Abstract
The project aims at generating good tips and strategies for enhancing the quality of online teaching and learning (T&L) by collecting feedback from all faculties in CUHK about their experiences of using Zoom. In-depth interviews with different parties (e.g. teachers, teaching assistants, teaching support staff, students, etc.) and surveys will be conducted to look for innovative pedagogical approaches, effective learning behaviors and patterns, and opportunities and challenges of online T&L. Drawing from the data, we will identify good online T&L practices and share them with teachers and students through various means (e.g., guides, webinars, presentations, etc.). The experiences gained and the new T&L practices adopted in this unusual occasion will be well archived, so that teachers and students can look back and get inspirations for redesigning T&L approaches when face-to-face classes are resumed. The project will also shed light on the key success factors as well as the challenges of online T&L with Zoom, that will assist the University to set out a strategic approach for eLearning in the future.
Brief write-up
Project objectives
The project aimed to identify the challenges faced by teachers and students in the online learning environment, look for, and share good online teaching and eAssessment practices through different means.
Activities, process and outcomes
Four rounds of teacher and student survey on online teaching and learning were conducted between February 2020 and January 2021 to understand the online teaching and learning experience using Zoom and other eLearning tools. Student and teacher focus group interviews were also conducted to further investigate the challenges of online teaching and learning and collect good practices. In total, 3,882 students and 742 teachers participated in the surveys. About 50 students and 19 teachers from all faculties were interviewed.
Deliverables and evaluation
The project objectives were well achieved. The research helped us understand the challenges teachers and students faced during the pandemic and how they coped with the difficulties. Therefore, we could address their challenges properly and suggested solutions in various ways including written guides, workshops, and conference presentations. Recommendations were also provided in the reports that were presented to the Senate Committee on Teaching and Learning, so the University was better informed when allocating resources and carrying out policies to meet the needs of teachers and students.
Dissemination, diffusion, impact and sharing of good practices
We presented the research results and good practices of online teaching and learning in various occasions. Using the good practices collected from the surveys and interviews, four guides on online assessment were published. We also conducted an online workshop to cover topics such as “virtual flipped classroom” and “active learning in virtual environment”.
Impact on teaching and learning
The four written guides on online assessment and online teaching have been widely used by faculties in designing and refining their online examination and assessment approaches.
