The 2024 APEC Industry-Academia Collaboration Workshop, Best Practices for Inclusive Innovation, Digital Sustainability and cross-regional Talent Development held in late-August by Chinese Taipei’s Working Group to Internationalize Technological/ Vocational Education served as a perfect platform for APRU to present its case studies from the APRU-Microsoft’s collaborative project Generative AI in Higher Education.

The 2024 APEC TVET Workshop gathered 112 education policymakers, industry representatives, and academia from 13 APEC member economies for training aligned with newly emerged industries. The workshop showcases best practices for the industry-academia cooperative model that expands the scope of inclusive and innovative talent training. The workshop topics aligned with newly emerging industries and addressed ongoing economic challenges.

In his opening remarks via video, Deputy Minister of Education, Chinese Taipei, Ping-Cheng Yeh emphasized that in the face of the complex challenges of the digital age, it is crucial for APEC member economies to collaborate, promote cross-regional talent development, and jointly create a more inclusive, sustainable, and innovative future.

Dr. Sean McMinn, Director, Center for Education Innovation, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, explored the current challenge of cultivating digital transformation and innovation talents in a presentation that provided first-hand insights into the project’s findings. The presentation contributed key insights into the 2024 APEC TVET workshop and met the goal of showcasing best practices for industry-academia cooperative models that expand the scope of inclusive and innovative talent training.

“The APRU-Microsoft project aims to map a baseline snapshot of the adoption of Generative AI tools across APRU member institutions, identifying specific needs and knowledge gaps that can be addressed in future phases of the work,” said Dr. McMinn.

“It is a particularly urgent endeavor for Hong Kong-based APRU, given that Hong Kong leads globally in predictions by Goldman Sachs and McKinsey for exposure of full-time jobs to automation by AI.”

Dr. McMinn presented two case studies, both touching on AI readiness (literacy) of students and teachers who utilize generative AI tools to solve problems. ​

Case 1 involved the exploration of using Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), specifically ChatGPT, as a ‘design assistant’ in educational course design. A step-by-step approach was adopted in exploring how GenAI can be used to complete tasks like defining and mapping course intended learning outcomes (ILOs) across course activities and assessments. ​

Case 2 involved an executive undergraduate course where students are encouraged to use GenAI tools to complete assessed tasks and reflect on the experience.

“The case studies provided us with a deeper understanding of how human-in-the-loop is interregnal to successful use of AI while adding supporting evidence that students learning metacognitive skills is increasingly becoming important in the context if using AI​,” Dr. McMinn explained.

This workshop was a key outcome of the HRDWG-EDNET Project of APEC. APRU is a guest member of the APEC Human Resources and Development Working Group Education Network. The Human Resources Development Working Group (HRDWG) was established in 1990 and conducts work programs on developing human resources, focusing on issues ranging from education, capacity building to labor and social protection. In addition, the HRDWG has responsibilities to help build cultural awareness and promote gender equality as well as be responsible for including disability issues in its workplan. The mission of HRDWG is “Sharing knowledge, experience, and skills to strengthen human resource development and promote sustainable and inclusive economic growth.”