Congratulatory Message by Chair, 2020 UGC Teaching Award Selection Panel

2020 UGC Teaching Award
Congratulatory Message by Professor Marilee Bresciani Ludvik
Chair, 2020 UGC Teaching Award Selection Panel

I am very honoured to have the opportunity to chair the Selection Panel of this year's UGC Teaching Award, especially in this difficult time when university education worldwide has been heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

2. Quality teaching is imperative for student achievement. I am so glad that the UGC Teaching Award recognises inspirational university teachers, including those still in an early stage of their careers. I would also like to applaud members of the teaching teams who joined hands for a common goal in the promotion of student learning even though they are from different universities. In the past few months, Members of the Selection Panel reviewed all 17 nominations from UGC-funded universities. 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. After careful deliberation, the Selection Panel agreed that three of the finalists should receive the 2020 award. They are Professor Carmen Wong from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), Mr David Seungwoo Lee from The University of Hong Kong, and the Inter-institutional Team for the AIE-AR Project (AIE-AR Team) led by Dr Eva Wong of Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU).

3. Professor Carmen Wong, the awardee for the General Faculty Members category, is an Associate Professor of Practice in Family Medicine and Medical Education. She has developed and introduced the competency-based curriculum in Family medicine with components of mentorship, case-based learning and core competencies. She also adopts interprofessional approaches across other health disciplines. The Selection Panel is impressed by the work undertaken by her which has had a significant impact on the family medicine curriculum and more widely across medical education. Professor Wong will use her award grant for a novel application of design thinking approaches in interdisciplinary settings.

4. Mr David Seungwoo Lee, who is the awardee for the category of Early Career Faculty Members, took a unique path to academia. Prior to university teaching, he had gained experience in the law and finance field. Thanks to his unique background, Mr Lee has developed mature and sophisticated conception of teaching and of the role of a teacher. In addition to exemplary teaching, he also provides significant service in support of students' career development, training and advising, demonstrating a clear commitment to student learning and engagement. His teaching philosophy is solidly rooted in relevant literature. Mr Lee will use his award grant to create a digital repository of multi-media and multi-lingual materials to enhance the teaching and learning of ethics.

5. The Teams category awardee, the AIE-AR Team led by Dr Eva Wong, with Professor Cheung Siu Yin (HKBU), Professor Kong Siu Cheung (The Education University of Hong Kong), Professor Paul Lam (CUHK) and Dr Andrew Morrall (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University) as team members, has created a project on "Trails of Integrity and Ethics" which provides situated learning opportunities for students using augmented reality. In view of the COVID-19 situation, the Team has also responded swiftly by making adaptation in creating a virtual trail on a map rather than a physical trail around campus. The Selection Panel is impressed by the wide scope of this project which involves multiple universities and appreciates the Team's efforts in extending this pedagogical strategy to secondary schools and other post-secondary settings. The team will use the award grant to longitudinally track and examine the changes in students' academic integrity and ethics behaviour and attributes through the "Trails of Integrity and Ethics".

6. I take great pleasure in congratulating the awardees and finalists as well as nominees of this year on the amazing work they have done. Once again, I would also like to thank my colleagues in the Selection Panel, Dr Don Westerheijden, Mr Philip Tsai, Professor Gray Kocchar-Lindgren and Professor Simon Bates, for their support and devotion in the selection process.