Prof. 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 is 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.’


Prof. Joseph J.Y. Sung, Vice-Chancellor of CUHK, said ‘that this important award being presented to Professor Poon is another significant step towards the affirmation of the quality of teaching and learning at the Chinese University. Her selfless and whole-hearted commitment, and her intense passion for teaching, will certainly set an admirable example for other teachers.’


Prof. Poon Wai-yin 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 have received this UGC award: ‘I am proud of being a professor at CUHK. Its commitment to continually enhancing the quality of education provides a platform for teachers to excel in many dimensions. We design ambitious 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 the class, indicating understanding, I am very happy. I like to see them nod.’ 


Professor Poon has decided to donate the amount in the prize money awarded to her to set up a scholarship to help more students. And the rest of the prize money will be used to fund pedagogy research to determine the effectiveness of different teaching methods in different contexts.