Teaching Philosophy
I am very honored to receive the Exemplary Teaching Award in General Education. This award not only recognizes my achievements, but also motivates me to continue to devote my best efforts in teaching.
"Different teaching approaches are needed to explain the same concept to students with different backgrounds"
When I was a kid, I did not dream of being a teacher. During my postgraduate studies in biochemistry, I got a lot of opportunities to teach, which inspired me to become a teacher. From these experiences, I came to realize that different teaching approaches are needed to explain the same concept to students with different backgrounds. This is particularly true in teaching general education courses. I found that teaching medically-related topics to students from different disciplines and with diverse backgrounds can be extremely challenging. I always endeavor to engage and motivate my students during class by using a variety of teaching tools and techniques. For example, the use of the instant classroom response system (uReply) enables teachers getting immediate feedback on students' understanding towards difficult concepts, and the development of the tailor-made teaching courseware of UGEB2791 "Perspectives in Clinical Sciences" facilitates students' learning process. Using movies in class is also effective for arousing students' interest in medical topics. I use the movie "Summer Snow" 《女人四十》 for teaching Alzheimer's disease, and the Hollywood movie "The Island" to bring out problems in human cloning. In order to cater for different students' need, it is necessary to adjust the level of the course from time to time.
"I always remind myself to think like I was a student"
General education at CUHK is fun because students can pick any courses that they find interesting to explore, to go beyond their own field of study. I enjoy teaching the course UGEB2791 "Perspectives in Clinical Sciences", and would like to help students to develop their interest in medical topics. To understand the students' interest and expectation for the course, a student expectation questionnaire is formulated and distributed to them at the beginning of the term. Students can tell me what they want to learn in my course, and I will modify the course contents slightly every year to cater for their interests.
I always remind myself to think like I was a student. As teachers, we can sometimes get very excited when talking about the subject that we are familiar with. We might forget what it was like when we learn a new concept for the first time. We need to teach slowly as not all the students have a fundamental understanding of a concept, they might need more time to digest the new knowledge. I am so grateful that my students are always willing to share their thoughts with me. They once told me that it was difficult to read the words clearly on the white board for those who sat at the back of the lecture theatre, and PowerPoint slides with a light background would help them to jot notes easier (and to save ink for printing as well!). I discover that there are many small areas that teachers might have missed! I believe that teaching is a life-long learning process for myself, and students can be a good teacher in that sense because they teach me how to become a better teacher. I enjoy talking with my students, and, from time to time, I learn from them as well.
"To become a T.E.A.C.H.E.R."
This is how I interpret the word "TEACHER":
Teaching: to teach the students
Engagement: to engage students during class
Assistance: to assist those who have difficulties in learning
Creativity: to teach creatively and make learning fun
Hearty: to be enthusiastic and enjoy teaching
Encouragement: to encourage students to develop a positive learning attitude
Reflectiveness: to become a self-reflective teacher and always strive for improvement
I believe that teachers are not only responsible for passing on knowledge of a subject, but also helping students to develop a positive attitude towards learning because it is a lifelong process. My ultimate goal for my teaching career is to help students to take on their own initiatives and inspire them to become active learners throughout their lives. I regard it an achievement of mine if students can apply what they have learnt in my class to solve problems in their daily lives.
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