UGC honours teaching excellence (with photos)
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The University Grants Committee (UGC) held a presentation ceremony for the 2021 UGC Teaching Award today (September 28) to honour academics of the UGC-funded universities for their outstanding teaching performance and achievements, as well as their leadership and scholarly contributions to teaching and learning within and outside their campuses.
The recipients of the 2021 UGC Teaching Award are:
General Faculty Members
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Dr Koon Yee-wan, Associate Professor, Department of Art History, School of Humanities, Faculty of Arts, The University of Hong Kong
Early Career Faculty Members
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Professor Rhea Patricia Liem, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, School of Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)
Teams
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Joint University Mental-Wellness Project Team led by Dr Sylvia Kwok Lai Yuk-ching (Associate Professor, Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong), with Professor Daniel Wong Fu-keung (Professor, Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong), Dr To Siu-ming (Associate Professor, Department of Social Work, The Chinese University of Hong Kong), Dr Pan Jiayan (Associate Professor, Department of Social Work, Hong Kong Baptist University) and Miss Loretta Leung Mee-kuen (Assistant Director of Student Affairs, Student Affairs Office, The Education University of Hong Kong) as team members
The citations of the awardees are at Annex 1.
The other finalists (in alphabetical order) are as follows:
Dr Tom Joseph Barry, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Social Sciences, The University of Hong Kong
Dr Marco Ho, Lecturer, Department of Information Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Dr Angel Ma Qing, Associate Professor, Department of Linguistics and Modern Language Studies, The Education University of Hong Kong
Student Innovation for Global Health Technology Team (SIGHT) of HKUST led by Professor Chau Ying (SIGHT Founding Director; Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, HKUST), with Mr H I Malinda M Abeynayake (SIGHT Teaching Associate and Program Manager), Mr Joel Yu Chung-yan (SIGHT Instructional Assistant) and Mr Kristopher Lam Wai-hin (SIGHT Assistant Software Engineer) as team members
This year's UGC Teaching Award Selection Panel was convened by Professor Marilee Bresciani Ludvik from the University of Texas at Arlington, who is also a member of the Quality Assurance Council under the UGC. The three recipients were selected from seven finalists among 19 outstanding nominees through a rigorous process undertaken by the Selection Panel. The selection criteria and the composition of the Selection Panel are at Annex 2.
The Chairman of the UGC, Mr Carlson Tong, congratulated the awardees, finalists and nominees on their accomplishments. He also thanked the UGC-funded universities for their support of the UGC Teaching Award. Mr Tong said, "It is our honour and privilege to have such a group of exceptionally outstanding teachers, who continued to demonstrate their passion, dedication and commitment to teaching excellence despite the challenge brought by the pandemic in the past year. With the new normal of teaching and learning in our higher education sector brought about by the pandemic, the UGC allocated a Special Grant of $165 million earlier this year to promote the medium- and long-term strategic development of virtual teaching and learning in the UGC-sector. I encourage all universities and university teachers to make good use of the funding and continue with their quest for excellence in teaching." Mr Tong also announced that the UGC will raise the award grant from $500,000 currently to $750,000 in the UGC Teaching Award next year in recognition of the tremendous contributions of the awardees, and to provide more resources for the awardees to take forward meaningful endeavours in enhancing teaching and learning.
In her congratulatory message, Professor Ludvik remarked, "The Selection Panel had a challenging task in selecting the awardees out of this outstanding group of nominees. I am deeply impressed by the remarkable achievements and impressive contributions the awardees have made in excelling the quality of learning experiences of students. My appreciation also goes to all members of the Selection Panel for their support and hard work in the selection process."
The presentation ceremony was well attended by UGC members, representatives of the UGC-funded universities including their Council chairmen and presidents/vice-chancellors, as well as nominees for the award.
The UGC has also produced a series of short video clips to introduce the recipients and finalists of the 2021 UGC Teaching Award. Through these clips, the recipients and finalists shared their approach to teaching and learning for promoting best practices. The clips have been uploaded to the UGC's website www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/ugc/activity/ugc_teaching_award/result.html for public consumption.
Ends/Tuesday, September 28, 2021
Issued at HKT 20:15
Issued at HKT 20:15
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