20/11/2003
Teaching and Learning Programs at HKUST Commended
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology's (HKUST) teaching and learning programs are commended by the Teaching and Learning Quality Process Reviews (TLQPR) Panel of the University Grants Committee (UGC). Responding to the second TLQPR report on HKUST released today (20 November), President Paul Chu said: "Educating all-round leaders of tomorrow is a primary mission of HKUST. The second TLQPR report underlined the University's ceaseless efforts and major achievements in fulfilling this mission - with marked improvements in the teaching and learning quality assurance processes since the first review in 1997. We are also grateful for the Panel's recommendations for further developments."
The report highlighted four positive developments in taught programs at HKUST:
● The establishment of the Center for Enhanced Learning and Teaching (CELT) has made an impact on campus,
especially in Web-based pedagogies;
● The development and use of the Personal Response System and the associated embedding of student
feedback;
● The Teaching Assistant system and associated training and support procedures are comprehensive,
well-organized, and valued by those who are involved;
● The establishment of Student-Staff Liaison Committees, together with evidence of appropriate responsiveness
to student feedback.
The review in this round of TLQPR was extended to include research postgraduate and continuing education programs. The Panel concluded that the University was developing a sound approach to assure quality in research postgraduate education, an important component of HKUST's mission.
Apart from the Teaching Assistant system, the University's research postgraduate education is commended for:
● The effective balance between bottom-up initiatives and a university-wide framework for guiding activity ● The clear information and communication for students
● The positive feedback received from students
● The well-structured route through which research students develop as academics
On continuing education, the report said the credit-bearing business and engineering programs have succeeded in attracting quality students, who were very satisfied with their experiences.
The TLQPR panel, composed of overseas and local educational experts, visited HKUST in January 2003 to meet with the senior management, staff and student representatives of the key University-level committees responsible for teaching and learning quality.
TLQPR report and the Institutional Response
About CELT
The Center for Enhanced Learning and Teaching (CELT) is an academic support unit dedicated to the advancement of quality education by fostering a continuous improvement culture among HKUST's learning community of students, faculty and other teaching staff. Externally, CELT also strengthens interactions with other education sectors through partnerships in innovative teaching and learning projects.
About PRS
Personal Response System, PRS, is a wireless student responses system developed to promote active learning in class. Instructors can use PRS to instantly assess students' understanding of the subject matters, to collect instant feedback from every student in class, and to allow students to participate actively in class, even for shy and disadvantaged students. PRS is being widely used in North America and the United Kingdom including Harvard University, Stanford University and MIT. In Hong Kong, PRS is being used in HKUST, HKU and Baptist University. PRS in HKUST has been used in over 100 courses. Majority of the students in HKUST have been issued with their own personal PRS handsets. All lecture theaters and over 32 classrooms have already been installed with PRS receivers.
For media enquiries:
Adrian Cheung Tel: 2358-6305 email: acheung@ust.hk