Know Your Students

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Know Your Students

• Teaching Effectively in Higher Education in Hong
  Kong

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Know Your Students

• Background characteristics
• Study goals expectations
• What do students expect of their teachers?
• Implications for teaching

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Background and Characteristics

• A typical undergraduate student
• Living conditions
• Family
• Financial support

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A Typical Undergraduate Student

• Hong Kong Chinese
• 19 years old
• Females outnumber males in most universities
• Majority profess no religious beliefs

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Living Conditions

• Lives at home with family members
• Small apartment
• May not have own room or study desk
• Modest to poor housing
• Travels more than one hour to university
• Living conditions gradually improving

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Family

• Educational level of parents not high
• Fathers better educated than mothers
• Fathers in production or service industries
• Median Hong Kong income
• May be the first family member to attend
  university - or even secondary school

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Financial Support

• Reliant on parents for financial support
• Reliant on government grants
• Reliant on their own part-time work

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Study Goals Expectations

• Study goals
• Expectations of university education
• What students expect of their teachers

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Study Goals

• The most significant factors in choosing a course
  of study
• Interest in subject
• Career prospects
• Limited in choice by examination results

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Study Goals

• Other factors
• Family expectations
• To obtain a qualification
• Own ability in subject
• Influence of friends

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Study Goals

• In recent years interest in the subject has
  declined as a reason for study and career
  aspirations have increased.
• Females report interest in subject as a reason
  more often than males.
• Discipline differences in study goals.

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Expectations of University Education

• Students come to university with a mix of motives
  and expectations
• Vocational - to pursue a career, become a
  professional
• To become broadly educated - intrinsic motivation
• Maturation and personal development
• Competitive/Achieving - to get a good job, pass
  exams

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Expectations of university education

• Vocational - to pursue a career, become a
  professional
• I am really interested in this course. I want
  to gain as much knowledge as possible that is
  related to the profession. I think that is my
  expectation.

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Expectations of University Education

• Maturation and personal development
• I do not intend simply to attend classes and
  sit for the exam at university. I also want to
  make more friends and get in contact with people
  from a variety of backgrounds.

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Expectations of University Education

• To become broadly educated
• I choose this course not because I want to
  become a lawyer. Instead, what I want is to learn
  how to think critically and rationally There a
  lot of things happening in the society which I
  need to know about.

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Expectations of University Education

• Competitive/Achieving
• I only hope that I can complete my studies and
  get a pass in the exam. I have to pass the exam
  because I need it to increase my ability to
  compete with others in the job market.

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Expectations of University Education

• CONTRARY TO THE PERCEPTIONS OF A LOT OF
  UNIVERSITY LECTURERS, MOST STUDENTS ARE NOT
  SIMPLY INTERESTED IN PASSING THE EXAM AND GETTING
  A DEGREE.

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Expectations of University Education

• Hindrances to achieving expectations
• Heavy workload
• Rigid/narrow curriculum
• Lack on interaction with staff or classmates
• Inadequate resources/opportunities
• Students own problems

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Expectations of University Education

• Hindrances to achieving expectations
• As you have to do so many things, you can only
  learn them superficially. I think this is an
  obstacle to my learning

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Expectations of University Education

• Hindrances to achieving expectations
• Sometimes we feel quite bitter as weve missed
  many things. It is important for us to know more
  about things that are not related to the
  technical areas, for example interpersonal
  communications.

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Expectations of University Education

• Hindrances to achieving expectations
• Lack of interaction with staff or classmates
• The teachers seldom have contact with us We
  seldom meet each other after class.
• I am disappointed at the relationship I have
  with my classmates we hardly know each other
  and seldom talk to each other.

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Expectations of University Education

• Hindrances to achieving expectations
• We need to discuss and exchange ideas to solve
  problems, but there are few places we can go for
  that.
• There is a problem of resource Our course has
  been going on for two months, but not all the
  equipment we need is available.

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Expectations of University Education

• Hindrances to achieving expectations
• My main problem is lack of concentration.
  Although I want to do many things, I am not very
  persistent.
• I think I need self-discipline and time
  management skills

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What Students Expect of Their Teachers

• Good teachers and good teaching make
  students feel more satisfied about their learning
  experience, enhance their confidence in studying
  a subject, and motivate them to learn more about
  it.

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What Students Expect of Their Teachers

• HEAD Knowledge of the subject
• HANDS Teaching skills
• HEART Attitudes towards teaching and concern for
  students

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What Students Expect of Their Teachers

• Head
• I feel he is a good lecturer because he has a
  very good foundation of basic knowledge. He is
  very rich in terms of both theoretical and
  practical views.

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What Students Expect of Their Teachers

• Hands
• Clear and systematic presentation
• Teaching at the right level
• Use of learning aids
• Arousing students interests
• Encouraging active learning
• Stimulating students to think

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What Students Expect of Their Teachers

• Hands
• He presented his lectures in a logical order. I
  could learn more from this subject than the
  others.

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What Students Expect of Their Teachers

• Hands
• The lecturer teaches us the theories in depth,
  progressing gradually from the easy to the more
  difficult parts.

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What Students Expect of Their Teachers

• Hands
• She teaches in a creative way. She does not
  simply talk to us in a monologue. She shows us
  some videos and tapes, and asks us to have oral
  practice.

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What Students Expect of Their Teachers

• Hands
• The most satisfying subject is the one in which
  I can participate actively in the learning
  process

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What Students Expect of Their Teachers

• Hands
• If they can make me think more, I can learn
  more. If the lecturer simply tries to present a
  lot of information and asks me to copy down the
  notes, he cannot stimulate me to think.

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What Students Expect of Their Teachers

• Heart
• Concern for student learning
• Helpfulness
• Empathy for students
• Enthusiasm towards subject and /or teaching

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What Students Expect of Their Teachers

• Heart
• Whether a teacher is really good or not depends
  on his attitude - whether he is teaching and
  tries his best.

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What Students Expect of Their Teachers

• Heart
• He is willing to answer our questions. Even if
  we ask him some stupid questions, he will
  patiently point out our misconceptions and guide
  us to think on the right tract.

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What Students Expect of Their Teachers

• Heart
• To me, a good lecturer should be able to relate
  to students and show concern for them .. He
  should be polite and sincere in answering
  students questions.

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What Students Expect of Their Teachers

• Heart
• He has the heart for teaching. I see him
  working very hard all the time, preparing a lot
  of things for his lectures

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Implications for Teaching

• Understand students perspectives and
  expectations of university study
• Set a realistic workload
• Make the curriculum flexible
• Provide opportunities for interaction
• Ensure adequate resources for study
• Make your expectations known to students

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Implications for Teaching

• Be interested and enthusiastic in what you are
  teaching.
• Care that your students become as interested and
  knowledgeable in the subject as you are.
• Appreciate the fact that they may have
  difficulties and work with them.

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Thank you