Congratulatory Message by Chair, 2021 UGC Teaching Award Selection Panel
2021 UGC Teaching Award
Congratulatory Message by Professor Marilee Bresciani Ludvik
Chair, 2021 UGC Teaching Award Selection Panel
It is my greatest honour to have the opportunity to once again chair the Selection Panel of this year's UGC Teaching Award to celebrate the remarkable achievements of our outstanding teaching colleagues in the UGC sector.
2. With the accelerated evolution of the teaching and learning landscape around the globe due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance for teachers to demonstrate superior acumen in teaching, agility to changes, and ability to inspire students to learn with joy and enthusiasm in an innovative manner had never been more significant. It is the calling of teachers of our time to navigate their students through the shadow casted by the pandemic, and prepare students for the unprecedented challenges ahead in their life journeys.
3. In the past few months, the Selection Panel reviewed all 19 nominations from UGC-funded universities. We were once again impressed by the nominees' commitment to teaching excellence, which was demonstrated by their ability and commitment to engage and inspire their students in their study, and even life journey. Their remarkable passion in teaching, with a focus on learner-centred teaching, innovation and leadership, has enriched the learning experiences of their students.
4. The Selection Panel had a challenging task in selecting the finalists among this outstanding group of nominees, and had even more challenging time in selecting the awardees. With careful deliberation, the Selection Panel selected seven finalists and had the privilege to meet and discuss with them their teaching philosophies in late June and early July. After a rigorous selection process, the Selection Panel agreed that three of the finalists should receive the 2021 award. They are Dr KOON Yee-wan from The University of Hong Kong, Professor Rhea LIEM from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and the Joint University Mental-Wellness Project Team led by Dr Sylvia KWOK from City University of Hong Kong.
5. Dr KOON Yee-wan, the awardee for the General Faculty Members category, is an Associate Professor at the Department of Art History. Dr Koon's vision is to transform art history students' curiosity into a deeper commitment to arts. Her 'art history in action' strategy underpins her innovative and effective redesign of the art history programme of her university. The Selection Panel is deeply impressed by her work in positioning her students as 'authentic novices' who experience the intersection of formal study whilst at the same time, become part of a professional community. The transformative impact of her teaching approach has on students and their learning is also impressive. Dr Koon is an exemplary educator who balances the needs of students with the input from community stakeholders, whilst at the same time serves as a role model for peers. Dr Koon will use her award grant to carry out a project to foster an understanding of how the artworld operates and the people involved therein among students who wish to pursue a career in arts.
6. Professor Rhea LIEM, the awardee for the Early Career Faculty Members category, is a very successful 'woman in Engineering' and an Assistant Professor of the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering. As an exemplary early career educator, Professor Liem is a well-deserved award recipient for her contributions to teaching excellence and innovation, curriculum design as well as her commitment and dedication to her students and to her field. Not only does her passionate teaching attract and fascinate her students, it also simultaneously fosters a thorough understanding of key learning concepts. The Selection Panel appreciated in particular the elements of learner discovery built into the courses, which are authentic learning experiences for students, and is coupled with a commitment to attend to 'learning how to learn' rather than simply 'covering material'. Professor Liem will use her award grant to carry out a project to foster student innovations for engineering and science teaching aids projects.
7. The Teams category awardee, Joint University Mental-Wellness Project (JUMP) Team is led by Dr Sylvia KWOK (CityU), with Professor Daniel WONG (HKU), Dr TO Siu-ming (CUHK), Dr PAN Jiayan (HKBU) and Miss Loretta LEUNG (EdUHK) as team members. This collaborative programme across five universities aims to enhance students' wellbeing, enable them to find enriched meaning in their university lives, enhance their resilience to face challenges, develop their sense of social responsibility and foster positive learning experiences. Through a variety of activities, over 1 100 staff and professionals, and around 4 000 university students have been benefitted. These university students also carried out community projects of their own design to further benefit 1 500 members of the wider community. The Selection Panel greatly appreciated the scale, breadth and the comprehensiveness of the project. This project is also considered to be particularly timely – having regard that mental wellness is a critical issue for all universities, doubly so with the stresses brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, which have disproportionately affected young adults. The Team will use the award grant to expand the positive transformational pedagogy and the unique features of JUMP to engage more students and academics, with the hope of implementing this pedagogy in a long-term, sustainable manner and involving all eight UGC-funded universities.
8. Again, it is my greatest pleasure to congratulate the awardees, finalists and nominees, as well as their respective universities, on the remarkable achievements and impressive contributions they have made in excelling the quality of learning experiences of students in the UGC sector. May I once again express my heartful appreciation to my colleagues in the Selection Panel, Professor Chris Brink, Mrs Belinda Greer, Professor Carmen Wong and Professor Simon Bates, for their support and hard work. I am also grateful to the UGC for entrusting me with the work of chairing the Selection Panel.