20 IN FOCUS Faculty Column s a common core educator, among other faculty roles, it is my responsibility – and joy – to encourage students at the start of their university journey to view learning as more than a means to an end. I believe experiential learning has a great role to play. Such “learning by doing” through hands-on projects and practical experience forges an invaluable connection between knowledge and real life. It moves the gaining of knowledge away from a textbook perspective and test of memory to one connected to impact on students’ own lives and those of others. In doing so, it brings new purpose to a university education for students, becoming a treasured experience for self-development and future social contribution and not simply a route to a quali cation and a personal step-up to career opportunities. Technological change is happening at breakneck speed nowadays and engineering solutions are a critical factor in tackling many of the world’s pressing challenges, including renewable energy resources, climate change, and global health. Thus, engineering educators have an important part to play in fathoming how best to deliver the student experience to inspire the next generation of professional engineers and technologists to look at issues widely and from di erent perspectives. “ ‘Learning by doing’ forges an invaluable connection between knowledge and real life” In this regard, experiential learning, which has been an increasingly signi cant pedagogy at the School of Engineering in recent years, has certainly generated enthusiasm among students majoring in the School’s di erent disciplines. Meanwhile, engineering concepts and know-how can also fruitfully be shared with non-engineering students, helping them appreciate how engineering a ects people’s lives and broadening their outlook on projects and issues in their own elds. My own experience in designing and delivering the experiential “Introduction to Food Science and Technology” common core course since has demonstrated this. In connecting theories on food science with food processing technology and safety issues, feedback and the popularity of the course show that both future engineers as well as those outside the discipline value the new insights gained from conducting experiments and reflecting on the science that lies behind such endeavors. Junior students recognize the need for logical and critical thinking, not rote learning. Discussions and debates that arise from such explorations – in this case, healthy diets and the aspiration for accurate information about what they eat – also encourage them to think more deeply about knowledge and its impacts on people’s daily lives. Learning to relish learning for its own sake is a powerful resource that will never leave students. It can enable them to achieve many more goals in their career – especially in a future that will be driven by lifelong learning – as they will be self-motivated to nd out more. It can nurture personal development through a continuous expansion of understanding. Experiential learning is a key way to achieve this. Learning to relish learning for its own sake Prof. Marshal LIU is Associate Professor of Engineering Education in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, and more recently Associate Director of the Center for Engineering Education Innovation. He received the HKUST Common Core Teaching Excellence Award 2019 and School of Engineering Distinguished Teaching Award 2014-15. century engineers st A By Prof. Marshal Liu
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