FED

Issue 43 August - September 2016

Newsletter

Prof. Zihao LI Won Silver Award from the International Outstanding e-Learning Awards

2016 Workshop (Number 1): “Use of R in Quantitative Analysis”

http://www.umac.mo/fed/newsletter/articles_en

FED NEWSLETTEROBJECTIVES

To disseminate educational ideals and report on faculty and student activities of FED;

To provide an easy and user-friendly platform for academic staff;

To promote a sharing culture and boost teacher education and professional development.

FED Newsletter

EDITORIAL BOARD Prof. Sylvia S.L.Ieong SLIeong@umac.mo

Rebecca Wu MB54126@umac.mo

Phone 88224144

Address E33,3030

CONTENTSFED Newsletter

Academic Staff Activities

(Issue 43)

FED Postgraduate Programmes Orientation 2016/2017...............................................................................1

FED Undergraduate Programmes Orientation 2016/2017............................................................................2

Prof. Zihao LI Won Silver Award from the International Outstanding e-Learning Awards...........................3

2016 Series 3 (Number 12): “Building Effective Teaching through Mobile Technology”............................4

UM Cultural Saloon Lecture Series (5)--The Heavenly Way and the Human Way......................................5

2016 Series 3 (Number 13): “3”....................................................................................................................6

2016 Series 3 (Number 14): “Digital Equity in Education: Hong Kong Students’ Home Computing”........7

2016 Workshop (Number 1): “Use of R in Quantitative Analysis”..............................................................8

1.

8.

7.

6.

5.

4.

3.

2.

Student ActivitiesFED House Programme Year-end Award Presentation 2015/2016 and New House Members Welcoming Party 2016/2017............................................................................................................................................9

9.

FED Postgraduate Programmes Orientation 2016/2017, organized by the Faculty of Education, University of Macau, was held on 10 August. All

the postgraduate freshmen, FED academic staff and administrative staff participated. The Orientation included FED Dean’s Speech, Introduction to Master Degree Programme and Postgraduate Certificate Programme, and Panel Discussion. Prof. Xitao FAN, Dean of FED, delivered a welcome speech on three important issues: a positive attitude, compromise ability and academic honesty, with the aim of enabling the students to make the most of their postgraduate studies. Prof. Fan put forward the idea of “study is fun” and success depends on one’s positive attitude, more specifically, the determination to devote and dedicate oneself to self-motivated learning. Prof. Fan expected that, the students would develop one crucial ability upon graduation, that is, compromise—to hear different voices and achieve a synergy. In a team or community at large, compromise makes it possible that the community sustains its vigor and vitality. He emphasized the basic requirement of a qualified postgraduate, “Students should unwaveringly uphold the principles of academic honesty, because the misdeed can be traceable for life in case of plagiarism, and one will run risk of diploma deprivation and notoriety.”

Ms. Siu Kuen CHAN briefed the students on FED Master Programme, Postgraduate Certificate Programme, Study Matters and Enquiry Channels. In the “Panel Discussion” section, the students were grouped according to their programmes, and had in-depth discussions with their assigned professors on some essentials, including professional qualifications, course structure, dissertation requirements, etc. Through the orientation activities, the freshmen learned more about FED and their programmes, thus preparing themselves better for their life in FED.

FED Postgraduate Programmes Orientation 2016/2017

FED Newsletter

Issue 43 1

FED Newsletter

Issue 43 2

FED Undergraduates Programmes Orientation 2016/2017, organized by the Faculty of Education, University of Macau, was held in FED

Learning Commons on 16 August. Undergraduate freshmen, FED academic staff and administrative staff got together to welcome the new academic year.

Prof. Xitao FAN, Dean of FED, delivered a welcome speech. He quoted the saying of “Shi Shuo” (The Teacher) by Yu HAN, “A teacher should propagate the doctrine, impart professional knowledge, and resolve doubts” to explicate how to be a good professional teacher. By propagating the doctrine of teachers’ good virtues, the teacher sets a good example to students; to impart knowledge, teachers must prepare themselves well enough to instruct students, and teachers know the approach to successfully imparting the knowledge, even creating an inspiring environment for students to learn; to resolve doubts, teachers are able to answer questions as well as create space for students to explore the unknown.

In the “Faculty and Programme Introduction” part, Ms. Im Ngan CHEONG focused on four perspectives, including FED Bachelor Programmes in terms of majors, electives and credits, Study Matters, Students Activities and Enquiry Channels.

Towards the end, the students entered different classrooms for further discussion and consultation with assigned professors according to their majors, including 1. Pre-primary Education; 2. Primary Education; 3. Chinese Education and 4. English Education.

Through these activities, the freshmen had a better understanding of FED and their programmes, thus getting themselves better prepared for the upcoming four-year university life.

FED Undergraduate Programmes Orientation 2016/2017

FED Newsletter

Issue 43 3

On 1 September, the Faculty of Education had an exclusive interview with Prof. Zihao LI from FED. Prof. Li has just won the Silver Award

from the International Outstanding e-Learning Awards presented by the University of Hong Kong’s e-Learning Development Laboratory on 2 July.

International Outstanding e-Learning Awards encourages and awards the contributing schools and teachers in the field of e-Learning to promote e-Learning model. Prof. Li accredited this award to Prof. Spencer BENSON from Centre for Teaching and Learning Enhancement of the University of Macau, who encouraged him to participate in this competition and offered a lot of helpful suggestions. Recounting the preparation work, Prof. Li said, “I’ve attempted to engage students in taking initiatives in learning and making full use of technology, from which I accumulated a deeper knowledge of e-Leaning and that prepared me well for the competition.”

Faced with the plight that students get obsessed with cellphones in class, Prof. Li altered the traditional teacher-fronted approach by utilizing various phone applications popular among students, which massively enhanced their motivation. Prof. Li explained, “The majority of college students nowadays were born in post-PC (Personal Computer) era and they learn more likely on electronic devices rather than through paper materials; for example, most students have keen interest in Wechat, so I establish a group on Wechat, or call it “virtual class”, which facilitates class communication and instant question response.” He commented, “This interactive mode in virtue of technology catered to the needs of 21st-century students, helping them to enjoy learning in a more active and motivating manner.”

While educators are inviting increasing technology-based teaching methods, Prof. Li also gives accolades to traditional class teaching, “In dance and drama teaching, traditional way based on skill-honing is welcomed by students dedicated to becoming a professional dancer; however, dance and drama course as a General Education subject in UM, aims not to nurture an excellent dancer, but to impart the knowledge about dance philosophy, the stage lighting and appreciation to dancing performances and so on, and e-Learning accelerates this process.”

Welcoming the new semester, Prof. Li sent wishes to the freshmen: Open your minds to embrace the new things and create more learning opportunities.

Prof. Zihao LI Won Silver Award from the International Outstanding e-Learning Awards

FED Newsletter

Issue 43 4

On 13 September, FED 2016 Series 3 (Number 12): “Building Effective Teaching through Mobile Technology”, organized by the Faculty of

Education, was held at Tin Ka Ping Lecture Hall. Prof. Zihao LI from FED was invited as the speaker. Prof. Li engaged the students in immediate practice of mobile teaching: the students were invited to scan the QR (Quick Response) code to join the Wechat group and answered several polling questions via Wechat; processed by Polleverywhere, what the students perceived was clearly exhibited on the projector. He quoted the survey results found by Spencer BENSON from Centre for Teaching and Learning Enhancement of the University of Macau. Prof. Spencer conducted an informal study on 1000 odd UM students, and concluded that 75% of the students own 2.8 mobile devices on average. “More students are becoming phubbers, they keep on watching their phones, reluctant to participate in class activities.” said Prof. Li. Deeply concerned, Prof. Li tried out mobile integration in class and has acquired a lot of knowledge. For instance, the electronic applications such as I-Class, Polleverywhere, Qualtrics, Zoom and OfficeMix have been effectively utilized to activate student-centered learning model off class and intervention approach in class. He illustrated, “The in-class Wechat group enables instant response from students via analysis and interpretation on screen; OfficeMix integrated the tutorials, media materials, quizzes, assessments and assignments in one platform with round-the-clock availability, helping students achieve home learning; Zoom of Google Class can accommodate as many as 60 students simultaneously facetiming, which I use for directing students’ term-end reports.” He looked forward to bringing more technologies into class while attending to students’ authentic needs, with the aim of enhancing pedagogy.

2016 Series 3 (Number 12): BuildingEffective Teaching through Mobile Technology

FED Newsletter

Issue 43 5

UM Cultural Saloon Lecture Series (5): “The Heavenly Way and the Human Way”, co-organized by the Faculty of Social Sciences, the

Faculty of Art and Humanities and the Faculty of Education, was held at UM Student Activity Center Theatre on 20 September. Mr. Jiazhou JIN, the famous martial arts master, was invited to give a speech on the heavenly way and the human way in the light of I Ching (The Book of Changes) and The Classics of Tendon Changing.

Mr. Jin discussed I Ching both semantically and pragmatically: “I Ching takes the lead of other classics, with ‘I’ referring to the sun and the moon, and ‘Ching’ referring to the track the sun and the moon travels eternally; I Ching has been applied in many fields, such as astronomy, divinity, etc; moreover, the important number in I Ching may suggest the year of dynasty alternation as well as the turning point of one’s life.”

Mr. Jin believed that Yin and Yang were the inseparable parts of I Ching. He illustrated, “Yin and Yang are integrated, mutually inclusive and capable of mutually-transforming, just as Romance of the Three Kingdoms said in its opening, ‘The empire evolves in unification-splitting-reunification cycles.’”

“Beginners found it challenging to grasp I Ching, let alone the heavenly way, however, learning the human way from The Classics of Tendon Changing is a shortcut to approach it.” Mr. Jin explained, “The Classics of Tendon Changing originated from ancient China’s Daoyin, and has enjoyed an enduring history; its cultural implications extend widely, including the expiration and inspiration method, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, martial arts, medicine and somatic science.”

Mr. Jin gave a demonstration of the spectacular martial arts, which won rounds of applauses from the audience.

UM Cultural Saloon Lecture Series (5)—The Heavenly Way and the Human Way

Issue 43 6

2016 Series 3 (Number 13): “3”, organized by the Faculty of Education, was held on 21 September. Prof. Randall E. SCHUMACKER, currently

a Fullbright Scholar hosted by FED, was invited as the speaker.

Prof. Randall reconstructed the concept of measurement from two general perspectives—time and civilization. He pointed out, “From a very primitive methods of measuring time such as sundial, hourglass and water clock, to the invention of high-tech cesium fountain atomic clock, time measurements keep everything orderly in our civilization, such as railroads, airplanes and traffic; another perspective derived from civilizations, which enabled the barter of goods or services, and countries started developing their currency to balance trade, meanwhile the methods to equally exchange amounts of goods emerged, such as length, volume, weight and temperature.”

Prof. Randall pointed to four scales of measurement developed by Prof. Stanley S. STEVENS, which were respectively nominal scale, ordinal scale, interval scale and ratio scale. He commented, “The four scales introduced mathematics and statistics to the social sciences and has major impact.” He explained four modern measurement theories that had developed to guide our measurement and assessment in social sciences: 1. Classical Measurement Theory, usually applied in attitude measurement; 2. Generalizability Theory for conceptualizing, investigating reliable observations from test administration research; 3. Rasch Measurement Theory applied for dichotomous data, and 4. Item Response Theory used in design, analysis and scoring of tests, questionnaires, and similar instruments measuring abilities, attitudes and other variables.

2016 Series 3 (Number 13) : “3”

FED Newsletter

Issue 43 7

2016 Series 3 (Number 14): “Digital Equity in Education: Hong Kong Students’ Home Computing”, organized by the Faculty of Education,

was held on 27 September. Prof. Allan H.K. YUEN from the University of Hong Kong was invited as the speaker.

Prof. Yuen elaborated on two empirical studies he has done in Hong Kong on students’ home computing. The first study explored digital equity by examining gender and socioeconomic status (SES) difference in students’ use of computers at home. He surveyed 825 eighth-graders from 26 secondary schools in Hong Kong by adopting the self-reported questionnaire method, based on the classification of SES. He concluded, “The SES difference still affects students’ home ICT (Information and communication technology) access and computer use in Hong Kong, therefore, the digital divide problem and other equity issues of students’ home computing call for the primary attention from the education stakeholders, including teachers, school administrators, and governments.

The second study aimed to investigate students’ experiences of ICT use at home. Prof. Yuen explained that the respondents varied in terms of SES, levels of education, and ICT use. The study revealed several facets of Hong Kong students’ home computing, including: 1. ICT has almost integrated into everyday lives of students; 2. ICT has blurred the traditional boundary between formal and informal learning; 3. Some students lack cultural or educational resources; 4. School development and parental mediation play a key role in students’ use of ICT.

Reflecting on the two studies, Prof. Yuen advised policy-makers to provide a clear vision and direction at the policy level, and offer some ICT-related parental mediation programs. He also urged parents to have a better understanding of the value of ICT, enhance children’s ICT use opportunities, skills to cope with and resilience to potential harm, etc.

2016 Series 3 (Number 14): “Digital Equity in Education: Hong Kong Students’ Home Computing”

FED Newsletter

FED Newsletter

2016 Workshop (Number 1): “Use of R in Quantitative Analysis”, organized by the Faculty of Education, was held on 28 September.

Prof. Randall E. SCHUMACKER, currently a Fullbright Scholar hosted by FED, was invited to be the instructor. Prof. Randall said, “R is a massive international statistical library of packages and functions, designed to implement a wide variety of statistical and graphical techniques, including linear and nonlinear modeling, classical statistical tests, time-series analysis, classification, clustering, psychometric applications, data-mining and thousands of other functions.” He led, step by step, all the attendees to proactively check out the basics of R on the computer, including: 1. Download and install R; 2. Download manuals; 3. Load package; 4. Activate package; 5. Input a data set; 6. List a few data lines; 7. Run the statistical procedure. Prof. Randall gave an example of R in industry—running Multiple Regression can help predict the volume of wood figured out by the girth and height of a tree. Additionally, he briefed the audience on two important statistical variables and demonstrated the codes successively, including Pearson Correlation and Test of Significance. “R is also presented in some statistical models”, Prof. Randall said, “The models are exploratory factor analysis, multidimensional scaling, structural equation model and meta-analysis.” He believed that R will be a major statistical tool in the future and expected the students to resolve more realistic problems by R.

2016 Workshop (Number 1): Use of R in Quantitative Analysis

Issue 43 8

FED Newsletter

Issue 43 9

On 24 August, “FED House Programme Year-end Award Presentation 2015/2016 and New House Members Welcoming Party 2016/2017”, organized by the Faculty of Education, University of Macau, was held at

the Learning Commons and G/F classrooms. FED academic staff and administrative staff joined the activity.

Prof. Shuh Ren JIN from FED introduced house programme, “This year marks the fourth anniversary of the house programme, and for new house members, every house is like a big family where they love and care for one another, therefore it is regarded as a realization of ‘heart-to-heart peer education’.” Under one bachelor programme, every house recruited members from their freshmen, sophomore, junior and senior students, which facilitates mutual support in both academic perspective and extra- curricular life. Prof. Jin encouraged the new houses to host as many activities as they can to promote house unity and harmony.

This was followed by the FED House Programme Year-end Award Presentation. Associate Dean of FED, Prof. Timothy, TEO and Prof. Chun Wai CHENG presented “Academically Outstanding House Award” and “The Most Active House Award” to the winning houses; Prof. Jin presented “Certificate of Appreciation” to the house leaders to acknowledge their efforts in developing the houses. The individual and team awardees in “Chinese Handwriting Competition” and “English Handwriting Competition” also received the certificates from Prof. Zhisheng WANG, Prof. Min Chuan SUNG and Prof. Zexun ZHANG from FED.

FED House Programme Year-end Award Presentation 2015/2016 and New House Members Welcoming Party 2016/2017

Prof. Timothy TEO prensented awards to winning houses

Prof. Chun Wai CHENG prensented awards to winning houses

FED Newsletter

Issue 43 10

S t u d e n t s f r o m C h i n e s e Education, English Education, Primary Education and Pre-primary Education programmes had discussions in respective classrooms about the set-up of new houses as well as the activity schedule for the coming year, laying a sound basis for the future house life.

Prof. Shuh Ren JIN prensented awards to winning houses

Prof. Zhisheng WANG prensented awards to the winners in the FED Calligraphy Competition

Prof. Zexun ZHANG prensented awards to the winners in the FED Calligraphy Competition

Prof. Min Chuan SUNG prensented awards to the winners in the FED Calligraphy Competition

During the tea break, the FED students performed mellifluous singing and dynamic pop dancing and o thers re jo iced a t th i s unforgettable gathering.