Progress updates from Prof. Duncan Chung Hang LEUNG of ICMS:

I taught the Drug Discovery (CMED823) course to a PhD class of five students. As the class size was small, lectures were conducted in the CTLE Demo Classroom with the aid of an iPad and a smart board to enhance the interactions between teacher and students. The “flipped classroom” teaching strategy was employed in which teaching materials composed using Office Mix were prepared and sent to students via UMmoodle in advance of the lecture. Students spent an average of 1-3 hrs studying the material before attending the lecture.

Using the materials provided, students were asked to form discussion groups and to draft a research plan to achieve the learning targets of the lecture with the aid of myself and a teaching assistant. These plans were posted to a discussion forum, allowing active discussion and commenting of the research plans between peers.

A Master’s course with more students is expected in the coming semester. In addition to the flipped classroom technique, the “rain classroom” strategy will also be applied to encourage students to respond and interact during the lecture.