UGC celebrates and recognises teaching excellence
The University Grants Committee (UGC) organises the annual UGC Teaching Award to honour academics of the UGC-funded universities for their outstanding teaching performances and achievements, as well as their leadership and scholarly contributions to teaching and learning within and across universities.
The recipients of the 2020 UGC Teaching Award are:
General Faculty Members
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Professor Carmen Wong, Clinical Professional Consultant and Associate Professor of Practice in Family Medicine and Medical Education, the Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, the Chinese University of Hong Kong
Early Career Faculty Members
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Mr David Seungwoo Lee, Principal Lecturer, Faculty of Business and Economics, the University of Hong Kong
Teams
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The Inter-institutional Team for the AIE-AR Project led by Dr Eva Y W Wong (Director, Centre for Holistic Teaching and Learning, Hong Kong Baptist University), with Professor Siu Yin Cheung (Professor, Department of Sport, Physical Education and Health, Hong Kong Baptist University), Professor Siu Cheung Kong (Director, Centre for Learning, Teaching and Technology, the Education University of Hong Kong), Professor Lai Chuen Paul Lam (Associate Professor, Centre for Learning Enhancement and Research, the Chinese University of Hong Kong) and Dr Andrew Morrall (Senior Teaching Fellow, English Language Centre, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University) as team members
The citations of the awardees are in Annex 1.
The other finalists (in alphabetical order) for 2020 are as follows:
Professor Kara Ka Wah Chan, Associate Dean and Professor, School of Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University
Dr Chui Pui Yi, Lecturer, School of Life Sciences, the Chinese University of Hong Kong
Faculty of Education Experiential Learning Team of the University of Hong Kong, led by Dr Gary James Harfitt (Associate Dean (Learning and Teaching), Faculty of
Education) with Dr Jessie Mei Ling Chow (Lecturer, Faculty of Education) and Ms Ivy Nga Yi Chung (Executive Officer, Faculty of Education) as team members
Dr Fridolin Sze Thou Ting, Teaching Fellow, Department of Applied Mathematics, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University
The three recipients of the 2020 UGC Teaching Award were selected from seven finalists among 17 outstanding nominees through a rigorous process undertaken by a Selection Panel convened by Professor Marilee Bresciani Ludvik of San Diego State University. The selection criteria and the composition of the Selection Panel for the 2020 UGC Teaching Award are in Annex 2.
Professor Ludvik said, "The nominees' passion for teaching and efforts to pursue teaching excellence were impressive. It was a challenge to select the recipients among the outstanding nominees, and I am indebted to all members of the Selection Panel for their dedicated participation in the process."
The Chairman of the UGC, Mr Carlson Tong, congratulated the awardees, finalists and nominees. He also thanked the UGC-funded universities for their support for the UGC Teaching Award. Mr Tong said, "The COVID-19 pandemic posed unprecedented challenges to our academics when universities had to suspend face-to-face teaching over the past few months. The devotion and pursuit for quality in teaching of our university teachers, whose willingness to adapt and innovate with the use of technologies in response to the difficult circumstances, have been truly inspiring. With the gradual resumption of face-to-face teaching, I encourage all university teachers to continue with their quest for excellence, and achieve greater contributions to teaching and learning in the years to come."
The UGC has also produced a series of short video clips to introduce the recipients and finalists of the 2020 UGC Teaching Award. Through these video clips, it is hoped to promote a wider understanding of their pedagogies and recognise their exemplary achievements in teaching and learning. Please refer to the UGC's website www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/ugc/activity/ugc_teaching_award/result.html for further details.
Annex 1
2020 UGC Teaching Award Citations
Professor Carmen Wong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong
Professor Carmen Wong’s expertise is in medical education and in interdisciplinary and multisectoral educational collaborations. She is committed to the pursuit of professionalism in higher education. Her novel use of design thinking in developing professional skills ensures results are learner centred and enhances metacognition and skills in a variety of societal and professional contexts. She also leads interprofessional teams of clinicians, health professionals and tutors in projects adopting an interpersonal approach with a combination of blended online and experiential learning and community engagement, practitioner’s debrief and reflective practice. Professor Wong will utilise the award grant to equip teachers with pedagogy in professionalism and in using design thinking to enhance collaborative creativity and innovation in curriculum design. A community of practice will be established within and across disciplines with enhancement of international and network connections to create a sustainable and responsive dialogue and resources to enhance students’ professional and career development.
Mr David Seungwoo Lee, the University of Hong Kong
Prior to university teaching, Mr David Seungwoo Lee had gained experience in law and finance. Working through the turmoil of the global financial crisis compelled him to consider how he could lead a life with greater purpose and ultimately stimulated his drive to excel as a teacher. Mr Lee’s impact on students is evidenced by the fact that both current and former students often reach out to him for advice on pursuing graduate study, selecting professional opportunities, embarking on entrepreneurial ventures, and other significant life choices. Mr Lee believes that teachers should adopt an agile leader mindset to navigate the current volatile teaching environment. He adapts technology for teaching practice, which has helped him teach effectively during these extraordinary times. The massive online open course, Fintech Ethics and Risks, that he co-designed and co-taught has enrolled over 11 000 students to date. He plans to use the award grant to create a digital repository of multi-media and multilingual materials to enhance the teaching and learning of ethics.
The Inter-institutional Team for the AIE-AR Project led by Dr Eva YW Wong, Hong Kong Baptist University
The Inter-institutional Team for the AIE-AR (Academic Integrity and Ethics – Augmented Reality) Project is led by Dr Eva Wong from Hong Kong Baptist University
with Professor Siu Yin Cheung (Hong Kong Baptist University), Professor Paul Lam (The Chinese University of Hong Kong), Professor Siu Cheung Kong (The Education University of Hong Kong), and Dr Andrew Morrall (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University) as team members. The Team has been working earnestly on its project,“Reinforcing the Importance of Academic Integrity and Ethics in Students through Blended Learning – A Deployment of Augmented Reality Applications”, which introduces a second-generation synthesis of situated learning in collaborative settings, delivered using Augmented Reality, to present case-based scenarios engaging students in making decisions related to the critical yet abstract area of Academic Integrity and Ethics. Some 10 000 students have benefitted from the 12 trails comprising ethical issues in various disciplines, and the Team has extended this innovative pedagogy beyond its partners. In 2019/20, the Team also adopted selected physical trails for online deployment to continue student learning during the pandemic caused by COVID-19. The Team will use the award grant to longitudinally track and examine the changes in students’ academic integrity and ethics behaviour and attributes, after experiencing different trails of integrity and ethics from entry through to a later stage of their studies.
Annex 2
Selection Criteria of the 2020 UGC Teaching Award
Selection Criteria
All nominees for the Award were assessed based on the following three criteria -
(a) Adoption of learner-centred approaches, ability to engage/inspire/impact on students and demonstration of superior classroom acumen, which may include a good understanding of pedagogy, understanding how students learn and adopting suitable teaching and assessment approaches that can achieve better student learning outcomes; being able to interact with students and engage them in learning with enthusiasm; inspiring and supporting students, with respect for their diverse learning needs, to build confidence and capability (including critical thinking, analytical skills, values, etc.); and outstanding classroom (as well as outside-classroom) teaching.
(b) Course/programme/curriculum design that can reflect a command of the field, which may include demonstrating up-to-date knowledge of the field of study in the design of the curriculum and student learning resources (e.g., textbooks, e-learning resources) and adopting complementary research-informed teaching practices; and developing appropriate student learning outcomes and adopting innovative approaches to teaching and assessment which can facilitate students’ achievement of the learning outcomes etc., at/within an institutional, inter-institutional or sector-wide level.
(c) Past/present achievement(s) and leadership in teaching and potential scholarly contribution to and impact on the development of effective teaching practice within the nominee(s)’own university and/or in other institutions, which may include demonstrating educational research and innovations in the field of study; and demonstrating leadership in the promotion of teaching excellence within the university and/or in other institutions. In the case of early career faculty nominations, the focus will be on the nominees’ potential of leadership in teaching as well as their past achievements. In the case of team nominations, the impact of the collaborative work of the team on the development of effective teaching practice will also be considered.
The three criteria carry no specified weighting. The Selection Panel considered each nomination on its own merit with reference to the criteria.
Composition of the Selection Panel
Professor Marilee Bresciani Ludvik (Chair)
Member of the Quality Assurance Council
Professor of Postsecondary Educational Leadership, San Diego State University, USA
Mr Philip Tsai
Member of the University Grants Committee
Former Chairman, Deloitte China
Dr Don Westerheijden
Member of the Quality Assurance Council
Senior Research Associate, Center for Higher Education Policy Studies, University of Twente, The Netherlands
Professor Gray Kochhar-Lindgren
Awardee of the 2019 UGC Teaching Award
Director of Common Core, The University of Hong Kong
Professor Simon Bates
International Expert of the Selection Panel
Associate Provost, Teaching and Learning, The University of British Columbia, Canada
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