At the invitation of the Education University of Hong Kong, Vilmos Vass visited Hong Kong, where he was observing college lectures of Teaching Education, and also visited a local high school to observe their teaching method based on stimulating creative thinking. He also gave a lecture on creative thinking at the university.

Hong Kong has been at the forefront of international education surveys for years. Hong Kong ranked second among OECD countries, according to the 2015 PISA survey of high school students. The university to which Vilmos Vass was invited is the second best institution in Asia, and in 2018 it was the ninth university in the field of Education Science.

"Hong Kong's high schools and universities are doing the best in international surveys, they do something very well, which is worth learning from them," explained Vilmos Vass, explaining why he was particularly pleased to be invited.

At the university, Vilmos could personally attend a lesson for prospective teachers, where students worked in groups of 4-6 on video analysis. The videos were made in two different lessons and the students' task was to analyze the teacher's work using a pre-selected set of questions based on the theoretical knowledge they had previously learned. The groups first watched the video together, then discussed what they had seen, took notes on the virtual desk in front of them, and then completed the worksheet. They then watched the video once more, completed their analysis and then finalized their work.

"The lecture started at half past six in the evening and lasted until half past eight, but even after completing the teamwork, everyone completed a self-assessment test to assess their own performance and that of the team. The also evaluated the areas in which they performed well and where they still need to improve. It was amazing to see how motivated these students were.” says Vilmos Vass, who said that the high-level equipment of the university, as well as the high quality of teaching and the conscious use of methods also contributed to this motivation. Besides this, Hong Kong is building a learning society, so education and knowledge are highly prestigious.

Vilmos Vass believes that both as an educator and a researcher, he has benefited greatly from his visit to Hong Kong as he personally experienced how knowledge transfer, in this case real-life application of theory, can work well.

2019. 11. 19.