Teaching Innovation Awards 2004

Higher education in the 21st century is characterized by widening participation, an increasingly diverse student population, intense accountability and reduced funding. Within this context, continuous learning and improvement are essential if we are to meet the demands of our various stakeholders and to stay competitive globally. Students and teachers alike have to engage as self-directed, lifelong learners who actively seek and create opportunities to improve.

It is a challenge for teachers to find innovative ways of enhancing students' learning in such a context. The University recognizes that carrying out a teaching innovation places exceptional demands on innovators and also on their departmental colleagues. When implementing new approaches, instructors take risks in terms of potentially negative evaluations from their students and peers, which may be perceived as damaging to their own professional recognition and advancement.

To recognize and reward dedicated and progressive faculty and teaching staff, the University offers five Teaching Innovation Awards on a biennial basis for the concerted effort instructors make in improving the quality of their teaching and students' learning experience by introducing innovative practices or technologies.

Teaching Innovation Awards will be presented at the Teaching and Learning Symposium.

Hosted by:
The Committee on Teaching and Learning Quality

Secretariat:
Center for Enhanced Learning and Teaching
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Eligibility for Awards

The Awards are open to all current full-time faculty members and instructors at HKUST. To be eligible for an Award, an innovation must have been used in a course or courses that the instructor or team has taught, or is currently teaching, or have made a contribution to the educational work of peers outside the University.

Examples of Teaching Innovations

• A new framework or paradigm on which the organization of a course is based
• An innovative use of a learning technique or methodology
• The use of original cases or other course materials designed by the instructor
• An innovation in group learning or problem solving
• Use of the Action Research paradigm to systematically enhance the quality of student learning
• Innovative uses of technology in teaching

Nominations Procedures

Nominations for Awards may be made by one or more members of the University community who can be Heads of Departments, peers, or students. Nominees will be invited to elaborate on their teaching, including but not limited to, innovative teaching approaches, teaching philosophy and contributions to their teaching profession.

Selection Criteria

The following criteria will be taken into account in the selection process:

• The extent to which the innovation has resulted in practical outcomes that have improved teaching, learning, curriculum design, and/or assessment
• Evidence that the innovation could be successfully integrated into the total learning process for the relevant course of study
• Evidence of peer support for the innovation
• The potential for the innovation to be applied to related or different fields of study
• The extent to which the innovation makes effective and efficient use of resources

The Committee recognizes that not all criteria will apply to all innovations, but it is anticipated that a substantial sub-set of criteria will be applicable in each case.

Selection Process

All nominations will be considered by the Selection Committee consisting of the following members:

Convener & Member

• Associate Vice-President of Academic Affairs (UG)

Member

• One faculty representative from each School nominated by the Dean
• One representative from the Language Centre nominated by the Director
• One student representative nominated by the Students' Union

Secretariat

• Center for Enhanced Learning and Teaching

The nominees will be interviewed by the Committee Secretariat and may be asked to present evidence to support the success of their innovations.

Award Presentation

The Awards were presented in the name of the Committee on Teaching and Learning Quality, in conjunction with the Teaching and Learning Symposium on 17 May 2004.

The award recipients were invited to present in the Teaching and Learning Symposium. All presentations were videotaped and archived into the IDEAS portal (Instructional Development Experiences, Applications and Solutions) of the Center for Enhanced Learning and Teaching for future access and references.

Teaching Innovation Awards 2001

Awards for Excellence in Teaching Innovation

• Prof Nelson Cue (Department of Physics)
• Dr T.C. Pong and the team member, Mr To Chow (Department of Computer Science)
• Dr David Rossiter (Department of Computer Science)
• Dr Surendra Mansinghka and the team members, Ms Tsui Fen Kao, Ms Chen Chen Lien and Ms Gloria Wong (Department of Finance)
• Dr Lydia Ayers (Division of Humanities)

Awards for Teaching Innovation

• Dr Peiyuan Qian, Dr Ice Ko (Department of Biology) and the team members:
  • Prof Dennis Hsieh, Prof Madeline Wu (Department of Biology) ; and
  • Prof Reinhard Renneberg, Dr Jianzhen Yu (Department of Chemistry)
• Dr Rudolf Fleischer (Department of Computer Science)
• Dr Jong-Hag Choi (Department of Accounting)
• Dr Gary Katzenstein (Department of Management of Organizations)
• Dr Min Zhang (Division of Humanities)
• Dr Greg Felker (Division of Social Science)
• Dr Robert Ferguson (Division of Social Science)