Program Highlights
Internship
The course OCES 2201 aims to provide students with hands-on experience in the environmental and ocean science field. Students will undertake training and duties under the internship supervisors. Instructor’s approval is required for enrolling in the course. OCES Department has developed a long-term partnership with a number of local organizations for the provision of experiential learning and internships opportunities for OST students. Eligible students can enroll the course in every summer semester. More details will be provided in Mid-March to April.
Field Trip
HKUST has a beautiful campus overlooking the pristine Clearwater Bay surrounded by green hillsides and blue coastal waters. It is an excellent location to study Ocean Science with field trips to a boulder shore right on our doorstep, and easy access to mangroves and mudflats in nearby Sai Kung. We can conduct field sampling using advanced instrumentation on a boat cruise in Port Shelter. These field trips offer unique opportunities for hands-on exploration and data collection, promoting experiential learning. This experiential learning process is invaluable and allow students to apply theoretical knowledge to real-world scenarios, which deepens their understanding of ocean science concepts and makes their learning experiences more tangible and memorable. Read More
Innovative Teaching Tools
Smart fish – monitoring marine microplastics in the ocean
A prototype for quantifying microplastics on the surface of seawater in real-time has become a second runner-up at HKUST President Cup in 2019. This project has received the Best Final Year Environmental Project at the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE) Environmental Division Prize in 2019-2020. The prototype provides immediate and cost-effective monitoring and detection of the tiny plastic fragments (i.e. a diameter of less than 5mm) that are now ubiquitous in the ocean due to increasing quantities --of plastic litter. Conventional approaches are costly, time-consuming, and labor-intensive, limiting knowledge-gathering in the field.
HKUST Biodiversity Map
- Virtual Tour for immersive experience
- Easy-to-use interface
- >100 species information
Biodiversity is essential for sustainable development and human well-being. Being part of HKUST members, we are proud to present the unique biodiversity and habitats we have on campus. In this project, we aim to:
- To strengthen students’ knowledge of local biodiversity and conservation through active learning and knowledge sharing to the peers and HKUST community
- To engage students in field trips through various co-created activities such as designing biodiversity routes, collecting and synthesizing biodiversity information and preparing photo album and other educational materials
- To facilitate a flexible learning atmosphere and pathways outside the classroom
- To increase HKUST members' sense of belongings at the university, release stress and tension from study and exams, and expand their curiosity and capacity to appreciate nature and biodiversity through sharing with their friends
The Marine Biology APP
The marine biology app aims to integrate augmented reality simulation aids with multi-modal learning resources to facilitate an experiential learning experience in a laboratory course at HKUST. The platform enhances students' engagement in various learning activities such as field trips and laboratory sessions, provides useful English resources for report writing, and motivates students to incorporate experiential learning in their pilot projects. Meanwhile, students can write their own logs and dairies for teachers to understand their latest learning process.
Laboratory Course Gamification
Gamification in eLearning is a new concept in higher education recently. We are developing a gamification app as a pre-lab learning tool for students taking OCES 3001 - Coastal Environmental Monitoring.
The prototype of the app is a student project entitled “Gamification in a Laboratory Course”, which was awarded Second Runner-up in the competition of Redesigning Student Learning Experience in Higher Education (RSLEIHE) Project Award Scheme 2021. For details about the competition, please click here.
In the OCES 3001 game app, students will become an intern and join a 4-month internship program at Marine Research Laboratory in a remote island - Mira Island. Students are encouraged to complete the assigned tasks to resolve problems they encountered in Mira Island. Let’s start your journey of coastal environmental investigation!