Tin Ka Ping Foundation Outstanding Young Professorship

When ChatGPT was publicly released by OpenAI in November 2022, it burst into the mainstream. It became an instant disruptor of industries, education, and jobs as Artificial Intelligence (AI) was now accessible to anyone with an internet connection. In two months, monthly active ChatGPT users jumped to an estimated 100 million.

In June 2023, The University of Hong Kong’s (HKU) Senate endorsed its Generative AI (GenAI) policy to provide a framework for HKU to embrace new AI technologies “fully and enthusiastically in our courses”. In August 2024, it provided teachers with unlimited access to OpenAI tools, ChatGPT 4o and DALL·E 2, and encouraged all teachers to explore GenAI together with their students.

Professor Chen Gaowei is an Associate Professor and the Head of the Academic Unit of Mathematics, Science, and Technology at the Faculty of Education, HKU. He is the Tin Ka Ping Foundation Outstanding Young Professor, and is currently pioneering AI applications to further support teaching and learning.

His team is developing AI-powered feedback on classroom engagement and lesson pacing, as well as AI-supported video-based learning that offers personalised guidance to learners. These studies are at the forefront of educational innovation and hold the potential to significantly transform teaching and learning.

Professor Chen’s research addresses how structured classroom conversations impact student learning. By analysing large-scale classroom data, he demonstrated that teachers who use academically productive talk — such as asking open-ended questions, encouraging argumentation, and inviting student reflections — reduce anxiety and increase engagement among learners.

His studies of online mathematics discussions further revealed that peer disagreements and questions prompting students to reflect on past ideas — “looking back” — or propose new ones — “looking forward” — enhance the quality and coherence of academic dialogue.

To translate research into practice, Professor Chen developed the Classroom Discourse Analyzer (CDA), a tool that enables teachers to analyse classroom interactions through visualisations of dialogue patterns, turn-taking dynamics, and word frequency. Over 120 schools worldwide have adopted the CDA to support teacher reflection and professional growth.

Building on this innovation, he subsequently created v2elearn.com, an AI-enhanced e-learning platform co-funded by the Tin Ka Ping Foundation and Hong Kong’s Innovation and Technology Fund. Since its launch in 2022, this platform has provided AI-enabled feedback on classroom videos to educators in more than 50 Hong Kong schools.

Professor Chen earned his PhD in Educational Psychology from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and completed postdoctoral research at the University of Pittsburgh’s Learning Research and Development Center. Since joining HKU in 2014, his work has centred on improving teaching practices and student learning through classroom dialogue analysis, teacher professional development, and the integration of AI in education. Looking ahead, Professor Chen aims to expand the impact of his research on AI in education and continue to bridge the gap between educational research and practice, ensuring that technology enhances the human elements of teaching and learning.

Professor Chen’s scholarly impact is reflected in his extensive publication record, which includes over 90 journal articles, 80 conference papers, and 9 book chapters. His research has attracted more than HK$30 million in funding from a variety of sources.

His work has been recognised with prestigious awards, including HKU’s Research Output Prize, Faculty Outstanding Young Researcher Award, and Faculty Early Career Research Output Award. As a mentor, he has supervised over 20 PhD students, 2 Doctor of Education candidates, and 2 postdoctoral researchers, many of whom now hold academic positions at top universities globally.

Since 2018, Professor Chen has collaborated closely with the Tin Ka Ping Foundation on initiatives such as the Visiting Fellowships Program (2018–2019), the v2elearn.com platform (2021–2024), and the PKU-HKU Tin Ka Ping Young Scholars: Exchange Program for Learning Sciences Graduate Students (2023–2025).