Newsletter No. 74

CUHK Newsletter No. 74 19th September 1995 3 INNOVATIONS IN TEACHING Introducing Three Projects Funded by Teaching Development Grants In order to encourage, promote, and reward innovative approaches to tertiary teaching, the University Grants Committee (UGC) made available Teaching Development Grants for the first time in 1994-95 for disbursement to local tertiary institutions. The grants can be used to promote programmes aimed at improving teaching and learning, or to support initiatives to identify as well as offer solutions to problems affecting the quality of teaching and learning. The University received HK$3.2 million for the purpose in the last academic y e ar and a special task force was formed to oversee its distribution and usage. Some $1.7 million of the amount was used to set up a Teaching Development Unit under the Faculty of Education to help cultivate on campus a congenial environment for teaching and learning, and to create opportunities for academics to reflect upon their teaching. The rest was open forbidding by individual staff members, departments, faculties, colleges, and other units with a teaching function. Of the 29 applications received in 1994 一 95, seven were selected for support. While most of the seven projects have just begun and their success is yet to be assessed, the CUHK Newsletter has talked to various grant recipients about their proposals. Wherein does their innovation lie? How can they help improve teaching and learning quality? Let's look at three projects now. The others will be covered in the forthcoming issues. Can Proximity Really Be a Cause of Love? Project Improving Teaching in a Psychology Course Using a Case Album Approach (HK$100,000) Grant recipients Drs. Leung Jin-pang, Darius K.S. Chan, and Catherine S.K. Tang of the Department of Psychology 'Can proximity really be a cause of love?' Students of Psychology 1030 will be asking themselves this and other theoretical questions every time they watch a movie, read a magazine, and see an attractive neighbour. It is what the project aims at making them do, as is evident in its full title: Using aCase Album Approach to Enhance Critical Thinking and Daily-life Application in aPsychology Course. Dr. Leung Jin-pang says, 'By having students apply the theories to real life, we want to increase their interest in the subject, especially since some courses may not seem to have that much relevance to their lives. We encourage them to think critically, and also to develop the habit of putting into practice what they've learnt from books.' The psychology course concerned is entitled 'Personal Growth', which covers topics such as models of personality, self- identity, love and attraction, sexual knowledge and fulfilment, marriage and family, stress management, and social skill training. It essentially 'teaches students psychology's answers to what happens during the process of growing. In the past the course was run on a lecture/tutorial format with written assignments and exams. However, in the end-of-semester course evaluations, some students commented on their difficulty in relating theories to real life situations. Exam results also showed that students tended to concentrate on a few topics and neglected the others. And when illustrations were required, they cited textbook examples rather than daily life experiences. All these observations prompted the course team, who are also the researchers of this project, to adopt anew approach in assigning homework in order to help them make the connection between abstract theories and 'the real world'. For comparison purposes, the course is run simultaneously in two classes, one with the case album approach and one with the traditional approach. For every topic covered in class, students in the experimental group are required to collect two examples observed in real life from their own or their friends' experiences, newspapers, magazines, and films. They will then describe them or paste them, as may be required, in their case albums, together with their own comments on how these cases can be explained by the relevant theories, as well as any personal thoughts and insights they may have on the topics. The students will bring their case albums to the tutorials, where they will discuss their choices with each other in small groups. The case album, replacing traditional paper assignments, will constitute the major workload of the course apart from exams. It will be scored by tutors on the relevance of the cases selected and on the student's analysis. Just what sources do most of the cases come from? Dr. Leung said with alaugh, 'Next M a g a z i n e , East M a g a z i n e , Cantonese soaps, personal experiences dubiously disguised as afriend's....' The experiment has been implemented for one term already. Can the students now see the link between, say, the proximity effect and the keeping of mistresses in Shenzhen, assuming there is a link? In other words, has the new approach been effective? Dr. Leung says the students have been given questionnaires and interviews. The tutorials have also been videotaped. However all these have yet to be scored and analyzed in detail. The Teaching Development Grant in this case accounts for slightly less than half of the budget for the project. The greater half, some HK$130,000, comes from the UGC Action Learning Project Grant and the University's Direct Grant for Research. The major expenses are the hiring of research assistants and the acquisition of audio and video tapes. Validating Video Viability Project Evaluation of the Use of Videotaping and Video Playback in Nursing Students' Learning Process (HK$42,150) Grant recipient Ms. Law Ching-yee, Department of Nursing The project sets out to evaluate the need for and effectiveness of using videotaping and playback as a teaching and learning aid in the Bachelor of Nursing Programme. The Nursing Department has, since its inception four years ago, provided video equipment for students' use during lab sessions. Although the number of students has not changed much in the last few years, the demand for video equipment has always been on the rise. Ms. Law Ching-yee attributes it to a trend among nursing teachers to incorporate the use of video in teaching. 'We've acquired quite a lot of expensive equipment over the years, and we want to know how good its effect really is on teaching and learning. There may also be problems related to the booking of rooms and loaning of equipment that we're unaware of. The evaluation is a good chance for us to se how we can improve our service to students.' At the moment students of several courses are required to make videos as part of their assignments. In Behavioural Science II (counselling module), for instance, groups of two or three students have to videotape simulated counselling sessions during which they are supposed to use the knowledge and counselling skills they have learnt in class. The video will be played back in class and critiqued by fellow students and teachers. As many nursing students may not be familiar with sophisticated video equipment, they often need to practise using it afew times to feel confident. With increased bookings, there are frequent complaints of insufficient access to rooms and equipment. To complicate matters, some full-time students work as part- time registered nurses, some part- time students are actually senior- ranking nurses — ward managers, senior nursing officers, and nurse educators, and many students have their own families and children to look after. This means they have very little time outside of class for making bookings. The subjects of evaluation were the 71 students enrolled in Behavioural Science II (counselling module), and there were two stages of evaluation. In the first stage, students were given aquestionnaire entitled 'self-report ratings for learning counselling skills by using video equipment' before each video session. They were required to complete and return it towards the end of the session. Upon the completion of the whole course, students were given another questionnaire with both close- ended and open-ended questions. The results of the questionnaires indicate that students welcome the use of videotaping as it enables self-evaluation of performance and skills. The major disadvantage they have identified is that it is time-consuming. Other problem areas include difficulty in the booking of rooms and equipment, as well as inadequate technical know-how. Solutions suggested include increasing the number of rooms, video equipment and demonstrations on how to use it, as well as more in-class practice. Ms. Law said that part of the grant was used to hire research assistants for data collection, entry, and analysis. A project report is being compiled and will soon be available. The Knack of Teaching Projects 1. Establishment of a Newsletter on Excellence in Teaching (HK$74,140) 2. Quasi-Small Group Teaching in aLarge Class Environment (HK$214,940) 3. Tutors' Out-reach Programme for General Education (HK$89,000) Grant recipients Dr. Michele Chase, ELTU; and Dr. Ho Hsiu- hwang, Department of Philosophy Dr. Leung Jin-pang Ms. Law Ching-yee Drs. Michele Chase and Ho Hsiu-hwang