Service-Learning and Stereotyping

Service-Learning teaches students to apply academic knowledge to serve the community’s needs, while they also learn much through providing service - a great form of experiential learning.  In our subject, for example, we are teaching our students to install solar panels to generate electricity for lighting and mobile phone charging, for villages not covered by the utility grid in Rwanda and Tanzania; and to build community learning centres in Cambodia, for those villages whose schools are poorly equipped.  Through the process they learn about poverty in general, particularly energy poverty, the digital divide, the impact of technology on people, problem solving, self-confidence, team work, leadership.  

Respect for diversity is crucial.  We have students from Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, USA, Rwanda, Pakistan, etc., working together.  They will be collaborating with people from Cambodia, Rwanda and Tanzania. They may be East Asian, South Asian, Central Asian, White, African American, Black African, …  Among them there are Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, atheists, …  They speak Cantonese, Mandarin, English, Khmer, Bahasa Indonesia, Malay, … They may be political conservative, liberal, communist, capitalist, … For the service project to work well, they have to learn to work with people from very different cultures.  On the other hand, the service project is a great way to learn to work with people who may be radically different from you. 

Stereotyping is one key concept in learning to respect diversity.  On the one hand,  identifying common characteristics with easy-to-understand abstractions help us deal with a very complex world. On the other hand, highlighting certain characteristics while ignoring others, forgetting that individuals often differ from the average radically, etc., can lead to damaging misunderstanding. Some stereotyping are downright wrong and sinister in nature. Through readings, games, discussions, etc., we are teaching students to be aware of the danger of “single stories”.  

For example, HongKongers can be perceived as very efficient, always in a hurry, adaptive, materialistic, rude, apolitical, and lacking in culture.  Which ones are true, not true?  Which ones do HongKongers wish to change?   What other perceptions do other people have of HongKongers that HongKongers are not aware of?   Are all Americans very outgoing, active, openminded, friendly?  Is discrimination pervasive in USA?  Is there really nothing but genocide and poverty in Rwanda?  Do all Chinese know KungFu?  Do Malaysians speak Malay only?   Is there a lot of corruption in Mainland China?  Is it true that all products (particularly cheap copies) are made in Mainland China?  

We found that there is general agreement in some but great disagreement in others.  There are some surprises, and many that people want to change.  

We are teaching and learning all these with about 65 students.  But not in one big classroom.  Not even in the same tome slot.  15 American students meet in one classroom in Maryland.  The 50 PolyU students meet in two separate time slots.  All are logging in from home or the dormitory.  The PolyU teaching team gather in one room on campus, and meet the students online.  At any point in time, there may be 30 talking heads on the screen that one has to watch.  There is a lot of technology involved that make this possible.  We have a great team that put all these together.  

All of this for just one 3 hour class.  A fraction of the time and effort involved in teaching this subject.  Education is expensive, in terms of manpower, expertise, time, and resources.  However, considering the impact on the students and what they might do in the future, it is the best investment that a society can make.  

Eating out now

Many businesses suffered during the anti-extradition protests.  Many people avoided going to places where they might get caught in the confrontations.  On the other hand, many people were so caught up in the movement that they were not in the mood to do the normal shopping and eating out.  Many restaurants have suffered and even closed as a result.  

Just when the protests were slowing down a bit, the Wuhan Virus hit.  Now so many  are working at home - when they do actually work. Many people simply stop going out.   Restaurants seem to be hit the hardest.  Some restaurants used to be so popular that one has to make a booking months in advance.  Now you can just walk in on most days.  More and more restaurants are closing.  Business looks bleak. 

It actually seems to be the best time to eat at our favourite restaurants.  

First of all, it is almost guaranteed that you will find a table. You will not have to fight the horde, and you can eat in quiet.  Secondly, you get the restaurant’s full attention.  In fact, your business is much more appreciated than usual - they will surely treat you well and remember you.  Thirdly, it is much more likely the you can get a steep discount, raising your sense of achievement.  Fourthly, you get the satisfaction that you are helping your favourite restaurant to survive this challenge.  You do want them to survive so that you can come back, don’t you?   Fifthly, good food puts us in a good mood, which in turn helps us fight any virus.  Sixthly, what about spending money when income may be lower due to the slow business?  Economics actually tells us that a society has to spend to lift ourselves out of a recession; cutting back deepens a recession.  Seventhly, what about the risk of catching the virus?  Given how few people are eating out these days, the chance of that happening is actually not that high - you can easily choose to sit far way from people.  

Having considered everything together, the benefit that you get for the money that you spend is so much higher than when business is blooming.  So, why not?

e-Learning is powerful but difficult

For now and the near future, we cannot teach in the regular classroom at the university.  Everyone is scrambling and learning to teach using some form of e-Learning.  Given that e-Learning has been around for decades, and the rapid advancement of technology, one might think that it is not too difficult.  In reality it is nothing but easy.  

For better results, we aim to make it interactive.  When all the students are online, from home, you get dozens of talking heads on your screen.  It requires a different skill to monitor the class, compared to the usual classroom.  When we are speaking to the class, we have to refer to the slides that we are using, which may be in a different window on the screen, or a different screen/computer altogether.  We have to watch the reaction of the students - you are lucky if you get any. Many students may also refuse to turn on their camera, so you end up staring at a blank window instead of a talking head.  You also have to monitor the chatroom where the students may be raising questions.  Of course, you can decide whether or when to allow them to use the chatroom - yet another decision. You may wish to draw a diagram or write some text on some “whiteboard”.   Then you have to switch from showing the slides to showing the electronic white board, back and forth.  All of these have to happen on one or more screens, with limited space.  There is so much to do that it is impossible to do it all by yourself - unless you are my colleague Dr. G.  For mere mortals like me, you really need an army to help you.  

When it works, it can be very powerful.  Your students can be anywhere. at home, eat school, at a coffee shop, in Hong Kong, Mainland China, Indonesia, USA, wearing pyjamas (or not), lying in bed (or not), eating noodles (or not).  You can still lecture them, question them, split them into groups for discussions or assignments, make them report, mix them up again whichever way you want, put someone on spot, …

To do it well, however, the professors as well as the university have to put in a lot of effort, and resources - in the form of technology, training, technical support.  All of that takes time and investment.  And takes them away from doing research.  Many professors are hired, promoted and given tenure based more on their research performance rather than teaching performance.  Naturally they are reluctant to invest a lot of time and effort in teaching in general, and in learning to teach using e-Learning specifically.  

Herein lies the challenge.  Exactly when we need to teach, and teach well, using e-Learning, the professors are finding it difficult.  The universities are also finding it difficult to support, motivate, monitor, and reward the professors in teaching well with e-Learning.  In normal days many have found a way to muddle through mediocre teaching.  Challenges like this make the deficiencies much more obvious.  How is ti going to turn out?  How a university handles this tells us a lot whether it truly cares about teaching. 

Herbert B. Voelcker

This morning, in the middle of the first online lesson for two of the groups of our service-learning subject (the teams that we are taking to Cambodia and Rwanda), I received the news that Prof. Herbert B. Voelcker, my PhD thesis supervisor at the University of Rochester, had passed away, at the age of 90.  

I wanted to stop to digest the news.  But I had to continue and finish the lesson.  Now that I have some time to reflect on it, it actually seems apt.  Prof. Voelcker came into my life as my teacher, the news of his departure now came while I am passing on what he taught me. 

He taught me, of course, how to do research.  But he also taught me much more.  Foremost is to be neat and tidy in everything you do.  He can make line drawings almost as if using a ruler; and I can almost do that too.  The engine of his boat was sparklingly clean, like it was new.  When he read my thesis, he placed it squarely on his desk, with his fountain pen lined up in parallel.  His handwriting was clean and tidy.  His research was very systematic, but he can also be bold and unconventional.  He once bought a machine which was too big for the door and too heavy for the elevator in the building.  He dug a huge hole in the ground, used a crane to lower the machine into the hole, cut a door in the side of the building, and moved the machine into the basement.  Our main laboratory was on the top floor of the building.  He once put a picnic table outside our window, on the roof of the building, and made a step ladder so that we can walk out through the window.  It gave us a panoramic view of the campus while having lunch. 

He set high expectations for us his students.  But he was also kind, generous and encouraging. I was very anxious when I broke an expensive cutter on the machine.  Yet what he said was only to look forward.  He was generous in giving advice; yet he left us to decide what to do with our career.  The evening before my first conference presentation, he made me rehearse in front of him one last time in his hotel room.  He was very busy; yet he always found time for me when I needed him.  I also remember his Spring wine parties.  And his cigar.  Now I find myself practicing many of the things I learned from him, minus the cigar.  

Decades later, when our youngest daughter went to Cornell University, Prof. Voelcker was there, this time approaching retirement.  Prof. and Mrs. Voelcker took great care of our daughter.  It also gave us a good opportunity to re-connect.  

We shall remember you fondly, Prof. Voelcker.