Another successful session of CityU’s Teachers’ Development Day was held on 10 December 2021, but unlike the virtual events held in March and May this year, this time the members of the University can finally meet the participating teachers on campus and have face-to-face exchange with them. The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) was among the colleges and schools that offered insightful sharing to bring teachers new knowledge and perspectives in different disciplines.
Photo 1: CLASS Associate Dean Prof Christine Huang delivers the opening remarks to welcome the participating teachers.Principals and teachers from three local secondary schools, namely Kau Yan College, Munsang College, and SKH Holy Trinity Church Secondary School visited the University in person to join the event. Over 30 teachers participated in the session hosted by CLASS. The session began with the opening remarks by Professor Christine HUANG Yi-hui, Associate Dean (Faculty and Research) of CLASS. She extended a warm welcome to the teachers in her welcoming speech. By referring to several examples of CLASS faculty members’ works that transfer knowledge and benefit society, she explained why the effort of humanity and social sciences scholars should not be underestimated.
Photo 2: Dr Dannii Yeung shares how social scientists conduct research studies.Then, the time was handed over to Dr Dannii YEUNG of the Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences to talk about how social scientists conduct research studies with interactive experiments. She first asked the teachers to take part in two experiments, which demonstrated the concepts of inattentional blindness (describing one’s lack of attention to an object even when looking at it directly, and it is highly visible) and goal orientation manipulation. She further introduced the use of the eye-tracking technique in understanding human behaviours.
Photo 3: One of the participating teachers volunteered to participate in the demonstration of the eye-tracker.She invited a teacher to wear the wearable eye-tracker and look at a poster, and analysed his tracked eye movement in real-time. It is hoped that the hands-on experience could let the teachers better understand the new knowledge. It also opened up their imagination to the applications of eye-trackers in the classroom setting, such as the possibility of using it to identify students with special educational needs, and Dr Yeung was delighted to provide them with practical advice. Both informative and interactive, the sharing session was very well received by the participating teachers.
Photo 4: Participating teachers are happy to have the opportunities to learn new knowledge.Prior to the parallel sessions hosted by colleges and schools, the University also arranged programmes to present its HK Tech Tiger and BOLD@CityU programmes, which embody its commitment to nurturing thoughtful, adaptable, and open-minded young talents who are aspired to make positive contributions to society. Professor Samuel HO, Head of SS, and Dr Sylvia KWOK LAI Yuk-ching, Associate Professor of SS, also shared some strategies that could help the youth tackle life obstacles, by delivering a talk on building resilience through positive psychology. Though the visit lasted for a few hours only, it was packed with information and fresh perspectives that the University hopes would facilitate the teachers’ professional development.
Cover: The participating teachers gained new insights and perspectives from Dr Dannii Yeung (middle) which might be useful in the classroom setting.
