Newsletter No. 405

10 No. 405, 19.10.2012 Photos of Professor Young in this issue are by Keith Hiro Now that you have stepped down from University management and become the Master of a College. How do you feel? Life is more or less as busy as it used to be, except that I get to handle fewer policy issues and papers of a complex nature and spend more time meeting students face to face. But since I have always been teaching, this is no strange task to me. In addition to Freshman Physics, I am teaching College General Education courses. Next term I will be teaching a University General Education Foundation Course. I am in constant touch with students and always think about what courses and activities should be provided to them. I think I am doing my bit to their education from another, perhaps higher, level. I enjoy what I do now. New entrants to C.W. Chu College have to pledge to abide by the Honour Code. What is it? The spirit of the Honour Code is based on mutual trust and not on an external regulatory regime. Similar systems have existed for a long time in overseas institutions, although we are the first in Hong Kong to advocate it. The Honour Code demands self-discipline from students in three areas: honesty, integrity, courtesy. Whenever there is a complaint, the Student Honour Code Society comprising entirely students will look into it, decide if there is a breach and if so mete out disciplinary actions within its ambit. We have put in place the respective complaint handling, investigation and appeal procedures. The idea is to put trust and responsibility on the students and let them tackle interpersonal or even moral issues that arise among students from a peer’s angle. It will do them immense good in their process of maturation. Does the Honour Code take the place of the College’s disciplinary regime? Simple disputes or complaints can be handled by this student-run regime. For more serious cases, or where academic honesty is concerned, the College may also take its disciplinary actions. The two systems run in parallel in some cases. To you, the mission of university education is to educate students not only in one subject, but across multiple disciplines and cultivate their values. How often do you cross to other disciplines? I seldom cross over to music and the fine arts. But I take delight in many other things, mainly through my undisciplined reading habit. For example, we are preparing a book club for the College, and a colleague who’s a computer scientist recommended John MacCormick’s Nine Algorithms that Changed the Future: The Ingenious Ideas That Drive Today’s Computers . I read it and learned a few ways to look at Google’s success. In a casual conversation, another colleague recommended Michael J. Sandel’s Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? I bought a copy and have started reading it. Last year, for the purpose of teaching a general education course, I read Ziauddin Sardar’s Reading the Qur’an: The Contemporary Relevance of the Sacred Text of Islam . Very revealing, though I haven’t finished it yet. What books have you read recently? I read a lot of the late Prof. Chen Chih-fan’s literary musings. Recently, Prof. Tung Yuan-fang gave me a few books of his and I am re-reading some of them. I feel like listening to an old friend again. I have been reading Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice . You know why? P.D. James, a favourite detective story writer of mine, wrote a sequel to Pride and Prejudice , titled Death Comes to Pemberley . Not only has P.D. James put a murder mystery twist to Austen’s classic but she has also done it in the style of Austen. The latecomer James led me back to Austen. Can you tell us a little about the relationship between the Chu Scholars and C.W. College? The establishment of C.W. Chu College was initiated and facilitated by a group of Chu Scholars who benefitted from the philanthropy of the late Dr. C.W. Chu, who did not just finance their education abroad but also accompanied them to their destinations and took good care of them in many ways during their stay abroad. The Chu Scholars were so appreciative that they decided to grow the seed sown by Dr. Chu. Our College is fortunate to have received from some Chu Scholars donations as well as contributions in other forms such as mentoring our students, sharing their experience and giving just a little help where it is needed. There are two Chu Scholars among our teachers. I find it particularly meaningful to be working with them to lay the foundation of the College. You have received a Vice-Chancellor’s Exemplary Teaching Award. What’s the secret to teaching? First, one has to know one’s subject thoroughly so that talking about it comes as naturally as in, say, walking and driving a car. One doesn’t even have to think about it. That would enable you to concentrate on your students in class and what happens there at any moment. Second, one has to have passion in one’s subject. You cannot disguise it and it would help tremendously if the students could feel and see you have it in you. It makes teaching all the more effective. Lastly, a good teacher has the skills of the scriptwriter, director and actor all rolled into one. He/she should be able to choose and organize his/her material, determine how to best present it, and give a good performance in the podium. Good teaching requires a combination of skills and attitude. Prof. Kenneth Young Master, C.W. Chu College 楊綱凱教授 敬文書院院長 從大學行政崗位退下來，又扛起了書院院長的任務，兩種工作的感覺有何不同？ 論忙都是差不多忙，只是少了處理複雜的政策問題和文件，多了在前線接觸學生，但由於我一向 沒放下教學工作，學生對我從不陌生。現在除了教大一物理，我也教書院通識，下學期教大學通 識基礎，還經常和學生交談，思索如何設計課程、活動，在更廣泛層面為他們的教育籌謀，我很 享受現在這樣子。 學生加入書院要承諾遵守「誠信誓章」，可以解釋一下嗎？ 「誠信誓章」的精神是基於群體的互相信任，而非外來監督。類似制度在外國院校行之已久， 在香港卻是創舉。它要求同學在三方面恪守自律︰正心誠意、剛正不阿、謙恭有禮。遇有投訴， 會由學生組成的委員會處理，研究違章個案，考慮作出在其權力範圍內的懲處。我們有完整的 處理投訴、調查以及上訴程序及章程。我們希望多給一些信任與責任給同學，以己及人，思考人 際以至道德問題，在成長路上走得更快更遠。 「誠信誓章」是否取代院方訂定的院規？ 一些簡單的爭議或投訴，會由學生管理的機制處理。但若有嚴重的情況，又或是牽涉學術誠信 的，也不摒除或取代書院的紀律機制，可以說兩套制度是並存並行的。 你認為「大學教育的理想是培育學生在主修以及其他學科的知識，並建立他們的價值 觀念」，那你在物理之外，對哪些學問也感興趣？ 我對音樂、藝術認識不多，但平時看各類閒書、雜書，因而對很多事物都有興趣。舉例說，為 籌備書院的讀書會，有本業計算機科學的同事推介約翰．密考密克的《改變未來的九項運算 法—驅動當今電腦的巧妙設計》，我特別找來看，得知一點對Google成功的分析。有次跟另 一位同事閒聊，他對邁克爾．J．桑德爾的《公義—甚麼是應該做的事情？》讚不絕口，我於是 也買了一本，正開始閱讀。去年為了教通識課程，看了齊亞烏丁．薩達爾的《讀古蘭經—伊斯蘭 教聖典的現代意義》，也是大開眼界，可惜暫時未有時間讀完。 最近看些甚麼書？ 陳之藩教授的散文以前我看過不少，最近童元方教授又送來一套，包括《時空之海》、《散 步》和《看雲聽雨》，我正在重看其中一些，感覺很親切。我最近也看珍．奧斯汀的《傲慢與偏 見》，你道是為了什麼？我很喜歡的一位偵探小說作家P．D．詹姆斯，她仿傚珍．奧斯汀的文 筆，為《傲慢與偏見》寫了一部以謀殺布局的續集《死神降臨彭伯里》，我因為看了P．D．詹姆 斯的偵探小說，所以興起看珍．奧斯汀原書的念頭。 請介紹一下「朱氏學人」和敬文書院的關係。 敬文書院的成立是由一群有心的「朱氏學人」發起促成的，他們都曾受惠朱敬文博士的幫助與 栽培，得以在外國完成學業，及後在各行業幹出成就。他們感激、懷念的並非純是金錢上的資 助，而更是朱博士在他們留學期間對他們的照顧與關懷，所以有心把朱博士的精神承傳、發揚。 我們有幸得到多位「朱氏學人」不同形式的協助，包括捐贈、出任學長、和同學分享經驗和提供 社會參與的機會。我們的老師中也有兩位是「朱氏學人」，和他們一起打造新書院，我覺得很有 意義。 你曾獲模範教學獎，你覺得教導學生的訣竅在 哪裏？ 第一是必需對所教學科有透徹的掌握，學科 知識成為自身一部分，嫻熟而不自覺，收發 自如，如走路和開車般自然，幾乎不必用 腦，那末在課堂上便可全副心神放在學生 身上，專注他們的反應以及課堂上的瞬息 變化。第二是要對學科有濃厚興趣，甚至 是熱忱，學生是感覺到的，這樣才可感染 他們，令教學效果更佳。最後是講課要有 技巧，一位好教師應是多才多藝，能自編 （教材、講義）、自導（教法、程 序）、自演（課堂表 現）。教學要成 功，技巧和態度 缺一不可。