GE Initiatives in UCLA
GE Initiatives in UCLA
Date: 17 March 2011 (Thursday)
Speakers: Prof. Robert Gurval (Department of Classics,University of California, Los Angeles
The structure of the UCLA GE program is based upon two distinct models, which may be seen as complementary principles of innovation and tradition. The former can define the first-year cluster program, which has been nationally recognized as the “jewel in the crown” in the UCLA GE program. These courses are broadly themed, year-long, collaboratively taught by teams of distinguished faculty, and cut across conventional boundaries of departments and disciplines. Nine or ten freshman clusters, are taught each year. Topics include “The History of Modern Thought”; “Evolution of the Cosmos and Life”; and “Los Angeles: The Cluster.” Lectures are taught by university staff, who are both research scholars and distinguished teachers, and tutorial discussion sections are led by experienced graduate student instructors, who must apply to teach. The classes are restricted to entering freshmen and limited to lectures no larger than 200 students and sections capped at 20. But tradition is also a fundamental part of the GE program. In addition to the cluster programs, individual departments and interdepartmental programs offer their own one-term, more conventional GE courses, which serve as informed introductions to their discipline’s methodologies and practices. But like the popular saying on ancient Rome, it should be emphasized that GE reform at UCLA was not born in a day. To know more about the UCLA GE program, please go to the website.
About the Speaker
Prof. Robert Gurval, Hong Kong Visiting Fulbright Professor in the area of General Education and former faculty chair of GE Governance Committee of UCLA, will lead a workshop on the recent undergraduate initiatives at his home institution in the United States, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The workshop will focus on the challenges and strategies of reforming GE at a large public research university (not unlike CUHK), the continued administration and oversight of its program, and future university goals in undergraduate education. The workshop will also include a brief introduction to the history of the university.
Leadership Development Programme
Leadership Development Programme
Date: 16 February 2011 (Wednesday)
Student leadership takes on many forms and shapes. All students are unique and have their own individual strengths and needs. Student leadership development should therefore go beyond the training of hand-on interpersonal skills, but also designed as a learning process to help students understand more about themselves and nurture a concern about their environment.
Launched by the University in 2001, the Leadership Development Programme is a unique credit bearing programme established to nurture the leadership potential of selected students and prepare them for the challenges and opportunities of a new era. As we celebrate our ten years anniversary, a new curriculum will be implemented for the programme. It will emphasis on the importance of global awareness and community engagement, and make use of participatory, experiential, and problem-based learning to help students to acquire a variety of capabilities that are important for leadership development, including critical thinking, problem solving, and the ability to put plans into practice.
In this upcoming GE Lunch Seminar session, our colleagues from the Leadership Development Section will introduce the new curriculum and the ongoing recruitment exercise for the 2011 intake. Participants will also have a chance to share their experience in nurturing student leadership in their respective programmes and units.
Discussion Summary (login required) Presentation of Leadership Development Programme (login required) Presentation of the Office of Student Affairs (login required) Presentation of Chung Chi College (login required) Presentation of United College (login required)
First Year Experience
First Year Experience (FYE)
Date: 16 November 2010 (Tuesday)
Starting from 2012, our freshmen under the 3-3-4 system will be a year younger. As the University is moving closer to the new curriculum, it is high time for us to come together to discuss the development needs of these students, the transition issues they may face, and review the efforts already in place that help to promote successful First Year Experience (FYE).
The term First Year Experience was coined to offer an integrative and comprehensive approach to considering first year students’ college experience. Through academic and social integration, FYE initiatives aim at building a good foundation for learning and smoothening students’ transition from secondary education to tertiary education.
It has been observed that a key to the success of a university's FYE efforts rests in the coordination and integration of different efforts. In this session, colleagues from the Office of Student Affairs, the Colleges, the language units and our Office will introduce their works related to FYE, share views on student transition, and possibly discuss how we can synergize different efforts that are already in place. Participants will also have a chance to share their observations on the needs of first year students and exchange views on how these needs can be best addressed. Prof. Joseph Sung, the Vice-Chancellor, has kindly agreed to take part in this seminar and to meet GE teachers.
Intro. to the concept of FYE (login required) Findings from a CUHK Freshman Survey (login required) Sharing by the Office of Student Affairs (login required) Sharing by New Asia College (login required) Intro. to the GE Foundation Programme (login required)
