Inaugural Meeting CoP to Enhance Students’ Intercultural Learning Experience and Competence

THE COMMUNITY

This Community will support and promote the efforts of faculty and staff to enhance the intercultural learning experiences and competence of students at HKUST.  

Findings of a survey of UG students regarding their intercultural learning experiences (conducted in 2017), as well as those from a study of faculty and staff and their understanding of student expectations of these experiences (conducted in 2019) indicate a need for attention to these issues. 

Over the next two years we will offer members opportunities to participate in training by professionals in this field. We will invite guest speakers to share with us their knowledge and experiences. We will support, document and share best practices, and champion interventions in and changes to courses and other learning activities.

At our inaugural meeting, we will be joined by Mr. Willie Heung, HKUST Alumnus and Development Director for Li Po Chun, United World College.  Mr. Heung will share some of his experiences and why he has embraced the UWC mission of making ‘education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future.

We expect this meeting to be an inspiring start to our Community’s endeavours and hope that faculty and staff from across the University will join us.

WHO ARE WE?

Melissa Megan, Principal Coordinator, Center for Language Education

Melissa is a Senior Lecturer in the CLE. Melissa has been living and interacting interculturally for about 30 years, 21 of those having been spent at HKUST. Melissa is a proponent of Internationalisation at Home: ‘…the purposeful integration of international and intercultural dimensions into the formal and informal curriculum for all students within domestic learning environments’ (Beelen & Jones, 2015), and hopes this is what this Community can work towards achieving at HKUST. 

Beatrice Chu, Coordinator, Center for Education Innovation

Beatrice is an Educational Developer and heads up the professional development programs and initiatives at CEI for faculty and frontline teaching staff.  She has over 20 years of experience working in different sectors in tertiary education. Beatrice was trained as a physicist, and her current interests are innovative instructional approaches and programs that facilitate students' knowledge, skillset, and mindset for the 21st century. She involves in multiple intercultural teaching competence initiatives at HKUST.