Announcing the winners of the Outstanding Teaching Award (OTA) of TEAS 2011

Message from The Vice-Chancellor

Dear colleagues and students,

I am very pleased to announce the winners of the Outstanding Teaching Award (OTA) of the Teaching Excellence Award Scheme (TEAS) for 2011:

  • Dr. Esther M.K. Cheung, School of Humanities (Comparative Literature), Faculty of Arts
  • Dr. Daniel Churchill, Faculty of Education
  • Dr. Eric H. Schuldenfrei, Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture
  • Dr. Angela P.L. Tong, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science

The Selection Panel has been deeply impressed by the achievements and contributions of the awardees as they have all demonstrated clear evidence of attainment in excellence in teaching and engagement with students and their learning, and curriculum design, renewal and innovation.

The awardees will be honoured at the annual Award Presentation Ceremony for Excellence in Teaching and Research, which has been scheduled for Thursday, February 9, 2012; and their names will be posted for a period of five years on the Teaching Excellence Awards Honour Board in the Main Library. Many congratulations!

I would like to thank other members of the Selection Panel for their advice: Professor Michael J. Worton (Vice-Provost of the University College London), Professor Amy B.M. Tsui, Professor Michael T. Prosser, Professor L.S. Chan and Mr. Ernest Cheung (student representative).

Last but not least, I wish to express my deep appreciation and gratitude to all the other nominees for the TEAS awards for their deep devotion and sustained contribution to promoting excellence in teaching at this great University.

I look forward to seeing you all at the Ceremony on February 9, 2012.

Professor Lap-Chee Tsui, Vice-Chancellor
Chairman
Selection Panel for Teaching Excellence Awards 2011

HKU colleague honoured with the UGC Teaching Award

HKU is pleased to share the good news that Professor Rick Glofcheski of the Faculty of Law, was conferred the inaugural UGC Teaching Award 2011. This new Award honours teachers in the UGC-funded institutions who have demonstrated outstanding achievements in enhancing student learning and in providing leadership in teaching and learning. Up to three awards can be made, but this year only two teachers were selected. The other recipient of the award was Professor Poon Wai-yin, Associate Dean (Education) of the Faculty of Science and Professor in the Department of Statistics at The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Rick has taught at the University for over twenty years and is well-known to his colleagues and students for his relentless pursuit of excellence in teaching and learning. He was awarded a University Teaching Fellowship in 2004, the Outstanding Teaching Award in 2008 and most recently the University Distinguished Teaching Award in 2009.

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Pathfinding: Exhibition on Learning Opportunities at HKU

The Centre of Development and Resources for Students (CEDARS) and the Academic Advising Office (AAO) will jointly organise the following event this Tuesday and Wednesday to introduce to our the variety of learning opportunities available at the University:

Activity: Pathfinding: Exhibition on Learning Opportunities at HKU
Date: September 6-7, 2011 (Tue and Wed)
Time: 12:00 noon – 4:00 p.m.
Venue: Sun Yat-sen Place

Different faculties and supporting units will showcase exciting learning opportunities available at HKU both inside and outside the classroom. This exhibition will help students get a better idea of how to plan their University life and know where to go for assistance when they need it.

Do come and explore and get a special gift!

Teaching Excellence Award Scheme

Nominations are now invited for the University Distinguished Teaching Award (UDTA) and the Outstanding Teaching Awards (OTAs) under the Teaching Excellence Award Scheme (TEAS) in 2011.

The TEAS was introduced in 2008 to reaffirm the University’s commitment to recognizing, rewarding and promoting excellence in teaching. A category of Team Award was introduced under OTA in 2010 to recognize and promote collaborative effort and achievements in enhancing Teaching and Learning at the University.

Both UDTA and OTA (Individual Award) are open to all full-time teaching staff of all grades on Terms of Service I with a substantial responsibility for teaching for a continuous period of 3 years in this University. The OTA (Team Award) is open to teaching teams which comprise staff members who can meet the above eligibility requirements for UDTA/OTA (Individual Award).

For details of TEAS, please refer to the circular from the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching and Learning) at the end of this page.

Nominees are encouraged to contact the Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL) for advice on the preparation of teaching portfolios. Seminars/workshops will be organized by CETL in June and September 2011 to support interested staff members to prepare for their submissions.

All nominations and the supporting documents should reach Ms. Synthia Chau, Academic Development and Quality Assurance Section, by October 28, 2011. Enquiries may be directed to Ms. Chau at 2859 2440 or email to schau@hku.hk.

Assessment Workshop Series

The third of the Assessment Workshop Series will be held on Apr 11, 2011 from 12:30 to 2:00 pm at room 322, Run Run Shaw Building. Professor Margaret Price from Oxford Brookes Business School in the UK will be facilitating this workshop. The workshop will look at some of the difficulties and solutions involved in working with standards based assessment and help participants to develop skills to increase their effectiveness. Assessment is a complex and integrated process and the workshop activities will support participants in understanding what must be addressed and how to do it. It will look at some pitfalls and ways to improve apparently easy tasks such as writing criteria and level descriptors and look beyond those to how standards can really be shared.

For details and registration, please click http://www.cetl.hku.hk/workshop110411. For enquires, please contact Ms Eva Poon at evapoon@hku.hk.

UGC Teaching Award

A new award has been established by the UGC to honour staff in the UGC sector who excel in teaching. Each UGC-funded institution has been invited to nominate two outstanding teachers for the inaugural Awards. A maximum of three awards are expected to be made. The awardees are expected to become “ambassadors of good teaching” to collectively make a real and sustained impact in promoting teaching excellence in the UGC sector.

Learn more…

Institutional Survey Reports System

The Institutional Survey Reports System will be launched on January 17, 2011 to serve as the online platform for Faculties to retrieve institutional survey results from the HKU Student Learning Experience Questionnaire (HKUSLEQ). This System will enable Faculties to retrieve survey results and generate reports at curriculum and programme levels. Standard report templates are also available for downloading scores for the scales and the individual items.

The System will be launched in two phases:

  • Phase 1 – January 17, 2011 – will enable access to the data of more recent surveys;
  • Phase 2 – February 28, 2011 – will enable access to the data of more distant surveys.

The System can be accessed by academic staff and those administrative staff who have been granted access rights. Please follow the path below.

HKU Portal -> MyUIS -> Teaching & Learning -> Institutional Survey Reports

Faculties are also welcome to contact Dr. Maggie Zhao of CETL at myzhao@hku.hk for support in interpreting and utilizing survey data, and Mr. David Tsang at davidtsang@cetl.hku.hk for technical support in using the System.

To download the User Manual, please click here.

Teaching Exchange Fellowship Scheme

The Teaching and Learning Quality Committee has announced the introduction of a new Teaching Exchange Fellowship Scheme. The Scheme aims to enhance the scholarship of teaching at the University through enabling academic staff members to share experience and to collaborate on teaching and curriculum development initiatives at reputable universities where excellent pedagogical practices or curriculum innovation are being implemented, and to facilitate reciprocal visits to the University by academic staff of these institutions. The Scheme is a measure also to ensure that our curriculum and pedagogy are benchmarked against international best practice.

All full-time teaching professoriate staff with a minimum of two years of service at the University are eligible to apply. All applications and supporting documents should reach Ms. Synthia Chau, Secretary of the Teaching and Learning Quality Committee on or before March 18, 2011. Enquires may be directed to Ms. Synthia Chau at 2859 2440 or via email to schau@hku.hk. For more details, please read the circular below.

Announcement circular from the Chairman of TLQC (document 147/1210) (HKU Portal login required)

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