Queensland University of Technology’s faculty members and students visit HPE in November 2023

With a strong belief that international exchanges can bring multiple benefits to our students, the Department of Health and Physical Education (HPE) has always sought collaboration opportunities with higher-institutions around the world, such as with Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, Australia. Since 2018, HPE and the School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences under the Faculty of Health at QUT have established a very close relationship regarding academic exchanges and student experience programmes.

In May 2018, Dr Kevin Kam Wai-keung and Dr Gary Chow Chi-ching from HPE have visited the School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences with the aim of exploring possibilities of joint academic research projects and student exchange programmes. “We visited various facilities at QUT, in particular those for physical education. Staff members from QUT also briefed us about health and physical education curriculum provided by the School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences,” Dr Kam recalled.

The 2018 visit laid the groundwork for a two-week international engagement programme held between 18 and 31 May 2019 at QUT in Brisbane. During the two-week “International Engagement Programme: Transnational Teaching Experience in PE”, 16 HPE students attended pedagogy workshops at QUT to learn about new concepts like constraints-led approach that is developed on the framework of non-linear pedagogy. QUT also created opportunities for them to apply their new knowledge from the pedagogy classes when teaching primary and secondary school students in Brisbane.

“The engagement programme was a great success. It enhanced our students’ cross-cultural transnational teaching experience in PE. HPE students gained first-hand knowledge of the Australian education system and explored the differences and similarities between education systems in Hong Kong and Brisbane, especially in the areas of health and physical education. Through interactions with faculty and students at QUT, our students developed a global awareness in health and physical education, strengthening their determination to become a PE teacher,” Dr Kam said.

Four years after HPE’s visit to QUT’s School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Associate Professor Lee Wharton led a group of nine students from QUT to visit Shanghai and Hong Kong between 28 October and 11 November 2023. The tour to Shanghai and Hong Kong was sponsored by Australian government’s New Colombo Plan, an initiative helping faculty and students from Australian universities to boost their awareness of the Indo Pacific through academic exchanges and internship activities.

On 7 November, Professor Wharton and his students visited EdUHK as one of their stops in Hong Kong. At EdUHK, staff members from HPE showed the Australian visitors facilities at the university library, including the Extended Reality Room, the VR CAVE, and future classrooms. They also utilised the HPE’s Human Performance Laboratory. Built with cutting-edge equipment, the laboratory is designed for the studies of exercise physiology, sports biomechanics and sports psychology.

During the university visit, current students representing EdUHK Sports Council briefed the QUT delegation about how different physical education programmes are designed and taught at the university. Kathlynn Tam Sin-yu, a representative of the council and a third-year student of Bachelor of Education (Honours) (Physical Education), said, “During the exchange with QUT students, we found that PE programmes at EdUHK have more practical sessions where students play sports like badminton, squash, football, and so on. We also discovered that while there are programmes at HPE that educate prospective teachers on how to teach physical education to students with special educational needs, QUT doesn’t have similar programmes.” Students from EdUHK and QUT also played a friendly rugby match at the Taipo campus after the exchange.

Outside campus, around 10 HPE graduates who joined the international engagement programme in 2019 held a reunion dinner with QUT delegation on 5 November. Among them was Leung Ho-yiu, a 2020 graduate of the Bachelor of Education (Honours) in Physical Education programme, who is now a PE teacher at a local primary school. He said the engagement programme held in 2019 enabled him to observe how PE lessons were conducted at primary and secondary schools in Australia. “Instead of asking their students to follow rigid rules, Australian teachers allow their students to use their own ways to finish the exercises. I also got an opportunity to teach primary schoolers in Brisbane to play rope skipping. This overseas exchange experience was valuable and is still affecting the way I teach my students now,” Ho-yiu said.

“Apart from a tour to EdUHK and a gathering with EdUHK graduates, QUT students also arranged several visits to primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong where they observed how PE classes were conducted. When visiting United Christian College (Kowloon East), QUT students saw how local secondary schoolers played DodgeDisc and how the game could improve concentration and agility of the players,” Dr Kam said.

Before coming to Hong Kong, Professor Wharton led QUT students on their visit to Shanghai, where he attended the 2023 World Physical Education Alliance (WPEA) International Conference held by the East China Normal University from 1 to 3 November. At the WPEA conference, Professor Wharton gave a lecture titled “Football-FIT: the Qualitative Data”. Dr Kevin Kam also delivered a speech titled “Preparing professional PE teachers for the 21st-century students in Hong Kong” at the same event.

Professor Wharton was grateful for the warm reception he and his students received. He said, “Besides EdUHK, QUT students visited Alliance Primary School in Whampoa, China Holiness Church Living Spirit College and the United Christian College (Kowloon East), and the Hong Kong Football Club. We have also paid a call on a number of VR training facilities in the city and witnessed the launch of DodgeDisc: a flagship initiative from the New Emerging Sports Association. I would like to acknowledge and thank Dr Kam for his magnificent contribution and coordination in Hong Kong and Shanghai.”

Dr Kam said HPE would continue to arrange exchange opportunities for our students with universities from around the globe. “These exchange programmes have provided valuable occasions for our students to see other parts of the world through their own eyes. Through the close encounters with people from other places, our students have gained a deeper understanding about how physical and health education is seen by people of other cultures. This will help their career developments whether they eventually become a PE teacher, a coach, a sports executive, or take up other kinds of jobs,” Dr Kam added.