GHELC Symposium 2014 – Experiential Learning @ HKU

Date: Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Time: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Venue: Graduate House, The University of Hong Kong

Summary

Experiential learning enables students, teachers and community partners to integrate academic learning with practice while addressing specific community needs. The learning process empowers students to take initiative and to engage in an integrated and multidimensional way. It requires a closer collaboration and engagement model among university, teachers, students and community partners at local and international level.

The Symposium aims to share the best practices of teaching and learning of experiential learning courses in HKU, and the insights and vision of university-community engagement. HKU students will share their intensive learning journey. Community partners will also be invited to discuss the needs and ideas for cooperation between the community partners and HKU.

Keynote Speakers

Ir Professor L. G. Tham
Associate Dean(Teaching & Learning), Faculty of Engineering,
The University of Hong Kong

Ms. Maggie Chan
Director of Social Work Services, Caritas – Hong Kong

Mr. John Lin
Associate Professor, Faculty of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong

Programme

Plenary Session
Wang Gungwu Theatre, Graduate House
10:00-10:30 Registration
10:30-11:00 Opening Speech
Topic: Experiential Learning @ HKU
Speaker: Ir Professor L. G. Tham, Associate Dean(Teaching & Learning), Faculty of Engineering, HKU 		Experiential Learning is a distinctive feature of HKU’s new curriculum and it provides students with meaningful and constructive opportunities to learn within he classroom and out in society. Professor Tham will give an overview of the development of experiential learning in 10 faculties at HKU.
11:00-11:30 Topic: Community Engagement and Experiential Learning
Speaker: Ms. Maggie Chan, Director of Social Work Services, Caritas – Hong Kong 		Different collaborative models have emerged between Faculties and Community Partners as a means to integrate theory and practice as one. Ms Maggie Chan, from Caritas-Hong Kong will share the insights and vision about university-community engagement from the perspective of a long established NGO in Hong Kong.
11:30 -12:30 Topic: Best Practice of Experiential Learning in Architectural Studies
Speaker: Mr. John Lin, Associate Professor, Faculty of Architecture, HKU 		Faculty of Architecture provides opportunities for students to take part in designing and consultancy services offered by the Faculty to governments and nonprofit organisations. For the past years, students travelled to sites in different countries to work on surveying, drawing and interviewing, research the limitations and opportunities for construction, and develop proposals that address the problems. Mr. Lin will illustrate the curriculum design and implementation process and the lessons learnt.
12:30-14:00 Lunch
Multi-purpose Hall, P3, Graduate House
Parallel Sessions
Room P5-01, P5-03, P6-03, Graduate House
14:00-15:15 Session 1a: Engaging Community: Experiential Learning @ Pokfulam Village
Venue: Room P5-01, Graduate House
Facilitator: Benjamin Sin, Project Lead, Caritas Pokfulam Community Development Centre, Caritas – Hong Kong
Ms Vincci Mak, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Architecture, HKU
ghelc-symposium-1a 		Being a neighbour of Pokfulam Village, HKU forms partnership with Caritas Pokfulam Community Development Project to foster positive community capacity building in the village. The learning site offers a platform for linking classroom learning and experiences outside the classroom. It gives students the opportunities to discover the value of intentional communities in developing habits of reflection and in reconciling people of different backgrounds and social groups. Mr. Benjamin Sin of Caritas will share the partnerships built with faculty teachers and students and the different experiential learning activities taking place at the village.

Learn more about the project
Session 2a: Experiential Learning Case Study: Wildlife Conservation Research
Venue: Room P5-03, Graduate House
Facilitator: Dr. Leszek Karczmarski, Associate Professor, School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, HKU
ghelc-symposium-2a		 Experiential learning is a mandatory component in the Bachelor of Science (BSc) curriculum, and these activities vary in nature and length of time. Two of the many experiential learning courses are led by Dr. Karczmarski where students participate in on-going field-based research activities at Bohol Sea, The Philippines, and Sabah, Malaysia. Through the activities, students develop research skills, greater understanding of behavioural and/or evolutionary pattern and how individual focused research advances science at large.

Learn more about the project
Session 3a: Student Sharing Session
Venue: Room P6-03, Graduate House
ghelc-symposium-3a		 Experiential learning journey is intense and multi-dimensional. The learning starts from testing their theoretical knowledge with on-going reflection, through time-management, team work and adequate communication style, to value-awareness and character formation when being confronted with questions of professional ethics and responsible delivery of the agreed outcome. In this session, students from different faculties will share their unique learning journey.
15:15-15:30 Coffee Break
15:30-16:45 Session 1b: Engaging Community: Community Partners Discussion Panel
Venue: Room P5-01, Graduate House
Facilitator: Dr. Albert Ko, Director of Gallant Ho Experiential Learning Centre, HKU
ghelc-symposium-1b 		Besides connecting theory with practical needs and real life application, experiential learning also connects academia with the community. It raises social awareness of the students and their solidarity with others – often more vulnerable members of the society. It also requires a new collaboration and engagement model among university, teachers, students andcommunity partners at local and international level. This session will facilitate the discussion among the participants to identify and explore the possibilities of synergy. Please join the discussion and share your views.
Session 2b: Experiential Learning Case Study: Creating Social Values through Multimedia – Nonprofit Management Practice
Venue: Room P5-03, Graduate House
Facilitator: Dr. Helen Liu, Assistant Professor, Department of Politics and Public Administration, Faculty of Social Sciences, HKU
ghelc-symposium-2b 		The 6-credit course, POLI0098 Nonprofit Management, is a Political Science undergraduate course offered last semester to advance students’ understanding of the management and operation of organisations in the non-profit sector. Students worked directly with community partners to identify the social values created by their community partners and then produced multimedia film to promote them. Together with one of the community partners and student group, Dr. Liu will share the process of formulating experiential learning activities and the real-life experience in testing the classroom knowledge.

Learn more about project

Student projects and reflections are available on the project blog set up by Dr. Helen

Session 3b: Student Sharing Session
Venue: Room P6-03, Graduate House
ghelc-symposium-3b		 Experiential learning journey is intense and multi-dimensional. The learning starts from testing their theoretical knowledge with on-going reflection, through time-management, team work and adequate communication style, to value-awareness and character formation when being confronted with questions of professional ethics and responsible delivery of the agreed outcome. In this session, students from different faculties will share their unique learning journey.

Speaker Profiles

Ir Professor L. G. Tham
Associate Dean(Teaching & Learning), Faculty of Engineering, The University of Hong Kong

Professor Tham is the Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning) of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Hong Kong. He is also a member of the Senate, Academic Board, Curriculum Development Committee, Steering Committee on 4-Year Undergraduate Curriculum. His interests cover foundation engineering, rock engineering, slope engineering and engineering education. His outstanding achievement in teaching has been recognized in the field and he has been awarded the University Distinguished Teaching Award (Team Award) for the Mingde Projects.

Ms. Maggie Chan
Director of Social Work Services Division, Caritas – Hong Kong

Ms Chan Mei Kit, Maggie, a registered social worker, is currently the Director of Social Work Services Division of Caritas – Hong Kong. She has been serving Caritas for more than 30 years to fulfill the agency’s mission to serve the last, the least and the lost in the community.

Mr. John Lin
Associate Professor, Faculty of Architecture, HKU

John Lin is an architect and currently an Assistant Professor at The University of Hong Kong. His current projects include the design of several school buildings, a village community center, a hospital and a sustainable house prototype in China. His research and work has been published widely and exhibited in various places including the Hong Kong & Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism 2007 and 2009, the Beijing Architecture Biennale 2008 and at the Venice Biennale of Architecture 2008 and 2010. He has received two AR Awards for Emerging Architecture in 2009 and 2010 for his Qinmo Village School and Taiping Bridge Renovation projects. He is the 2010 recipient of the Outstanding Teaching Award at The University of Hong Kong. He won the prestigious international Architectural Review’s Housing Competition 2012 with his project “The Shijia House” (House for All Seasons) in Shaanxi Province, which began as an Experiential Learning workshop that focuses on Chinese lifestyles in transition.

Mr. Benjamin Sin
Project Lead, Caritas Pokfulam Community Development Centre, Caritas – Hong Kong

Mr. Sin Chiu Hang, Benjamin gained his Bachelor of Cognitive Science and Master of Social Work degrees at the University of Hong Kong in 2000 and 2002. He joined the Caritas – Hong Kong immediately after graduation and served in Sham Shui Po and Cheung Chau communities before taking up the present office in 2005. His literary work, “Pokfulam Village: the Historic Settlement below Tai Ping Shan”, earned the Hong Kong Book Prize 2012.

Dr. Helen Liu
Assistant Professor, Department of Politics and Public Administration, Faculty of Social Sciences, HKU

She received a Ph.D. in Public Affairs from Indiana University at Bloomington in 2009. She has research interests in the areas of interorganizational networks and nonprofit management. Her dissertation investigates the performance and dynamic of interorganizational networks in the social service provision. Her research on nonprofit management explores current capacity, challenges, and incorporation status of local nonprofit organizations. She was awarded a fellowship as an emerging scholar at the Urban Institute in Washington D.C., selected as a summer fellow at the RGK Center on Philanthropy in University of Texas at Austin, and served as a visiting Scholar at Peking University. She has taught courses in management foundation and case studies in public policy at Indiana University.

Dr. Leszek Karczmarski
Associate Professor, School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, HKU

Dr. Karczmarski has previously studied the ecology, behaviour and conservation of marine mammals, especially dolphins, in South Africa, Hawaii and the mainland United States, as well as Central and South America. In recent years, he has brought his expertise to the seas around Southeast Asia and has put the focus on marine conservation in the region.

Ms Vincci Mak
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Architecture, HKU

Vincci is the Design Studio Coordinator for MLA Year 1, and is also involved in the teaching of the BA(LS) program.
Vincci received her architectural training and obtained a Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.) degree from the University of Southern California in the US. She then pursued her further studies in landscape architecture, and received a Masters in Landscape Architecture (MLA) degree from the Graduate School of Design (GSD) at Harvard University.
As a design practitioner, Vincci sees no definite boundaries among the various design disciplines. She has been practicing as a landscape designer/master-planner/urban designer in both Hong Kong and London, with project locations ranging from Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Her recent projects include the Re-generation Project for the Battersea Powerstation in London, U.K., in which her focus was on the public realm. Her past projects also range from the smaller-scaled urban plazas to the larger-scaled regional planning consultation.

[Show thumbnails]