Dr Marie Wong

Using research to inform teaching and learning

In 2015, with a successful bid to access the University’s small grant on Teaching and Learning initiatives, I led, managed and co-ordinated a School-wide collaborative learning and teaching project across Departments.  The project helped demonstrate that there exists a holistic way to use research to inform teaching and learning whilst at the same time use teaching and learning to facilitate research work.  Through participating in the project, students’ learning experience was enriched by engaging in a series of fun-filled experimental games periodically, each of them underpins a unique economic theory or related concepts.  A website was created with on-line interactive follow up activities developed utilising results obtained after each experiment.  This helped students uncover and understand further the theories behind the experimental games. The data collected from the experiments was then used to write up research papers about students’ learning processes or the underlying economic concepts’ validity and applicability. 

The project has also positively impacted on the wider community in two different ways.  Firstly, by giving free access to all the instructions and materials used in the experiments online and by offering training sessions, taster sessions and talks, external practitioners and students were inspired.  As a result, participation in higher education and equality of opportunity of learners is being promoted.  Secondly, by writing up research papers based on the data from each experiment and presenting them in learning and teaching conferences, good practices were being shared and ideas exchanged within the academia.  For example, in 2014 Middlesex Teaching and Learning Conference and 2014 Spanish Experimental Workshops, I presented a joint paper titled ‘Building airplanes in classroom’.  It was subsequently rewritten titled as ‘Size and resource limitations in production’ and submitted to a refereed journal for review.

In addition to that, I have so far successfully supervised two PhD students to completion.  They are now  working in the academia in the UK or in their home country.  I am hopeful that the spirit of using research to inform teaching and learning would continue to be an inspiration.

Teaching ethos, academic leadership role and skills

I put student learning experience at the heart of my career, in both project and programmes design that I led.  This ethos not only has impacted on my own practice but also the practice of my team members.  I inform my own learning, teaching and assessment practice from pedagogic research to establish a student-centred approach to learning and influence colleagues to do the same by supporting and mentoring them.  I am highly effective in my leadership, management and co-ordination  whilst in the role as the Director of Economics Programmes and Programme Leader since 2012.

During this period, I have had a lot of opportunities to lead, support, supervise, manage, mentor and collaborate as well as co-ordinate with other colleagues of all seniority within the Department and across the University.  I have led the Departmental team to successfully validate two new MSc and eight new Undergraduate programmes.  As the programme leader of BSc Financial Economics in 2013 as well, I have also helped the programme to achieve 100% student satisfaction in the National Students Survey (NSS) by devoting to provide care and support to students whenever there is a need.