Enhancing IT Foundation Education with Micro-modules, Flipped Classroom, Learning by Teaching and Student-Centered Hands-on Workshops

Principal Supervisors

Mr. Fung Ping Fu, Department of Computer Science and Engineering
Dr. Law Yat Chiu, Department of Computer Science and Engineering

Duration

1 year
Approved Budget

HK $300,000
 
  • Project Objectives
  • Description of process, outcomes or deliverables
  • Evaluation
  • Dissemination, diffusion and impact

Project Objectives

To enhance teaching of the “IT Foundation” course of the University IT Requirement by introducing micro-modules, adopting flipped classroom, practicing learning by teaching, as well as providing student-centered hands-on workshops.

Description of process, outcomes or deliverables

Introduction of micro-modules for the students: short video clips of around three minutes each were produced to introduce key concepts of selected course contents. In Term 2, students generated a total online video view count of 5,692 and they completed some online self-learning exercises afterwards. Most students could answer all relevant questions correctly, indicating that this is an effective mode of learning.

Production and sharing of micro-modules by the students: as a group presentation project, students produced 664 online short video clips as part of learning by teaching. The works were peer reviewed and commented both in-class and out-class. An aggregate online review count of 68,414 was recorded. Students participated in the process actively.

Flipping the classroom: we doubled the teacher-led tutorial sessions in Term 2 for conducting more interactive learning activities such as debates and discussion amongst the students after viewing the micro-modules. Students engaged in spending more time and effort in active learning. Teachers also gained more experience in the new interactive mode of teaching.

Offering tailor-made hands-on IT workshops to address individual learner needs: enthusiastic students approached the IT Clinic to join small-class instructor-led workshops of advanced topics. They have gained extended learning outcomes with great satisfaction. Feedback from these learners is very positive, showing that their specific needs were addressed. Some topics of the workshops were transformed into a few micro-modules for online self-learning.

Evaluation

Micro-modules and flipped-classroom were introduced in Term 2. A comparison of the Course and Teaching Evaluation (CTE) results between Term 1 and Term 2 was made. Each IT Workshop participant anonymously filled a questionnaire for evaluation. The Centre for Learning Enhancement And Research (CLEAR) was invited to conduct a focus-group study after Term 2, interviewing some randomly sampled students to seek their views on the course and workshops.

Dissemination, diffusion and impact

The project team committed to deliver a TALENTS Lunch Seminar session, sharing the work and the results. The micro-modules created under this project have been made available to the students and to the public online. Students’ video presentations are accessible through CUHK OnePass. Materials for the IT Workshops are also released to the students and to the public.

Based on the experience gained through this project, teachers of the IT Foundation course will further make use of the micro-modules and fine tune the flipped classroom teaching and learning strategy. We have also shared our micro-modules and teaching materials with our sister institution, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen.