28 IN FOCUS hen I rst came to teach at HKUST some years ago, many classes still used copying as their main teaching methodology, a fundamental process dating back hundreds of years whereby students would take down words or formulas written by a teacher on a blackboard into their notebooks. Since then, things have changed greatly. Technology has evolved to a remarkable level and has been readily utilized to aid teaching and learning. In the School of Engineering, gone is an emphasis on copying, replaced largely by an emphasis on experiencing. For example, to advance experiential learning we have encouraged the development of engineering minds through the construction of an Undergraduate Student-initiated Experiential Learning Laboratory, where students propose and construct their own innovative concepts, developed under the supervision of faculty. Through the process of budgeting for, designing and developing their own “real-world” projects, students’ minds are much more engaged compared to the relatively soulless mechanism of copying, resulting in a better understanding and appreciation of engineering concepts. One project I supervised converted washing machines in residential halls into web-enabled devices so that students could see the status of all the machines on their phone. In this way, they saved themselves and their fellow students from carrying heavy loads of clothes on fruitless trips to laundry rooms when all the machines were in use. “We have encouraged the development of engineering minds through an Undergraduate Student-initiated Experiential Learning Laboratory” Meanwhile, the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) concept of teaching has exploded, with classes taught entirely through the internet and students no longer needing to be physically in one location, such as a university. Such e orts can provide up-to-date learning materials to great numbers of students, typically for a very low fee. Now the world of engineering can be appreciated and understood by a far wider and greater range of people than just a few years ago. For example, my own MOOC taught web programming skills. It had , students who paid at most US$ to take the course and, a er completion, receive a certi cate. One student was a dentist in war-ravaged Syria. He planned to move to Germany and was taking my course to have a skill set to o er there, as his dentistry quali cations would not be recognized. Another described herself as “a stay-at-home mom who is coding in between story time and play time”. She aimed to get a job in the eld before her child had even le for school. Inspiring examples such as these are proof of the change that MOOCs have brought to many, and of why changes in teaching methodologies are key to shaping engineers of the future. The broader bene ts of technology in teaching Prof. David ROSSITER, Computer Science and Engineering, is an expert in software technologies and an active user of IT in teaching. He has received the best instructor award at master’s degree level ve times and seven teaching awards at the undergraduate level. In 2017, he received HKUST’s top teaching award, the Michael G Gale Medal for Distinguished Teaching. By Prof. David Rossiter W Faculty Column century engineers st
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