Staff Seminar: Flipping the Classroom

Message from Common Core Curriculum Committee

Date: 30 October 2012 (Tue)
Time: 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
Venue: LG-06, Hui Oi Chow Science Building

Speaker
Professor Harry Lewis
Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Harvard University

Abstract
Professor Harry Lewis will report on an experiment teaching in a “flipped classroom”, in which students watched lectures over the Internet in their dormitory rooms, and spent class time solving problems. The subject matter was discrete mathematics, which is well suited to this pedagogical style, but the class was so successful that he expects it will be widely adapted at Harvard—if a variety of serious practical problems can be managed.

About the Speaker
Professor Harry Lewis is Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University. He served as Dean of Harvard College from 1995-2003. He holds A.B., A.M., and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard, all in Applied Mathematics.

Throughout his career, Professor Lewis has been actively involved in pedagogical innovation. He is the author of numerous books and articles in three areas of scholarship: theoretical computer science; the social implications of the development of the Internet; and the history and future of higher education. His recent books include Excellence Without a Soul: Does Liberal Education Have a Future?; Blown to Bits: Your Life, Liberty, and Happiness After the Digital Explosion; and What Is College For? The Public Purpose of Higher Education.

All are welcome.

For enquiries, please mail to commoncore@hku.hk or call 2219 4957.

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Common Core Distinguished Lecture Series – Lecture 3: Excellence with a Soul: The Mission of Undergraduate Education

Lecture 3 – Excellence with a Soul: The Mission of Undergraduate Education (Common Core Curriculum)
Speaker: Professor Harry Lewis, Harvard University

Date: Tuesday October 30, 2012
Time: 5:30 – 6:30 pm
Venue: Rayson Huang Theatre (Main venue)
(Webcasting in other venues will be available)

Abstract
What should students get from their undergraduate education? Not just knowledge and skills, but habits, values, and ideals. A great education leaves students empowered by their knowledge and humble about its limits, curious to learn more and skeptical about what they have been taught. Well-educated people can place the problems of their society in the course of human history, and can face their personal challenges in the context of what others before them have wondered about themselves. True educational excellence does not just transmit information; it inspires students and awakens their souls.

About the Speaker
Professor Harry Lewis is Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University. He served as Dean of Harvard College from 1995-2003. He holds A.B., A.M., and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard, all in Applied Mathematics.
Professor Lewis is the author of numerous books and articles in three areas of scholarship: theoretical computer science; the social implications of the development of the Internet; and the history and future of higher education. His books have had a significant influence on the teaching of computer science to undergraduates.
During his almost forty years of teaching, Professor Lewis has helped launch thousands of Harvard undergraduates into careers in computer science. His former students include dozens of today’s computer science professors and many successful entrepreneurs, including both Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg.

The lecture series is sponsored by Mr Alex CH Lai 賴振鴻 (BSc(Eng)1985).

For enquiries, please mail to commoncore@hku.hk or call 2219 4957.

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Common Core Distinguished Lecture Series – Lecture 2: Science for Future World Leaders

Date: Wednesday October 24, 2012
Time: 6:45 – 8:00 pm
Venue: Rayson Huang Theatre (Main venue)
(Webcasting in other venues will be available)

Abstract
We live in a world in which many issues, possibly most, have a technological component. It is no longer sufficient for world leaders to master the traditional areas of politics, economics, business and diplomacy; they must understand science. The lecture will describe a new way to teach science to future world leaders based on emphasis of issues that are evidently important. These will include the physics of terrorism and counter-terrorism; nuclear weapons, nuclear accidents, and cancer; space and satellites, energy and alternative energy, and global warming. This is not diluted science, but tough top-level science, science that can and must be mastered by not only our leaders but by the people who elect them.

About the Speaker
Professor Richard Muller is professor of physics at University of California, Berkeley. His proudest achievements: discovery of the non-uniformity of the radiation from the Big Bang; invention of AMS, now adopted around the world as the most sensitive method of radioisotope dating; Nemesis theory of a companion star to the sun; creation of a supernova discovery program that led to the discovery of dark energy; lunar soil analysis; author of a technical book on glacial cycles and climate change. His course “Physics for Future Presidents” was twice voted “Best Class at Berkeley” and has been watched on YouTube in ninety countries. He is currently leading the “Berkeley Earth” study making a new evaluation of global warming.

Professor Muller has been awarded the MacArthur Prize, the NSF Waterman Award, the Texas Instruments Founders Prize, and numerous teaching awards. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His most recent book is Energy for Future Presidents.

For enquiries, please mail to commoncore@hku.hk or call 2219 4957.

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Science for Future World Leaders
Conversation with Students

The distinguished lecture will be followed by Professor Muller’s conversation with students on Thursday, October 25 from 5:30 – 7:00 pm in Room 112, Knowles Building. Students who have attended the lecture on October 24 are most welcome to participate.

Registration

Common Core Distinguished Lecture Series – Lecture 1: Why the Humanities Matter

Message from Common Core Curriculum Committee

Lecture 1: Why the Humanities Matter
Speaker: Professor Sander Gilman, Emory University

Date: Wed October 17, 2012
Time: 6:45 – 8:00 pm
Venue: Rayson Huang Theatre (Main venue)
(Webcasting in other venues will be available)

Abstract:
The debates about the value of the Humanities taking place in North America and Europe have been answered to a degree by the new curriculum at the University of Hong Kong.  These debates, however, ask not only HOW we should study the Humanities but also WHY we should do so. The answer to this is more than simply topical: What value does such knowledge have for us, for our world, and for our time?

About the Speaker:
Professor Sander Gilman is a distinguished professor of the Liberal Arts and Sciences as well as Professor of Psychiatry at Emory University. A cultural and literary historian, he is the author or editor of over eighty books.

For twenty-five years Professor Gilman was a member of the humanities and medical faculties at Cornell University where he held the Goldwin Smith Professorship of Humane Studies.  For six years he held the Henry R. Luce Distinguished Service Professorship of the Liberal Arts in Human Biology at the University of Chicago and for four years was a distinguished professor of the Liberal Arts and Medicine and creator of the Humanities Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He has been a visiting professor at numerous universities in North America, South Africa, The United Kingdom, Germany, Israel, China, and New Zealand.  Currently, he is a Visiting Research Professor at the University of Hong Kong.

The distinguished lecture will be followed by a conversation with the speaker on Thursday, October 18 from 5:30 – 7:00 pm in Room G-07, Main Building.  Students who have attended the lecture on October 18 are most welcome to participate.

For enquiries, please mail to commoncore@hku.hk or call 2219 4957.

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Common Core Distinguished Lecture Series starts October 17

To celebrate the full launch of the Common Core Curriculum, the Common Core Curriculum Committee is holding a distinguished lecture series which consists of five lectures to be delivered by world-renowned scholars. These lectures will provide an overview of the role of the Common Core Curriculum in the undergraduate curriculum and an examination of some of the key issues in each of the Area of Inquiry (AoI).

The first three lectures are scheduled for the first semester. Details are as follows:

Lecture 1 – Why the Humanities Matter (Humanities AoI)
Speaker: Professor Sander Gilman, Emory University
Date: Wed October 17, 2012
Time: 6:45 – 8:00 pm

Lecture 2 – Science for Future World Leaders (Scientific & Technological Literacy AoI)
Speaker: Professor Richard Muller, University of California, Berkeley
Date: Wed October 24, 2012
Time: 6:45 – 8:00 pm

Lecture 3 – Excellence with a Soul: The Mission of Undergraduate Education (Common Core Curriculum)
Speaker: Professor Harry Lewis, Harvard University
Date: Tue October 30, 2012
Time: 5:30 – 6:30 pm

Lectures 4 and 5, focusing on the Global Issues AoI and China: Culture, States & Society AoI respectively, will be held in the second semester. More information will be available soon.

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Workshop for Students: What is Common Core and How to Master these Courses?

Organized by the Academic Advising Office

This workshop will provide students with practical advice on how to prepare for and master Common Core courses. Current Common Core faculty from each Area of Inquiry and the Director of Common Core will be on a panel addressing typical questions from First Year students and taking questions from the audience.

Date/Time: September 18, 2012 (Tues) 5:30 to 6:45 pm
Venue: Meng Wah Complex, T2

Panelists:
Mr Gwyn Edwards – Director of the Common Core Curriculum
Dr David Pomfret – Humanities
Professor L.C. Chan – Scientific and Technological Literacy
Dr Gina Marchetti – Global Issues
Dr Xianjun Yan – China: Culture, State and Society

Moderator:
Dr Amy Lewis
Academic Adviser, Academic Advising Office

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Common Core: Full Launch in 2012-13, with a new website

The Common Core Curriculum will be fully launched in September 2012, with the aim of broadening students’ horizons and learning experience beyond their disciplinary studies. In 2012-13, 140 courses are on offer, providing students with a diversity of choices under the 4 Areas of Inquiries: Scientific and Technological Literacy, Humanities, Global Issues, and China: Culture, State and Society. As a graduation requirement, students will take Common Core courses according to the regulations of their programmes.

To help students make an informed selection of courses, the Common Core Curriculum website provides useful course information, along with a newly opened “Common Core Theatre” showcasing trailers of several courses.

Please visit http://commoncore.hku.hk for more details.

Common Core Student website

Report on University Studies: Lessons Learned from an Award-Winning Common Core Curriculum at Portland State University

Dr Candyce Reynolds discussed the successes and challenges of running a general education programme for 18 years at the seminar entitled “University Studies: Lessons Learned from an Award-Winning Common Core Curriculum at Portland State University (PSU)”.

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Organized by the Common Core Curriculum Committee and the Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning, this seminar was held on June 22, 2012 to provide an opportunity for participants who engage in Common Core teaching or associated activities to learn more about “University Studies”, the award-winning general education programme at PSU. The session was attended by over 40 of our staff members.

The structure, stages of development and curricular goals of the programme were described in the seminar. Dr Reynolds also presented examples of tools and methods used to assess student learning in University Studies courses. To ensure sustainability of the programme, she pointed out that the followings issues should be carefully attended to:

  • Creating opportunities for learning community development
  • Developing a culture of institutional assessment
  • Promoting and rewarding good teaching in general education at faculty and university levels
  • Managing students’ expectations about traditional modalities of education.
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Click here to access the presentation slides presented by Dr Reynolds at the seminar.

To know more about PSU’s comprehensive general education programme and its recent developments, please visit their website.

Common Core: Pushing the boundaries of teaching

The article “Teachers Learn, too, in the Common Core” in the latest issue of the HKU Bulletin features stories about how the Common Core Curriculum changes the way teachers teach and design their courses.

“Previously I taught in a very didactic way – traditional lecture and tutorial, “said Dr Eric Chui, Associate Professor of Social Work who teaches “Youth in a Global World“. With a diverse class mix of students from various disciplines, “I’ve had to go beyond my comfort zone to teach students from different backgrounds, but it’s been a really good experience in terms of my relfections on my teaching.”

Dr Michael Adorjan, Assistant Professor of Sociology who teaches “Cybersocieties: Understanding Technology as Global Change“, credited his students with bringing in new ideas and course content which keep his teaching and research fresh and relevant.

Read more about their experience and learn more about our recent discussions on the Common Core.

University Studies: Lessons Learned from an Award-Winning Common Core Curriculum at Portland State University

Jointly Organized by:
Common Core Curriculum Committee &
Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL)

Date: June 22, 2012 (Friday)
Time: 12:45pm – 2pm
Venue: Room 321, Run Run Shaw Building, HKU

Speaker: Dr Candyce Reynolds, Graduate School of Education,
Portland State University

Abstract

Portland State University initiated a new integrated four level common core curriculum in 1994. This session will describe the structure and development of the program and its curricular goals. The session will conclude with a discussion of lesson learned in the process. Similarities and differences between this program and the HKU Common Core Curriculum will be explored and discussed.

About the Speaker

Candyce Reynolds is an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Education at Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, USA in the department of Educational Leadership and Policy. She teaches primarily in the Postsecondary, Adult, and Continuing Education Program working with students interested in education in all its forms. She has an A.B. in Psychology and Social Welfare from the University of California at Berkeley, USA and an M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Oregon, USA in Counseling Psychology.

Dr Reynolds is a leader in the area of student centered pedagogy, authentic student learning assessment and the role of reflective practice in facilitating student learning. In recent years, her work has focused on the use of the ePortfolio to promote student learning and program assessment. She has published broadly in higher education books and journals and has made presentations at a variety of venues throughout the USA and internationally.

Light refreshments will be served.

All are welcome. For registration, please visit:
http://www.cetl.hku.hk/seminar120622/

For enquiries, please contact:
Ms Emily Chan by email chiting@hku.hk