Prof. Hau Kit Tai

Department of Educational Psychology

Since 1995, Prof. Hau Kit Tai, Prof. Chang Lei and others have conducted more than 50 national level advanced educational and psychological statistical workshops around the country in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Wuhan, Changchun, Jinan, Kaifeng, Nanchang, Chongqing, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Kunming and Xi'an. In March 2010, Prof. Hau returned again to some less developed western parts of the country, Guiyang (Guizhou Normal University) and Lanzhou (Gansu, Northwest Normal University), which he had already visited in 2006 and 2008, and he also conducted workshops in Guangxi Normal University (in Guilin), and Shanxi University (Taiyuan, Shanxi). In these cities, other than running advanced methodology workshops, he was also invited to lecture on motivation research and to conduct academic writing workshops, which sometimes made his talks run from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.  His trips were supported by CUHK and the Department of Educational Psychology. Thus, the workshops were mostly free or at extremely low cost to cover some renting or administrative cost for local universities (cf. similarly local summer courses in Hong Kong are charging at a substantial fee).

The audiences were generally graduate students and young professors in the region, for example, young professors from Xinjiang and Qinghai took this great opportunity to attend the workshops in Lanzhou. These workshops are so much needed around the country, the Department of Educational Psychology is considering collaboration with Beijing Normal University to organise summer research methodology courses twice each year in Beijing and other parts of the country.  These advanced methodology workshops are very popular in other countries as well, because not all universities can provide these advanced courses for their students. Pooling expertise around the country will definitely help students and young scholars particularly in the less developed parts of the country. Colleagues and PhD graduates in the Department of Educational Psychology, CUHK, have been offering substantial support in the workshops and will continue to contribute to this important endeavour.