1. Course Archive
Pursuant to the recommendation of the Review Committee on General Education (2003), course materials of all UGE classes are archived starting from 2004-05.
The aim of the archive is fourfold:
- to provide evidence for internal course review;
- to promote a practice of giving clear information and guidelines to students;
- to facilitate accumulation and sharing of experiences;
- to pool information for research and betterment of GE programme.
Course materials to be returned to OUGE (applicable to all class offerings):
- Course outlines (including weekly class topics, reading lists, assessment methods and learning outcomes)
A course outline template has been developed which fits the requirements of the Integrated Framework, an important component in the quality assurance framework for formal studies. The template mainly lists out all the essential items for students’ information, and teachers may choose to present the items in their own preferred format.
Teachers are encouraged to send course outlines to OUGE before course enrolment in early August for posting on OUGE website for students' reference.
A term start letter detailing the arrangements for UGE Archive and other administrative matters will be sent to individual UGE teacher who will offer classes in that term. The contact of an OUGE colleague assigned to follow up with the teacher will also be given in the letter. All the archived materials will be kept confidential, except the course outline which will be posted online for students’ information.
2. Course & Programme Review
Internal Course Review
As part of the prevailing quality assurance measures, all UGE courses will be reviewed every 3-4 years by the Standing Committee of the Senate Committee on General Education against the stipulated expectation of GE courses and the objectives of the UGE Area assigned, as well as the approved course design. The purposes of the review are:
- to ensure alignment of GE objectives
- to provide evidence of implementation quality
- to identify best practices and areas for improvement
Course reviews are based on the course materials archived, including course description, course outline, intended learning outcomes, reading list, assessment scheme, guidelines for students, Course & Teaching Evaluation findings and samples of student work.
The first round internal course review was conducted from 2005 to 2007. Through this exercise, good practice and areas of concern were identified and consolidated into policies for implementation. General recommendations for the improvement of teaching and learning have been conveyed to departments and UGE teachers. For the full report of this exercise, please download here.
Follow-up reviews of course requiring major revisions were conducted in 2008-09 and the Second-round internal course reviews commenced in 2010 and is expected to be completed in 2014.
Procedures for Internal Course Review
Board of Reviewers
A Board of Reviewers, comprising of 20+ senior teachers from various disciplines and recipients of Exemplary Teaching Award, is appointed by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on General Education (SCGE) to assist in course review.;
Review Schedule and Self-assessment
About 70 courses are scheduled for review every year and courses offered by the same teaching unit will be reviewed in the same exercise. Teaching units will be informed of the review schedule one year in advance and invited to conduct a self-assessment of alignment with the approved course design and intended course learning outcomes.
Self-assessment forms can be downloaded from here:
Area A | Area B | Area C | Area D
Course materials to be provided by course teachers for Internal Course Review
To inform the course reviewers about the actual course delivery, teachers will be requested to return the following course materials in addition to those collected for the on-going course archive:
- Instructions / guidelines for course assignments, e.g. essays, term papers, project / trip report etc;
- Question papers of tests and examinations;
- Samples answer scripts of the major assessment components; and
- Optional materials, e.g. lecture notes, reading assignments, WebCT content, peer review feedback etc.
Review Recommendations
The recommendations of the Board of Reviewers will be deliberated by the SCGE Standing Committee. When deemed necessary, the Committee will invite additional reviewers to conduct a second/third reading. The recommendations of the SCGE Standing Committee will then be conveyed to the teaching departments concerned.
In general, the courses reviewed are rated as follows:
- GE status retained – Delivery is excellent/very good.
- GE status retained subject to minor revision in course design/implementation.
- GE status conditional subject to major revision in course design/implementation.
- Not suitable for GE and GE status to be withdrawn. (courses not suitable for GE can be a good elective/departmental course)
For cases in need of major revision, Director of UGE will meet with the teaching units concerned to discuss the recommendations. Teaching units can appeal in writing to the Chairman of SCGE if the recommendations are found not agreeable.
The recommendations for revision in course delivery are expected to be implemented in the next course offering. For revision in course design, the teaching units concerned should put up proposals for course revision for implementation in the following academic year according to the prevailing procedures.
GE Programme Review
SCTL Programme Review
Following the completion of the first round course review, a GE Programme Review was convened in mid November 2008 by the Senate Committee on Teaching and Learning (SCTL). The Review Panel, comprising of two SCTL members and two external experts, reviewed the programme design and the quality assurance mechanism and met with teachers, students, alumni and management staff of both the University and College GE programmes. In December 2011, SCTL conducted a Light Programme review and the Reviewed Panel interviewed the key programme staff of OUGE and the nine Colleges.
SCTL Programme Review Reports
GE Programme Goals and Roles Statement
The SCTL Programme Review (2008) found it necessary to distinguish the roles of UGE and CGE. To enhance the coherence of the GE Programme, OUGE and the Colleges have re-examined the respective roles of UGE and CGE and the overall goals of the programme. The goals and roles statement thus drawn up was adopted by SCGE in December 2009 and became the basis for the formulation of learning outcomes at both the programme and course level.
Assessing Programme Outcomes
In pursuance of the recommendations of the programme review in 2008, OUGE and the Colleges have been working together to enhance the quality assurance mechanism of the GE Programme Review. Two instruments ‘Freshmen Survey’ and ‘Graduate Survey’ have been developed to measure the achievement of Programme Learning Outcomes perceived by students. These surveys are designed to assess the ongoing development of students during their studies in CUHK. The purpose of the Freshmen Survey is to gauge the self-evaluation on the learning capacity and the opinions of the students related to CUHK GE Programme before they start their undergraduate studies, whereas the Graduate Survey seeks to find out how students evaluate the overall GE Programme after they have completed their undergraduate studies. Pilot studies and surveys have been conducted since 2010:
2010: 1st Pilot Study of Freshmen Survey (collaborated with 6 Colleges)
2011: 2nd Pilot Study of Freshmen Survey (collaborated with 7 Colleges)
2012: 1st Comprehensive Entry Survey (collaborated with Centre for Learning Enhancement and Research and all the 9 Colleges)
2012: 1st Pilot Study of Graduate Survey (collaborated with 4 Colleges with graduating students)
