Teaching and Learning Experience Sharing (TALES) Seminar Series (2025/26 Semester 2)

Facilitators:

Ms Esme ANDERSON
Assistant Education Development Manager
Center for Education Innovation,
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Mr Verrent Timotius SUNG
UG Student, Department of Finance,
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Miss Xinjie Monica HUANG
Research Assistant, Department of Management,
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Miss Mingyu LI
PhD Student, Department of Management,
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Mr Lorenzo Maria RATTO VAQUER
PhD student, Academy of Chinese, History, Religion and Philosophy,
Hong Kong Baptist University

Abstract:

Student Perspectives on using GenAI as a Mental Health Counsellor
Ms Esme ANDERSON and Mr Verrent Timotius SUNG

This student-initiated project sheds light on a critical aspect of university life and responsibility - mental health - by exploring HKUST students' perspectives on using Generative AI (GenAI) as a mental health counselor. An initial survey revealed that while many students are open to using GenAI for counseling or venting, concerns about bias and inaccurate responses persist. Follow-up qualitative interviews uncovered that cultural and family stigma around mental health may lead students to turn to GenAI, particularly in an increasingly digital society where personal connections are increasingly fragmented. In his sharing, Verrent will unpack these responses and invite ideas and interpretations from workshop participants.  

The Human-AI Balance: Trust Implications of AI-Assisted Evaluation in Higher Education
Miss Xinjie Monica HUANG and Miss Mingyu LI

This project addresses a critical gap: how students respond to faculty use of Generative AI (GenAI) in assessment. Across a series of experiments utilizing status attribution in workplace and educational contexts, this project has explored and uncovered how an individual using AI can be perceived as less competent, which, in turn, leads to a loss of perceived status. At HKUST, we conducted a survey of 602 students, assessing their views on faculty competence, satisfaction, and status in scenarios involving AI use in marking assessments. Findings indicate that students perceive faculty who use AI for evaluation as less competent and are less likely to recommend their courses, highlighting the complex implications of AI adoption in education and the importance of considering student perspectives in its implementation.

Understanding AI for Wellbeing in Higher Education from an Ethical Perspective
Mr Lorenzo Maria RATTO VAQUER

This talk will present a theoretical framework for wellbeing in the age of AI that brings together Amartya Sen’s capability approach and Shannon Vallor’s notion of moral deskilling. It starts from a definition of wellbeing as the expansion of capabilities, i.e. the real freedoms to be and to do what one has reason to value. I distinguish between wellbeing achievements, the outcomes actually attained, and wellbeing freedom, the genuine opportunities to obtain them. From this, AI is seen as an entity that reshapes capability sets depending on conversion factors: the personal, social, and environmental conditions that determine whether a technology becomes lived freedom.

Moral deskilling, as presented by Vallor, poses a primary threat to wellbeing freedom. When AI structures perception in advance, shapes choice environments, and automates inquiry and judgment, it can weaken core human capabilities such as practical reason, authorship, and affiliation. This can produce a twofold pattern: greater achievements in terms of speed, accuracy, and personalization, alongside reduced freedoms in terms of autonomy, dignity, and the capacity for public reasoning. AI supports wellbeing when it serves as scaffolding that invites the exercise of discernment, dialogue, and responsible self-direction, rather than replacing them.

I propose a capability-based criterion for evaluating AI: its value depends on whether it durably expands opportunities to deliberate well, to participate in the shared authorship of common worlds, and to contest decisions that affect one’s life. The implications for higher education follow consequently. If the aim of education is to cultivate wellbeing freedom, then practices, rules, and forms of AI governance should be designed to support the exercise of practical reason, responsibility in the use of the technology. The decisive question is not how AI can boost educational outputs, but how it can help people and institutions to live, learn, and reason well together.

Facilitators:

Dr Glos HO
Director of DTUP

TSM coordinators

Abstract:

In AY2025/26, HKBU has launched seven Transdisciplinary Second Majors (TSMs) for students in 19 First Majors (FMs), addressing the needs of Hong Kong’s evolving job market. TSMs enable students to integrate knowledge and skills across different disciplines, equipping them for diverse and dynamic career pathways while advancing their fields. Academic Advisors (AAs) play a crucial role in guiding students as they navigate these new opportunities.

At this TALES workshop, the Division of Transdisciplinary Undergraduate Programmes (DTUP), together with TSM coordinators from various faculties and schools, will provide essential information to ensure academic advisors are fully prepared to help students make informed decisions about TSM selection and graduation requirements.

TSMs:

1. Cultural Industry Management
2. Creative Industry Management
3. Digital Entertainment
4. Interactive Media Publishing
5. Green Technology and Sustainability Management
6. Applied Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Society
7. Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management

Facilitators:

Dr Ava LAU
Lecturer, Academy of Wellness and Human Development, HKBU

Dr Patrick YUE
Senior Lecturer, Department of Biology, HKBU