Strategic Teaching Enhancement Programme (STEP)
STEP 2009/10
- Introduction
- Intended Learning Outcomes of the Programme
- On-line Registration for the Sessions
- Programme Outline
- Description of the Sessions
| STEP 2005/06 | STEP 2006/07 | STEP 2007/08 | STEP 2008/09 | STEP 2009/10 |
Introduction
The Education Development Office (EDO) has a pivotal role to play in the professional development of academic staff, student learning, and e-learning initiatives, and has responsibility for bringing teachers and students together to develop effective pedagogy for enhancing student learning. EDO has developed STEP to assist new and experienced academic staff to adapt to the changing nature of the environment in which they work.
Intended Learning Outcomes of the Programme
At the end of the programme, participants will be able to:
- Describe the essential elements in the structure of a 4-year programme of study at CityU;
- Outline some general principles relating to General Education programmes;
- Develop constructively aligned Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs), Teaching and Learning Activities (TLAs) and Assessment Tasks (ATs) for their respective programmes and courses;
- Experiment with new and innovative teaching activities through the deployment of e-learning;
- Reflect and improve on their teaching practices as professionals.
On-line Registration for the Sessions
Academic staff members and postgraduate students with teaching responsibilities are welcome to register for individual workshops or the entire programme.
Dates: Every Tuesday, Week 5 to Exam Week
Registration: in AIMS via the e-Portal
Please follow the instructions below to complete the online registration:
- Login e-Portal at https://eportal.cityu.edu.hk/.
- Click AIMS (located at Quick Links).
- Click the "Staff Services" tab.
- Select the "Staff Development" item on the menu.
- Select the "On-line Application for In-house Staff Development Courses" item on the sub-menu.
- Click the "Apply" button corresponding to the course/workshop you want to apply.
Enrolment for each workshop will be limited to 30 – additional workshops will be arranged as necessary.
For enquiries, please contact the EDO by phone on 3442-6727 or via email at edo@cityu.edu.hk.
Programme Outline
With the OBTL project in progress, STEP 2009-10 continues to offer sessions to explore pertinent issues of this important project. On the other hand however, the transition to the 4-year Degree is less than three years away, and the entire University has to gear up for this important, “once in a generation” educational change. OBTL principles are expected to be fully adopted in the 4-year Degree, and the University is expected to bring forward some of the benefits of the 4-year programmes to current cohorts of students. As an example, the University has started to develop General Education (GE) courses which are offered to current student in the 3-year curriculum. To help colleagues prepare for the 4-year transition while moving ahead with OBTL and GE, this season of STEP has the dual purpose of continuing to keep colleagues informed and involved with the transition to the 4-year Degree, as well as continuing with practical examples for OBTL with a particular focus on Transferrable Skills.. Senior colleagues, faculty members and visiting experts will be invited to share innovative practices and experiences.
Description of the Sessions
Programme for Tuesday, 22 September 2009
Ceremony: Launch of the Kappa Delta Pi City University of Hong Kong Chapter Officiated by the VP(SA), Prof Paul Lam
Opening Session: GE-TEACH: Progress Report on City University's General Education Programme Implementation
- Speakers:
- Prof Reza Hoshmand, GE Programme Coordinator
- Dr Rodney Jones (EN)
- Dr Ron Kwok (IS)
- Dr John Ho (SLW)
- Dr Paul Lam (BC)
- Date: 22 September 2009
Time: 12:00noon-2:30pm (A light lunch will be provided from 12:00noon-12:30pm)
Venue: LT-14What are the goals of General Education? How are General Education courses related to General Education programmes as well as programmes in the major areas of study? What characteristics define effective General Education programmes?
The new season of STEP starts with an update of the progress of GE at CityU. Our GE coordinator and colleagues with expertise in GE development will attempt to answer the above and other questions by sharing the expertise and experience they gathered in the GE Institute. Some of the “best practices” in GE found across the United States will be showcased in this overview session.
Powerpoint slides - Dr Reza Hoshmand
| Powerpoint slides - Dr Ron Kwok
2. Information Sharing Session on the Implementation of the 4-Year Degree
- Speakers:
- Prof C H Chan (Acting Provost)
- Prof Gary Feng (Associate Provost)
- Dr J T Yu (CIO)
- Date: 29 September 2009
Time: 12:00noon - 2:00pm (A light lunch will be provided from 12:00noon - 12:30pm)
Venue: Multi-Media Conference Room, 4/F, CYCWe are at the early introduction phase of the 4-year degree implementation. The university will begin to admit students into the mini-version of the 4-year undergraduate degree starting from 2010/11 by early introducing the 4-year curriculum in designated undergraduate programmes. By Summer 2012, all the current undergraduate degree programmes under the 3-year structure will be converted into the 4-year curriculum.
The transition to the 4-year degree implementation will have a great impact on the operations of academic and administrative units throughout the university. It is necessary for the whole university community to keep abreast of the monumental change in the undergraduate curriculum. The Office of the Provost will present the latest development in the undergraduate degree curriculum in this Information Sharing Session. Issues such as curriculum requirements, arrangements for foundation-year students and senior-year entry, validation and approval procedure during programme conversion etc. will be discussed at the session.
STEP 2 Video by Dr J T Yu (Part 1)
| STEP 2 Video by Dr J T Yu (Part 2)
STEP 2 Video: Q&A Session
3. GE-TEACH: Practising Interdisciplinarity in General Education
- Speaker:
- Dr Gray Kochhar-Lindgren, Fulbright Scholar in General Education
Gray Kochhar-Lindgren is serving as one of the 2009-10 Fulbright Scholars in General Education in support of the curricular reforms occurring in the Hong Kong universities. In addition, he is a Visiting Professor in Comparative Literature and Philosophy at the University of Hong Kong. Gray has degrees in philosophy, religion, literature, and a PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies from Emory University in Atlanta. He is Professor of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington-Bothell, where he also directs the "First Year Experience", which includes team-taught courses such as "Dreaming the Earth," "Art and Biology," and "Cross-Cultural Mediascapes: The Case of Coffee." The author of Narcissus Transformed, Starting Time, and TechnoLogics, Gray is currently working on Designing the Global University and Kant, in Hong Kong.
- Date: 6 October 2009
Time: 12:30-2:30pm (A light lunch will be provided from 12:30pm - 1:00pm)
Venue: LT-14This discussion session will examine the concept and role of interdisciplinarity in GE. Colleagues with experience in the design and delivery of interdisciplinary courses will share their experiences. Participants will be asked to consider how interdisciplinarity may play a role in GE at the City University of Hong Kong.
Our session together will be thoroughly co-participatory and draw on the rich distributed intelligence in the room. Some of the topics we will be engaged will include:
- Introduction: My Interdisciplinary Day
- Interdisciplinarity's Discontents: Traversing Academic Boundaries
- Out into the World: Students, Staff, and Community
- Creating Maps: Constructing an Interdisciplinary Course
- Staying Awake: Engaging in Active Pedagogies
- On Wonder, Complexity, and Being Daunted: The Necessity for Interdisciplinarity
- Knowledge Flows: TeleTechnologies, Globalization, and Creating the New University
Hands-out - Dreaming the Earth
4. Alerting Students to Their Ethical Responsibility – Plagiarism Prevention & Detection
- Speakers:
Dr John Barrie is the Founder, Chairman and VP Product Management of iParadigms, LLC, a leader in textual intellectual property protection and a pioneer of Turnitin ® and other web-based services for collaborative, online educational support.
Dr Barrie is at the forefront of using technology to drive increased awareness of best practices related to appropriate uses of other people’s textual content. Implementation of Turnitin by educational institutions has demonstrably improved the academic integrity of written work at those institutions and allowed faculty to put greater focus on their teaching.- Dr Crusher Wong (EDO)
- Dr Theresa Kwong (EDO)
- Date: 13 October 2009
Time: 12:30-2:30pm (A light lunch will be provided from 12:30pm - 1:00pm)
Venue: B4702
Colleagues may have identified issues of plagiarism among CityU students from works they have submitted. In recent years, the introduction of plagiarism prevention packages, Turnitin and SafeAssign, has assisted both teachers and students to examine the matter. At institutional level, an online course on academic integrity is developed to educate all CityU students. In this STEP session, Dr John Barrie, founder of Turnitin, will talk about the role of developing technologies in influencing the styles and patterns inherent in academic writing. He will discuss the opportunities for revised and robust assessment practice in response to the wide range of rapidly evolving internet content and other electronic resources that can be used in assessment representation. Dr Theresa Kwong at the Education Development Office will provide audience a preview of the academic integrity online course.
5. Blogging as a Teaching Method to Foster Collaborative Learning and Critical Thinking
- Speaker:
- Dr Kuo Frank Yu
Assistant Professor
Department of Management
Students from Dr Yu’s class will share their experience in the session- Date: 20 October 2009
Time: 12:30-2:30pm (A light lunch will be provided from 12:30pm - 1:00pm)
Venue: CSC-H
Blogging can be a powerful teaching tool that helps students learn! First, blogging makes learning independent of time and place. Students can learn from each other’s blogs outside of classrooms, allowing students time to reflect. Second, blogging encourages students to use multimedia, making learning more fun. Third, blogging helps students take pride and assume accountability for their work; the students become authors who interact with other authors in the classroom and the rest of the world. Forth, blogging makes learning interactive and collaborative. A blog allows its viewers to make comments on its various specific entries; it provides a wonderful forum for peer reviews and community dialogues on topics of interest. It creates a discovery-based learning through collaborative participation and interaction among peers and communities. Lastly, blogging makes students creative and critical thinkers. Through commenting on their peers’ works, the students form new connections and learn to make constructively critical comments. Blogging makes education an active discovery rather than a passive reception.
Powerpoint slides - Dr Kuo Frank Yu
6. Engaging Students in Large Classes
- Speaker:
- Dr Paul Hanstedt, Fulbright Scholar in General Education
Paul Hanstedt is the recipient of a half-million dollar (US) FIPSE grant for sustainable faculty development, several teaching awards from three different institutions, and a Fulbright Grant in General Education. During his tenure at his home institution in Virginia, Professor Hanstedt led his campus in a successful curricular revision that resulted in a theme-based general education program featuring writing, quantitative reasoning, and oral communications across the curriculum. In addition to editing a national literary journal, Hanstedt writes fiction and drama and is an active scholar in the field of composition and rhetoric. His most recent research includes collaborations with professors from biology and psychology exploring the implications of cognitive neuroscience for the teaching of writing, as well as work with mathematics faculty that examines using writing to reduce student resistance to math. He is based at HKIEd through June 2010.- Date: 27 October 2009
Time: 12:30-2:30pm (A light lunch will be provided from 12:30pm - 1:00pm)
Venue: B4702
Large classes are a fact of life in higher education. This session is designed to address questions about the use of innovative and active pedagogies in large classes (N > 100). How does one manage the logistics of such a class? What are the options for the lecture format? What are the advantages we can take from large classes? Unique challenges of teaching in large classes will be identified and strategies to promote deep and engaged learning will be suggested to address these challenges. The use of technology, classroom management strategies, and other tools to promote student engagement in large classes will be examined in this session.
Powerpoint slides - Dr Paul Hanstedt
7. Using ePortfolios and Reflective Thinking to Scaffold Student Learning
- Speakers:
- Ms Hokling Cheung (EDO)
- Mr Dean Fisher (ELC)
- Ms Valerie Pickard (ELC)
- Date: 3 November 2009
Time: 12:30-2:30pm (A light lunch will be provided from 12:30pm - 1:00pm)
Venue: B4702
"We learn not from experiences but the reflection made on our experiences." A great variety of learning activities such as independent study, group work, case studies, role plays, problem-based learning, field trips, study tours, internships & exchange programmes, among others, can be organised to engage students and to facilitate and enhance learning. However without getting students to internalise their experiences, no significant changes are likely to take place. In this session, we shall discuss and highlight the importance of reflection in the learning cycle and identify possible ways to encourage students to personalize the intended learning outcomes, to make meaning on the activities and to reflect on their study and performance more effectively and constructively.
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8. The First CityU Blackboard User Group Meeting
- Speakers:
- Dr Andy Chun (CIO)
- Dr Hebe Wong (ELC)
- Dr Crusher Wong (EDO)
- Special Guests:
- Delegates from BEENET, Representative of Blackboard in South East Asia
- Date: 10 November 2009
Time: 12:30-2:30pm (A light lunch will be provided from 12:30pm - 1:00pm)
Venue: B4702
This meeting will be led by Blackboard users and e-learning practitioners at CityU to share knowledge and communicate with each other. Delegates from BEENET will also be attending the meeting to keep us informed on the latest development in Blackboard and another eLearning solutions.
Meeting Outline:
- Introductions – each participant is given 3-5 mins to share their experience in elearning
- Giving feedback with comment bank and grading with rubrics – Dr Hebe Wong
- What's new with Blackboard? - Delegates from BEENET
- Sharing of good practices and wish list – all participants
Outline of STEP 8
9. Reimagining Classroom Practices: How Can We Create Better Learning Environments for Our Students?
- Speaker:
- Dr Ahmar Mahboob
Visiting Fellow (EDO)
Senior Lecturer (Linguistics, University of Sydney)- Date: 17 November 2009
Time: 12:30-2:30pm (A light lunch will be provided from 12:30pm - 1:00pm)
Venue: B4702Are all teaching practices equal? How can we enhance student learning? What classroom practices lead to student learning and what practices create barriers for student learning? These are some of the questions that will be raised during this workshop. Participants will be encouraged to review and critically engage with their own teaching/learning contexts and imagine alternative approaches to teaching/learning that can be implemented in their context. Participants will leave the workshop with a deeper understanding of the relationship between teaching and learning and how they can use this understanding in their own contexts.
10. GE-TEACH: The General Education Outcomes
- Speaker:
- Prof Reza Hoshmand, GE Programme Coordinator
- Date: 24 November 2009
Time: 12:30-2:30pm (A light lunch will be provided from 12:30pm - 1:00pm)
Venue: B4702This session will interpret the revised outcomes of the General Education Programme approved by Senate on 3 November 2009. The session will also help course developers consider ways in which they can design activities to achieve the GE outcomes. If you are interested in creating GE courses, you are strongly encouraged to attend this session. Administrators in colleges, schools and academic departments are welcome.
11. Developing Reflective Practice for Professional Advancement
- Speakers:
- Ms Hokling Cheung (EDO)
- Mr Dean Fisher (ELC)
- Ms Valerie Pickard (ELC)
- Date: 1 December 2009
Time: 12:30-2:30pm (A light lunch will be provided from 12:30pm - 1:00pm)
Venue: B4702Good university teachers are reflective professionals who evaluate their own practice in order to improve their teaching. CityU has a clear policy stressing the need for staff to evaluate their teaching effectiveness to help inform decisions concerning contract renewal, promotion, substantiation and teaching excellence awards. This session will help participants identify the characteristics and expectations of professional teachers and will take participants through the processes and requirements for reflecting on their teaching and constructing their teaching portfolios.
12. Promoting Critical Thinking in the Classroom
- Speaker:
- Dr Ong Ai Choo, Associate Professor
The Centre for Learning, Teaching and Technology
The Hong Kong Institute of Education- Date: 8 December 2009
Time: 12:30-2:30pm (A light lunch will be provided from 12:30pm - 1:00pm)
Venue: B4702This session will introduce us to what critical thinking is and the various dimensions of critical thinking. Specific topics include standards for higher order thinking, use of active learning strategies to promote critical thinking. It will also share ways to assess thinking and learning in the classroom.
