After Plato: Students in the General Education Foundation (GEF) Programme

After Plato: Students in the General Education Foundation (GEF) Programme

Date: 7 November 2012 (Wednesday)
Speaker: Dr. Julie Chiu (Office of University General Education), Dr. Wong Wing Hung (Office of University General Education)

After reading the writings of Plato and Confucius, Newton and Darwin, Huang Zongxi and Adam Smith, what changes will our students undergo in their life and study? Starting from this academic year, all students admitted under the new curriculum will be immersed in the world of classics, pondering issues in the sciences and humanities in a small-class setting. The General Education Foundation (GEF) programme consists of two courses, “UGFH1000 In Dialogue with Humanity” and “UGFN1000 In Dialogue with Nature”, in which students, through the study of classics, together reflect on ideal society and good life, and explore the world of science and knowledge.

The two courses have been piloted since 2009. Up to now, as many as 1,000 students have completed the courses. To attain better understanding of students’ learning experience and outcomes in the GEF, we do not only rely on teachers’ observations in and out of the class, but have conducted focus-group interviews at the end of each semester. Dr. Julie Chiu and Dr. Wong Wing Hung, the two teachers in charge of development of the two courses, will give a presentation on the design and objectives of the two courses, and share observations and findings on students’ response and learning outcomes. Through such sharing, we hope that colleagues from different units and departments will better understand what their students have experienced and acquired, or will experience and acquire, in the GEF programme.