Exemplary Teaching Award in General Education 2006

Over 200 teachers offer General Education courses at CUHK, many of whom are dedicated and outstanding. In recognition of their contributions, the Senate Committee on General Education resolved in 2006 to launch the Exemplary Teaching Award in General Education.

Eleven teachers were nominated for the first conferring of the Award. Having studied the academic content, teaching and learning activities, and tutelage in the GE courses they offered, the Senate Committee on General Education decided to present the first Exemplary Teaching Awards in General Education to two outstanding teachers: Professor Liu Xiaogan of the Department of Philosophy and Dr Wong Wing Hung of the Department of Physics.

Our heartiest congratulations!

Professor Liu Xiaogan

Dr Wong Wing Hung

Dr Wong Wing Hung
Department of Physics
“The future direction of general education depends on us concerned teachers venturing hand-in-hand...... The path of general education has never been paved by any individual alone.”

Dr Wong Wing Hung received his BS, MS and PhD degrees from the Department of Physics, the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He began teaching in CUHK in 1996, and is currently Senior Instructor in the Department of Physics. His research interests include condensed matter physics and optics. Dr Wong has a deep interest in theology, and in 2004 was awarded a Master of Christian Studies degree by the Lutheran Theological Seminary.

Teaching Philosophy

In his 11 years of teaching, Dr Wong has always been active in general education. In recent years he has been teaching the General Education course UGB240M: Astronomy, which has been jointly developed and taught over the years by a teaching team from the Department of Physics, comprising Professor Chu Ming-Chung, Professor Hark Sui Kong, Dr Cheng Kai Ming, Dr Pang Kam Moon, Dr Tong Shiu Sing and Dr Wong himself. The course is masterly in both design and implementation. It imparts to students not only scientific knowledge alone, but also different views of the universe in historical perspective, the philosophy of science and astronomy’s relations to other disciplines.

In order to facilitate the learning of general education students, possibly with little science background, Dr Wong developed course materials that are well-organized and flexible, also thoughtfully designed teaching and learning activities, using multimedia materials and demonstrations to help students to grasp abstract concepts and the connection between science and daily life. Emphasizing learning beyond the classroom, Dr. Wong staged stargazing sessions, recommended good extracurricular books and articles, related the subject matter to daily life, and in addition hosted a web discussion board on the Internet to follow up his lectures. These measures were deliberately designed to help develop students’ interest in reading, and to cultivate an active interest in life-long learning. Multiple assessment methods were used with very clear guidelines to students. The course was rigorously taught; though very demanding for students, Dr Wong has constantly been rewarded by high enrollment and positive feedback from the class.

Dr Wong’s contribution to general education has many facets. He played a pivotal role in developing a number of substantial general education courses offered by the Department of Physics. Dr. Wong has also been active in promoting general education outside the classroom by giving lectures and publishing articles popularizing science. He co-authored with Dr Cheng Kai Ming Introduction to Physics (in Chinese), a very well-received book on physics for the General Education Series.

His innovative course design and exemplary teaching evidenced during the past years will undoubtedly continue.