September 2019

Summary Report

Background

A formal community, the Hong Kong Teaching Excellence Alliance (HKTEA), will be launched in October 2019 with UGC Teaching Awardees and Finalists as its core members. The Alliance will engage Members and other stakeholders in working together to strongly promote teaching excellence in the UGC sector. With the support of the UGC, a Preparatory Committee was formed in February 2019 to formulate a development plan for the HKTEA. To better address the needs of the sector, a Stakeholder Survey with seven questions was designed to collect views from members of UGC-funded institutions in July 2019. This Summary Report provides a brief overview of the survey results.  

Question 1: (Respondents’ Institutions)

There were 136 responses to the HKTEA Stakeholder Survey. The distribution was as follows.

  • City University of Hong Kong (21 responses, 15.44%)
  • Hong Kong Baptist University (9 responses, 6.62%)
  • Lingnan University (13 responses, 9.56%)
  • The Chinese University of Hong Kong (21 responses,15.44%)
  • The Education University of Hong Kong (20 responses, 14.71%)
  • The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (18 responses, 13.24%)
  • The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (15 responses, 11.03%)
  • The University of Hong Kong (19 responses, 3.97%)

Question 2: (Respondents’ Positions)

Teaching awardees and individuals holding different positions in their respective universities were invited to participate in the study. Respondents were permitted to hold more than one position. The results were as follows.

  • University top management (15 responses, 11.03%)
  • University senior management (25 responses, 18.38%)
  • Head/Chair of department (34 responses, 25%)
  • Head/Director of teaching development centre (6 responses, 4.41%)
  • Head/Director of language centre (8 responses, 5.88%)
  • UGC Teaching Awardee (13 responses, 9.56%)
  • UGC Teaching Award Finalist (16 responses, 11.76%)
  • UGC Teaching Award Nominee (32 responses, 23.53%)
  • Recipient of teaching award of own university (38 responses, 27.94%)

Question 3: (Vision Statement for the HKTEA)

The respondents were invited to comment on a tentative vision statement formulated for the HKTEA. 119 respondents felt that the vision statement was appropriate for the HKTEA, 16 disagreed and 1 skipped the question.

Fifteen respondents made suggestions for fine tuning the vision. In summary, they believed that excellent student learning should be part of the vision and that the HKTEA should pursue inclusiveness; specifically, that membership should not be confined to UGC Awardees and Finalists. For example, one respondent suggested that although individual awardees might kick off the journey towards making an impact, concerted effort would be needed to sustain this impact.

Question 4 (Mission of the HKTEA)

To help the HKTEA set its priorities, the respondents were asked to choose a maximum of 5 out of 10 possible mission items proposed by the Preparatory Committee. The top three choices made by the respondents were as follows. 

  • To promote good teaching practices in the UGC sector (104 responses, 76.47%)
  • To nurture academic leaders with the capability and commitment needed to enhance teaching (102 responses, 75%)
  • To help deliver the message that good teaching is highly valued in the UGC sector (73 responses, 53.68%)

Some respondents commented that the HKTEA should also promote efforts to reward good teaching, continuously emphasise the importance of teaching and provide effective teaching support.

Question 5: (Activities)

The respondents were also asked to choose a maximum of 5 out of 14 activities that the HKTEA should organise. The respondents’ top three choices were as follows.

  • Forums on specific themes for idea sharing (94 responses, 69.12%)
  • Masterclasses to disseminate good teaching practices to academics (74 responses, 54.41%)
  • Activities to promote teaching research in the UGC sector (70 responses, 51.47%)

Question 6: (Development)

The respondents were asked to provide suggestions for the short-, medium-, and long-term development of the HKTEA. Thirty-one responses were collected. Whilst many suggestions were provided, there was no clear consensus on what the short-, medium- and long-term priorities should be. Some of the respondents opined that short- and medium-term development measures should focus on planning, cultivating the network, sharing experiences and organising community of practice (CoP) activities. Other respondents believed that medium- and long-term development should focus on scholarship on teaching and learning, the establishment of standards and a fellowship scheme, and non-local collaboration.

Question 7: (Other Comments)

The respondents were asked to offer any other comments on the HKTEA. Seventeen responses were collected. They suggested ways of shaping the vision and mission of the HKTEA, identified specific activities and areas for attention during implementation, and proposed measures for enhancing inclusiveness and impact. In general, the respondents emphasised the importance of promoting and recognising good teaching and the need to engage a larger pool of teachers to form a functioning CoP. They also expressed the view that any strategies to achieve the mission of the HKTEA should be realistic and practicable and not too labour-intensive.  

Conclusion

The results of the Stakeholder Survey provide evidence that the establishment of the HKTEA has been enthusiastically welcomed by stakeholders holding various positions in UGC-funded institutions. The vision and mission of the HKTEA were well supported by the respondents, all of whom felt that excellent teaching in universities should be valued and good practices should be shared across disciplines and institutions. Based on the valuable opinions collected from the stakeholders, the Preparatory Committee of the HKTEA has formulated vision and mission statements as well as an Initial Strategic and Action Plan to guide the HKTEA’s work in the first two years. Upon the formal establishment of the HKTEA on 10 October 2019, an Executive Committee will succeed the Preparatory Committee, working hand in hand with HKTEA Members and the UGC to realise the expectations of stakeholders. It will also strive to engage a large pool of teachers to work together to enhance teaching and students’ learning in the UGC sector and beyond.