PHYS

Pilot Courses for Science General Education in the Four-Year University Curriculum

Project Overview
Project Title	Pilot Courses for Science General Education in the Four-Year University Curriculum
Project Leader	Prof Michael Wong
School / Dept	SSCI / PHYS
Project Duration	Jan 2007 - Dec 2008
Project Description	The objective of this project was to offer new joint-department General Education courses (GEE) based on inter-disciplinary themes. The project investigated major teaching and learning issues including (a) factors affecting the motivation and interest of students in GEE courses ; (b) factors affecting the impact of the scientific inquiry approach on the students, through the integration of physics, biology and chemistry under common themes relevant to the daily lives of the students - an issue crucial to this new joint-department effort; (c) the effectiveness of demonstrations, field trips, and in-class questions through the Personal Response System (PRS), as well as other participatory activities on student learning in GEE courses.
Project Outcom	Course materials for two General Education Courses (GEE) in science were developed. The factors affecting the motivation and interest of students in GEE courses, especially to those students with little training in science, were investigated. The effectiveness of interactive teaching methodologies was investigated. 3 students were trained during the process of developing experiments for the course “Energy and related environmental issues” and 1 student was trained during the process of designing curriculum for the course “Gastronomy” through Independent Study.
Status	Completed
Project Documents (Only accessible by HKUST users)	Project Plan Progress Report: First \| Second \| Final Report
Adaptation	Full Project

Developing Demo/Teaching Kits Based on Departmental Research Strength

Project Overview
Project Title	Developing Demo/Teaching Kits Based on Departmental Research Strength
Project Leader	Prof Phillips I K Sou
School / Dept	SSCI / PHYS
Project Duration	Oct 2005 - Oct 2007
Project Description	The underlying philosophy of this project was that students learn best by doing instead of listening. The project aimed to develop a learning culture by offering students a way to see and touch a number of physical inventions that have been successfully developed in the physics department at HKUST in the past few years. In terms of the learning objective, we expected participants to study in-depth these timely and cutting-edge scientific inventions. Second, this project promoted student-led experimental research through implementing a series of physical hardware or software systems based on the invention but added with their own ideas. It helped them develop skills in experimental design, encourages independent learning and critical evaluation of their approach. Also, it cultivated teamwork spirit, enriches teaching in discipline-specific research.
Project Outcome	The project was successful in providing a platform for students to strengthen their scientific knowledge, creativity, team oriented and independent work ability in dealing with outcome-based research projects. 6 software and 5 hardware visible products in the form of teaching and demo kits were developed. The kits were further used for enriching undergraduate experimental physics courses and promoting science to general public.
Status	Completed
Project Documents (Only accessible by HKUST users)	Project Plan Progress Report: First \| Second \| Third \| Forth \| Final Report
Adaptation	Adapted from An Interactive Software Tool for the Design of Pharmaceutical Products and Processes

Demonstrations in Introductory Mechanics and their Recording by Video-tapes

Project Overview
Project Title	Demonstrations in Introductory Mechanics and their Recording by Video-tapes
Project Leader	Prof KK Fung
School / Dept	SSCI / PHYS
Project Duration	Nov 2005 - Dec 2007
Project Description	The project demonstrated the the basic laws or principles in physics, which are abstracted from subtle physical phenomena and not easily observed in daily life with videos in order to enhance students' understanding before proceeding to mathematical formulation. Interactive features, like quesions, were incorporated into the tapes to engage students actively.
Project Outcome	Live demonstrations, more than three per week, were performed in the class of PHYS011 in the Fall semesters of 2006 and 2007 to 110 and 161 preparatory year students respectively. A total of 29 videos, with slow motion and frozen frames, were produced and uploaded in the course website of student access before the lectures. 8 interactive video-taped demonstrations, which contained questions, were uploaded to the course website in the Fall semester of 2007 for students self-learning and in class teaching.
Status	Completed
Project Documents (Only accessible by HKUST users)	Project Plan Progress Report: First \| Second \| Third \| Forth \| Final Report
Adaptation	Full Project

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