Alfred C. H. Yu
Biomedical Ultrasound Laboratory


TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

My current teaching philosophy is based upon the coach-player relationship in a sports team. I believe that as a teacher, I am responsible for pushing and motivating the students toward forming a deep understanding of the knowledge in a field. Just like a coach leading a sports team, I feel obligated in adaptively developing various strategies to help students acquire the prescribed knowledge. After all, I regard effective teaching as a two-way communication process where the teacher and the students both take part in the learning process.

TEACHING AWARD

IEEE Real World Engineering Project

  • In 2009, I received this interational award for my curriculum development efforts
  • This is a highly competitive, peer-reviewed recognition for designing high-quality, tested, society-focused project courses for junior engineering students worldwide
  • My award-winning project is entitled "Electrocardiogram Amplifier Design Using Basic Electronic Parts", which also forms the backbone of MEDE 2008 (BME Integrated Project) that I used to teach at HKU

CURRICULUM INNOVATIONS

I have been an active member of the Medical Engineering Program and the Common Core Curriculum. Over the past few years, I have developed quite a few new courses, and I am now teaching the following ones:

ELEC 6079/8602 -- Biomedical Ultrasound

  • Senior course on the technical principles of ultrasound and its use in imaging & therapy

CCST 9004 -- Appropriate Technology for the Developing World

  • Entry-level course on the societal impact of science and technology in a developing-world context

CCGL 9008 -- Cybersocieties: Understanding Technology as Global Change

  • Entry-level course on the sociological perspective of information technology and the Internet

SCHOLARSHIP OF TEACHING AND LEARNING

In a Principal Investigator role, I have been actively involved in learning sciences research projects in collaboration with other academics in Hong Kong. These projects are funded by HKU Teaching Development Grants and the Sciences of Learning Strategic Research Theme. The following is a brief description of each project:

  1. Transferrable Skills Development in the Engineering Discipline
    • Study the transferable skills of engineering students and how integrative project courses in individual disciplines have (or have not) contributed to the development of these transferable skills

  2. Learning Sciences of Engineering Courses
    • Investigate the epistemology of technically-oriented courses and connect engineering education inquiries to the rich body of findings in learning sciences

My efforts in the scholarship of teaching and learning are strategically aimed at promoting all-round development of engineering students using an evidence-based teaching development approach.