Organised by Technology-Enriched Learning Initiative (TELI)
Details of the event:
Date : 3 May, 2018 (Thursday) Time : 9:30am – 1:00pm Venue : CPD-LG.18, LG/F, Central Podium, Centennial Campus, HKU
Abstract
In the higher education sector, assessment has been characterized as “driving student learning” – it determines students’ learning strategies and affects their learning outcomes. Authentic assessment strategies, which draw connections between the subject matter and real-world problems, have demonstrated high effectiveness and efficiency in clinical education. But is that the only context where authentic assessment could be applied? Can authentic assessment be adopted in day-to-day classroom teaching and learning across different subjects?
In this symposium, practitioners from law, medicine, dentistry, education, science, social sciences, architecture, arts and CAES will share their philosophy and practices in applying authentic assessment in their classroom. Student representatives will also be invited to share their learning experience and how authentic assessment has enabled deeper learning.
Organised by Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL)
Details of the workshop:
Panellists : Dr Julie Chen, Dr. Wilton Fok, Ms. Francesca Sin Discussants : Prof. Grahame Bilbow, Prof. David Carless, Dr. Tracy Zou Date : June 8 (Wednesday), 2016 Time : 12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Venue : Room 321, 3/F, Run Run Shaw Building (Main Campus), HKU Hot dishes will be provided.
Abstract
In the University of Hong Kong, experiential learning is a distinctive component in the undergraduate curriculum. The University is also committed to providing a wide range of international and Mainland learning experiences for students under the HKU Horizons framework.
Designing assessment and providing feedback in experiential learning is never an easy task, and the great variety of student experiences involved in experiential learning, including community engagement, has often been associated with challenges in assessment. However, if we can accommodate for and make use of the diversity and authenticity embedded in experiential learning, there is the opportunity to turn these challenges into great learning opportunities.
In this Join-the-Conversation event, we will briefly share our findings from an earlier small-scale study involving interviews with nine teachers and two students at HKU. A panel-led discussion will then follow. Our panellists will outline assessment and feedback practices in their experiential learning programmes and address questions from the audience. The event will be closed by Prof. David Carless, a world renowned expert in assessment and feedback, who will round off by providing comments on the discussion and highlighting some key take-away messages.
About the Panellists
Dr. Julie Chen is an Assistant Professor jointly appointed by the Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care and the Bau Institute of Medical and Health Sciences Education. She has been leading the Professionalism in Practice (PIP) programme, which links a student with the same primary care preceptor over three years to experience what professionalism looks like in real life. Julie is a family physician engaged in the development, implementation and evaluation of new initiatives in the medical curriculum to encourage early learning of professionalism and humanism in medicine. For this work, she has been recognized with a Faculty Teaching Medal and Teaching Excellence Award (Team).
Dr. Wilton Fok is a Principal Lecturer and Assistant Dean in the Faculty of Engineering. He has been leading experiential learning programmes for students from engineering and other disciplines since 2009. He started with a service learning trip after the Sichuan earthquake and has now extended learning experiences to other locations, such as Tianjin, Shanghai and Guangxi. Wilton will also share how his students made use of smartphones to collect artifacts for e-portfolio production in a recent mission to Sichuan.
Ms. Francesca Sin is Assistant Director (Experiential Learning) in the Faculty of Social Sciences. She leads the Social Innovation Global Citizenship Programme in the Faculty. Francesca read Economics at the University of Sydney for her undergraduate degree. She also received a Master of Business Administration, Postgraduate Diploma in Education and Master of Education from The University of Hong Kong and a Certificate of Entrepreneurial Management for Social Enterprises from Education-for-Good / St James’ Settlement. Apart from teaching, Francesca is also heavily involved in many education-related programmes with NGOs and social enterprises throughout Hong Kong, China and developing countries on a voluntary basis. She is currently a candidate of Doctorate of Education in Organisational Leadership from the Meridian University in the States, focusing on Transformative Education.
About the Discussants
Prof. Grahame Bilbow, Director, Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning, HKU
Prof. David Carless, Associate Dean (Learning & Teaching), Faculty of Education, HKU
Dr. Tracy Zou, Assistant Professor, Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning, HKU
Dr. Cecilia Chan presented a workshop entitled “Design of CLOs, PLOs and Mapped Assessments” in collaboration with Prof. Pauline Chiu, the Acting Dean for the Faculty of Science (also the Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning). The lunchtime, interactive workshop took place on Monday, 29th February, 2016 and attracted over 70 HKU colleagues and students across disciplines.
Cecilia gave a brief overview of the curriculum reform in Hong Kong (2012), including the introduction of the common core curriculum, Outcomes Based Approach to Student Learning (OBASL) and whole-person education at HKU. All programs within HKU has to declare their Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs), Program’s Learning Outcomes (PLOs) to students. Leading by example, Cecilia presented the workshop’s four learning outcomes:
1. Apply the concepts of outcomes-based approach to student learning (OBASL)
2. Identify and write learning outcomes in your course using appropriate verbs and the Bloom’s taxonomy
3. Align your course with the programme outcomes and HKU aims
4. Justify the evidence for student learning in your course/programme
As a form of formative assessment, casino chips were awarded to attendees who participated by answering, commenting or asking questions during the workshop! This activity motivated much discussion and smiles during the workshop.
Aligned teaching and assessment activities with learning outcomes are critical to student learning.
Cecilia provided the rationale behind OBASL which is to help students better understand what they are expected to achieve, how they should go about achieving and how that achievement should be assessed. Learning outcomes should be seen as a contractual obligations to our students and should be written from the perspectives of the students.
Next, Cecilia presented an example of OBASL based on a driving course and discussed the practice of designing observable and measurable outcomes using Bloom’s taxonomy. In general, each step of Bloom’s taxonomy requires a greater depth of learning. Cecilia stressed that higher level of learning domains are not exclusive to senior students and could be appropriate for Year 1 students if it is the required skill level for the intended learning outcomes. The workshop attendees were encouraged to write learning outcomes, teaching activities and assessment methods using verbs that correspond to the learning domains of the Bloom’s taxonomy. Examples were shared amongst the attendees followed by discussions on the challenges when designing learning outcomes suitable to skill level of Year 1 undergraduate students.
The University has decided on a set of educational aims which also constituted as learning outcomes. Besides disciplinary knowledge, the remaining 5 education aims of HKU are focused on students’ generic skills competency. Attendees were invited to share their perspective on whether their current programmes have sufficiently covered all the HKU educational aims and some of the potential barriers. This generated a lively discussions and comments on whom should be responsible to ensure the education aims are achieved and the challenges on the assessments and the accreditation process of generic skills competency. Some examples of matrix mapping with CLOs with PLOs were presented as they are important evidence of students learning and demonstrate the alignment between CLOs with PLOs.
In closing, Dr. Chan reiterated CLOs, PLOs and HKU education aims are our contractual obligations to our students. Whilst there are challenges and issues we may face when designing CLOs and PLOs, it is essential to student-centred learning. Cecilia thanked all the attendees in particular Prof. Chiu for her contribution to the workshop and the Faculty to sponsor lunch. Last but not least, Cecilia distributed prizes for the attendees with more than 10 casino chips.
Organized by Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning
Date: 29 January, 2016 (Friday) Time: 12:30pm – 2:15pm Venue: Room 321 & 322, 3/F, Run Run Shaw Building Hot lunch will be provided from 12:30pm
Contributors:
Professor Grahame Bilbow, Director, Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning, HKU
Professor Dai Hounsell, Professor Emeritus of Higher Education, University of Edinburgh
Professor Gerard Postiglione, Associate Dean (Research), Chair of Higher Education, Faculty of Education, HKU
Dr. Wilton Fok, Principal Lecturer and Assistant Dean, Faculty of Engineering, HKU
Ms. Miranda Legg, Senior Lecturer, Centre for Applied English Studies, HKU
Dr. Tracy Zou – Assistant Professor, Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning, HKU
Abstract:
In common with other leading universities, HKU is seeking to enhance the internationalisation of its curricula and its teaching. But what will this mean for student learning? How can internationalisation enrich what our students learn in their studies at HKU, while also having benefits that extend far beyond graduation?
Internationalisation of teaching and learning is the main focus of the UGC-funded “Communities of Practice” project this academic year. This Join-the-Conversation event is the first in a CETL series of events exploring various aspects of internationalisation. Drawing on ideas and perspectives from universities across the world, as well as experiences at HKU, it will open the debate by highlighting key learning challenges and opportunities, and invite you to consider their relevance to your own role and responsibilities. The ensuing discussions will help shape the themes, resources and interactions that the CETL project team will be collaborating on over the coming months.
Organized by Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning
Active Learning Pedagogical Series Workshop 2
“Why are my students not listening to me?” –
Motivating your students by incorporating SIMPLE active learning activities and assessment in your classroom
Speaker: Dr Cecilia Chan, Head of Professional Development, Associate Professor, CETL Date: 14 January, 2016 (Thursday) Time: 12:45pm – 2:00pm Venue: Room 321, Run Run Shaw Building
Abstract:
It is most discouraging to see your students disengage in your lecture or tutorial – falling asleep or playing with mobile phones and laptops. But what can be done? Some teachers enforce mandatory attendance as part of the assessment thus to fill the seats in the lecture room, but how can attendance be a learning outcome? Mandatory attendance surely does not inspire learning, in fact, often quite the opposite.
This is the second workshop in a series of active learning. In this workshop, we will demonstrate effective pedagogies and assessment methods so that there are more interaction between students and teachers, and students and students, join us to find a way that suits your type of students.
Reference:
Gibbs, G., & Simpson, C. (2004). Does your assessment support your students’ learning. Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 1(1), 1-30.
About the speaker: Dr. Cecilia Chan is the Head of Professional Development and an Associate Professor in the Centre of the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning at The University of Hong Kong (HKU). Cecilia has a dual cultural background; she was originally born in Hong Kong but grew up in Ireland. In addition to her dual cultural background, she also has a dual discipline expertise in engineering and education; she has been playing an important role in enhancing engineering and science education. Her combined expertise in these fields and multi-cultural experience enabled her to lead and conduct research on topics such as assessment, technology enhanced learning and the development and assessment of 21st century skills spanning in engineering education from east to west.
Cecilia holds a PhD in Engineering from Trinity College, a postgraduate diploma and a MA in Higher Education. She also held a Fellowship from King’s College London. She has received many teaching awards and has over 15 years of effective practical experience in engaging students.
What transforms lectures into lessons learnt? Participation, perhaps. Small twists such as inviting students to provide short-written responses would allow for personalized learning in many ways, as suggested by Professor David Carless, Associate Dean (Learning and Teaching) in the Faculty of Education, and Dr. David Pomfret, Chairperson of the Department of History. They gave a seminar on this subject on December 1st, 2015.
In Dr. Pomfret’s history class, students were prompted to write short responses to one question each time. For example,
· “What nation do you think you belong to? Why?”
· “Which do you think is more valuable – history in history books or history in movies?”
These questions invite personal participation and reflection, and are associated with issues to be addressed in the next class, where a summary of the graded responses would be presented by way of a springboard for discussions. The rewards of such a practice are manifold: it enables students to quickly connect learning materials with their personal experiences; and their participation keeps them motivated throughout the semester. Teachers may also gauge common prior knowledge (or misconceptions, sometimes) among students in a timely manner through students’ submissions. In other words, short-written responses facilitate closing the feedback loop in learning.
At the seminar, some teachers suggested inviting students to post their responses on online platforms such as Moodle as it is much faster, and allows everyone in class to view their peers’ submissions. That’s certainly one quick and easily doable way. However, if the teacher would like to have anonymous feedback, an audience response tool such as Mentimeter might serve the purpose better. Would you like to give it a try?
Organized by Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning
Dear colleagues
As you may know, assessment is one of the key themes for teaching and learning enhancement at HKU. I am therefore delighted to share with you some important new teaching and learning resources on the theme of assessment that the Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL) has been responsible for creating over recent months.
The resources on the newly-created “Wise Assessment Forum” website take the form of twelve wise assessment briefings (including local and international case examples), which we hope will help colleagues to enhance the design of assessment in their courses or programmes.
These wise assessment briefings are organised around four themes: assessment in the Common Core Curriculum, assessing experiential learning, understanding standards, and high-impact feedback. The resources have been created on the basis of a comprehensive literature review, interviews with a sample of HKU teachers and students, and advice from world renowned experts on assessment.
These new resources are tangible outputs from the Centre’s on-going Community of Practice Project, which seeks to identify, surface, synthesise, and share effective teaching and learning practices across the University. They follow closely on the heels of three “Join-the-Conversation” events which were organised in the spring semester of 2014-15 and attracted over 160 participants from HKU, and other local and overseas universities to share and discuss their professional practices.
I invite you to visit the “Wise Assessment Forum” website (www.cetl.hku.hk/wise-assessment-forum/) to view and download these resources, which I hope you will find useful in your everyday teaching. I also welcome you to share your assessment designs with us at CETL so that we can keep our resources updated with the latest assessment innovations at HKU and spread wise practice in the area of assessment even further.
If you have any suggestions or queries in relation to these new resources, or teaching and learning more broadly, please feel free to contact my colleague Dr Tracy Zou at tracyzou@hku.hk.
Best regards
Professor Grahame T Bilbow
Director, Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL)
The University of Hong Kong
Organized by Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning
Chairperson: Prof Grahame Bilbow, Director, Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning, HKU Speaker: Prof Dai Hounsell, Professor Emeritus, University of Edinburgh Date: 18 June 2015, Thursday Programme: 12:00 – 12:45 Sharing of HKU students’ voices on feedback (video and discussion)
13:15 – 14:00 Flipping Feedback
(Hot lunch will be served.) Venue: Multi-purpose Zone, 3/F Main Library
Abstract:
As one of the Join-the-Conversation events, and also part of the Wise Assessment Community of Practice project, this particular event focuses on one critical and indispensable aspect of assessment – enhancing the effectiveness of feedback to students on their progress and performance. The aim of this event is to promote discussion about the importance of feedback, its impact on student learning, and the ways of providing and enhancing feedback. Our speaker, Professor Dai Hounsell, will give a talk and invite discussions.
Led by Professor Hounsell, four Wise Assessment Briefings have been compiled on this topic, discussing a range of theories and practices in enhancing feedback, and will be available for participants during the event. In addition, we will also share students’ voices about feedback, which were collected from informal interviews with a sample of HKU students on campus.
About the speaker:
Professor Dai Hounsell is Professor Emeritus of Higher Education at the University of Edinburgh. He was the University’s Vice-Principal for Academic Enhancement from 2009 to 2012, Vice Principal for Assessment and Feedback from 2012 to 2014, and Professor of Higher Education from 2000 to 2014. He has published widely on assessment and feedback and many other aspects of university learning and teaching, served in various editorial and refereeing roles, and led several multi-institutional higher education research and development projects with external funding. He coordinates the work of the Wise Assessment Community of Practice Project, which is led by the Director of CETL, Professor Grahame Bilbow.
In the panel-led discussion, our panellists will outline assessment practices in their programmes or courses that involve experiential learning and invite questions and discussions. Copies of the relevant Wise Assessment Briefings will be provided for participants.
Coordinated by Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning
Date: 16 June 2015, Tuesday Time: 12:15 – 14:00 (Hot lunch will be served.) Venue: Multi-purpose Zone, 3/F Main Library
Co-chairs:
Professor Grahame Bilbow, Director of Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning, HKU
Professor Dai Hounsell, Professor Emeritus, University of Edinburgh
Dr Albert Ko, Director, Gallant Ho Experiential Learning Centre, HKU
Panellists:
Mr Wilson Chow, Associate Professor, Head of the Department of Professional Legal Education
Dr Wilton Fok, Principal Lecturer, Assistant Dean, Faculty of Engineering
Prof Samson Tse, Associate Dean (Undergraduate Education), Director of Experiential Learning, Faculty of Social Sciences
Abstract:
This particular Join-the-Conversation event focuses on assessing experiential learning. We would like to take the opportunity to share with you some of our preliminary findings regarding effective approaches of assessing experiential learning at HKU and elsewhere from the literature. To date, we have conducted informal interviews with nine teachers and two students at HKU, consulted experts and scholars within and outside of HKU, and compiled three Wise Assessment Briefings about the topic, detailing a range of assessment practices in capstone projects and dissertations, courses and programmes, as well as the ethical dimensions in experiential learning.
In the panel-led discussion, our panellists will outline assessment practices in their programmes or courses that involve experiential learning and invite questions and discussions. Copies of the relevant Wise Assessment Briefings will be provided for participants.
Message from Centre for Information Technology in Education within the Faculty of Education
Invitation to attend CITE Research Symposium 2015
You are invited to participate in the CITE Research Symposium (CITERS 2015) on 29-30 May 2015 (Friday & Saturday) at The University of Hong Kong. This year’s CITERS is organized by the Centre for Information Technology in Education of the University of Hong Kong (CITE), in collaboration with Centre for Advancement in Inclusive and Special Education (CAISE), Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL), the Libraries of the University of Hong Kong and HKU SPACE. The goal of the symposium is to discuss recent research, share good educational practices, and new technologies, with a view to furthering research and practice that support learning with IT. It also provides a platform for the presentation and sharing of outcomes from research and development work conducted by practitioners and researchers to advance our knowledge and understanding of the many issues related to technology-supported learning and teaching.
There are four sub-themes, which are (1) Cyber worldness and Cyber worldliness; (2) Designing and assessing learning; (3) The future of open learning; (4) Emerging pedagogies and technologies. The symposium will feature sessions on a broad range of topics related to the Symposium theme and subthemes. In addition to invited speakers and paper presentations, there will also be experience sharing panels, hands-on demonstrations and discussion forums. Symposium activities are organized as a two-day event. On each day, there will be keynote addresses and parallel sessions on e-Learning, including introductions to CITE projects that focus on various areas such as self-directed learning (SDL) in the Science KLA, e-Learning implementation in schools.
CITERS 2015 is designed to be of interest and relevance to academics and research students in tertiary institutions, school principals and teachers from local and international schools, school administrators, librarians, government officials, publishers of educational resources and e-Learning related industries, and interested members of the community. The program rundown and details about CITERS 2015 can be obtained from http://citers2015.cite.hku.hk. If you are interested in attending the event, please visit the symposium website for online registration and details of the registration fees. School teachers and principals who are interested to attend the event are requested to register with the EDB Training Calendar. The deadline for online registration is 10 May 2015.
I look forward to seeing you at this important Research Symposium. Please encourage others who may be interested to attend this Symposium.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Jingyan LU & Dr. Timothy HEW
CITERS2015 Organizing Committee Co-chairs
