Abstracts of Funding Scheme for Initiatives on Internationalization of Curriculum

(Supported by Teaching Development and Language Enhancement Grant 2022-25)

No.	Project Title	Abstract
1.	Internationalising the Professional Development Support for CUHK Teachers	The proposed project aims at further promoting teaching excellence of CUHK through the internationalization of the professional development (PD) support for CUHK teachers. The quality of teaching has always been established as a critical contributing factor to teaching excellence thus making professional development significant for university teachers. At CUHK, professional development support (PD support) has been provided by CLEAR through the 3-part Professional Development Course (PDC) for new teachers, workshops and seminars on teaching and learning topics and consultation service among other forms of support for over 20 years. In an era of internationalization, it is time for CLEAR and CUHK to consider internationalising the PD support for our teachers through becoming an institutional member of a reputable international organization dedicated to promoting teaching and learning in higher education. CLEAR would like to propose joining Advance HE* as its ACCESS member in the first instance and ultimately as its STRATEGIC member. Advance HE is a global association headquartered in the UK, the mission of which is to improve higher education through their expertise and sharing best practice in university governance, leadership development, teaching and learning enhancement, and equality, diversity and inclusion. Advance HE also recognizes global teaching excellence via awards and Fellowship. Advance HE is chosen in view of its international membership, benefits institutional members can enjoy and the wide range of PD support provided to its members. The coverage of the PD support is beyond what CLEAR can provide for CUHK teachers. Through this internationalization process, · our PDC will gain international recognition to ascertain its quality and to be in line with international standards in terms of curriculum design, delivery and assessment; · CUHK teachers will get access to a wide range of teaching and learning resources developed by Advance HE and other universities; · CUHK teachers will be networking with their international counterparts for sharing of good practice in teaching and learning; · CUHK teachers will have access to grants to support and conduct inter-institutional collaborative pedagogical research; · CUHK teachers will be recognized as teaching fellows and the application fee will be halved. Upon becoming a member, CUHK will join an international higher education community from over 100 countries. Our teachers will also join individually a community of over 165,000 higher education practitioners. Aligning with the CUHK 2025 development directions, teachers will have the opportunities to reach out and engage in international e collaborations in teaching and learning. Our PD support will be benchmarked internationally. We have a lot to contribute and to learn at the same * Currently Advance HE has over 380 member institutions, including almost all UK higher education institutions and other 80 member institutions from other parts of the world outside UK, e.g. Australia (over half of the universities), New Zealand, Europe, US, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. In Hong Kong, University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Baptist University have joined Advance HE as Strategic members while 3 other local universities including Lingnan University, Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Hong Kong Metropolitan University have joined as Access members.
2.	Supporting Internationalization of Curriculum for Sustainability Education	This proposed project is designed to support and promote Internationalization of Curriculum (IoC) for Sustainability Education (SE) at CUHK, in pursuit of the CUHK 2025 Strategic Plan on curriculum enhancement and social responsibility for sustainable development goals (SDGs). The concept of SE refers to identifying sustainable solutions to environmental, social, and economic problems through education. Globally, many higher education institutions strive to create teaching and learning environment for SE. It is also important to have a global views of SE. As a result, the current project aims to (1) encourage more global learning opportunities on the SDGs, (2) enhance teachers’ competencies in incorporating IoC for SE; and (3) expand the network with overseas institutions for SE in CUHK. The project will support (a) the enhancement of the SDG curriculum, we propose to incorporate IoC in SDG-focused courses at different levels of teaching. Evaluation will be conducted to understand the students’ and teachers’ perceptions and attitudes on IoC for SE, as well as the changes and impacts of an internationalized curriculum on the education for sustainable development and (b) the professional development and partnerships for teaching and learning, workshops with local and international associations of international SDG programmes will be held to prepare teachers for the integration of international dimensions and sustainability in a course setting. Useful resources will also be broadcasted on online platform to facilitate teachers on their course design.
3.	Global Collaborative Initiative: Co-Teaching, Co-Development, and Corporate Projects for Social Solutions	This project will be an extension and enhancement of an existing project funded by Special Grant for Strategic Development of Virtual Teaching and Learning (“Previous Project”). This project aims to: 1) Promote Internationalization at Home (IaH) through internationalized course content and learning activities; 2) Deepen students understanding of social issues in both local and international context, and learn how business can create social values by help resolve these issues; 3) Enhance student’s international exposure and communication skills via collaborating with international students to solve local / non-local social issues from a business perspective; and 4) Expose students to first-hand industry experience through international corporate project. Through this initiative, we strive to transform the teaching and learning experience, fostering adaptability, resilience, and cross-cultural communication skills in our students, thereby preparing them for an increasingly globalized professional world. The project consists of a series of 5 participant-centered class meetings each year, co-led by faculty members from CUHK Business School and overseas universities. In the online class meetings, students will not only learn conceptual frameworks of analyzing social and business issues, but will also discuss cases developed by overseas partner teachers. Also, this project will serve as a pilot program for international corporate project. Chances will be provided for students to collaborate with peers from overseas on a team project or international corporate project, and will present their findings in a virtual symposium. The project will serve the purpose of Internationalization at Home (IaH) by embedding multicultural elements in the curriculum. It will also be an ‘inbound’ Global Experiential Learning (GEL) activity, which is particularly valuable for students who have difficulty gaining outbound experience.
4.	Summer Global Studies Series	The Summer Global Studies Series is a pioneering educational initiative at CUHK, designed not only to integrate international perspectives into the learning journey but also to explore the potential for launching micro-credential. This program will partner with esteemed institutions from Asian Business Education Network (“ABEN”) to offer a unique blend of online pre-class learning, immersive five-day workshops, and culturally enriching activities. The project serves a dynamic platform for interaction among students and faculty across the globe, fostering multicultural dialogue and understanding. Through this program, students gain unique international exposure at home, enhancing their global competency. By leveraging online and offline interactions, it provides students a unique international exposure and enriches the University's teaching and learning activities. The resulting content will enhance a variety of courses and serve as a pilot for future international experiential learning activities. Furthermore, the project promotes the internationalization of the curriculum, setting a model for broader institutional development. The Summer Global Studies Series also brings forward system-level improvements in teaching and learning at the University by internationalizing the curriculum and exploring micro-credentialing, serving as a blueprint for future programs. The content generated and experience gained from this project will also enrich a variety of courses at CUHK.
5.	Enhancing Global Readiness of CUHK Postgraduate Students in Conducting Public Health Research through Internationalization at Home	Project objectives To provide opportunities for CUHK postgraduate students to learn and practice how to conduct public health research together with international partners. Activities, process and outcomes Project activities include 5 workshops (each with a 1.5-hour lecture & a 1-hour hands-on exercise session) and 3 year-long joint research projects, both of which are co-led by teachers from CUHK and the Pennsylvania State University, joined by students from both sides, and embedded with a series of collaborative activities. After completion of the project, students are expected to be able to consider issues from different perspectives, think globally, and work efficiently with international colleagues when doing public health research. Deliverables and evaluation CUHK Course and Teaching Evaluation form and a questionnaire with course-specific items will be used to collect students’ feedback. Students’ knowledge and skills will be assessed through questions designed by the supervisors. The deliverables include 3 micro-modules and 1 set of T&L materials on research methods, 3 joint research projects, 3 presentations at sharing sessions and conference, 1 webpage, and 2 publications. Dissemination, diffusion and sharing of good practices The project will be presented at school- and university-level sharing sessions and relevant conferences. Micro-modules and other T&L materials from the project will be made available from the webpage produced. Other deliverables will be submitted to relevant journals for publication. Impact on teaching and learning This project can help enhance the global readiness of CUHK postgraduate students in conducting public health research and provide a model for internationalization of other courses focusing on research methodology.
6.	Development of an Online Positive Psychology Course (English Version)	As an initiative to promote emotional resilience among our students via the knowledge and application of positive psychology, this one-unit online GE course, Positive Psychology in Everyday Life (PSYC1020/UBED1554), was launched in the academic year 2021-22. This current e-self-learning design via animated videos, role-play demonstration, guided exercises, personal planning, and timely written feedback is well received by the students. They also welcome the flexibility allowed in the study schedule. However, the course is originally developed in Cantonese for local students and thus non-local students who do not understand Cantonese are unable to take the course. We regularly receive enquiry from non-local students who are strongly interested in this online course about its availability in English. Therefore, with the aim of improving its accessibility and extending the course to non-local students, a new online course in English will be developed by adding VO in English and redesigning the contents with broader cultural elements beyond those of the local Cantonese community, so as to increase the course’s relevancy to non- local students. With the launch of an additional online course in English, the positive psychology course will be able to reach a bigger pool of students, meeting the demands of both the local and international students, as well as moving in the direction of internationalization of our University.