Our Research Projects
HKU Common Core has been actively engaged in research projects related to interdisciplinary education, collaborating across multiple faculties and cross-institutionally. This page outlines the current and completed research projects the Common Core Office are leading or co-investigating in, together with the related research publications.
Current Projects
| Project Title | Research Team | Funding | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Future Readiness: Leadership, Work, & Global Citizenship | Principal Investigator: Jack Tsao, (Common Core) Co-Investigators: Maggie Zhao (Teaching and Learning Evaluation & Measurement Unit), Ronnel King (Centre for the Enhancement for Teaching and Learning), Peter Fat-man Lau (Centre for the the Enhancement for Teaching and Learning) | Teaching Development and Language Enhancement Grant: HK $1,200,000 | July 2022 – June 2025 |
| Gamification and Storytelling: Designing Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning Experiences with Students-as-Partners | Principal Investigator: Jack Tsao, (Common Core) Co-Investigators: Donn Gonda (Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning), Wincy Chan (Department of Pathology, School of Clinical Medicine), Tyrone Kwok (Technology-Enriched Learning Initiative) | Teaching Development Grant: HK $211,965 | June 2022 – June 2024 |
| Partnering With Students To Design And Enhance Assessments In A Digital World | Principal Investigators: Gray Meredith Kochhar-Lindgren (Common Core) and Tracy Xiaoping Zou, (Faculty of Education, Chinese University of Hong Kong) Co-Investigators: Jack Tsao, (Common Core), Kevin Andrew Sites (Department of Journalism and Media Studies Centre), Janet Chan (Department of Biology), Mei Ling Jessie Chow (Faculty of Education), Peter Jon Cobb (Faculty of Education) Assessment Advisors: David Robert Carless (Faculty of Education), Leon Chi Un Lei, (Technology Enhanced Learning Initiatives), Beatrice Chu (Centre for Teaching Innovation, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) | Teaching Development Grant: HK $243,000 | August 2020 – August 2022 |
| Improvisation Through The Lens Of Design Thinking To Enhance The Teaching Capacities Of Tutors Across The Common Core | Principal Investigator: Jack Tsao (Common Core) Co-Investigators: Tanya Jacqueline Kempston (Faculty of Education), Adrian Lam (Department of Politics and Public Administration) | Teaching Development Grant: $206,465 | February 2022 – February 2024 |
| Transdisciplinarity-In-Action | Principal Investigator: Gray Meredith Kochhar-Lindgren (Common Core) Co-Investigators: Xiao Hu, (Faculty of Education), Gina Marchetti (Department of Comparative Literature), Mathew Pryor (Division of Landscape Architecture), Julian Alexander Tanner (Department of Biomedical Sciences) | University Grant Committee Outstanding Teaching Award: HK $250,000 HKU Outstanding Teaching Award: HK $150,000 | April 2020 – April 2022 |
| Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research And Impact Of Peace And Conflict Through Rotary Peace Fellow Social Change Initiatives | Principal Investigator: Jack Tsao (Common Core) Community Partners: Martine Miller (Rotary Peace Centre Chulalongkorn University) , Thita Ornin (Rotary Peace Centre Chulalongkorn University) | Gallant Ho Experiential Learning Grant: HK $44,800 | Janurary 2022 – August 2022 |
| Cross-Cultural Well-Being: Student Experience Through Story, Art, And Film | Principal Investigator: Jack Tsao (Common Core) Co-Investigators: Suraiya Abdul Hameed (School of Education, The University of Queensland), Katherine McLay (The School of Education, The University of Queensland), Huong Nguyen (Institute for Teaching and Learning Innovation, The University of Queensland), Danielle Jeffery (School of Education, The University of Queensland) | Gallant Ho Experiential Learning Grant: HK $20,000 and the University of Queensland Teaching and Learning Education Fund AU $7,000 | September 2021 – August 2022 |
| Supporting Undergraduate Transdisciplinary Research | Principal Investigator: Gray Meredith Kochhar-Lindgren (Common Core) Co-Investigators: Jack Tsao (Common Core) Projects: – Future Readiness Initiative – Night Time Design in Hong Kong – Perceptions of Safety (Arup)– Creativity and Transdisciplinarity (Absolutely Fabulous Theatre Company – AFTEC) – Global Consultants: Policymaking for Social Impact (in collaboration with the University of Birmingham, Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences) – Sustainability x Gamification Hackathon (Hong Kong Sustainability Campus Consortium (HKSCC) led by HKUST), principally funded by Hong Kong Jockey Club HK $150,000. – Critical Studies into Gender, Sexuality, and Diversity in Hong Kong – Digital Learning through Gamification and Storytelling (PressStart Academy) | Teaching Development and Language Grant: HK $800,000 | November 2019 – August 2022 |
Completed Projects
Developing student researchers: Partnering with students to enhance undergraduate research experiences across HKU
| Research Team | Duration/ Funding |
| Principal Investigator: Tracy Xiaoping Zou (Centre for Enhancement of Teaching and Learning) Co-Investigators: Gray Meredith Kochhar-Lindgren, (Common Core), Alice Suet Ching Lee (Faculty of Law), Ling Hin Li (Department of Real Estate and Construction), Alice Sze Tsai Wong (Faculty of Science), Tom McDonald (Department of Sociology), Chun Kit Chui, (Department of Computer Science), Peter Felten (Centre for Engaged Learning: Elon University) | September 2019 – August 2021 |
| Teaching Development Grant: HK $239,150 |
Undergraduate Research and Student-to-Student Teaching
| Research Team | Duration/ Funding |
| Principal Investigators: Gray Meredith Kochhar-Lindgren (Common Core), Tracy Xiaoping Zou (Centre for Enhancement of Teaching and Learning) | August 2019 – July 2021 |
| Teaching Development Grant: HK $250,000 |
Inter-generational Participatory Co-design Project
| Research Team | Duration/ Funding |
| Principal Investigator: Esther Woo (HKU University Libraries), Nicol Pan (Common Core)
Co-Investigators: Peter Cobb (Faculty of Education) |
August 2019 – July 2021 |
| Publication:
Cobb, P., Woo, E., Pan, N. et al. (2021).Sharing the Past: the Library as Digital Co-design Space for Intergenerational Heritage Preservation, In 2021 Joint Conference on Digital Libraries (JCDL). |
Funded by the Teaching Development Grant |
A Collaborative Art cross Science Innovation Project Between India and HKU: Experiential Learning Project in India & Creativity and Innovation Across Cultures: A Collaborative Experiential Project Between India and HKU
| Research Team | Duration/ Funding |
| Principal Investigator: Nicol Pan (Common Core)
Co-Investigator: Estela Ibanez-Garcia (Faculty of Arts) |
2018- 2020 |
| Funded by the Teaching Development Grant |
Common Core Open Platform Courses (OPC): A Pilot
| Research Team | Duration/ Funding |
| Principal Investigator: Gray Meredith Kochhar-Lindgren (Common Core) | Spring 2018 – Fall 2020 |
| Funded by the Teaching Development Grant: HK $250,000 |
Communicate @ HKU: Teaching and Learning Innovation through Communication-intensive Courses
| Research Team | Duration/ Funding |
| Principal Investigator: Michelle R. Raquel (Centre for Applied English Studies)
Co-Investigators: Gray Meredith Kochhar-Lindgren (Common Core), Grahame Bilbow (Centre for Enhancement of Teaching and Learning), Alex Webb, (Department of Earth Sciences) |
July 2018 – June 2020 |
| Funded by the Teaching Development Grant: HK $526,044 |
Internationalizing Teaching and Learning in Hong Kong Higher Education through Building Professional Capacity
| Research Team | Duration/ Funding |
| Principal Investigator: Tracy Xiaoping Zou (Centre for Enhancement of Teaching and Learning)
Included Co-Investigators: Gray Kochhar-Meredith Lindgren (Common Core) |
August 2017 – July 2020 |
| University Grants Council: HK $3,600,000 |
A student-led transdisciplinary team project (TTP) to bridge the MBBS Enrichment Year and the Common Core Curriculum: development, delivery and evaluation
| Research Team | Duration/ Funding |
| Principal Investigator: Julian Alexander Tanner (School of Biomedical Sciences)
Co-Investigators: Gray Meredith Kochhar-Lindgren (Common Core) |
July 2018 – June 2019 |
| Teaching Development Grant: HK $242,000 |
Motivating Student Interest: Enhancing the Learning Experience in the Common Core
| Research Team | Duration/ Funding |
| Principal Investigator: Gray Meredith Kochhar-Lindgren (Common Core) Co-Investigators:Luke Fryer (Centre for Enhancement of Teaching and Learning), Alexander Sheung Yun Shum (Faculty of Science), |
July 2018 – December 2019 |
| Teaching Development Grant: HK $250,000 |
The Responsive University: Appreciating Content Sharing in General Education
| Research Team | Duration/ Funding |
| Principal Investigator: Ricky Kwok (Vice-President Teaching and Learning’s Office)
Included Co-Investigator: Gray Kochhar-Meredith Lindgren (Common Core) |
November 2017 – July 2020 |
| University Grants Council: HK $15,000,000 ($10,500,000 from UGC, 4,500,000 from matching) |
Assessing the Impact of Teaching Development Grants on Teaching and Learning
| Research Team | Duration/ Funding |
| Principal Investigator: Maggie Zhao (Teaching and Learning Evaluation and Measurement Unit) Co-Investigators: Gray Kochhar-Lindgren (Common Core), Grahame Bilbow (Centre for Enhancement of Teaching and Learning) |
September 2017 – February 2019 |
| University Grants Council: HK $250,000 |
Improving Teaching and Learning of Common Core Courses Through Learning Analytics
| Research Team | Duration/ Funding |
| Principal Investigator: Xiao Hu (Division of Information and Technology Studies, Faculty of Education)
Co-Investigators: Chi-Un Leon Lei (Technology-Enriched Learning Initiative), Nancy Law (Faculty of Education), King-Wa Fu (Journalism and Media Studies Centre), Gaowei Chen (Faculty of Education) |
2015 – 2016 (Completed November 2016) |
| Publications: Hu, X., Ng, J. T. D., Lu, T., & Lei, C-U. (2016). Automating Assessment of Collaborative Writing Quality in Multiple Stages: The Case of Wiki, In Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge, LAK ’16, April 25 – 29, 2016, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. DOI: 10.1145/2883851.2883963. Tian, L., Hu, X., Ng, J., Lei, L. (2016). Towards Automatic Assessments of Collaborative Writing on Wiki, Paper presented at the Centre for Information Technology in Education Research Symposium (CITERS), The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Hu, X., Hou, X., Lei, C-U., Yang, C., & Ng, J. (2017). An Outcome-based Dashboard for Moodle and Open EdX, In Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge, LAK ’17. Hu, X., Cheong, C. W. L., Ding, W., & Woo, M. (2017). A Systematic Review of Studies on Predicting Student Learning Outcomes Using Learning Analytics, In Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge, LAK ’17. |
Funded by the Teaching Development Grant |
Mobile Identities: Dwelling, Place-Making, and Global Flows
| Research Team | Duration/ Funding |
| Principal Investigators: Gray Kochhar-Lindgren (Common Core/ School of Humanities), Gwyn Edwards (School of Humanities) | June 2015- August 2015 |
| Funded by the Teaching Development Grant: HK $70,000 |
The Efficacy of the Common Core Curriculum in the Enhancement of Student Learning for the 21st Century: A Qualitative Investigation
| Research Team | Duration/ Funding |
| Principal Investigators: Gayle Morris (Centre for Enhancement of Learning and Teaching), Gwyn Edwards (Common Core), Gina Marchetti (Department of Comparative Literature) | December 2014 |
| Funded by the Teaching Development Grant: HK $470,000 |
Other Research and Related-Publications
- “Interview: Gray Kochhar-Lindgren,” Contemporary Thinking on Transdisciplinary Knowledge: What Those Who Know, Know. Eds Paul Gibbs and Alison Beavis. Springer: Key Thinkers in Education Series: (2020).
- “Scintillant@the University of Angelic Invention,” Michel Serres and the Crises of the Contemporary. Ed. Rick Dolphijn. London: Bloomsbury (2019).
- “Wild Studios: Art, Philosophy, and the Transversal University” (with Kanta Kochhar- Lindgren). Transversal Studies in Globalisation and Education. Eds. David R. Cole and Joff P.N. Bradley. Springer Publications (2018).
- “Hong Kong’s Laboratory of Liberal Learning: Design-Thinking, Phronēsis, and the Common Core,” The Evolution of the Liberal Arts in a Global Age. Eds. Daniel Araya and Peter Marber. New York: Routledge (2017).
- “Configuring Interdisciplinarity: The Common Core@HKU,” Creative Learning: International Perspectives and Approaches in Higher Education. Eds. Patrick Blessinger and Linda Watts. New York: Routledge (2017).
- “Between: Capital, Culture, and the Transformation of Hong Kong’s Universities,” ASIANetwork Exchange: A Journal for Asian Studies in the Liberal Arts, 20/2 (Spring 2013): 1-8. < http://asianetworkexchange.org/index.php/ane/index>
- “Assembling the Global University: Networks, Interdisciplinarity, and Institutional Change,” Cases on Quality Teaching Practices in Higher Education. Ed. Diane Salter, IGI Global, 2013. (366-377)