HKUST faculty set the trend for innovative education

Jan 4, 2019

STEM education has been widely promoted by the government, therefore local teachers have been busy snatching up teaching materials and information in relation to STEM, in the hope of arousing students’ interest in STEM education in a more effective and interesting manner. The annual Learning & Teaching Expo (LTE) is a professional teaching resources exchange platform where educators could discover the latest educational trends and different models of STEM education.

To strength HKUST’s community outreach efforts in promoting STEM education, we have once again participated in LTE 2018, which was held from Dec 12-14, to introduce our STEM@HKUST website to primary and secondary school principals and teachers and encourage them to utilize the content as STEM teaching tools in the classroom. Joining with us in the LTE 2018 included HKUST’s Center for the Development of the Gifted and Talented, Academy for Bright Future Young Engineers, and the Center for Global & Community Engagement at the School of Engineering.

In addition, HKUST professors from different faculties held seminars over the three-day expo, to share their insights into giving students a better learning experience with the help of technology. In his seminar titled “How AI will transform education”, Professor PONG Ting-Chuen, Director of Center for Engineering Education Innovation, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering as well as Senior Advisor to the EVPP (Teaching Innovation & E-learning), inspired educators to identify the patterns and dynamics of students’ learning through the application of big data techniques and analyzing large volumes of data collected from different sources.

Professor CHOW King-Lau, Director of Interdisciplinary Programs Office and Professor of Life Science and Chemical and Biological Engineering, taught educators how to engage secondary students in conducting biological research or studing with simple engineering concepts to create solutions to everyday problems, such as environmental monitoring and remediation, pharmaceutical, diagnostic, medical, programming and modelling, education, social or ethical issues and art, in his seminar titled “An engaging approach to teach biology, engineering biology, and boosting problem-solving skills”.

Dr. WOO Kam-Tim, Associate Professor of Engineering Education, Department of Electronic & Computer Engineering, conducted a seminar on “Making STEM education attractive for young people”, introducing different ideas and methods to engage students in learning STEM, such as competitions and workshops that can be replicated in a classroom setting. The popular Underwater Robot Competition is also a great opportunity for both teachers and students to get hands-on experience in building a robot on their own, and learn problem solving skills during the process.