Amid the outbreak of COVID-19, three UIC Year-4 students successfully presented their papers at the 2020 International Conference on Open and Innovative Education (ICOIE 2020) which was held online from July 2 to July 4 in Hong Kong. The 3-day conference aimed at promoting open and innovative education to enhance educational quality, including five keynote speeches and 55 paper presentations from more than 20 countries or regions.

The three Year-4 students, Siqi Wu (Agnes), Chenxi Wang (Cynthia) and Xiaoyu Ren (Carolyn), were from the English Language and Literature Studies (ELLS) programme. The research papers they presented were their final-year projects on adopting innovative practices in learning and teaching English language. The paper titles and abstracts of their presentations can be found in the conference programme book, which is downloadable here (http://icoie2020.ouhk.edu.hk/gfx/ICOIE2020-ProgrammeBook.pdf).

Student perspectives:

Siqi Wu (Agnes):

It was an honor for me to attend ICOIE 2020. It was my first time to present my paper at a conference, so I learnt a lot during my preparation for the presentation. After this presentation, I have better ideas on how to present paper in more interesting way although I was confused at the beginning of the preparation. Also, I want to express my special thanks to Dr. Freek Olaf de Groot (my project supervisor), Dr. Edith Yan, my teammates Carolyn and Cynthia, and all the friends who offered me suggestions. They helped me to perform better at the conference.

Agnes presents her paper at ICOIE.

 

Chenxi Wang (Cynthia):

It is my great honor to attend and present my study in ICOIE 2020. Although it was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I still benefited a lot from participating the conference and it is an unforgettable experience in my life. The innovative and inspiring keynote speeches given by well-known scholars gave me a new insight into how modern technology can contribute to education in an effective and multidimensional way. I also learned from other presenters’ presentations in terms of their research interest, research design and pedagogical implications. When I was presenting my study, what benefited me the most was the Question & Answer section in which the questions proposed by my audience helped me realize how I could enrich and redirect my study in the future. I hope I can have more opportunities to attend international conferences related to education in the future. Last but not least, I would like to address my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Jackie YEOH who gave me great help and support in my preparation for the conference.

Cythnia presents her paper at ICOIE.

 

Xiaoyu Ren (Carolyn):

The experience of participating in this conference is really precious for me. There was a time when I felt very nervous, but because I had prepared for it for a long time, it’s easy for me to get used to the situation and become more natural. This was a great opportunity to listen to scholars from all over the world to share their research findings, which really inspired me to think more about the related academic field and gave me some guidance on how to design and conduct experimental studies.

Carolyn presents her paper at ICOIE.

Reporter: Edith Yan (ELLS)

Photos: Agnes Wu, Cynthia Wang and Carolyn Ren (ELLS)