Dr. Li Ming Kenneth, Office of University General Education

Dr. Li Ming Kenneth obtained his B.Sc. and M.Phil. degrees in Biology, and Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Dr. Li is currently a Lecturer in the Office of University General Education. Dr. Li has taught the General Education Foundation course UGFN1000 In Dialogue with Nature and the blended learning version of the course (UGFN1001) for a cross-institutional course-sharing project with students coming from three other local universities. Dr. Li is devoted to developing student-centered pedagogy, including flipped classrooms, blended learning, peer-assisted learning, and experiential learning. His initiative of experiential learning through rooftop farming has enriched students’ learning experience. Extending this good practice, Dr. Li has developed UGEB2296 Experiencing and Rethinking Science and Technology in Agriculture, an experiential learning course on modern agriculture and related sustainable development goals. Dr. Li has endeavored to explore opportunities for students to learn beyond the courses to accelerate their growth and development. Dr. Li has also taught GESH1010 Orientation and Outreach. Being a certified wine educator, Dr. Li is also passionate about wine education.

Teaching Philosophy

General Education (GE) is far more than “gaining common knowledge from various disciplines” (通通都識) as the Chinese word “通識” may have been commonly perceived. To me, the essence of GE is to develop students’ ability to connect (通) the knowledge (識) from different aspects, find similarities behind apparent discrepancies, identify discrepancies from apparent similarities, and integrate knowledge with real-life situations. The coherent connection of knowledge lies at the heart of GE, while the board knowledge and skills are the veins to keep it alive. GE helps students develop a coherent understanding and the skills to scrutinize the enduring issues and global challenges from a holistic approach. As a GE teacher, I endeavor to connect the book knowledge among different disciplines, real-world situations, and students’ lives when teaching my students in the GE courses UGFN1000 In Dialogue with Nature and UGEB2296 Experiencing and Rethinking Science and Technology in Agriculture.

The developments of the attitudes and skills for critical thinking, self-reflection, and effective communication are crucial to educated persons and active learners. In my classroom, I position myself as a facilitator to encourage different voices and modulate the exchange of ideas by using an interactive approach. Instead of providing answers, I give my students questions. I always ask for clarification, elaboration, and explanation of their viewpoints. I firmly believe by questioning and criticizing each other, they can have real reflections. Through this practice of the Socratic dialogue, I guide my students to develop critical thinking skills, formulate arguments, realize their own logical fallacies, build up the confidence to question and being questioned, and the ability to think through complex issues.

Diversity is a core element in my teaching, and I believe it is of prominent importance in GE. Diversity does not only refer to the diverse knowledge or the diverse aspects of nurturing whole persons, but also the very diverse academic backgrounds and abilities of the GE students. I think the best way to face the challenge of the diversity in GE is to embrace the diversity in teaching and learning. Therefore, I have developed various pedagogies, such as flipped classrooms, blended learning, experiential learning, peer-assisted learning, and individual consultation. 

Each student is unique in terms of personality, competence, learning needs, study struggle, family issues, financial status, emotional stability, and mental health. I always enjoy spending time to know their study situations, listen to their feedbacks, care about their lives, discuss their plans and share my experience. From my observation, students need someone they trust to care about their feelings, listen to their worries, enlighten their minds, support their decisions, and share stories with them. Many of them face immense pressure nowadays. As their teacher and mentor, I care about their feelings most. After all, I am not teaching the GE courses; I am teaching the persons who study the courses. They have unique stories and needs.

A course is bounded by a start date and an end date. However, learning is never bounded. It is a life-long process happening anytime in our lives. We all learn from our experience, and the experience itself is the best teacher. I believe authentic learning and experience sharing are critical for whole-person development and life-long learning. To act on my belief, I engage my students to learn beyond the courses. I transform the rooftop garden at the Hui Yeung Shing Building into a community garden. I involve the students in its management and maintenance so that they can apply their knowledge through this authentic learning approach. My vision is to build a community formed by students from different semesters and courses, together with other teachers and colleagues, so that everyone can share experience and learn from each other.

I see myself as a farmer. Instead of growing crops, I nurture my students. I try my best to provide appropriate soil and favorable conditions for every student. With all the tears and joys, the seeds will germinate, seedlings will grow, flowers will bloom, fruits will set, and the same goes to their next generations. Each student is unique; some may show dormancy today but bloom beautifully in an unexpected way in the next years. They always surprise me.