The Office of the Provost (PROVT) and the Education Development Office (EDO) are co-organising a series of activities to build up the capacity of teaching and non-teaching staff to manage the transition from 3-year degree to 4-degree. Development activities in relation to General Education (GE) typically include such topics as the philosophical underpinnings of GE programme, course design strategies, workshops to align course and programme outcomes (CILOs and PILOs), development of connections between curriculum and co-curriculum, workshops to develop staff in their roles as student advisors related to the programme, as well as the development of specific pedagogical strategies, for example peer assessment, active learning in large classes, interdisciplinary teaching and learning etc., to support GE programme. Since 2008/09, GE-TEACH, STEP and Active Learning workshops have been jointly by PROVT and EDO.

GENERAL EDUCATION - TRANSFORMATIVE EDUCATION AND ACHIEVEMENT (GE-TEACH)

• Introduction
• Intended Learning Outcomes of GE-TEACH
• On-line Registration
• Programme Outline
• Description of Sessions

Introduction

Beginning on 22 September 2009 and continuing on a regular schedule into Semester B, PROVT and EDO will be hosting a series of lunchtime discussions regarding General Education at City University. The purpose of these discussions is to generate excitement among the teaching staff about GE, to assist the teaching staff to imagine the possibilities with their own professional development and courses and to provide assistance to individuals working on GE course development on this campus. All staff members, teaching and non-teaching, who are interested in knowing more about GE are welcome to attend any of the discussion sessions. Staff may attend for part or all of each luncheon discussion. Light lunches will be served.

Intended Learning Outcomes of GE-TEACH

At the end of the programme, participants will be able to:

• Outline some general principles relating to General Education programme and course development
• Identify the pedagogical resources available to support GE programme and course development
• Experiment with new and innovative course design through the deployment of a staff learning community, in which diverse issues such as integrative learning strategies, inter-disciplinarity, techniques to increase student engagement, and the scholarship of teaching and learning are explored and implemented
• Reflect and improve on their teaching practices as professionals

On-line Registration

Both teaching and non-teaching staff are welcome to register for individual workshops or the entire programme.

Please follow the instructions below to complete the online registration:

• Click AIMS.
• Click the "Staff Services" tab.
• Select the "Staff Development" item on the menu.
• Select the "On-line Application for In-house Staff Development Courses" item on the sub-menu.
• Click the "Apply" button corresponding to the course/workshop you want to apply.

Enrolment for each workshop is 30. Additional workshops may be arranged if necessary.

For enquiries, please contact the Office of the Provost by phone on 3442-6717 or via email at genedu@cityu.edu.hk.

Description of Sessions

1. Progress Report on City University's General Education Programme Implementation

Facilitator	:	Prof Reza Hoshmand, GE Programme Coordinator Dr John Ho (SLW) Dr Rodney Jones (EN) Dr Ron Kwok (IS) Dr Paul Lam (BC)
Date	:	Tuesday, 22 September 2009
Time	:	12:00noon - 2:30pm (Light lunch will be provided.)
Venue	:	LT14

What are the goals of General Education? How are General Education courses related to General Education programmes as well as programmes in the major areas of study? What characteristics define effective General Education programmes?

The new season of STEP starts with an update of the progress of GE at CityU. Our GE coordinator and colleagues with expertise in GE development will attempt to answer the above and other questions by sharing the expertise and experience they gathered in the GE Institute. Some of the “ best practices ” in GE found across the United States will be showcased in this overview session.

Please click below for the relevant materials.

GE at City University: Where Are We? (A. Reza Hoshmand)

GE Experience Sharing: The Process of GE Change (Ron Kwok)

2. Information Sharing Session on the Implementation of the 4-Year Degree

We are at the early introduction phase of the 4-year degree implementation. The university will begin to admit students into the mini-version of the 4-year undergraduate degree starting from 2010/11 by early introducing the 4-year curriculum in designated undergraduate programmes. By Summer 2012, all the current undergraduate degree programmes under the 3-year structure will be converted into the 4-year curriculum.

The transition to the 4-year degree implementation will have a great impact on the operations of academic and administrative units throughout the university. It is necessary for the whole university community to keep abreast of the monumental change in the undergraduate curriculum. The Office of the Provost will present the latest development in the undergraduate degree curriculum in an Information Sharing Session with details below:

Date	:	Tuesday, 29 September 2009
Time	:	12:00noon to 2:00pm (Light lunch will be provided)
Venue	:	Multi-media Conference Room
Facilitators	:	Prof C H Chan, Acting Provost Prof Gary Feng, Associate Provost Dr J T Yu, Chief Information Officer
Target audience	:	Programme leaders and departmental EOs, Academic Heads, Admin Directors All interested staff

Issues such as curriculum requirements, arrangements for foundation-year students and senior-year entry, validation and approval procedure during programme conversion etc. will be discussed at the session. The Acting Provost, Associate Provost and the Chief Information Officer will clarify concerns raised by participants at the session.

Videos and photos of the session

Get the Flash Player to see this player. Dr J T Yu, Chief Information Officer Get the Flash Player to see this player. Dr J T Yu, Chief Information Officer Get the Flash Player to see this player. Q&A Session Prof C H Chan, Acting Provost Prof Gary Feng, Associate Provost Dr J T Yu, Chief Information Officer Get the Flash Player to see this player. Prof Gary Feng, Associate Provost

3. Practising Interdisciplinarity in General Education

Date	:	Tuesday, 6 October 2009
Time	:	12:30pm - 2:30pm (light lunch will be provided at 12:30pm ― 1:00pm)
Venue	:	LT-14
Facilitator	:	Dr Gray Kochhar-Lindgren, Fulbright Scholar in General Education Gray Kochhar-Lindgren is serving as one of the 2009-10 Fulbright Scholars in General Education in support of the curricular reforms occurring in the Hong Kong universities. In addition, he is a Visiting Professor in Comparative Literature and Philosophy at the University of Hong Kong. Gray has degrees in philosophy, religion, literature, and a PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies from Emory University in Atlanta. He is Professor of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington-Bothell, where he also directs the "First Year Experience", which includes team-taught courses such as "Dreaming the Earth," "Art and Biology," and "Cross-Cultural Mediascapes: The Case of Coffee." The author of Narcissus Transformed, Starting Time, and TechnoLogics, Gray is currently working on Designing the Global University and Kant, in Hong Kong.

Our session together will be thoroughly co-participatory and draw on the rich distributed intelligence in the room. Some of the topics we will be engaged will include:

• Introduction: My Interdisciplinary Day
• Interdisciplinarity's Discontents: Traversing Academic Boundaries
• Out into the World: Students, Staff, and Community
• Creating Maps: Constructing an Interdisciplinary Course
• Staying Awake: Engaging in Active Pedagogies
• On Wonder, Complexity, and Being Daunted: The Necessity for Interdisciplinarity
• Knowledge Flows: TeleTechnologies, Globalization, and Creating the New University

Please click below for the relevant materials.

Practicing Interdisciplinarity

Dreaming the Earth

Creating an Interdisciplinary Course

Resources for Interdisciplinarity

4. The General Education Outcomes

Date	:	Tuesday, 24 November 2009
Time	:	12:30pm - 2:30pm (A light lunch will be provided from 12:30pm - 1:00pm)
Venue	:	B4702
Facilitator	:	Prof Reza Hoshmand, GE Programme Coordinator

The session will focus on the five GE outcomes approved by Senate and explain how they are unpacked into nine directly measurable outcomes. The session will also help participants consider ways in which to interpret and design activities to achieve these outcomes in individual courses.

5. Designing the Course Syllabus & Assignments with GE Learning Outcomes in Mind

This session aims at identifying common features and key implementation principles of General Education Programmes (GEPs) which include: designing learning outcomes, activities, and assessments for a GE course; and examining the role of interdisciplinarity in GEPs. In planning a course, it is essential that the learning experiences align with the course goals, assessments and engagements of the students in active learning. Participants will leave the workshop with tools and resources to help them design new GE courses.

6. Interactive Classroom technologies

Key words: Engaging students. Visually communicate concepts. Capture student ideas and archive them.
Response systems

Why are discussions boards set up by tutors often hardly used by students? How do we get students to participate actively in online discussion activities? What sort of activities work most effectively online? This workshop introduces participants to the specific skills required to design and run successful online discussion activities. Participants will be given hands on experience with some of the functions of online communications tools.

7. Working Session for GE Proposal Development or Revision

This session is designed to allow faculty members who are writing proposals for new GE courses to bring proposal ideas, or proposals in whatever stage of development for consultation with the GE Coordinator, GE Fulbright Scholar, EDO staff, and fellow colleagues. This session is designed to assist in proposal development and to improve chances for successful approval by providing feedback in advance of the formal review process. Common challenges to GE course design will be reviewed and suggestions to overcome these challenges offered. All staff are welcome to attend, to learn about best practices in GE course design, and to provide feedback and reactions to one another. Participants are encouraged to bring several printed copies of their proposal for review and to generate a list of questions about their proposal in advance of the working session.

8. Encouraging Thinking in Lectures

Lectures, as a method of teaching and learning, have been criticised for encouraging students to be passive and surface learners; however, this need not be the case. This workshop will explore ways in which a teacher can design and manage elements of class interaction and student engagement with the lecture content in an otherwise ‘ traditional lecture ’ .

9. Student Course Selection and Choices in the 4 year Curriculum:
       Implications for Teachers on Student Course Selection

With the transition to the 4 year program in 2012 and the ability of students to elect minors as well as options
in how to complete General Education requirements, students will increasingly be making choices about their
programmes of study. This session is designed to inform participants about how and when students will be
making those curricular choices, as well as to consider the role that faculty and other staff may play in advising
students regarding their choices.

10. Technology-assisted Peer Assessment

This workshop will illustrate how technology can help better manage peer assessment and provide appropriate feedback to students to improve their peer assessment techniques.

11. Transferable Skills

"Employability skills are best learned when they are included among instructional goals and explicitly taught"

Graham, Vitale, and Schenk 1991

More than ever before, secondary schools, universities and colleges are accountable for meeting students and
industry needs and producing ideal graduates with transferable skills.

Problem-solving skills, strong analytical and presentation skills have become a very important issue for many
institutions and corporations, and the ability to successfully work in a team is often considered of paramount
importance for employers: the increased pressure on professionals to perform their tasks with fewer employees,
at faster speeds, and with more quality and customer responsiveness creates the need for it. This hands-on
workshop will help participants identify the keys characteristics of transferable skills, concrete examples will
show how to package them to appeal to employers and discussions will generate ideas on how to apply this
knowledge to create in-class activities to boost students ’ portfolio.

12. Assessment of the early implementation of GE

A project which examines the degree to which the GE curricular and pedagogical changes are being implemented as planned started in Semester A of the 2009-2010 academic year. The central theme of the project is to assess how well the early courses offered in GE are succeeding in communicating the purposes and value of GE to students and in helping them to achieve the GE programme intended learning outcomes (PILOs). This session is the first progress report on this TDG supported evaluation project of GE at CityU.