The special call for Stage I proposals for the China AoI ended on March 26, 2010. This call, open for only six weeks since its announcement, was met by a very positive response of eight submissions. The China AoI Working Group met in early April to consider these Stage I proposals and made its recommendations to the Common Core Curriculum Committee. Out of the eight proposals, six have been selected to proceed to Stage II. All preliminary Stage II results, including those for the October 2009 call and the special call, will be announced in mid June.
On March 8, 2010 Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching and Learning) Professor Amy B.M. Tsui and a number of staff, including Executive Director of CETL and members of the Common Core Curriculum Committee and the Teaching and Learning Quality Committee, met with fourteen students to discuss issues related to the Common Core Curriculum. The meeting was initiated by office bearers of the Students’ Union and its associated Faculty Societies in an attempt to address students’ queries over the implementation of the Common Core Curriculum in 2012.
Students were informed of why HKU would be implementing the Common Core in the context of undergraduate curriculum reform. In particular, the Common Core would enable students to broaden their horizons beyond their chosen discipline and would give them the opportunity to explore issues of profound significance to humankind in the 21st century. Teachers from various Faculties explained how the Common Core would be incorporated into their future curricula, and assured students that the Common Core would fit into professional degrees as well as double-degree programs involving multiple Faculties.
Since most Common Core courses would have a heavy weighting of coursework assessment, students were concerned about the workload implications. It was explained that student workload hours for each standard 6-credit course would be between 120 and 180, so coursework assessment should not lead to additional workload. The meeting ended with Professor Tsui’s remarks on the importance of constant dialogue between students and staff, and her words of thanks to the students for initiating and joining the meeting.
The 3rd Symposium – Core Curriculum. 12 May 2009 (Tuesday). Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong.
Pro-Vice-Chancellor Amy B.M. Tsui presented the HKU Common Core Curriculum (CCC) at the plenary session and Professor Harry Lewis, author of ‘Excellence Without a Soul’, presented the Harvard General Education Curriculum. In comparing it with HKU’s CCC, Professor Lewis noted that:
HKU’s CCC has a more coherent framework
HKU’s four Areas of Inquiry are more flexible, adaptable, and interconnecting
Some areas of implementation may need special attention
In the parallel sessions, members of the HKU Common Core Curriculum Subcommittee of the Steering Committee on 4-Year Undergraduate Curriculum made presentations on each of the four Areas of Inquiry under the HKU Common Core Curriculum.
Mr. Gwyn Edwards, Co-ordinator of HKU’s CCC, gave a presentation on the New Senior Secondary Liberal Studies curriculum, highlighting its rationale, framework and main features.
Almost 380 staff attended from various institutions including local tertiary institutions, UGC, Education Bureau, secondary schools, Associate Degree providers and other educational institutes. The Symposium’s web site has a full set of the presentations and program details.
