Teaching Approach

Student Research and Writing Advisory Tutorials: a multi-faculty TD Pilot Project

Project Overview
Project Title	Student Research and Writing Advisory Tutorials: a multi-faculty TD Pilot Project
Project Leader	Prof Barry Sautman and Prof James Lee
School / Dept	SHSS / SOSC, HSS
Project Duration	Jul 2014 - Jun 2015
Project Description	The project aims to complement the present undergraduate curriculum to strengthen students' research skills . Teacher-scholars will be enlisted to guide and train students with various means. With the developed elementary research skills, students may further collaborate with faculty to work on specific research projects.
Project Outcome	By the end of 2015/2016 fall term, 8 SHSS courses have joined the project with in total 13 tutorial sessions launched to the students covering 166 participants. We also newly launched research and writing tutorial workshop exactly for RPG TAs with 5 faculties joining as the guest speakers for the aim of training TAs better coach UG students on academic writings. We optimize recourse efficiency by integrating the resources of RWAT teams, CLE and library to provide tutorial support. The project team have developed a bunch of e-learning resources on research and writing in HSS undergraduate courses for students, faculty and HSS TAs in order to make the project as a long-term sustainable one.
Status	Completed
Project Documents (Only accessible by HKUST users)	Project Plan Final Report Project-end Review by Project Leader
Adaptation	Full Project

Blended learning – a summer course of “the science of gastronomy” for HKUST students

Project Overview
Project Title	Blended learning – a summer course of “the science of gastronomy” for HKUST students
Project Leader	Prof King L CHOW and Prof Lam Lung YEUNG
School / Dept	SSCI / LIFS & CHEM
Project Duration	Oct 2013 - Nov 2014
Project Description	This project aims to develop and offer a six week "Gastronomy" course in the summer 2014 using a blended learning mode. This new course very different from the original gastronomy course will enable students to apply knowledge learned from video and in class lectures, project exercise, discussion in tutorial sessions, and skills learnt to real life situations (practices at home or in class experiments) so that they would fully integrate the learned knowledge and apply in their cuisine preparation eveyday. This credit base course offered on campus would be developed to combine the merits of the flexibility, active engagement and interaction of online course, the face-to-face oral communication and instant feedback of instructor-to-student and student-student discussion in class.
Project Outcome	A fully blended course with extensive flipping of the classroom was delivered as a package of our own HKUST students, which served well as a pilot operation ot cover over 23,000 students online and a small cohort of students for the HKUST student on campus. A full set of in-class materials, inlcuding numerous experiemental demonstrations, in-class and off-class group project manual and detailed organization plan was developed. The course was taken as a refernce for blended learning in other courses. The experience we gathered were disseminated to colleagues at HKUST, local institutions and in international conferences.
Status	Completed
Project Documents (Only accessible by HKUST users)	Project Plan Final Report
Adaptation	Full Project

Learning Knowledge Application in the Real World: Coursework as a Platform for Students to Collaborate with Practitioners

Project Overview
Project Title	Learning Knowledge Application in the Real World: Coursework as a Platform for Students to Collaborate with Practitioners
Project Leader	Prof Kevin Kim-Pong Tam
School / Dept	SHSS / SOSC
Project Duration	Aug 2013 – Mar 2015
Project Description	To facilitate students to actively learn how to apply knowledge in a real-world context, this project is intended to develop a teaching method in a model framework (known as coursework model). Students’ learning will be embedded in the collaboration among instructors, students and frontline practitioners, who work in the midst of real-world issues. Students will receive comments from instructors, practitioners and peers. They will have a chance to respond to these comments, and thereby improve their work.
Project Outcome	Deliverables: A software base training safety module HIS (Hazards identification system) developed, it specifically addressing the link between experimental procedures and risk assessment / HAZOP and the interpretation of MSDS safety data sheets. A work plan evaluation rubrics was developed. This provided a clear guideline for self and peer evaluation of the completeness of the work plan. Outcomes: Development of a heuristics approach to safety education and training, resulting in a novel teaching tool (Hazard identification Software (H.I.S.) Rearrange the structure of existing CBME work plan to match with H.S.E.O. safety training modules. Use of the training module in undergraduate education. The Hazard Identification Software (H.I.S.) was adopted as a teaching module in CENG3910. Students used HIS as tool in order to assist their laboratory work preparation. When using the package, student performance on work plan preparation was acceptable with an average performance of 71.6%.
Status	Completed
Project Documents (Only accessible by HKUST users)	Project Plan Progress Report Final Report
Adaptation	Full Project

‘Flipping the Classroom’: Teaching a New Course Using the Blended Learning Approach

Project Overview
Project Title	‘Flipping the Classroom’: Teaching a New Course Using the Blended Learning Approach
Project Leader	Prof Naubahar Sharif
School / Dept	SHSS / SOSC
Project Duration	Sep 2013 – Dec 2014
Project Description	In the new course “Science, Technology and Society in China”, this project intends to implement a blended learning model based on the pedagogical concept of ‘flipping the classroom’ — presenting lecture materials (text-based content) outside class time while engaging the students in interactive activities in class time. The model consists of two main components: presentation of text-based course content for out-of-classroom learning, supplemented by interactive online exchanges between the students and the instructor; and engaging the students in a range of interactive classroom activities, in groups or individually, in which the content introduced out of the classroom is discussed, researched, analyzed, and debated.
Project Outcome	The project is still ongoing. Project outcomes will be updated upon project completion.
Status	Ongoing
Project Documents (Only accessible by HKUST users)	Project Plan
Adaptation	Full Project

Authentic Design Experiences in a Capstone Design Course for Engineering Identity Development

Project Overview
Project Title	Authentic Design Experiences in a Capstone Design Course for Engineering Identity Development
Project Leader	Prof Ben Chan
School / Dept	SENG / E²I
Project Duration	Aug 2013 – Jul 2016
Project Description	To develop the engineering identity among final year civil engineering students, this project intends to provide authentic design experiences to students in the capstone design course CIVL4950. The course structure is a full simulation of real-life workplace in civil engineering consulting firms, in a way that the students enrolled into this course are given a real construction project under planning in Hong Kong as a case study.
Project Outcome	The simulated approach has been implemented in a two credit capstone design course for final year civil engineering students. The entire course can be seen as a full simulation of the real-life workplace in civil engineering consulting firms.
Status	Completed
Project Documents (Only accessible by HKUST users)	Project Plan
Adaptation	Full Project

Innovation in Mathematics Support through a Blended-Learning Approach

Project Overview
Project Title	Innovation in Mathematics Support through a Blended-Learning Approach
Project Leader	Prof Allen Moy & Prof Jimmy Fung
School / Dept	SSCI / MATH
Project Duration	Sep 2012 - Aug 2015
Project Description	This project is built on the pilot project in 2011-12 in implementing an open source online homework system WeBWorK and establishing a pilot Math Support Center. The aim of the current project is to scale up the pilot project to implement WeBWorK in more service courses and to expand the Math Support Center in order to respond to the demand of the large influx of students under the 3-3-4 curriculum. In a blended-learning approach, WeBWorK and the Math Support Center are combined to support mathematics learning through: 1) an online system to provide instant feedback to the students to access their learning process and 2) a physically established Math Support Center which may facilitate more contacts and interactions among students and teachers (including instructors, teaching assistants and peer students) in a supportive learning environment.
Project Outcome	Deliverables of the project include: establishment of a dedicated physical location for a continuing math support center, migration of basic courses to use the support center, with the majority of basic courses also integrating the open source WeBWorK as an essential blended learning component of the course, a 2 day workshop held June 10-11, 2014 devoted to WeBWork and Support Centers assemblage of a long-term staff with operational experience in running the support center, establishment in partnership with CELT of a program to train staff and helpers in the support center.
Status	Completed
Project Documents (Only accessible by HKUST users)	Project Plan Final Report Project-end Review by Project Leader
Adaptation	Full Project

The HKUST Igniters Pilot Study

Project Overview
Project Title	The HKUST Igniters Pilot Study
Project Leader	Prof Yu-Hsing Wang
School / Dept	SENG / CIVL
Project Duration	July 2012 - June 2013
Project Description	This project developed a new course called “The HKUST Igniters”, which promoted the Incubation of Greatness, Networking (channels), Innovations, Technology and Entrepreneurship (IGNITE). The teaching approach of the new course targeted on the imagination and hands-on experience of the students themselves to achieve the entrepreneurial spin-off of their inventions (or software package) in the end. The whole course set in the dimension of meta-cognitive knowledge with the execution along the way a blend of the procedural knowledge.
Project Outcome	The major outcomes of this project are: the acquiring of the skill to communicate ideas with teammates and work with them; the acquiring of the ability to proactively seek for the needed knowledge to complete the tasks; the ability to design a final prototype that solves an important problem, and finally if possible; and acquire the necessary knowledge and investment to start up a company. We achieve the first three but fall short of the fourth. The major deliverables are: completion of two different prototypes of Smart Soil Particles (SSP, originally named GeoMEMS), one for massive field deployment and another one for intensive on-site data collection; successful on-site installation of the latter SSP and a month into it the sensor captured a minute earthquake nearby, and finally successfully enter the HKUST 2013 One Million Dollar Entrepreneurship Competition and had been selected as one of the 12 finalists.
Status	Completed
Project Documents (Only accessible by HKUST users)	Project Plan Final Report Project-end Review by Project Leader
Adaptation	Full Project

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Enhancing Reflective Thinking in Big Classes

Project Overview
Project Title	Enhancing Reflective Thinking in Big Classes
Project Leader	Prof Mike So
School / Dept	SBM / ISMT
Project Duration	Mar 2004 - Jun 2005
Project Description	Educators adopt various approaches to facilitate reflective thinking. However, it is not easy to teach the skill in a big class due to diverse student abilities. It is also very challenging to train thinking skills and foster a deep learning approach in a conventional teaching context. This project aroused students’ awareness of their learning progress, cultivated analytic and critical thinking, and opened them to different perspectives by recording the learning progress, adopting a problem-solving section within tutorials and asking practical questions without a model answer in lecture.
Project Outcome	With the aim of keeping track of students’ learning progress, students were asked to fill in review forms every week. Totally, 12 sets of review forms were distributed. Two Problem Based Learning Sections were conducted in tutorial classes in Fall 2004. Each group had to give a short presentation (4 minutes) in their tutorial classes and submit a one-page brief report on an assigned case which was selected from journals, books or newspapers about the use of Statistics. Some practical questions without definite solution were asked in lectures. Students had time to discuss with their peers before our comments on the questions.
Status	Completed
Project Documents (Only accessible by HKUST users)	Project Plan Progress Report Final Report
Adaptation	Full Project

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Using Peer Mentoring to Help Students Learn in a Large Class

Project Overview
Project Title	Using Peer Mentoring to Help Students Learn in a Large Class
Project Leader	Prof Surendra K Mansinghka
School / Dept	SBM / FINA
Project Duration	Oct 2002 - Jun 2003
Project Description	This project provided students with all available resources and methods to foster their sense of responsibility for their learning. Students attending a large class are sometimes nervous and do not ask questions. If possible, they would like to receive convenient peer assistance, especially from the final year finance students, in assignments, lectures, etc. Leaving students working on their own without assistance or meetings is not very helpful, whereas peer learning is known to be very effective. Consequently, the project team encouraged students to form study groups which were assigned a peer-mentor. Final year FINA students were recruited as mentors to guide the FINA111 freshmen in their study of this course. It also benefited the mentors by improving their interpersonal skills, leading to professional growth. This project was a trial of peer mentoring that ran between the mid term and final examination in 2003.
Project Outcome	The major arrangement and deliverables included: i) recruited 25 second and third year student mentors; ii) introduced mentors to students in class/ at tutorials. Mentors provided details for contacting them; iii) posted the mentors’ contact information onto WebCT; iv) Voluntary individual / group arrangement of consultation sessions among mentors and students; v) Mentors helped students in answering their questions, clarifying any confusion about the subject, and providing them with collegial support; vi) Informal communication among mentors, TAs and instructor about students’ reaction and consultation; and vii) Conducted an online survey with the mentors after the whole consultation period ended in May 2003.
Status	Completed
Project Documents (Only accessible by HKUST users)	Project Plan Final Report
Adaptation	Full Project

Knowledge Transfer and Reuse in Group Project Work

Project Overview
Project Title	Knowledge Transfer and Reuse in Group Project Work
Project Leader	Prof James Kwok
School / Dept	SBM / ISMT
Project Duration	Aug 2002 - Sept 2003
Project Description	This project attempted to improve the effectiveness of group learning. It addressed the questions: how does knowledge sharing and reuse happen in a small group? Is the decentralized knowledge reuse more favourable and useful for group members compared with the centralized knowledge reuse approach? What drives knowledge sharing and reuse effectively? This project applied the knowledge reuse theory and the knowledge management tools to support group learning. A study on the group members’ behaviour in knowledge sharing and reuse was conducted. It looked into the sociopsychological factors that encouraged and motivated them to work in knowledge management environment. The captured information was accessible and reusable by other students. This project had implications for all courses using groupwork and team projects.
Project Outcome	A set of questionnaire was designed to test the students’ perception concerning knowledge sharing based on their experience acquired in group projects. The questionnaire consisted of two parts. In the first part, there were eight factors as items, based on past relevant studies, which are perceived critical to knowledge sharing, including knowledge friendly culture, motivational practices, multiple available channels, leader supportiveness, trust, pre-existing relationship, common language and level of technology. In the second part, four items were included, which are Email, Knowledge repository, Face-to-face (F2F) meeting and Formal seminar. It was found that building trusting relationships between individuals was extremely critical for successful knowledge sharing among them, and on the other hand, the level of technology was least concerned during the process of knowledge sharing. Also, Email and F2F meeting were more frequently used to share knowledge with others; knowledge repository and formal seminar, on the other hand, were less popular. A report on the above findings was composed and presented in: i) Kwok, S.H. and Gao, S."Knowledge Sharing Community in P2P Network: A Study of Motivational Perspective" Journal of Knowledge Management (JKM) (2004 forthcoming) and ii) Kwok, S.H. and Gao, S. "Knowledge Sharing Community in P2P Network and its Application Features: A Study of Motivation Perspective". Proceedings of the Pacific-Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS2003). Adelaide, Australia, 2003.
Status	Completed
Project Documents (Only accessible by HKUST users)	Project Plan Progress Report Final Report
Adaptation	Full Project

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