Organised by Technology-Enriched Learning Initiative (TELI)

Details of the event:

Abstract

Designing a successful and innovative initiative in the field of Learning and Development (L&D) is one of the most important projects for schools and organizations in the era of digital learning. It is imperative to create well-designed course materials and plan an engaging infrastructure to ensure an effective and evaluable learning experience. In this session, Mr. Chia-Wei Wu, the Director of Learning Sciences and Technologies at Penn Dental Medicine (PDM) will showcase PDM’s Online Learning Initiative and present how PDM’s Learning Technology Team (LTT) successfully developed and implemented blended learning solutions by utilizing cutting-edge learning technology tools. Moreover, you will learn how PDM LTT has harnesses the power of gamification, mobile learning and social learning to “flip” the classroom at the oldest IVY League dental school since 2013. Lastly, through an efficacy study, Mr. Wu will introduce the online learning methodologies both in synchronous and asynchronous learning scenarios with PDM’s current projects. Cecilia Tsang, the Education Development Manager from Apple, will introduce the current technology development in medical science and its influences. Different examples will be shared. This session will be of excellent value to instructional designer, online curriculum planner, or any e-learning developers whose professional focus is on finding the best use case for tomorrow’s learner.

About the Speaker

Mr. Chia-Wei Wu
Director of Learning Sciences and Technologies
School of Dental Medicine (PDM),
University of Pennsylvania

Registration

Enquiries should be directed to enquiry@teli.hku.hk.

Professor Sun Kwok, a world-renowned astronomer, devotes his waking hours to exploring the wonders of the Universe. Why did he choose this path, and how did it work out for him? On 27th September, we visited Professor Kwok at the Laboratory for Space Research in Cyberport. In an interview with him, we got to know Professor Kwok as a scientist, an insightful educator, and an astronomy enthusiast brimming with passion.

When did it all begin?
It was not Professor Kwok’s childhood dream to become an astronomer. Instead, when he was studying engineering at university in Canada, one day, as he read Frontiers of Astronomy by Fred Hoyle, he found out that astronomy has much to do with physics, chemistry and biology. He realized that science are tools enabling him to understand the patterns and motions of stars, and the fascinating unknown of their composition, structure and evolution. The idea of investigating the Universe with physics was exciting, and he was inspired to pursue astronomy, eventually making important discoveries and leaving a legacy.

Curiosity and hard work paid off
For Professor Kwok, the Universe is still full of mysteries awaiting him to unveil. Despite hurdles, his curiosity and desire to solve mysteries drive him forward and help him overcome difficulties. Professor Kwok also adds it is all down to diligent preparation and effort, as one would never know when that eureka moment happens. His formula to reaching his goals is constant work, determination and hard work; not so much about natural talent or luck.

His efforts paid off. After countless ventures into deep space through telescopes, Professor Kwok is now the proud discoverer of many nebulae and stars. When asked how does he name his discoveries, Professor Kwok said, “it’s usually because of what they look like. In the case of cotton candy (nebula), it’s because of its shape!”

Places for stargazing
Professor Kwok has made a lot of professional observations on Hawaii’s Mauna Kea. The telescopes on its summit stand 4200 metres above sea level, where the skies are clear and the clouds are well below the observer. It is the location that Professor Kwok considers his favourite to observe celestial wonders.

But is Hawaii the only good place to go stargazing? Many often complain that it is difficult to see stars in Hong Kong due to severe light pollution. Professor Kwok remarks that even in Hong Kong it is not impossible to see, but people just turn a blind eye to them. In fact, Professor Kwok adds, it is extremely easy to see a planet even in Hong Kong, and people are always bewildered when he points to Venus at twilight. Professor Kwok suggests us all to go to the countryside, far away from the city lights, and marvel at the gifts of nature to rekindle our interest for our environment, because “it is all what our ancestors did. Everyone should see the Milky Way once in their lifetime.”

The next adventure
An inquisitive mind enabled ancient people to develop science and make technological advancements. Where is Professor Kwok’s curiosity leading him next? Currently, Professor Kwok works on astrobiology and is studying organic matter in space. He also believes that the integration of different fields of knowledge, such as chemistry, biology and geology, will create a multi-disciplinary perspective and be the future of astronomy.

Professor Kwok always encourages young people to pursue their dreams. “Because at the end, it is your life, and you have to have a career that is fulfilling”.

Professor Kwok was featured in the 5th episode of RTHK’s series Our Scientists. It explores Professor Kwok’s journey in becoming an astronomer, his visions in education, as well as his recent research in organic matter in space.

Follow Our Place in the Universe’s Facebook page for video clips of our interview with Professor Kwok and other astronomical facts and interesting articles!

We are surrounded by promises about a technology-enriched learning environment – for example, how online education will supplement face-to-face lectures, how artificial intelligence will provide round-the-clock assistance to students who always work until the small hours. These promises are motivating some of our teachers to bring more innovations to their classrooms. Dr. Rachel Lui, who gave a sharing session last week, is one of them.

Thanks to the Teaching Exchange Fellowship Scheme (TEFS), Rachel was able to visit the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the summer of 2017 to investigate a new “medium of instruction” – the “Learning Glass”. The tool is a video recording system with a transparent glass board in front of the camera. This allows teachers to maintain natural eye contact with the viewers while presenting the content. The purpose is to engage students in a constructivist process of learning. Rachel’s sharing covered the following topics:

• what “Learning Glass” is, and how to set it up;
• why natural eye contact is important;
• showing the thinking process in science education;
• how “Learning Glass” is different from PowerPoint; and
• whether we should invest in tools like the “Learning Glass”.

As a result of her trip, Rachel produced 47 videos for SCNC1111 which are in use from this semester. Here are two samples (click on the image to access the original video):

The informal conversations after the sharing were equally fruitful. “It was really encouraging to see that many teachers care about their courses, and are actively updating their pedagogies,” Rachel said in delight. “Some of them would like to know more about the software that I used, and some were hoping to get to know more about what can be done in the face-to-face classes after lectures are moved online.”

Rachel’s work is one example of what is possible in video lectures. As a next step, she will investigate further how to transform the entire course experience.

TEFS aims to enhance the scholarship of teaching and learning at the university through sharing of excellent pedagogical practices between HKU and other prestigious higher education institutions. Full details of TEFS can be found at http://intraweb.hku.hk/reserved_2/cdqa/doc/TEFS/TEFS_2017-18.pdf.

On 27th September, students, faculty staff, science and astronomy enthusiasts gathered at Professor Sun Kwok’s book launch party hosted by the Common Core Office to congratulate Professor Kwok’s release of the new edition of Our Place in the Universe. Professor Sun Kwok is a reowned astronomer who has made many important astronomical discoveries, particularly on nebulae, and is the former Dean of the Faculty of Science and Chair Professor of Physics.

What is this book about?
Professor Kwok explains that this book is not about technical knowledge on astronomy and physics. Rather, by following the footprints of 5000 years of astronomical development, it shows the evolution of humans’ way of thinking – demonstrating how humans developed rational thinking through their observations and understanding of the universe. Our Place in the Universe takes us on a journey, studying how the development and advancement in science continuously change humans’ perception of self and the world.

What other things do we learn about Professor Kwok?
At the book launch party, Professor Kwok shared his ideas on astronomy as an oldest and newest science, interesting bits of his journey of becoming an astronomer, thoughts on the future of science, and many more. To have a glimpse of the interesting questions raised by the audience, click on the link below:

Want to find out Professor Kwok’s answers to the audience’s other questions? Follow our facebook page for updates! https://www.facebook.com/ccst9012/

Our place in the universe is available on Amazon. Check it out at https://www.amazon.com/Our-Place-Universe-Understanding-Fundamental/dp/3319541714

The Department of Mathematics has been offering a range of courses to provide mathematics education to HKU students across faculties. We have designed courses specifically for students majoring in statistics, risk management, quantitative finance, actuarial science, engineering, business and economics. Almost all these courses involve the training of calculus at various levels. By means of introducing new dynamic and interactive instructional materials, it will be possible to improve students’ motivation and provide them with extra incentives in learning the underlying abstract mathematical concepts. With the support of HKU Teaching Development Grant, we have introduced GeoGebra resources on HKU Open edX for introductory-level mathematics courses.

This platform provides a library of GeoGebra applets to support teaching and learning for introductory-level mathematics courses. GeoGebra is a free and open-source dynamic mathematics software that can construct elements with points, vectors, polynomials and functions. The use of GeoGebra allows visualizations of mathematical ideas and creation of interactive instructional materials. The applets made in the platform will be designed to (i) supplement the concepts developed in class and (ii) prompt students to explore mathematics according to the guidelines.

For each learning object, students can learn or review one to two concepts and will be given opportunities to perform investigatory tasks. Students can click on checkboxes and follow the guidelines to achieve a specific goal, drag the points and move the sliders to observe the change, and input their own functions to examine different cases. All these activities, as well as follow-up questions, can foster student-centered learning and mathematical explorations.

Due to the versatility of GeoGebra, we expect that the materials in this platform will improve teachers’ capabilities to convey abstract and difficult mathematical concepts to students. Teachers and tutors can take advantage of this new resource to create complementary materials for their lectures and tutorials. We also expect that the use of GeoGebra applets in class will improve teacher-student interactions.

Students can drag the point and use the slider to adjust the increment to observe how the secant lines approach to the tangent line. They can also input different functions for further investigation.

Students can press the “Show more” button to check the details. They can then click to see and compare the area in the picture.

Students can click the checkbox and move the line to verify the theorem.

Using the slider students can change the value of k to obtain a continuous function.

Our online calculators allow users to get straight to the answers with easy inputs. Graphs will also be provided for reference. Students can take advantage of these calculators for getting immediate answers and for verification of their solutions.

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The entire platform can be used in virtually all courses that involve the teaching of calculus such as MATH1009 Basic Mathematics for Business and Economics, MATH1011 University Mathematics I, MATH1013 University Mathematics II, MATH1821 Mathematical Methods for Actuarial Science I and MATH1851 Calculus and Ordinary Differential Equations.

References

1. Learning Begins at the End of Your Comfort Zone
2. DIY Video Production for Flipped Classroom