Dr Ricci Fong is an Assistant Professor and Assistant Dean of Learning and Teaching in the Faculty of Education and Human Development. She received her PhD in Gifted Education from the University of Hong Kong. Before embarking on her academic career, she worked as an English teacher in primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong and had also received training as a mindfulness teacher. During her school teaching years, she received her MEd in Special Education from the University of Hong Kong. Her passion in teaching is recognised by her receipt of the Faculty Teaching Award (2020-2021).

Dr Fong plays an active leading role in promoting teaching innovation. Apart from giving professional development seminars on technology-enhanced pedagogy, she has led the development of various eLearning resources with the use of emerging technologies, e.g. AI chatbot, VR and AR, to enrich students' learning experiences in higher education and secondary education. More recently, her team has developed a series of scenario-based VR resources with AI chatbot embedded to enhance undergraduate and postgraduate students’ communication skills in the workplace. To leverage the affordances offered by the AI-enhanced VR resources, Dr Fong is leading a TDG project to build staff's and students' capacity in utilising AI-generated feedback for effective learning and teaching.

Besides her work on teaching innovation, her research interests centre on students' perfectionism in the Chinese context, affective development of gifted students, positive education, and the intersection of these three lines of inquiry. Her work has been presented in various key conferences in gifted education, including the European Council for High Ability (ECHA) and the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children (WCGTC); in refereed journals, such as Roeper Review, High Ability Studies, and Internet and Higher Education; as well as in edited books for Routledge and Springer.

Dr Fong has been serving the WCGTC and the Asia-Pacific Federation on Giftedness (APFG) as an elected Hong Kong Delegate to facilitate knowledge transfer among members from 47 countries and regions. For the local community of practice, she has given professional development seminars for schools and professional bodies, such as the Hong Kong Psychological Society (HKPS) and the Gifted School Network; and has been working closely with the Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education (HKAGE) both in terms of research collaboration and knowledge transfer activities, including the delivery of seminars and workshops, for gifted students, parents, and practitioners in the professional community.

• Positive education
• Gifted education and talent development
• Perfectionism and students' well-being
• ICT integration in education and teaching innovation

Current Courses Taught (Undergraduate & Postgraduate)

• Curriculum and Assessment
• Effective Teaching and Positive Classroom Learning Environment
• Field Experience Foundation
• Honours Project
• Learning in the Inclusive Classroom
• Practitioner-based Research Project
• Biographical films: Arts, Societies and Human Development

Previous Courses Taught (Undergraduate & Postgraduate)

• The Building Blocks of Flourishing: Happiness, Engagement, and Meaning
• Child Development in Early Childhood Education
• Curriculum Studies
• International Transferable Research Skills Program
• School-based Curriculum Development
• Working and Researching in Organisations

Regional Delegate, World Council for Gifted and Talented Children (2015-Present)

Regional Delegate, Asia Pacific Federation for Giftedness (2016-Present)

External Examiner of Doctoral Dissertations

• Monash University
• University of Bristol

Journal Reviewer

• Asia Pacific Education Review
• Early Education and Development
• Frontiers in Education (Teacher Education)
• Frontiers in Psychology
• Internet and Higher Education
• Interactive Learning Environments
• Learning and Individual Differences
• Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development
• Roeper Review
• School Psychology International
• Youth & Society

Adjudicator

• The 2nd Student Conference 2015, The Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education (HKAGE)
• The 3nd Student Conference 2016, HKAGE
• The 4nd Student Conference 2017, HKAGE

University Representative, Gifted Education Providers Network, HKAGE (2016-Present)