SSCI

School of Science

An Adaptation of "All-round Development of Science Students through Project Courses" in Biological Sciences and Science Education Program

Project Overview
Project Title	An Adaptation of "All-round Development of Science Students through Project Courses" in Biological Sciences and Science Education Program
Project Leader	Prof K L Chow
School / Dept	SSCI / BIOL
Project Duration	Oct 2004 - Feb 2006
Project Description	The ongoing reform in Hong Kong education system emphasized on all-round development of students according to his/her own attributes. A group of students in the Physics Department were given opportunities to strengthen their skills in searching, discovering, integrating and organizing knowledge and training in their collaborative and communication skills. This project aimed to give similar learning opportunities and training to the students in the BSc in Biology and Science Education, providing them an invaluable experience for self-evaluation, improvement and building their confidence in public speaking. For those who had not considered a teaching career, the exposure may open up their mind towards this alternative.
Project Outcome	By the time of project completion, nine students from three different classes have taken part in this project helping with the organization of six talks in five different schools. Students gained extensive experience on the preparation of public seminars, gathering relevant scientific information, polishing their presentation skills and in turn helped to establish an outreach program for the department. The objectives (and deliverables) are highlighted as follows: Training of students on seminar preparation – These students working in groups of two or three have selected topics of interest relevant to the high school biology study. They have attended training workshops conducted by ID team of CELT and project members. They have acquired basic skills in multimedia technology for presentation. Training of students on presentation skills – In order to ensure quality delivery of the presentations, multiple rehearsals were organized before each school visit, so that the presentation team will have the best coordination during the visit. This benefit of practices has indeed been highly remarked by some secondary school teachers because of the high quality of the presentations. These rehearsals also help to fine tune the seminars for the audience of different age groups, which spans from Form 1 to Form 6. While students need to give more than one presentations, they were asked to evaluate their own and others’ performance in different visits. Major improvement in presentation skills, confidence and effectiveness of communication was noted, which is a good reflection of the success of this training. Acquisition of scientific knowledge for the presentation - With respect to the scientific content, the participating students have developed the story line of the presentation based on current scientific research relevant to the secondary school science syllabus. They have consulted project members from the Biology department and AMCE program to develop a better understanding of the subject matter related to evolution and adaptation before the subject was organized and tailored for the student audience. The learning process has been very productive for the participating students. Outreach program – Having students enthusiastically going out to visit secondary schools, it prompts us to consider formalizing the outreach program with heavier student participation. The extension of this program may represent a continuing effort we take to reach out to science students in the secondary schools.
Status	Completed
Project Documents (Only accessible by HKUST users)	Project Plan Progress Report Final Report
Adaptation	Adpataion from All-round Development of Science Students through Project Courses

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Understanding Bioinformatics: Direct Experience with Interactive Learning

Project Overview
Project Title	Understanding Bioinformatics: Direct Experience with Interactive Learning
Project Leader	Prof Xue Hong
School / Dept	SSCI / BICH
Project Duration	Jan 2004 - Jan 2005
Project Description	The field of Bioinformatics was advancing rapidly. Traditional teaching could not cater for the dynamic nature it now has. Besides studying books and other published materials, students needed an interactive environment to gain hands-on experience. They always had to use programmes with sophisticated algorithms and calculations. As some of them were unfamiliar with computers or mathematics, learning problems arise. This project aimed to help them overcome this obstacle and motivate them to learn. Modifications or add-ins were made to free software. Study aids were also designed to help students learn the programmes after class by themselves. These aids taught not only programme functions, but alsohow it could be applied to actual research. The work wasdone in modules according to various topics.
Project Outcome	As stated in the original proposal, we have made some modifications and add-in to some computer programs that perform various bioinformatics tasks. The operation of the original programs are usually in command line and difficult to use, which scared many of the student with less computer knowledge. We therefore made the graphical user interface which is more user-friendly and also easier for teaching. In addition, we also created some step-by-step study aids, which are pretty much welcomed by the students. These study aids mimic that someone is using the program on the screen and guide the students through different tasks. Different features of the programs can therefore clearly been shown. A forum was also created originally, but the rate of using is very low. Students seemed to prefer asking question in person or by email rather than by discussion board, so we have finally abandoned it. We also gathered many available resources on the web, for example the databases, computer programs sources, multimedia about basic biological knowledge etc. All the above mentioned outcomes and deliverables are put in our homepage. This homepage can therefore be the bioinformatics portal for the students. Students can find many materials about bioinformatics in this homepage, whenever they think of it.
Status	Completed
Project Documents (Only accessible by HKUST users)	Project Plan Final Report
Adaptation	Full Project

A Further Application of Metabolic Pathways Interaction Software

Project Overview
Project Title	A Further Application of Metabolic Pathways Interaction Software
Project Leader	Prof Robert Ko
School / Dept	SSCI / BICH
Project Duration	Jan 2004 - Nov 2004
Project Description	This project aimed to develop an online learning and teaching system that included the knowledge base, information dissemination structure, task-based quizzes and self-learning aids in graphical/animated formats within an integrated communication platform to encourage online discussion. Through the system, students were able to grasp abstract and complex subject matter more effectively and gain more interest and knowledge on the topic. Also studetns were motivated to learn independtly and callaboratively.
Project Outcome	Metabolic Simulator modified to allow the modification of macromolecules composition for protein, lipids, DNA, RNA, cell walls. A new interface was developed for this purpose. The modification further enhanced the existing package and allowed a “lower level entry” for those not familiar with metabolic simulations. Biochemists are familiar with the detailed composition of macromolecules and the pathways from which they are made. Hence, biochemistry students can commence to use the package in an area with which they are familiar and then progress to the more quantitative aspects for the simulation (the “engineering analysis”). The user manual was enhanced to include these changes. Additional problem sets were added to the existing sets. The simulator was trialed in BISC363 in Nov 2004 and the student responses were analysed by CELT. The package was well received by students, although some further background information and explanation of the underlying fundamentals was considered necessary.
Status	Completed
Project Documents (Only accessible by HKUST users)	Project Plan Final Report
Adaptation	Adaptation of Online Approach to Introduction to Biochemistry

Online Approach to Introduction to Biochemistry

Project Overview
Project Title	Online Approach to Introduction to Biochemistry
Project Leader	Prof Robert Ko
School / Dept	SSCI / BICH
Project Duration	Dec 2003 - Sept 2004
Project Description	This project aimed to develop an online learning and teaching system that included the knowledge base, information dissemination structure, task-based quizzes and self-learning aids in graphical/animated formats within an integrated communication platform to encourage online discussion. Through the system, students were more interested and knowledgeable in the course able to grasp abstract complex concepts effectively motivated to learn independently and collaboratively confident in solving problems on their own
Project Outcome	Established framework of WebCT for BICH 121 (Introduction to Biochemistry) Completed Self-directed Learning Aids (SDLAs) for various topics in BICH 121 Completed user surveys on the content and software of the online materials
Status	Completed
Project Documents (Only accessible by HKUST users)	Project Plan Final Report
Adaptation	Full Project

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ESCE500 Introductory Environmental Chemistry & Microbiology

Project Overview
Project Title	ESCE500 Introductory Environmental Chemistry & Microbiology
Project Leader	Prof Pei-Yuan Qian & Dr Ice Ko
School / Dept	SSCI / AMCE
Project Duration	Jul 2002 - May 2005
Project Description	This project aimed to provide students with a highly flexible learning environment delivering course materials of various topics using an interactive and interesting medium. The web setting allowed students to learn at anytime, anywhere. Also, multimedia items, hyperlinks, animations, pop-up Q&A, self-assessments, and the discussion forum resulted in a highly interactive and interesting learning experience.The course was furnished with multimedia items to demonstrate some chemical experiments and difficult concepts. Photos of local ecosystems were taken for this course. Video clippings about state-of-the-art laboratory studies and local habitats or ecological problems were produced.
Project Outcome	The students of the MSc Environmental Science and Engineering Program were able to be equipped with sufficient background in chemistry, biochemistry and microbiology for their core course “ESCE 520 Environmental Chemistry and Microbiology”. Students, especially the part-time ones, enjoyed the flexibility (temporal and physical) and interactivity of this online course. The course served as the pioneer of totally web-based teaching in HKUST. Through this project, both the instructors and the CELT collaborated closely on how to develop a user friendly, interactive and effective web course. The student evaluation and the data generated from this course provide useful information about web-based teaching in Hong Kong. This information was shared with other teaching staff in HKUST through various symposia.
Status	Completed
Project Documents (Only accessible by HKUST users)	Project Plan Progress Report: First \| Second \| Third \| Forth \| Fifth \| Final Report
Adaptation	Full Project

Introduction to Neurobiology: Interactive 3D Animation Prototype Development of Cranial Nerves

Project Overview
Project Title	Introduction to Neurobiology: Interactive 3D Animation Prototype Development of Cranial Nerves
Project Leader	Prof Karl Tsim
School / Dept	SSCI / BIOL
Project Duration	Aug 2002 - Jul 2005
Project Description	Past experiences showed that students often had difficulty in understanding the complex cranial nerves. With the use of vivid 3D animations, this project helpED them figure out the intricate structure and functional mapping of the 12 cranial nerves in the human body.
Project Outcome	The graphic presentation of the 12 cranial nerves in human has been completed and tested. We established that each of the established cranial nerves was to be linked up with a) A step by step interactive 3D animated simulation of the movements; b) An overview of the functions in text; c) Two sets of labels for the parts of the nerve/s; and d) A printing function for the key information of the above items. Selective Biology students participated in two of our usability testing as testers, and their comments were collected and improvements in relating the graphic presentation were followed. We constructed an online supplement for BISC 224 Introduction to Neurobiology in WebCT both for encouraging students to be familiar with online learning and to prepare for a framework to host the prototype later for summative evaluation
Status	Completed
Project Documents (Only accessible by HKUST users)	Project Plan Progress Report: First \| Second \| Third \| Forth \| Fifth \| Final Report
Adaptation	Full Project

Pilot Implementation of an Interactive Homework System for Common Core Level Mathematics Courses at HKUST

Project Overview
Project Title	Pilot Implementation of an Interactive Homework System for Common Core Level Mathematics Courses at HKUST
Project Leader	Prof Allen Moy
School / Dept	SSCI / MATH
Project Duration	Jul 2011 - Jun 2012
Project Description	The project aimed at initiating the implementation of an interactive homework system (known as WeBWorK) for common core mathematics courses, in anticipation of the change in higher education system under 3-3-4 curriculum. The features of the WeBWorK system were tailor-made for the mathematics courses, such as interactive individualized homework with immediate feedback, formative assessment by interactive homework sets on mathematical skills, and a large library of thousands of homework problems for common core mathematics courses.
Project Outcome	WeBWorK has been implemented in MATH1003 for over 500 students in Fall 2011, and there was follow-up use of WeBWorK for the courses MATH2111 and MATH2011 for over 750 students during Spring 2012. An additional implementation of Mathematics Support Center in providing walk-in tutorial help for students taking WeBWorK courses has been piloted. The department will further expand WeBWorK and the Mathematics Support Center in the future, with the goal to establish WeBWorK and the Mathematics Support Center as a key infrastructure in delivering quality service courses in a cost-efficient manner.
Status	Completed
Project Documents (Only accessible by HKUST users)	Project Plan Final Report Project-end Review by Project Leader
Adaptation	Full Project

Development of a New Physics Demonstration Facility and Renovation of General Physics III (modern physics) Laboratory

Project Overview
Project Title	Development of a New Physics Demonstration Facility and Renovation of General Physics III (modern physics) Laboratory
Project Leader	Prof Penger Tong and David KS Mak
School / Dept	SSCI / PHYS
Project Duration	Jan 2011 - Aug 2012
Project Description	This project planned to facilitate the implementation of the new 4-year curriculum at the program level to offer general physics courses for a large number of incoming students who had less preparation in basic science and less exposure to laboratory work than the A-level entrants. The project would set up a departmental demo room and introduce more classroom demonstrations for the general physics courses, and revamp the laboratory component of General Physics III for Modern Physics. The planned reform for the general physics courses was expected to improve the classroom demonstration and laboratory teaching for future students.
Project Outcome	A fully functional demonstration facility is set up in the Department of Physics. It includes a demo room for storing all demo items and an online catalog listing all the available demos. Revamp of General Physics III lab, involving resdesigning the course format and syllabus, revising the existing experiments and adding new experiments. Posters for introducing and promoting General Physics lab courses are developed and posted.
Status	Completed
Project Documents (Only accessible by HKUST users)	Project Plan Progress Report Final Report Project-end Review by Project Leader
Adaptation	Full Project

Development of Interactive Assessment Platform for General Physics Courses

Project Overview
Project Title	Development of Interactive Assessment Platform for General Physics Courses
Project Leader	Prof Nian Lin
School / Dept	SSCI / PHYS
Project Duration	Sept 2009 - Oct 2011
Project Description	To replace the static textual physics assessment provided from textbooks, this project developed an online interactive learning and assessment platform which consists of different levels of real-world physics problems with interactive animations and instant feedback for general physics courses. It aimed at helping students to visualize abstract concepts, to link the conceptual ideas to the mathematics and hence to solve the problems. Game-like approaches were adopted to enable progressive learning.
Project Outcome	An online platform of interactive problem bank for general physics assessment was developed. New problems for general physics were designed. Students' understanding of physics conceptsa and ability to apply physics laws to solve real-world problems were enhanced. Students' interest in studying general physics was enhanced.
Status	Completed
Project Documents (Only accessible by HKUST users)	Project Plan Progress Report Final Report Project-end Review by Project Leader
Adaptation	Full Project

Assessment of Presentation using Posters with Peer-Evaluation

Project Overview
Project Title	Assessment of Presentation using Posters with Peer-Evaluation
Project Leader	Dr Ice WP Ko and Williamson WK Lam
School / Dept	SSCI / BIOL and SSCI
Project Duration	Feb 2009 - Aug 2011
Project Description	This project introduced an innovative assessment methodology that involved relatively high level of students' participation, which aimed at enhancing students' presentation and team work skills. The innovative assessment complied of two parts: (1) Group projects reported in the form of posters, and (2) Peer evaluation of the posters.
Project Outcome	A set of evaluation rubrics was developed and updaated to assess students' poster presentation. A training workshop was conducted to introduce students on the techniques and requirement of poster presentation. Peer evaluation for the poster presentation was successfully conducted with the Online System for Student Peer Evaluation (OSSPE).
Status	Completed
Project Documents (Only accessible by HKUST users)	Project Plan Progress Report: First \| Second \| Final Report Project-end Review by Project Leader
Adaptation	Full Project

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