pm
Venue: Room 901 (9/F), City Top, the Amenity Building, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong

Speakers:

Ms Hokling Cheung
The Office of Education Development and General Education
City University of Hong Kong

Ms Rufina Wong
Student Affairs Office
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Prof Paul Lam¹ & Ms Judy Lo^2
1Centre for Learning Enhancement And Research
²Information Technology Centre
The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Fee: $130 for non-members; $120 for members
For registration and enquiry, please email crusher.wong@cityu.edu.hk

Crusher Wong
Office of the Chief Information Officer
City University of Hong Kong
Email: crusher.wong@cityu.edu.hk
Phone: 3442 6633

HERDSA Dinner Dialogue: University General Education

As the new 3+3+4 education system is being implemented in Hong Kong, the new 4-year university system will commence in the academic year 2012/13, university general education is expected an integral part of disciplinary curricula due to the new system. This HERDSA Dinner Dialogue, with its theme on University General Education in the New Higher Education System, has been scheduled for:

Date: Wednesday 13 October 2010, from 7:00pm to 9:30pm
Venue: Room 901 (9/F), City Top, the Amenity Building, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong

Speakers:
Professor King Chow
Associate Dean of UG Education and Director of the Undergraduate Core Education Office , Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Professor Dayle Smith
Fulbright Scholar, Hong Kong Baptist University

To facilitate scholarly and professional discussion and exchange, the invited speakers will share with the participants the recent development and implementation of General Education in their institution as well as their observations and comments on its success, issues and possible solutions.

Fee: $130 for non-members; $120 for members
For registration and enquiry, please email eszeto@ied.edu.hk

Dr. Elson Szeto
Centre for Learning, Teaching and Technology
The Hong Kong Institute of Education
Email: eszeto@ied.edu.hk
Phone: 29487011

HERDSA Dinner Dialogue: University academic staff orientation

University academic staff orientation is an important part in the professional development of university teachers. In this dinner dialogue, representatives from different Hong Kong institutions are invited to share their practice and experience. Aspects addressed in the sharing include:

Date: Thursday 6th May 2010, from 7:30pm to 9:30pm
Venue: Room 901 (9/F), City Top, Amenity Building, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong

Nick Noakes (HKUST)

Reflecting the shift to whole person education in the secondary and tertiary sectors in Hong Kong, the Center for Enhanced Learning and Teaching at HKUST has expanded its new teaching staff orientation beyond teaching. With the recent establishment of Senior Teaching Fellows in all four Schools, this is
now helping to structure further developmental changes that will include a mix of central and discipline based induction.

Keith Thomas (CUHK)
At CUHK, the Centre for Learning Enhancement And Research is responsible for organizing a series of new staff orientation activities for our academic staff every year. The activities include welcoming dinner as well as a full day of information and sharing sessions. New teachers obtain important messages concerning various aspects of university life. The activities also serve as community building experience for the new teachers.

Fee: $130 for non-members; $120 for members
For registration and enquiry, please email paul.lam@cuhk.edu.hk

Paul Lam
Assistant Professor
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Email: paul.lam@cuhk.edu.hk
Phone: 3163 4055

Much attention is focused on lecture capturing in tertiary education recently for various reasons – medium of instruction, availability of teachers/students, teaching and learning innovation, etc. Experts working in the field will share their practice and explore the future of lecture capturing in the next HERDSA Dialog.

Date: Monday 22nd March 2010, from 7:00pm to 9:30pm
Venue: Room 906 (9/F), City Top, Amenity Building, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong

Thomas NG & Anthony HO (HKUST)
Remote Video Capture (RVC) is a campus-wide video recording service provided by the Publishing Technology Center (PTC). It enables faculty to video record all their lectures in a semester, and students to review their lectures at any time and place convenient to them.
With RVC, video images of the teacher, whiteboard, computer screen, and the sound tracks are captured by devices pre-installed in the classroom. The audiovisual files are then transmitted to PTC for producing lecture videos which are then uploaded online a few days after the class.
There is no visible production crew in the classroom, and no equipment setup or pre-training is required. All a teacher needs to do is book one of the 37 RVC-equipped venues at the start of a semester – and teach.

Edman CHAN & Paul LAM (CUHK)
We started a small-scale pilot study on the use of Echo 360, a lecture recording devices, in two of our lecture halls (one at Price of Wales Hospital and one at Faculty of Science) about half a year ago. The purposes were to investigate technical feasibility as well as the practicality of such systems in the eyes of teachers. Not many teachers have used the system so far for various reasons. We will talk about some of these challenges as well as our plan to make it forward.

Crusher WONG (CityUHK)
What do we want to achieve with lecture capturing? How should the solution perform? Who should be involved? With Echo360, we learned that lecture capturing is a major investment. A revolutionary deployment may be required to justify its existence.

RSVP 18 March 2009
Fee: $130 for non-members; $120 for members
For registration and enquiry, please email crusher.wong@cityu.edu.hk

Crusher Wong
Education Development Office
City University of Hong Kong
Email: crusher.wong@cityu.edu.hk
Phone: 3442 6633

Knowns and Unknowns about Student Plagiarism

By Jude Carroll, Oxford Brookes University

Time: Wednesday 18 Nov 2009, at 6:30pm
Venue: Room 901 (9/F), City Top, Amenities Building, CityU, Kowloon Tong

Abstract
The problem of student plagiarism has plagued universities around the world.  Based on research studies and practical experience, there is now a general consensus on a number of key issues about plagiarism prevention among experts in the field, but there are also a number of unresolved ones on which a lot more work has to be done.   Jude Carroll will talk briefly about these issues and lead a discussion.

Jude Carroll is the Principal Lecturer at the Oxford Brookes University. She has worked on plagiarism around the world since 2000, helping students, teachers and whole institutions address the issue. She is the author of A Handbook for Deterring Plagiarism in Higher Education (2007). From 2008 to 2009, she spent a year in Stockholm with the Royal Technical University, leading projects related to plagiarism and institutional management strategies across Scandinavia.  Recently, Jude was awarded with the National Teaching Fellowships from the Higher Education Academy of the UK.

RSVP 13 Nov 2009
Fee: $130 for non-members; $120 for members

To register for the event, please email cttsha@ust.hk

Tak Ha (PhD)
Center for Enhanced Learning and Teaching
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Email: cttsha@ust.hk
Phone: 2358 6812

Much effort has been put into improving the quality of higher education globally. The recent trend is to place a substantial emphasis on the outcomes of student learning.  To make these student-centered initiatives or activities successful, a crucial step is to first understand the recipients of these activities – “our students”.  Local educators from Higher Education will share experiences with each other about what we know about our students in the next HERDSA (Hong Kong) dinner dialog.

Date: Monday 12th October 2009, from 7:00pm to 9:30pm
Venue: Room 901 (9/F), City Top, Amenity Building, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong

Confirmed Presenters
Dr Anna Kwan (OUHK)
Dr Ai Choo ONG (HKIEd)
Dr Tak Ha/ Lucia Yeung (HKUST)
Dr Theresa Kwong (CityUHK)
Dr Beatrice Lok (CUHK)

Topics of discussion
1. Characteristics of Students in Hong Kong and the changing trend
2. Student Motivation
3. Student Learning Approaches
4. Student intake surveys
5. Student exit surveys

RSVP 5 Oct 2009
Fee: $130 for non-members; $120 for members

For registration and enquiry, please email ctlucia@ust.hk or akwan@ouhk.edu.hk (21 Sept to 4 Oct).

Dr Lucia Yeung
Center for Enhanced Learning and Teaching
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Email: ctlucia@ust.hk
Phone: 2358 8940

All seats in this dinner dialogue are reserved. Please look forward to other HERDSA HK events in the near future.

E-learning has become an integral part of education since the digital natives begin studying. It allows us to share, manage and co-create knowledge in a virtual environment with a globalized population. Education developers from local institutions will share their visions of future e-learning in the next HERDSA (Hong Kong) dinner dialog.

Date: Friday 29th May 2009, from 7:00pm to 9:30pm
Venue: Room 901 (9/F), City Top, Amenity Building, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong

Presenters & Topics (Updated)
Mr Nick Noakes (HKUST)
What’s on the Horizon? – trying to forecast the e-Learning future!
Dr Elson Szeto (HKIEd)
Envisaging the next wave of e-Learning: Technological advancement or pedagogic innovation
Prof Paul Lam (CUHK)
Making sense out of LMS activity logs
Mr Ian Brown (HKPU)
e-Learning: Patience is a virtue
Dr Crusher Wong (CityUHK)
Unification of Learning Management Systems

RSVP 26 May 2009 
Fee: $130 for non-members; $120 for members (full)

To register for the event, please email crusher.wong@cityu.edu.hk

Crusher Wong
Education Development Office
City University of Hong Kong
Email: crusher.wong@cityu.edu.hk
Phone: 3442 6633

Collecting feedback from students about the quality of teaching has become a common practice in local higher education institutions.  The coming HERDSA (Hong Kong) dinner dialog will be an occasion for practitioners in the field to share their experience and to explore ways to tackle problems they encounter.

Date: Friday 3rd April 2009, from 7:00pm to 9:30pm
Venue: Room 901 (9/F), City Top, Amenity Building, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong (Updated)

Presenters
Prof Carmel McNaught (CUHK)
Prof Keith Thomas (CUHK)
Ms Rosalind Chan (HKBU)
Dr Sun Jiangrong (HKPU)
Dr Tak Ha (HKUST)

Topics of discussion
1. History, scope, role and positioning of SET
2. SET Questionnaires
3. Logistics of data collection
4. Response rate issue
5. Use of SET data to improve teaching

RSVP 31 March 2009
Fee: $130 for non-members; $120 for members

To register for the event, please email cttsha@ust.hk

Tak Ha (PhD)
Center for Enhanced Learning and Teaching
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Email: cttsha@ust.hk
Phone: 2358 6812