Teaching and Learning Experience Sharing (TALES) Seminar Series (2018/19 Semester 1)

Facilitator(s):

Dr Albert CHAU (VPTL)

Abstract:

To steer HKBU towards being a leading liberal arts University in Asia for the world delivering academic excellence, we prioritise the provision of quality teaching and learning experience rooted in profound Whole Person Education for our students.

Times Higher Education (THE), the founder of the World University Rankings, has piloted the 2018 Europe Teaching Rankings to rate higher institutions by their teaching excellence. The new ranking is designed to recognise universities more inclusively by rewarding colleges that aim at providing better education for students. To this end, the Teaching Rankings assess students’ learning experience with the following strategic focuses: accessibility to learning resources, level of student engagement, satisfaction of learning environment, emphasis of critical thinking, reflection, and connections in knowledge delivery, as well as relevance and applicability of learning outcomes. Similarly, the more recent Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings 2019 has also been conducted for US universities and colleges with student success and learning as the focuses.

The Teaching Rankings offer insights into crafting our unique teaching and learning excellence that aligns with the world’s top universities and benchmarking against them. At this workshop, upon familiarising fellow colleagues with the criteria of the Teaching Rankings, we will reflect together on the strengths and challenges of teaching and learning at HKBU. Finally, we will conclude the workshop with collecting your suggestions on high-impact improvements.

Facilitator(s):

Dr John WINZENBURG (MUS)

About the Series:

Aspiring to nurture HKBU graduates to be creative, caring, and globally capable leaders, we dedicate a series of TALES workshops to explore in-depth the authentic teaching, learning and assessment approach by showcasing some exemplary adaptations in our University. Facilitators invited for this series comprising academics, a Fulbright scholar, and senior administrative colleagues will share how engaging learning experience can be delivered under the wide spectrum of experiential learning, service learning, and interdisciplinary learning via the formal curriculum and/or co-curricular activities.

Abstract:

Creativity and experiential learning are key strategic priorities targeted by the University in the coming years. To the Music majors of HKBU, these areas have long been a core feature of their daily studies. For undergraduates of all disciplines in 2018, however, the path to professional success requires an expanding set of experiential pillars upon which they can build future careers. The most noteworthy ones involve collaborative activity, international exchange, cross-cultural engagement, and a research-teaching nexus where students are integral to academic and social impact. “Creative experiential learning” describes a teaching approach that generates innovative opportunities in all these areas and challenges students to pursue new standards of individual and group achievement within a learner-centered environment, befitting the University’s goal of becoming Asia’s leading liberal arts university.

In this TALES workshop, Dr. John Winzenburg will share practices in creative experiential learning as faculty-conductor of the HKBU choral ensembles. Adhering to the direction of a liberal arts education, in the university ensemble curriculum, learner-centered teaching maps individual growth onto a centrally focused goal of group artistic development. Here, music students imagine, explore, and test new boundaries for themselves through high-impact projects that reflect changing cultural practices and yet demand ever-rising standards of performance. Dr. Winzenburg will recount the achievements of our students from foundational training and ensemble building to an expanding horizon of creative undertakings in collaborative concert performances, international tours, radio and television broadcasts, theatrical productions, studio recordings, and multimedia events. Workshop participants will then discuss creative experiential learning applications in a variety of university disciplines and explore avenues for developing collaborative student ventures.

Facilitator(s):

Dr Man Kong WONG (HIST)

About the Series:

Aspiring to nurture HKBU graduates to be creative, caring, and globally capable leaders, we dedicate a series of TALES workshops to explore in-depth the authentic teaching, learning and assessment approach by showcasing some exemplary adaptations in our University. Facilitators invited for this series comprising academics, a Fulbright scholar, and senior administrative colleagues will share how engaging learning experience can be delivered under the wide spectrum of experiential learning, service learning, and interdisciplinary learning via the formal curriculum and/or co-curricular activities.

Abstract:

With more than a decade of experience of conducting community oral history projects, the facilitator of this session will share some practices of promoting experiential learning. The projects included but not limited to the history of Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Olympism in Hong Kong, professionalism in Hong Kong, and the history of organ transplant in Hong Kong. The sharing will also focus on what made possible behind those projects and what students had learned therefrom.

Facilitator(s):

Professor Nannette COMMANDER (Georgia State University)
Dr Lisa DENG (EDUC)

About the Series:

Aspiring to nurture HKBU graduates to be creative, caring, and globally capable leaders, we dedicate a series of TALES workshops to explore in-depth the authentic teaching, learning and assessment approach by showcasing some exemplary adaptations in our University. Facilitators invited for this series comprising academics, a Fulbright scholar, and senior administrative colleagues will share how engaging learning experience can be delivered under the wide spectrum of experiential learning, service learning, and interdisciplinary learning via the formal curriculum and/or co-curricular activities.

Abstract:

Today’s technology impacts efforts to prepare our students to be global citizens. Rather than involving only physical mobility, the focus now is internationalisation through various “at home” activities, including introducing a global component in the curriculum. Virtual Exchange, where students from different countries interact and learn from each other online, is one way to promote students’ globalised perspectives.

This presentation shares information on two undergraduate virtual exchange projects. In the first project, HKBU and U.S. students enrolled at their home institution connected through asynchronous online discussions to critically analyse educational case studies. Students analysed each case from a theoretical perspective, evaluated instructional techniques, and justified their positions from readings, research, and personal experiences. Results from quantitative and qualitative analysis of transcripts indicate the experience promoted globalised perspectives in students. These activities are currently being expanding through support by a Fulbright grant. In the second project, HKBU and Taiwan students connected through two online platforms – Moodle as a formal channel for course-related discussion, and Facebook as an informal channel for social oriented interaction. We will introduce the instructional design process and reflect on the effects of various strategies as well as students’ experiences and perceptions. The challenges encountered especially those concerning using Facebook in formal learning environments will be discussed.  

These projects add to the knowledge base about internationalisation of curriculum and present models for fostering cultural competency in students. “Lessons learned” from teaching international courses will be included in the presentation. 

Facilitator(s):

Professor Gerard PRENDERGAST
Associate Dean (Internationalisation), School of Business
Professor, Department of Marketing

About the Series:

Aspiring to nurture HKBU graduates to be creative, caring, and globally capable leaders, we dedicate a series of TALES workshops to explore in-depth the authentic teaching, learning and assessment approach by showcasing some exemplary adaptations in our University. Facilitators invited for this series comprising academics, a Fulbright scholar, and senior administrative colleagues will share how engaging learning experience can be delivered under the wide spectrum of experiential learning, service learning, and interdisciplinary learning via the formal curriculum and/or co-curricular activities.

Abstract:

The world is seeing a growth in nationalism and intolerance. Do universities, in particular business schools, have a role to play in pushing back against this? The literature tells us that people learn more, create more knowledge, and build more tolerance by interacting with those who are different from themselves than those who are the same as themselves. This ought to represent a strong reason for universities, in particular business schools, to foster diversity through thoughtful consideration of who participates in teaching and learning.

In this workshop, Professor Prendergast will introduce his “ecotone” philosophy, and argue that business schools should be “ecotones of diversity” that use action learning to bring together a diverse and inclusive mix of participants (international and interdisciplinary mixes of students and faculty, alumni, corporates, NGOs, public sector) to work collaboratively to solve real world problems in business and beyond.

To illustrate his ecotone philosophy, Professor Prendergast will draw on his experiences in service leadership and internationalisation in the School of Business.

Facilitator(s):

Professor Mark PEGRUM
Associate Professor, Graduate School of Education
The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
Professor Mark Pegrum is an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Western Australia, where he teaches in the areas of e-learning and mobile learning. His teaching has been recognised through Faculty and University Excellence in Teaching Awards, as well as a 2010 national Australian Learning & Teaching Council (ALTC) Excellence in Teaching Award. His research focuses on mobile technologies, digital literacies, augmented reality, and mobile learning trails and games. He is now working on a new book to be published in 2019 with a strong focus on mobile augmented reality.

Abstract:

In the Technology Assisted Teaching and Learning Symposium held in August 2018, Professor Mark Pegrum’s keynote video presentation entitled “Smart Learning, Smart Universities, Smart Cities: Where Will Mixed Reality Lead Us” had inspired a robust discussion among the participants on digital technologies in education. This workshop seeks to bring colleagues who are experienced in or new to teaching with augmented reality and mobile technologies into a roundtable discussion. Together, we will explore how the latest trend in mobile learning, digital literacies, and their worldwide applications highlighted in the video speaks to the practical realities of our HKBU classrooms across disciplines. It is hoped that a better understanding of the usefulness and limitation of certain mobile learning initiatives will allow our teachers to incorporate more thoughtfully designed e-learning pedagogy into their lesson.

Remark: To better facilitate the roundtable discussion and mimic a flipped classroom, the confidential video link of Professor Mark Pegrum’s keynote mentioned above will be sent to registrants before the workshop.

Facilitator(s):

Professor Mick HEALEY
HE Consultant, Researcher and Emeritus Professor
University of Gloucestershire, UK
(www.mickhealey.co.uk)
Mick Healey is an HE Consultant and Researcher and Emeritus Professor at the University of Gloucestershire, UK. Until 2010 he was Director of the Centre for Active Learning, a nationally funded Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.  He is currently The Humboldt Distinguished Scholar in Research-Based Learning at McMaster University, Canada. From 2014-17 he was visiting professor at UCL, helping them embed the Connected Curriculum across the institution. He was one of the first people in the UK to be awarded a National Teaching Fellowship and to be made a Principal Fellow of the HE Academy.  In 2015 he received the Distinguished Service Award from the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.  Since 1995 he has given over 500 educational presentations in 25 different countries.  Mick has written and edited around 200 papers, chapters, books and guides on various aspects of teaching and learning in HE. He has over 8,000 citations. He was co-editor of the International Journal for Academic Development (2010-13) and is currently Inaugural Senior Editor International Journal for Students as Partners.  He is often asked to act as an advisor to projects, universities and governments on aspects of teaching and learning, including the Canadian Federal Government and the League of European Research Universities.  This will be Mick’s third visit to universities in Hong Kong.

Abstract:

Open Lecture

Ways of engaging students in higher education as partners in learning and teaching is arguably one of the most important issues facing higher education in the 21st Century. Partnership is essentially a process for engaging students, though not all engagement involves partnership. It is a way of doing things, rather than an outcome in itself. This interactive session will explore four ways in which students may be engaged as partners through: a) Learning, teaching and assessment; b) Subject-based research and inquiry; c) Scholarship of teaching and learning; and d) Curriculum design and pedagogic advice and consultancy. Particular attention will be paid to how students may be engaged as active learners and researchers. It will draw on numerous case studies from different parts of the world.

Workshop (for HKBU only)

This session is designed for staff and students who would like to build on the morning session and explore issues involved in developing staff-student partnerships in more detail and think creatively about how to implement the ideas discussed into their own practices at course, department, faculty and institutional levels.