4-Year Undergraduate Curriculum Reform Seminar Series
Jointly organized by:
Steering Committee on 4-Year Undergraduate Curriculum
Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL)
Title: Embedding Experiential Learning into the Curriculum and Linking to Extra-Curricular Activities
Speaker: Mr Simon Kemp, Faculty of Engineering and the Environment, University of Southampton
Date: Mon 24 Oct 2011
Time: 12:30pm – 2:15pm
Venue: LG-06, Hui Oi Chow Science Building, The University of Hong Kong
Synopsis:
Integrating employability into the curriculum through experiential learning is an agenda of growing international importance for universities. Curriculum reform offers many opportunities for innovative solutions to address this issue.
This presentation will explore the benefits of experiential learning through a number of case study examples of teaching and assessment innovation, student engagement, volunteering, employer engagement and campus greening. A postgraduate module in Environmental Management Systems (EMS) at the University of Southampton will be used as one of the examples to demonstrate the multitudinal benefits that can occur from integrating employability through innovative experiential teaching and assessment methods. The difficulties in embedding experiential learning into the curriculum will be highlighted. It will conclude with a discussion of the potential benefits for students, universities, employers, and society from linking experiential learning with sustainable development activities.
About the Speaker:
Mr Simon Kemp is the Director of Employability and Employer Engagement, Faculty of Engineering and the Environment, University of Southampton where he has worked since 1996. He has been recognised as an innovator in pedagogical theory and case study practice through the award of a National Teaching Fellowship from the UK’s Higher Education Academy. His teaching and research interests lie in Environmental Management Systems (EMS), Carbon Footprinting, Environmental Law, Waste Management, and Education for Sustainable Development. He has coordinated over a hundred sustainability projects with industrial partners for teaching and assessment projects in sectors such as construction and demolition, retail, freight handling, energy, waste, and health care taking some to ISO14001:2004. One of his main current projects is leading the University of Southampton in a national ‘Green Academy’ project to embed sustainability across the institution.
Curriculum Reform Retreat 2011
The Steering Committee on 4-year Undergraduate Curriculum held its 5th Curriculum Reform Retreat on June 2, 2011. This year approximately 160 participants, consisting of Faculty Deans, Associate and Assistant Deans overseeing undergraduate teaching and learning, programme directors and members of the teaching and learning related committees, joined the Retreat to deliberate on issues relating to student admissions under the new Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSEE), and the honours classification system.
Curriculum Reform Retreat
The Fifth Curriculum Reform Retreat will be held on June 2, 2011 to take stock of the reform progress. All Faculty Deans, Associate and Assistant Deans overseeing undergraduate teaching and learning, programme directors and members of the teaching and learning related committees will gather to deliberate on issues relating to student admissions under the new HKDSE, and the honours classification system.
CAES Seminars
As part of the English-in-the-Disciplines and Academic Literacy Seminar Series, two seminars will be jointly organized by the Steering Committee on 4-Year Undergraduate Curriculum, Centre for Applied English Studies (CAES), and Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL). Both seminars will be held from 12:30 to 2:00 pm at lecture theatre T3, G/F Meng Wah Complex.
The first seminar “Understanding English-in-the-Disciplines” will be held on May 6, 2011 and the second one “Tools and Resources of Academic Literacy” will be held on May 20, 2011. For details of these seminars, please click on the poster below.
To register, please access http://www.cetl.hku.hk/caes2011.
CR Seminar by Dr Jenny Moon
As part of the Curriculum Reform Seminar Series jointly organized by the Steering Committee on 4-Year Undergraduate Curriculum and Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL), a seminar entitled “Making Sense of Experiential and Reflective Learning, an Exploration of Ideas” was given by Dr Jenny Moon on April 19, 2011. Dr Moon is Associate Professor, Centre for Excellence in Media Practice at Bournemouth University.
In the seminar, some general issues about Experiential Learning and Reflective Learning as constructed terms were shared. The four stages of thinking described by Baxter Magolda (1992) were explored using examples of quotations from students. Based on a crucial piece of subsequent research by Baxter Magolda, students shift from independent knowing (the third stage) to contextual knowing (the fourth and highest stage) either through postgraduate study or through being in good placement experiences. Dr Moon pointed out that three crucial qualities of a situation of good experiential learning are that:
- it involves the student in making independent judgments in situations of ill-structured knowledge
- there is learning from the representation of learning – learning from doing
- the student is required to reflect on his/her learning
For more details on Dr Moon’s recent insights, please access
www.CEMP.ac.uk/people/jennymoon.php.
Click here to access the presentation slides used by Dr Jenny Moon at the seminar.
(HKU portal login required)
CR Seminar by Prof Margaret Price
As part of the Curriculum Reform Seminar Series jointly organized by the Steering Committee on 4-Year Undergraduate Curriculum and Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL), a seminar entitled “Standards Based Assessment: Nice Idea But What About The Practice?” was given by Professor Margaret Price on April 8, 2011. Professor Price is the Director of the Assessment Standards Knowledge Exchange, Oxford Brookes University Business School.
The seminar looked at issues relating to the implementation of standards based assessment, including the translation of theories into practice for the following major topics:
- Standards and complex learning
- Standards and consistency
- Standards and accreditation of learning
By taking a holistic view to standards based assessment, Professor Price suggested key points to observe in the production of learning outcomes, criteria, level descriptors, and in the process of bringing meaning to these items. It is important to ensure teachers and students actively use standards and discuss their understandings and application of them.
Click here to access the presentation slides used by Professor Margaret Price at the seminar. (HKU portal login required)
Curriculum Reform Seminar
A seminar will be given by Dr Jenny Moon, Associate Professor, Centre for Excellence in Media Practice, Bournemouth University, on April 19, 2011 from 12:30 to 2:00 pm at room LG-06 Hui Oi Chow Science Building. The title of the seminar is “Making Sense of Experiential and Reflective Learning, an Exploration of Ideas”. In this seminar, Dr Moon will focus on what we might mean by reflective and experiential learning, how they relate to each other and to their use – and perhaps mis-use in the context of education. She will look at how we can help students to learn to reflect on their experience and to move that reflection beyond the descriptive and superficial. She will add a few more recent insights of her own that have been derived from writing about the role of story in education.
For registration, please click http://www.cetl.hku.hk/seminar110419.
Meetings on Student Learning Experience
Two meetings were held on February 22 and 23, 2011 by Pro-Vice-Chancellor Prof Amy Tsui and Dean of Student Affairs Dr Albert Chau with student representatives from Hall Associations and Faculty Associations. The meetings were enthusiastically attended by over fifty students who raised questions and shared their views on issues relating to the student learning experience. Students were particularly interested in topics such as learning spaces on campus, Experiential Learning opportunities and requirements, Common Core course workload, GPA and assessment, and the new undergraduate curriculum. At the meetings, students were given an overview of the University educational aims, the new curriculum, and findings of the HKUSLEQ survey. As HKU moves towards the full implementation of the new undergraduate curriculum, the University will continue to engage students in the ongoing enhancement of the student learning experience.
Curriculum Reform Seminar Series
Two seminars are coming up as part of the Curriculum Reform Seminar Series jointly organized by the Steering Committee on 4-Year Undergraduate Curriculum and Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL). For enquiries about any of these seminars, please contact Miss Emily Chan at chanemily@hku.hk or 2219 4790.
Standards Based Assessment: Nice Idea But What About The Practice?
The first seminar will be given by Professor Margaret Price, Director of the Assessment Standards Knowledge Exchange, Oxford Brookes Business School, on April 8, 2011 from 12:30 to 2:00 pm at room LG-06, Hui Oi Chow Science Building. The seminar, entitled “Standards Based Assessment: Nice Idea But What About The Practice?”, will look at standards based assessment from a practical standpoint. Theories of assessment rarely translate easily straight into practice but a clear understanding of potential issues help to make implementation more effective. The seminar will raise issues to think about, and discuss how they can be addressed to effectively support student learning and achievement. In particular standards based assessment raises issues about the nature of standards, accrediting complex learning, disciplinary differences and how we can establish shared understandings needed to assure standards. These things are never as straightforward as they first appear.
For registration, please click http://www.cetl.hku.hk/seminar110408.
Making Sense of Experiential and Reflective Learning, an Exploration of Ideas
The second seminar will be given by Dr Jenny Moon, Associate Professor, Centre for Excellence in Media Practice, Bournemouth University, on April 19, 2011 from 12:30 to 2:00 pm at room LG-06 Hui Oi Chow Science Building. The title of the seminar is “Making Sense of Experiential and Reflective Learning, an Exploration of Ideas”. In this seminar, Dr Moon will focus on what we might mean by reflective and experiential learning, how they relate to each other and to their use – and perhaps mis-use in the context of education. She will look at how we can help students to learn to reflect on their experience and to move that reflection beyond the descriptive and superficial. She will add a few more recent insights of her own that have been derived from writing about the role of story in education.
For registration, please click http://www.cetl.hku.hk/seminar110419.