HKUST(GZ) outstanding teaching award confers at ceremony
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) awarded the inaugural HKUST(GZ) Lionel M. NI and Yin CHING Outstanding Teaching Award during its graduation ceremony on Oct 25.
Founded with a 10-million-yuan ($1.39 million) donation from Professor Lionel M. NI and his wife, Dr. Yin CHING, the award signifies the University's top teaching honor. It continues the tradition of recognizing teaching excellence at HKUST, which started with the creation of the Michael G. Gale Medal for Distinguished Teaching in 1994.
President NI emphasized that the core mission of a university is to cultivate talent, and the key to developing talent is through faculty. It was during discussions with his wife that the couple decided to fund the award. Professor Yunlong ZI became its first recipient.
The selection committee, made up of faculty and student representatives from various academic units, reviewed 26 nominations based on five criteria: enhancing student learning, innovating teaching methods, assessment effectiveness, contribution to university teaching development, and presentation skills. To ensure fairness, the committee used an innovative "average ranking score" method, reducing differences in scoring among judges. Professor ZI ultimately stood out for his strong teaching passion, clear educational philosophy, and skillful use of new technologies.
Leading the way in "AI+education", Professor ZI is dedicated to creating a self-learning, self-teaching, and self-assessment educational ecosystem. He developed an adaptive assessment system that adjusts difficulty automatically, trained an AI teaching assistant capable of learning from textbooks and course materials, and experimented with metaverse videos to enhance the flipped classroom model. Through these innovations, he seeks to guide students in forming a virtuous cycle of independently seeking resources, completing assessments, identifying gaps, and deepening their understanding, ultimately equipping them with lifelong learning skills. His teaching approach fully embodies the interdisciplinary educational philosophy promoted by HKUST(GZ).
According to Professor ZI, HKUST(GZ) has nurtured an open and collaborative teaching environment where faculty have the freedom to innovate and learn from each other, while student feedback continuously improves teaching quality. The creation of the award highlights the University’s dedication to making teaching a central part of its mission.
To support faculty development, HKUST(GZ) not only offers structured training for new teachers and introduces innovative pedagogical approaches but also moves away from traditional quantitative evaluation metrics. University leadership regularly engages in meaningful dialogue with faculty to actively encourage teaching innovation and professional growth.
