University General Education

2011-12

The Dance of Ideas: International Liberal Education in the 21st Century

Date: 10 October 2011 (Monday)
Speaker: Prof. Margaret Downes (Emeritus Professor, University of North Carolina at Asheville)

Dr. Margaret Downes is Professor Emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, where she has taught interdisciplinary humanities, literature, and linguistics, and served as Chair of Literature, Director of Humanities, Director of Masters in Liberal Arts, and Dean of Arts & Sciences; she was UNCA's first National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Professor. Dr. Downes has served widely in the US and globally as a consultant on interdisciplinary general education and liberal education, the main focus of her scholarship. She is a founding member of the board of the international Association for Core Texts & Courses (ACTC), and recently presided over AGLS, the international Association for General & Liberal Studies.

The seminar will focus on several questions: What is important, and what is problematic, in developing and maintaining a global liberal education curriculum? How do other universities deal with this challenge and opportunity?

Between Plugged and Unplugged: How Student's Learning Is Influenced by Electronic Media and Our Response

Date: 24 October 2011 (Monday)
Speakes:
Prof. Donna Chu ( School of Journalism and Communication)
Prof. Ng Wai Yin, Will (Dept of Information Engineering)
Dr. CHEUNG Mei-chun, Jane (Dept of Social Work)

Today's students are digital natives. They have grown up in an environment where high-speed Internet is available almost everywhere to usually inhibit, information and apparently all "answers" are just clicks away from their fingertips, friends connected on the touch screen and support for a social cause actualize in a "like".

To look into the depth and nature of student's "addiction" to electronic media, some conducted a global experiment called “The World Unplugged”*. The study asked close to 1,000 students in ten countries on five continents – from Chile to China, Lebanon to the USA, Uganda to the United Kingdom – to abstain from using all media for a full day, then report their experience and reflections. The School of Journalism and Communication at CUHK also participated in this study.

We invite GE teachers to share their experiences and thoughts on the topic in this coming lunch seminar. The seminar will begin with a panel discussion by Dr Cheung Mei Chun, Jane, from the Department of Social Work, Prof. Chu Shun Chi, Donna, from the School of Journalism and Communication, and Prof. Ng Wai Yin, Will, from the Department of Information Engineering.

Presentation by Dr. Cheung Mei Chun, Jane (login required)
Presentation by Prof. Chu Shun Chi, Donna (login required)

One Day without the Media: Findings and Revelations

Date: 7 November 2011 (Monday)
Speaker: Prof. Clement So (School of Journalism and Communication)

What do you do first thing in the morning?

Forty years ago, our parents might get up and switch on the radio.

Now, the first thing comes to our students’ mind might be to slide open their smartphone – to check if the other party has received the message sent through “what’s app” last night; to check if the post on Facebook has been “liked”. To the young generation who are super familiar with the electronic media, the new media are not only important tools to build up social network, but also important for obtaining information, and, killing time.

We educators, seeing our children and students being unable to live without media, often get concerned about their study attitude and see electronic media as (perhaps necessary) evil.

As an extension of our last lunch seminar “Between Plugged and Unplugged”, this time, we have invited Prof. Clement So of the School of Journalism and Communication, director of the Hong Kong “Unplugged” research , to share his observation and findings. Indeed, as early as in 1988, Prof. So conducted a similar study with CUHK students. Compared with 20 years ago, the daily time our university student spent on media has been largely increased from 3.5 hours to 13 hours on average. Some described themselves as “addicted” to the electronic media and some observed the media are so omnipresence, hard to avoid.

In this seminar, Prof. So will report the findings and revelations from these two “media-starve” experiments conducted two decades apart. What are the characteristics of our digital-natives? Is media a “drug”? Should we “correct” our students or are they the only ones “addicted”? Perhaps most importantly, as teachers, how should we and how can we grasp the teachable moments?

The Meanings of a University Education: screening of film “The 2011 Graduating Class”

Date: 21 November 2011 (Monday)
Speaker: Prof. Donna Chu (School of Journalism and Communication)

Film synopsis

In 2006, over 70,000 Hong Kong students sat the HKCEE exams. While some 47,000 of them qualified to promote to Form 6, only 35,000 places were available.
Two years later, a total of 38,262 students sat the HKALE, the university entrance exams. In the same year, CUHK admitted 3,225 students. Most of them graduated in 2011.
Having passed a hurdle race of tests and exams, these students were ushered into a whole new world of freedom and independence which is called university. Three years have passed. As these soon-to-be graduates are getting ready to leave the campus for good, they contemplated on the meaning of a university education. Or so they attempted.
In spring 2011, ten graduating students from the School of Journalism and Communication reflected on their days at university in a documentary, recalling and sharing many frank, poignant and intimate moments of their university days in front of the camera.

After the screening, Donna will share with us her experience in the making of the film and her own reflections on the topic. Participants will also be invited to discuss some core issues of university education: How does the 3—soon 4—year education make our students different from other young adults, or does it? As educator, what do we expect of our students? How should we facilitate their growth, help them set and fulfill their goals?

Make the Connection! General Education and the 'Real' World

Date: 30 January 2012 (Monday)
Speaker: Prof. Melissa Fitch (University of Arizona)

As educators in General Education programs, we are often asked to defend the value of what we do. What critics often overlook is that the very skills learned in GE courses are those most prized by employers. This seminar will share the findings from the 2007 American Association of Colleges and Universities LEAP (Liberal Education and America’s Promise) report “College Learning for a New Global Century” as well as the UGC report from December of 2010 “Aspirations for the Higher Education System in Hong Kong.” After the seminar, faculty members will be able to:

explain the relationship between the skills learned in GE classroom and those most requested by employers in the ‘real’ world;
identify specific examples of success stories from former students in GE courses;
identify ways to build and sustain ties to graduates, integrating their success stories directly into GE courses to provide models and inspiration to future students.

About the Speaker

Prof. Melissa Fitch is a Visiting Fulbright Professor in the area of General Education at CUHK and an Associate Professor of Spanish & Portuguese at the University of Arizona, where she received the University of Arizona's Five Star Teaching Award, the institution's highest teaching honor, in 2008 and the General Education Teaching Award in 2004. Since 2002 Prof. Fitch has been editor-in-chief of the academic journal Studies in Latin American Popular Culture (University of Texas Press). She is author of Side Dishes: Latin/a American Women and Cultural Production (Rutgers University Press, 2009) and well as numerous critical essays. While in Hong Kong, she is finishing revisions of her second book, a study on Argentine tango in the global imaginary, as well as conducting research for her third and fourth book-length projects, both related to the presence of Latin American popular culture in greater China.

PBL: Problem Based Learning or Particulars Before Leaving

Date: 13 February 2012 (Monday)
Speaker: Prof. Martha Carothers (University of Delaware)

Project based learning engages students in their own learning. Project explanation and expectation prepare students to work outside of class time on the project. This GE lunch seminar models how to use class time to involve students in understanding the project and to include students in determining the rubric for project evaluation before leaving the classroom. Seminar participants are introduced to a project and guided through small group discussion to produce project solutions, critique, and evaluate the solutions as a group according to the rubric. This method of reflection and peer review integrates project performance and feedback for greater understanding.

About the Speaker

Prof. Martha Carothers is a Visiting Fulbright Professor in the area of Gateway Education at City University of Hong Kong and a Professor of Art at the University of Delaware in Newark, DE USA. Professor Carothers graduated from Penn State University with a Master of Fine Arts and a Bachelor of Arts degree in art and design. Prof. Carothers was the Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies at Delaware. As the Associate Director, Professor Carothers was the Faculty Director of the General Education Initiative, First Year Experience, Undergraduate Research, Service Learning, Discovery Learning Experience, Capstone Experience, and Center for Teaching Effectiveness. Prior to Undergraduate Studies, Professor Martha was the Associate Dean for Arts and Humanities in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Chair of the Department of Art at Delaware. Professor Carothers teaches book arts, foundation design, and visual communications. For the past nine years Professor Carothers directed study abroad programs to Australia and New Zealand about design in the visual arts and introductory digital photography.

Collaborative Learning: Techniques for Effective Tutorials and Seminars

Date: 27 February 2012 (Monday)
Speaker: Prof. Susan Fiksdal (Evergreen College)

Studies show that students learn more effectively through active teaching and learning than through lectures. In this workshop we will focus on how to create an environment in the classroom that encourages students to take an active role in discussions. After an explanation of some strategies, participants will focus on their own classes and the goals they have for discussion. Structuring discussions to achieve your particular goals can help students learn critical thinking skills as well as become more creative in their thinking. We will also look at some of the reasons why students may not participate in group activities and some strategies that work well to engage them. This workshop is for faculty who have never tried group work as well as for those who have. We will begin with your experience and you will engage in some types of group work during the workshop.

About the Speaker

Prof. Susan Fiksdal has studied conversation in seminars since 1990 as a sociolinguist and as a faculty member interested in improving teaching and learning. She has published a book, The Right Time and Pace: A Microanalysis of Cross-cultural Gatekeeping Interviews, and articles and book chapters on uncomfortable moments, rapport, timing in conversation, and metaphor and gender. She is a professor of Linguistics and French at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington where she also served as Academic Dean for International Studies and Evening/Weekend Studies for five years. She has taken students to France for experiential learning 8 times. As an exchange faculty she taught in Kobe, Japan for one semester. Currently she is a Fulbright Scholar at Hong Kong Baptist University helping with the transition to a four-year undergraduate degree and the GE curriculum planning.

Getting Personal: Creating a Unique Personalized Educational Experience for Students in GE Courses

Date: 12 March 2012 (Monday)
Speaker: Prof. Melissa Fitch (University of Arizona)

Studies have shown that the more educators are able to personalize the learning experience for students, making it relevant to their daily lives outside the university, the more likely it is that the course outcomes will be achieved. Personalization also fosters a greater engagement on the part of the student in terms of preparation and study. After the seminar, faculty will be able to:

utilize simple strategies to solicit, retain and later incorporate information about students during course lectures and activities;
explain the connection between student engagement and achieving course outcomes;
develop a plan to use student information to create an exciting, positive learning experience.

About the Speaker