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Our Team

Dr. Cecilia KY Chan

Associate Professor
Assistant Director (Innovation and Support) of CETL

cecilia.chan@cetl.hku.hk
(852) 3917 8534

Biography

I am the Assistant Director (Innovation and Support) and an Associate Professor in the Centre of the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning at The University of Hong Kong (HKU). I was originally born in Hong Kong but grew up in Ireland. In addition to my dual cultural background, I also have a dual discipline expertise in engineering and education; I have been playing an important role in enhancing engineering, business and science education. My combined expertise in these fields and multi-cultural experience enabled me to lead and conduct research on topics such as assessment, technology enhanced learning and the development and assessment of 21st century skills from east to west in the different disciplines.

I hold a PhD in Engineering from Trinity College, a postgraduate diploma and a MA in Higher Education. I have been an active participant in conducting engineering education, generic skills, as well as teaching and learning related workshops. To motivate participation, my workshops are always fun and highly interactive.

I believe in ‘Work Hard Play Hard’ attitude. I enjoy networking and organizing team building activities with my colleagues off work. At work, I am able to come up with lots of creative ideas and I love sharing them with my team members.

Life goals: Still searching

My proudest achievement so far: Lost 30 pounds of weight and becoming inspirational for others to follow!! ☺

Indulgences: My research; my workshops/seminars (I get a bit high presenting); discussion with my husband, my team and other smart people; investing in properties; romance

Inspirational quote: “Work Hard Play Hard and Stay Young!”

My favourite food: Food with love and meaning

Awards

Year	Award
2016	36th Round Post-doctoral Fellow Scheme (Research Area: Generic Skills in Education)
2016	HKU Outstanding Young Researcher Award
2011	King’s/HKU Fellowship Awards
2006	DIT Engineering Staff Excellence Achievement Award for the contribution in Student Recruitment and Achievement
2005	DIT Engineering Staff Excellence Achievement Award for the contribution in Student Motivation and Retention
1998	SMART AWARD (Surface Mount and Related Technology Award) National Microelectronics Research Centre (NMRC) and SMART group
1996-2000	PhD Research Scholarship, Forbairt, Irish Enterprise Board
1996-1998	Postgraduate Scholarship Awards Trinity College Dublin
1996	Best Student of the Year Award, Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMech E)
1996	Jeffcott Prize Award, Trinity College Dublin
1995	Stanford Smith Prize Award and Book Prize, Trinity College Dublin
1994	Book Prize, Trinity College Dublin

Staff

Ms. Michelle Cheng

PhD Student

(852) 3917 1276
wt1227@hku.hk

Biography

I work as a Research Assistant in the Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL) at The University of Hong Kong (HKU). I have received a first-class honors BSc. in Psychology from the University of Hong Kong and will begin my full-time PhD in Education under Dr. Cecilia Chan in September 2016. My research interests lie in the area of experiential learning, motivation, and generic skills development. I am currently involved in a project on residential education. I am outgoing and enjoys dancing and playing badminton. I like traveling to different places and meeting new people.

Life goal: Enjoy what I am doing. Be myself and stay weird!

My proudest achievement so far: Travelling solo in United States, try to live like a local and fully immerse in their culture.

Indulgences: Eating CHEESE CAKE, Singing Karaoke, doing sports, watching animation, playing video games.

Inspirations: Interacting with different types of people can always triggers intellectual exchange that inspires me. It could be personal experience, life motto, thought, idea or dream. I always find it fascinating to see how people interpret things at different levels and from different perspectives.

Your favorite movie and why: Inside Out. It is more than just a cartoon movie as it brings message and teaches life lesson. It projects how our brain feels if they have feelings. There are five basic emotions portrayed in the movie which are joy, sadness, anger, fear and disgust. The animation depicted how the emotions affect us to encode, store, retrieve, and forget our memory. Thus, how these emotional memories actually influence our personality and characteristic. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend checking out Inside Out. I did quite a lot of reflection after watching this movie.

Current Research

Generic Skills and Virtues Development through Experiential Learning: Investigating Diversity in First-year Residential Experiences
Despite the long history of residential education at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), educational values of residential experience are still unclear. Residential education has the potential to provide distinguish and unique learning experiences for students to develop generic skills and virtues outside classroom. However, it has long remained as a kind of “black box” waiting for us to explore whether undergraduates can develop holistically through their first-year residential experience. By adopting The Student Involvement Theory proposed by Astin, this study aims to find the mediating mechanism which can explain how residential educational programs, and settings can possibly result in students’ achievement and personal development. This study will use both qualitative and quantitative research methods to investigate what and how generic skills are developed by living in residential halls/colleges for one academic year.

Ms. Lavina Luk

Executive Assistant

(852) 3917 5272
ytluk89@hku.hk

Biography

I work as a Executive Assistant in the Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL) at The University of Hong Kong (HKU). My main responsibility at CETL is to provide administrative support for our research team members. I was born in Hong Kong, but grew up in Singapore. I spent a year at High School College in Canada before moving back to Hong Kong with my family. I majored in Fine Arts and minored in Korean Language for my bachelor degree at HKU. My indulgence in Korean pop culture and support from my Korean Language teacher have motivated me to pursue my master’s degree in Korean Language Education at Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea.

Life goals: Live Simply, Dare to Dream, Be Grateful, Give Love and Laugh Lots

My proudest achievement so far: To have successfully completed my master’s degree in Korea

Indulgences: Fine Arts and Korean Pop Music

Inspirational quote: “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” by Ralph Waldo Emerson

My favourite food: Singapore Yong Tau Foo, Laksa, Hong Kong Fish Ball Noodles, Dim Sum, Korean Baked Chicken, Spicy Seafood Tofu Soup, Japanese Sushi and Udon Noodles

Ms. Jiahui Luo

Research Assistant

(852) 3917 0114
jhluo@hku.hk

Biography

I am currently a research assistant in the Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning at the University of Hong Kong. Prior to joining HKU, I obtained my MPhil in Second Language Education from the University of Cambridge with a full Cambridge Scholarship. I received my B.A. with first class honours in English Language and Literature from Sun Yat-sen University in mainland China. As a less extroverted person, I have a tiny core of stillness inside which enjoys observing and reflecting on common things worthy of inquiry, including but not limited to personal experience of developing generic skills, entanglements between education, societal changes and linguistic practices.

My proudest achievement so far: Travelling to 18 countries in my exchange year/ Serving as a voluntary teacher in a poverty-stricken area in Guizhou, China / A fully-funded Cambridge experience

Indulgences: Korean Pop Music, Anime, Reading and Travelling

Life goals: To live seriously within and simply without. To stay genuine, caring, and be sensitive enough to appreciate beauty and have spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings

Indulgences: Exotic experiences; flowers; piano; beautiful writings; Chibi Maruko-chan; antique libraries

Inspirations: The great possibilities one could have in life to make a difference; quiet and sober moments alone

Mr. Ray Yuen

Research Assistant

(852) 3917 6071
rayyuen6@hku.hk

Biography

I am a Research Assistant at the Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning. Prior to joining CETL, I was a Research Assistant at the Department of Education Policy and Leadership at the Education University of Hong Kong. I enjoy conducting both qualitative and quantitative research. As a current student of Master of Law in Human Rights at HKU and a graduate of Government and International Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University, my goal is to become a scholar researching about international relations, politics and international law.

Life goals: Exploring different school of thoughts.

My proudest achievement so far: Studying and working at HKU.

Indulgences: Political debate. House Music. Chill.

Inspirational quote: Be yourself. Be proud of who you are.

My favourite food: Meat.

Ms. Katherine Lee

PhD Student

(852) 3917 6195
kathkw@connect.hku.hk

Biography

Perhaps the most accurate label for me is an “international local”: I was born here in Hong Kong, spent my childhood in Toronto, Canada, and came back to continue my studies and career. I obtained both my Bachelor of Social Sciences in Psychology and Counseling, with First Honors, and my Master of Journalism, with distinction, from the University of Hong Kong.

Life goals: To become a teacher in higher education, and to write a novel

Proudest achievement so far: Producing a documentary with a small team about ‘Bananas’ – third-culture kids who are Chinese but grew up in a Western country (myself included)

Indulgences: Manga/anime, videogames, bubble tea

Inspirations: I am driven by my two main goals in life, by my desire for more knowledge, and my mom!

Favourite book and why? The entirety of the Harry Potter series. I grew up reading the books and became completely invested in the wizarding world and its characters – the story taught me a few lessons on being a person and I love that the fan community is still vibrant and thriving, even years after the main series ended. (#RavenclawPride!)

Current Research

I have always been curious about how people experience learning, and how different these experiences can be among individuals and across situations. Having worked with the TLERG team for a year, I am now pursuing my PhD in Education under the supervision of Dr. Chan. My research is concerned with the learning experiences of university students, and will explore the relationship between deep immersion, focus and enjoyment – the state of ‘flow’ – and the development of generic skills. Drawing on Chan’s Holistic Competency Development model, the study will use a mixed-methods research approach and aims to contribute to the literature on generic skills development and curriculum design.

Ms. Lillian Luk

Senior Research Assistant

(852) 3917 4539
lillianluk@cetl.hku.hk

Biography

I am a senior researcher at the Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning. I was originally born in Hong Kong, but grew up in Singapore. I moved back to Hong Kong with my family after completing my undergraduate studies in psychology at the National University of Singapore and my Masters in Japanese linguistics at Monash University in Melbourne. I am currently a part-time PhD student with the Faculty of Education, under the supervision of Dr. Cecilia Chan and Dr. Dennis Fung. My research interests lie in the area of experiential learning (especially on internship), student motivation, generic skills development and assessment.
I enjoys travelling and learning both Japanese and Korean. I like dogs and I have a Labrador retriever who grew up with me since I was 12 years old.

Life goal: To have lots of fun and enjoy life, while making a little contribution to the society through my work.

My proudest achievement so far: To be one of the speakers at The 7th International Workshop on Innovative Engineering Education (IEE 2016) held in Jeju, South Korea.

Indulgences: Korean Pop Music & Concerts, Japanese Character Goods (e.g. Sailor moon, Totoro), Movies & Television Dramas, Travelling

Inspirations:

Favourite food: Nasi Lemak & Laksa, Sushi, Spicy Soft Tofu Stew (sundubu-jjigae), because they makes me feel nostalgic, bringing back good memories of my stay in different countries.

Current Research

My PhD research project is on student learning through internship experience. Through the use of a mixed methods research design, my study aims to explore what do engineering students learn from their internship experience and how are their perceived learning outcomes influenced by the internship programme design, the host company/organization characteristics, work supervision and assessment. It is hoped that findings from the study can help us rethink the place of internship in the curriculum and inform the design of internship programmes in higher education.

Ms. Hannah Wong

Research Assistant

(852) 3917 8994
wongyhh@hku.hk

Biography

I am a Research Assistant in the Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning at The University of Hong Kong. Born in Hong Kong, I completed my secondary education here before pursuing further studies in the United Kingdom. I majored in English Literature with Creative Writing for my Bachelor’s degree at The University of Lancaster, then proceeded to a Master’s degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages at University College London. While studying in the UK, I volunteered at various organisations to tutor primary and secondary school students.

Life goals: To write a journal about my experiences abroad

My proudest achievement so far: Having seen the Northern Lights at Rovaniemi, Finland

Indulgences: Korean Pop Music, Anime, Reading and Travelling

Inspirational quote: Love yourself, love myself.

My favourite food: Bubble Tea, Egg Tart

The University of Hong Kong
Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning