City University of Hong Kong has announced five Teaching Excellence Awards (TEA) winners for 2004/05: Ms Cheung Ho-ming, Instructor, Department of English and Communication; Dr Robert Davison, Associate Professor, Department of Information Systems; Mr Angel Garralda, Instructor, Department of English and Communication; Mr John Lai, Instructor, Department of Management; and Dr Lawrence Wu, Associate Professor, Department of Physics and Materials Science.

 

Be it their innovative pedagogies, caring advice or strong connection with industry, the five TEA winners 2004-05 share one thing in common: their passion to motivate students to actively participate in achieving desired learning outcomes. Their commitment to teaching excellence is indispensable for an environment conducive to personal growth and reflective learning.

 

Launched by CityU’s Quality Assurance Committee (QAC) in 1993-94, the Teaching Excellence Awards scheme is the first of its kind in Hong Kong. Upholding the importance of professional education through recognition of outstanding teachers, the TEA reflects the University’s commitment to enhancing the quality of education in Hong Kong and the region.

 

TEA’s student-nominated candidates are subject to a rigorous selection process conducted by the TEA Selection Panel under CityU’s QAC. This year a record number of nominations were made: 42 in all. The five newest TEA winners are acknowledged for their continuous contributions to student motivation in addition to their excellent performance in areas such as reflective pedagogy and their competence in bringing real-life industry experience to CityU students. The TEA 2004-05 winners will be conferred their awards at Congregation to be held in October this year and their names will be engraved on a TEA Plaque at the entrance of the Academic Building, bringing the total number of TEA recipients to date to 64. 

 

Professor Joseph Cheng, Chair Professor of Political Science and Chairman of the QAC, commented, “We are proud to uphold quality assurance as an institutional responsibility and we are committed to the continual development, recognition and reward of education quality at CityU.”

 

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The TEA is one of the most important exercises of the University in terms of sustaining a strong culture of teaching and learning, said Professor Sritawat Kitipornchai, TEA Selection Panel Chairman. “It involves students, alumni, staff and external members and is a very instructive exercise for all participants. A primary focus of the Selection Panel is on the learning outcomes of students.”

 

“CityU reaps immense benefits from this annual selection exercise in providing an opportunity for deep reflection across teachers and departments on its obligations to nurture and develop lifelong learners for challenging careers in society,” added an external member of the TEA Selection Panel, Ms Denise Chalmers, Director of Teaching and Educational Development Institute (TEDI) at The University of Queensland.

 

Another external member of the TEA Selection Panel, Professor K P Mohanan of the  National University of Singapore, said “I have had the opportunity to participate in the TEA selection exercise in CityU for two consecutive years. I always look for higher order teaching skills which combine thoughtful reflection and pedagogical values in teachers. On that basis, the candidates considered for the Teaching Excellence Awards in City University of Hong Kong this year were as impressive as those considered by the Selection Panel last year. I have no doubt that the efforts of the University in promoting a strong teaching culture pays off handsomely in the form of producing effective learners.”