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Chatbot-Guided Scavenger Hunt: Experiential Learning at Scale

Event Details

Date : 15 Sep 2026 (Tue)

Time : 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Venue : Learning Lab (RRS321, 3/F, Run Run Shaw Building, Main Campus, HKU)

Speaker : Professor EeCheng Ong, Associate Professor (Education), Department of Economics, National University of Singapore

Facilitators :

Dr. Jannie Roed, Director, TALIC, HKU
Prof. Bingjing Li, Associate Professor, HKU Business School (Economics), HKU

Abstract

There is a pervasive assumption that for learning to be rigorous, it must be serious, procedural, and conducted within the four walls of a lecture hall. But if play can awaken intrinsic motivation, lower barriers to learning, and cultivate relational safety (Forbes, 2021), why aren’t we using it more?

In this seminar, Professor EeCheng Ong will share how she designed and implemented a chatbot-guided scavenger hunt for a large core introductory economics course. A custom Telegram bot led hundreds of students in teams of 3–4 through the city to solve location-based economic puzzles. Participant surveys revealed salient shifts in student perceptions of learning, moving from serious to playful, from procedural to experimental, and from solo to collaborative.

Reference: Forbes, L. K. (2021). The process of playful learning in higher education: A phenomenological study. Journal of Teaching and Learning, 15(1), 57–73. https://doi.org/10.22329/jtl.v15i1.6515

About the Speaker

Prof. EeCheng Ong is an Associate Professor (Education) in the Department of Economics at the National University of Singapore. Inducted into the University Honor Roll for sustained teaching excellence, she teaches large-scale core courses in introductory and intermediate microeconomics, along with electives in applied microeconomics. She incorporates constructivist learning, experiential learning, and the pedagogy of play into her classes. Beyond the classroom, she chairs the faculty committee for teaching awards and serves on the educator track promotion panel.