CB Pride - Concepts for Education

Congratulations to Dr. Ron Kwok, Dr. Tom Vinaimont, and Ms. Wisteria Cheung on receiving the CityU Teaching Excellence Award 2012/2013! In this issue’s featured story, the three professors will share their unique education concepts with us.

Ms. Wisteria Cheung Teaching Fellow of the Department of Marketing Contact: wisteria.cheung@cityu.edu.hk

Why teach at CityU?

Ms. Wisteria Cheung has over ten years of business experience in the retail industry. She was involved in the human resource department and organized many management trainee programs. During recruitment interviews, she noticed two mistakes among most final year students

1. Interviewees often gave standardized answers.
2. Interviewees failed to portray their “personal attitude, positivity, and discipline.”

Thus, Wisteria wanted to take actions to help university students improve on their soft and hard skills. She hoped that her experience in the retail industry would teach students how to better showcase their inner qualities to others. This is how she started her 12 years of teaching at CityU.

Teaching Concepts

1. ‘Trial & Error’ method where course syllabus is amended based on student and personal feedback.
2. New course development on emerging marketing concept(s).
3. Expanding social services networks – Wisteria wants students to explore the social services element of the business world, as an extension to the well-developed exchange and internship programs at CB. Currently, Wisteria is cooperating with the Hong Kong Retail Management Association (RMA) where students will assist in the different stages of the RMA Service & Courtesy Award Program. Students will learn about the planning and logistics of organizing events, and will also be given the opportunity to sit in on the interviews so they can “witness” the performance of good quality candidates.

Business and Marketing is not only about profits; it is time to rethink and rediscover “Business & Marketing in relation to society.”

Dr. Tom Vinaimont Associate Professor of the Department of Economics and Finance Contact: tom.vinaimont@cityu.edu.hk

Why stay at CityU?

Dr. Tom Vinaimont moved to Hong Kong from Belgium in late 2002. After teaching one semester that year, classes stopped for one entire semester because of SARS. However, this did not deter Tom from continuing his academic career here.

Ten years ago, the university was very different from what it is now. Almost all the students were local and very few thought the idea of going abroad on exchange appealing. The department however decided then to allocate a couple of scholarships to pay for students to go on exchange; the aim was, and still is, to help students gain international exposure. From the start, Tom noticed the caring culture of CityU: the school offers different and innovative teaching techniques to professors, and staff work hard for the well-being of students; he commented: “About a decade ago both HK as well as CityU changed at such a fast pace that faculty and students alike had no idea where the university was heading, but everybody just gave it their best.” What still remains is this caring culture and the realization that there is always room for improvement. It is this caring and positive learning culture that kept Tom at CityU.

Teaching Concepts

1. Three-Part Teaching – Tom roughly splits total class time into three parts. One third goes into the motivational aspect and positioning. The second part is dedicated to case studies or group work that involves data collection. Data collection and structuring are best done by the students themselves because data skills will become ever more important. The third part is in-class computer exercises offering simulations of practical aspects of finance. Through this Three-Part Teaching scheme, students have an active involvement in their learning process and can therefore better retain the underlying concepts.
2. Students as Mentors – Students as Mentors – Graduate students often come with a wealth of experience or knowledge in subareas. If the topic suits class contents, Tom will ask those students to take over the role of teacher and Tom will guide the related class discussions. This is learning beyond textbook concepts.
3. Replacing in-class exams with third party certifications – The word ‘University’ has the notion of academic freedom, which ensures that scholars have the freedom to teach or communicate ideas or facts without censorship. Tom believes that examinations restrict students from ‘optimal learning’. Assessments for certifications and professional credentials are important, but should be given by third parties. Tom is hoping to promote this idea at the university in the future.

Dr. Ron Kwok Associate Professor of the Department of Information Systems Contact: isron@cityu.edu.hk

What is the educational value of Information Systems (IS) and why he chose IS?

“Incorporating the use of IS into education is the past; revolutionizing IS using educational pedagogy is the present.” The combination of the two (IS and education) gives rise to the research and teaching focuses of Dr. Ron Kwok.

Dr. Ron Kwok was once a physical education teacher at primary and secondary schools with no prior knowledge in IS. Ron explained that he “wanted to strive for something more, to ‘discover and innovate’, to explore a new field outside of [his] comfort zone. This is when [he] discovered the field of Information Systems.”

Teaching Concepts

1. Teaching-oriented Research – generating research topics from teaching subjects and/or during the teaching process.
2. Research-oriented Teaching – constant research and development of teaching contents and techniques to maintain student interest; teaching should not be solely based on previous textbook materials.

This Research-Teaching loop sets a win-win situation for professors and students in regards to individual and social knowledge advancements.

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