Bulletin No. 2, 2011

Statistician Awarded for Teaching Excellence  33  at CUHK. Its commitment to continually enhancing the quality of education provides a platform for teachers to excel in many dimensi ons . We de sign amb it i ous and challenging curricula to stimulate students, but not at the expense of students of lesser capability. We embrace the concept of whole- person development, and use our classrooms to cultivate not only expertise but also generic skills and positive attitudes and values, and we feel obliged to extend our influence to the secondary-school sector.’
 Inspired by her kindergarten teacher, Professor Poon has chosen teaching as her career and has been determined to help her students. For her, teaching always takes priority over research. She said, ‘Whenever I see my students nod in class, indicating understanding, I am very happy. I like to see them nod.’ 
 Professor Poon has decided to use the prize money to set up a scholarship for students. The rest will be used to fund pedagogy research to determine the effectiveness of different teaching methods in different contexts. P rof. Poon Wai-yin , associate dean (education) of the Faculty of Science and professor in the Department of Statistics, was conferred the inaugural UGC Award for Teaching Excellence by the University Grants Committee (UGC).
 In the UGC citation for Professor Poon, she was hailed as ‘a fully committed and selfless academic in advancing learning and teaching in higher education.… Her own development as an educator has greatly contributed to her adopting learner-centred approaches in her work, as well as the spreading of such practices.… As a driver for change, her leadership has been most impressive.’
 Professor Poon joined CUHK in 1987 as a lecturer in the Department of Statistics. She has received many recognitions throughout the years, including the Faculty of Science Exemplary Teaching Award and the Best Teaching Award of the Asia Pacific Institute of Business. She feels deeply honoured to receive this UGC award: ‘I am proud of being a professor