Students in Hong Kong Tertiary Education - Training Module

Corporate Training for FSTE (2014 Summer)Module 2: Understanding Students of the Self-financing Tertiary Education Sector in Hong Kong

Warming-up • Say “Hi”!  • Share with 4 to 5 people your name, the institution you are teaching and your course area(s)

Getting to know you ^^ In about one minute, • Please tell us your name or how you would like to be called (e.g., your nickname) • Tell us ONE thing that is quite interesting/special about yourself 

You wanna know about me?

Question for your reflection: • What tactics have I employed at the beginning of the class to connect with you, the learners?

3 Foci of Session 1: Q: What do you expect to learn today? (CILO!!) • The characteristics and learning styles of different clusters of sub-degree students • Difficulties faced by the sub-degree students in their learning—Etiologies & Solutions • Different Types of Learners—Which Type are You?

(I) Group Discussion • In small groups, think of as many adjectives /descriptions as you can to describe the learning styles or characteristics of your students • Examples: • Creative  • Weak in languages 

<Debriefing>

(II) Is this a Common Phenomenon in Your Classroom??

Usual Responses by Laypersons or even Teachers:(which don’t help at all!) 川漢背13歲殘障子日行29公里上學 <明報> 22/2/2014

What could be the problem(s) behind our students’ difficulties in learning ?

So What can We Do? • Change the mode of learning & assessment (e.g., group work, project work, role-play, presentation, video-making, collage) • Be more encouraging ourselves as teachers • Be more accepting of where our students are • Let them experience a sense of achievement (how to?)

(III) What Type of Learner are you? A Psychological Test  • Complete the quiz given to you to find out what type of learner you are!

<Debriefing> • You are of different types when it comes to learning • Your students are the same  so “one size cannot fit all!” • Try to differentiate your learning-and-teaching tasks

Which strategy do you use most often?

Bloom’s (1956) Taxonomy of Instructional Objectives

Sharing Effective T&L Approaches • In a group, share ONE teaching & learning activity you have used that • you think is effective for students’ learning • your students find interesting/useful/inspiring : )

Session 2: The Two Foci: • Ways to build rapport with the students to strengthen their motivation to learn • Effective classroom management strategies that can improve your teaching and students’ learning

Activity 1: How to begin a class in a more affectionate way?  • Can you suggest 3 ways how you can begin a lecture to enhance students’ interest / human touch in the classroom? • Asking students what their day is like  • …… • …… Tip: Respond to students’feelings if you can 

<Debriefing> Advantages of showing your care to your students in the classroom? • You show them you are a human, with flesh and blood and feelings  more understanding about your expectation / difficulties in teaching them • You demonstrate to them how to care about other people • You know more about your students as individuals, not just ‘objects’  better relationship  better learning and teaching A brief note on “CARE”…… “You can pretend to care, but you can’t pretend to be there” ~ by Professor Sidney Chung Sheung-chi

Activity 2: How well do you connect with your students? • Refer to the handout “Teachers’ use of school connectedness strategies based on feeling positively connected to students” • Check those strategies you have been using • Check those strategies you hope you will be using  Source: Vidourek, R. A., King, K. A., Bernard, A. L., Murnan, J., & Nabors, L. (2011). Teachers' Strategies to Positively Connect Students to School. American Journal of Health Education, March/April 2011, Vol. 42 (2)

Activity 3: Effective Classroom Management Strategies to help students learn effectively(A case-study approach) • Form yourselves in small groups of 3 to 4 people. • Imagine you are facing the situation described on the paper  • Role-play the situation and the solution (5 min) • The scenario you encountered • The student’s behavior • Teacher’s (your) response • What you wish could be done to handle it better as you look back now 

Summing-up some effective strategies…. • Get to know the nature of the problem bothering the student(s) concerned • Personal? • Interpersonal? • Family? • Ability? Motivation? • Financial? • Illness? (physical/psychological?) • Show you genuinely care • Admit you may not be able to solve all the problems by yourself / at one time • Tell the student(s) they can turn to you for support/advice

Summing up……How to establish a conducive learning environment for our students? 「學校教育到了現在，真空虛極了。單從外形的制度上、方法上，走馬燈似的更變迎合，而于教育的生命的某物，從未聞有人培養顧及。好像掘地，有人說四方形好，有人又說圓形好，朝三暮四地改個不休，而于池的所以為池的要素的水，反無人注意。教育上的水是什么？就是情，就是愛。教育沒有了情愛，就成了無水的池，任你四方形也罷，圓形也罷，總逃不了一個空虛。」《愛的教育》序 ~夏丏尊先生

Students in Hong Kong Tertiary Education - Training Module