The Review 2013

Education at HKU and all Hong Kong universities underwent major change in 2012-13 with the start of the new four-year curriculum for undergraduates. HKU took full advantage of this opportunity to re-imagine our curriculum as a ‘total learning experience’. We have introduced new and innovative programmes, opened a new campus and extended learning into all corners of university life. Huge amounts of energy and resources have been devoted to implementing these changes and they have resulted in a successful first full year for our new curriculum. The new curriculum represents a paradigm shift in the concept of what, how and where students learn. Students are encouraged to acquire both breadth and depth in their learning, and to be engaged not only in classrooms but in halls of residence and other areas of the campus. They now have more experiential learning opportunities (see page 16), a ‘Common Core’ of interdisciplinary courses (see page 14), more choice and more international exposure. These features require students to take more decisions about their learning, so an extensive academic advising system (see page 18) has also been introduced to support them. The physical environment encourages engagement and learning- the new campus, which opened in September 2012, and the entire third floor of the main library have been redesigned to provide open and flexible learning spaces that reflect our learning aims. Renovation of the main campus also began in 2012 to support these aims. The first full year of this new curriculum has received positive feedback from students. In surveys and written comments, they have expressed strong enthusiasm for the culturally rich, socially diverse and intellectually challenging environment at HKU. For many students, this is the first time they have been given the opportunity and the autonomy to decide what courses to take, what activities to engage in and how to manage their time, and many have found it demanding yet invigorating. This is a very satisfying achievement because the new curriculum was introduced under the burden of a double cohort in 2012-13, when we admitted the first intake of the four-year The University of Hong Kong ⎜ 11 A Total Learning Experience THE REVIEW 2013 ⎜ Teaching and Learning 77% of top-scoring HKDSE students chose to come to HKU 25,000+ Applicants from students outside HK's diploma system, including local, Mainland and overseas 99.7% Full employment for HKU graduates in 2012 157 Common Core courses on offer, September 2013 236 Students receiving external awards in 2013, locally, regionally and internationally