Playful pathways: FLASS postgraduates level up through international insights and presentation practices

Fostering a vibrant research culture remains a top priority for FLASS. To achieve this, we encourage collaboration among researchers from various disciplines, provide them with resources and support, and promote training and exposure opportunities. In terms of exposure, the Faculty Postgraduate Seminar (FPS) held twice annually, serves as a key platform for postgraduate students to gain new research perspectives from established scholars, hone their presentation skills, receive feedback on their research, expand their networks, and find inspiration.

The faculty organised the second FPS for the 2024/25 academic year on 16 April. “Today’s seminar provides a vital platform for our research postgraduate and doctoral students to share and exchange ideas, discover new knowledge and explore potential research collaborations. We are honoured to have Dr Maxwell Hartt, a distinguished scholar from Queen’s University (Canada), as the keynote speaker. Dr Hartt will enrich our discussion and broaden our horizons regarding how play can be integrated into the urban landscape to support ageing,” Professor Li Wai-keung, Dean of FLASS, stated in his opening speech.

Professor Daniel Chow Hung-kay, Associate Dean (Research & Postgraduate Studies), introduced Dr Maxwell Hartt, Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Planning and Director of the Population and Place Research Lab at Queen’s University (Canada), to the audience. “Dr Hartt has applied his expertise in urban planning and systems science to conduct a wide range of studies on ageing gracefully. Dr Hartt’s talk today will enlighten the audience the relationship between demographic shifts, play, quality of life, and planning policy,” Professor Chow remarked.

During his keynote, Dr Hartt shared findings from his project “Aging Playfully”. He noted that ageing is often associated with declining health, rising medical costs, immobility, isolation, and loneliness. “Play is socially constructed as being only for children and youth. We forget that play is also beneficial for older adults and seldom consider that they enjoy playing too. Playful activities can significantly promote the physical health of older adults, improve their cognitive function and other mental capacities, foster social connections, and thus enhance their overall quality of life,” Dr Hartt explained.

The urban planning expert emphasized the need to redesign the social and physical fabric of our cities to facilitate play for older people. “Urban planning significantly influences daily movements, interactions, and experiences, yet it often prioritises efficiency over other considerations. City planning for play has predominantly focused on children, neglecting the benefits that playful environments can offer older adults. To address this oversight, we must rethink the planning and design of public spaces to enable people of all ages to play. By creating inclusive environment that encourages older adults to play, cities can enhance the quality of life for residents of all ages,” Dr Hartt explained.

Following Dr Hartt’s keynote speech, eight postgraduate students from the four departments in FLASS presented their research projects during the poster presentation session. In the afternoon’s oral presentation session, five research students, along with Dr Hartt’s PhD student Ms Janine Dodge, delivered detailed presentations of their research work. Echoing Dr Hartt’s keynote, Ms Dodge presented a case study on perceptions of ageing and playful ageing in São Paulo, the most populous city in her home country of Brazil. The afternoon session was moderated by Dr Li Chen, Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Sciences and Policy Studies.

The seminar organisers invited various faculty members together with Dr Hartt to serve as adjudicators. They evaluated the presenters based on project creativity, methodological rigour, potential impact, and presentation skills. The top awards were given to Mr Chen Jun for his poster presentation and Ms Xu Simin for her oral presentation. Mr Chen discussed how male kindergarten teachers in mainland China negotiate their masculinities, while Ms Xu explained how generative AI can be used to design a 3D game to facilitate vocabulary acquisition and conversation practice. They received an award worth HK$5,000 to reimburse expenses for future conference attendance or research-related activities.

Around 30 participants, including presenters and their supervisors, other academic staff and research students, engaged enthusiastically during the keynote, poster and oral presentation sessions. Presenters expressed gratitude for the constructive criticism from the audience, noting that the feedback would help them identify potential weaknesses, refine research methodologies, and strengthen arguments, thereby improving the overall quality of their projects. They also reflected that they had learnt about other research areas and gained new perspectives on conducting academic research from the seminar.

“Thanks to the support of our dedicated researchers and staff, FPS has been a great success in previous years. In addition to academic activities such as the FPS, the faculty has organised a series of enrichment and social activities since last September for our postgraduate students. These social events provide opportunities to relax amidst a busy academic schedule and to build stronger bonds. The faculty will continue to foster a stimulating and friendly environment for our research students, enabling them to thrive academically, socially, and personally,” Professor Chow concluded.