Tracy X.P. Zou

Development of a research tool for the elicitation of consumer response

The last two decades have seen the growing use of qualitative interpretive methodologies in market research (Malhotra & Peterson 2001). Interpretive researchers believe that consumer research should assist them to understand consumer experience in their own language instead of staying within the scientific paradigm of personal distance and an assumed theoretical structure (Szmigin & Foxall 2000). A number of qualitative methods, including phenomenology, hermeneutics, discourse analysis and grounded theory, have been adopted by scholars in the field. Goulding (1998) summarises grounded theory as a methodology that possesses great potential in the area of consumer research, especially when the study is about understanding something difficult to quantify, such as consumer experience.

Promoting collaborative problem-solving skills in a course on engineering grand challenges

The ability to solve problems with people of diverse backgrounds is essential for engineering graduates. A course on engineering grand challenges was designed to promote collaborative problem-solving (CPS) skills. One unique component is that students need to work both within their own team and collaborate with the other team to tackle engineering challenges. It is found that the course facilitates the development in CPS skills and that the process, in which two teams develop arguments and integrate the initial ideas to generate a final solution, is a critical component. The value of CPS skills in tackling engineering problems has also been demonstrated. Appropriate scaffolding, explicit training and constant feedback on collaborative processes are found as important for the skill development.

Surfacing and sharing advances in assessment: A communities-of-practice approach

The focus of this chapter is on how to encourage the take-up of advances in assessment and feedback practices across and beyond one university, in ways that can bridge subject and organisational boundaries while avoiding top-down prescription and maintaining respect for scholarly autonomy. Against the wider backdrop of key issues that institutions need to grapple with in scaling up assessment renewal constructively, the chapter discusses a communities-of-practice initiative at the University of Hong Kong. It sought to develop an approach to surfacing and sharing understandings about effective innovations in assessment that could help in the pursuit of institutional strategic goals. The approach adopted in this initiative is discussed in terms of the main assessment and feedback themes it addressed, the intended audiences for the project’s work, the various strategies deployed in surfacing innovative practices internationally as well as internally and the means by which guiding principles and contextualised instances of developments in practice were more widely shared.

Fostering Dialogue About Practices

Contemporary research-intensive universities need not only to maintain but also to enhance the quality of their teaching and learning. Diverse strategies are used to raise the quality of teaching and learning, and these typically respond to both institutional and disciplinary cultures. However, there is sometimes a failure to effectively integrate quality enhancement initiatives at the individual (micro) level, the intermediate (meso) level, and the institutional (macro) level within institutions. In particular, the essential role of social processes at the meso level is sometimes overlooked. There may be more that research-intensive universities can do to foster a vibrant teaching and learning culture that facilitates professional conversations in relation to teaching and learning enhancement at and across different levels and within and between disciplinary boundaries. This chapter reports on a modified ‘community of practice’ (CoP) approach adopted at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) to drive change and diffuse innovation at the meso level. HKU’s CoP approach incorporates several unique features that have helped the university to address the specific opportunities and challenges it faces at the collective level, where fostering dialogue plays such a key role.

Students as learning experience designers: the effect of student-driven approaches in a Hong Kong study

Abstract Student-driven approaches have generated positive results in student development. This study reports a Students as Learning Experience Designers (Student-LED) Project as one example of employing student-driven approaches to develop learning abilities, leadership skills and reflective habits, in the context of the new senior secondary curriculum reform in Hong Kong. In such reform, schools are encouraged to offer other learning experiences (OLE) to facilitate students’ all-round development. This Student-LED project can be seen as pioneering in its cultural context and for the target participants. Students in Hong Kong were traditionally described as lacking independence, which seemed to contradict the premise of student-driven approaches. The present study as a pilot shows that Hong Kong secondary school students could potentially benefit from a student-driven approach. Sense of autonomy and positional leadership opportunities were found to be important factors to student learning. The concerns of students and teachers during the process were also identified through reflective statements. This study provided some insights into the use of student-driven approaches with Hong Kong learners.

Community-based professional development for academics: a phenomenographic study

ABSTRACT Professional development for academics has seen a trend towards social engagement through communities and groups, as reflected by a number of increasingly popular concepts: communities of practice, faculty learning communities, and learning and teaching networks. Despite the potential benefits of such engagement, there is a paucity of research on how academics perceive, experience and navigate the emerging community-based professional development (C-PD). This phenomenographic study generates four qualitatively different categories of ways in which academics conceive of C-PD: (1) knowledge sharing and help-seeking; (2) problem-solving and skills/knowledge development; (3) mentoring, modelling, and sharing good principles and practices; and (4) an on-going journey that transforms learning and teaching. The study adds value to the literature by providing insight into how the focus of professional development and perceptual boundaries of community influence academics’ conceptions of C-PD.

Eliciting and mapping tacit knowledge on teamwork success of Six Sigma teams

This study aims to elicit and map tacit knowledge on teamwork success as a lens to examine variations in team performance. A new approach based on narrative simulations and the traditional similarity ratings were adopted with Six Sigma teams in an international manufacturing company. Convergence in the knowledge maps among team members and that between teams and the management of the company have been examined. Both approaches revealed differences in high performance teams and average teams. The narrative simulations elicited richer knowledge, provided a second layer with contexts to a better understanding of team knowledge, and generated more actionable suggestions for team development. Misconceptions in some Six Sigma teams were also identified, which provide insights for team training and development. The study demonstrates the application of narratives and sensemaking theories to the elicitation of team knowledge in rich contexts and multiple layers.

Constructive Controversy in Engineering Undergraduate, Masters, Doctorate, and Professional Settings

Constructive Controversy has been incorporated as part of the preparation of participants in academic programs in engineering since the early 1980’s. It was introduced initially in undergraduate programs and more recently in Masters and Doctorate programs as well as Professional Masters programs and faculty professional development programs. The importance of developing Constructive Controversy skills for professionals is increasing given the rapidly increasing complexity of decisions and the paramount importance of innovation. We argue that Constructive Controversy is an excellent approach for operationalizing innovation as a social process. In this paper we document the approach through: (1) briefly reviewing the development of Constructive Controversy including the social interdependence theoretical framework and the details of this type of cooperative learning approach; (2) providing instructional guidelines, references and resources; and (3) reviewing current case examples in educational and professional development settings.

Nurturing Future Engineers: The New Four-Year Tertiary Education in Hong Kong

Engineering education in Hong Kong is experiencing significant changes in response to several major forces: (1) an increasing demand for future engineers who possess technical competencies, professional skills, and knowledge of ethical awareness and responsibilities; (2) accreditation requirements; and (3) the system-wide education reform in the region. Curriculum changes have taken place in several universities in Hong Kong with engineering majors but there are few conceptual articles providing in-depth discussions about the impact of the changes. This article aims to provide insights into the engineering curriculum reform in a broader context for university management, program leaders, and coordinators who are involved in curriculum design and implementation. Using a newly revamped engineering curriculum in one of the research-intensive universities in Hong Kong as an example, this article highlights the features of the new four-year engineering curriculum and discusses how it may contribute to the nurturing of future engineers. While clear progress has been made in providing students with a broad perspective and support, the influences of the prevailing culture of teaching and learning, the local perceptions of the engineering profession, and the decision making patterns of Hong Kong Chinese students cast a complicated picture. To fully achieve the goals of the new curriculum, universities should proactively address the challenges by the following actions: acting consistently to the commitment of holistic education, supporting students’ personal and value development, establishing reward mechanisms for faculty members’ contributions in student development, and investing in pedagogical development and innovations.