Focus Group (III): Advancing Internationalisation
Date: May 30, 2006 (Tue)
Summary of Discussion
1) What are the qualities of an international university?
The availability of website or information in an international language i.e. open to the outside world
| - Students have the opportunity to go abroad for exchange or further study | |
| - Professors from around the world can come and teach at the university | |
| - Students from around the world can come to study | |
| - Have a "vertical column" - a complete curriculum available in English | |
| - Known to people around the world – brand, league table ranking |
2) What would it take to become an international university?
| - Need to understand why students and professors want to come | |
| - Cater for a larger audience, not just students in your own city |
3) How to attract more international students and academics?
| - Give ample monetary support e.g. scholarship for tuition and accommodation | |
| - Recruit people from around the world as advisers, international board members | |
| - Increase the number of exchange students | |
| - Offer research studentships (Aberdeen U's offer is three times as that of HKU) | |
| - Attract star professors and top-tier students to join and create academic prestige | |
| - Criteria for recruiting professor: publication, visible in international scene (chair of board, editorship in int'l journal, keynote speakers | |
| - Improve students' international outlook |
4) Benchmark of an international university – Harvard
| - 55% income from scholarship | |
| - 45bn endowment with 22% annual return |
5) HKU's current situation
| - Currently there are about 40% postgraduates are non-local, half of which are from the Mainland; less than 20% non-local in the undergraduates population | |
| - HKU Campus is not completely English, common use of colloquial Cantonese | |
| - Aim at increasing the number of students living in Halls from 30% to 70% living to experience campus culture and mix with foreigners | |
| - Continuous increase in the number of exchange students, currently about 650 per year |
Focus Group (II): Reforming the Curriculum
Date: May 17, 2006 (Wed)
Summary of Discussion
Roles of the University in the Society
- University as a "moral enterprise" preparing people for life-long personal development instead of just focusing on passing exams and getting jobs.
- University as a learning community to create the society's ethos. To educate people the importance of humanities and sustainable development, and how to be a member of the society.
- Need to prepare students to face an ever-changing society, to learn skills that do not pin down to only one particular job?
- Get students to be acquainted with more than one culture to face the trend of globalization
Changes in Education
- Current education is pigeon holing (specialist training), need an overhauling change
- Jobs are becoming more diverse in a knowledge based society
- Under the notion of constructed knowledge, experience become extremely important
- Change the old thinking of learning before practice to the new idea of learning and practice intertwined. Knowledge in construction – Scaffolding, co-learning experience.
- Liberalisation of brain power, encourage students to raise questions
- Students are focusing only on what is being examined because
- The Admission criteria look at their exam scores
- The employers also look at their exam scores
Advantage of HKU
- Famous for its hall lives and critical thinking
- 3.3.4 is a golden opportunity to revamp, open up University life
- HKU can be a champion of assessment methods, to create authentic assessment e.g MBBS problem-based learning and try to train students on reasoning rather then simply remembering (train the logical mind) suggestions of open book examination
- To train students not to focus only on what is being examined:
Elements of University education:
Study -> Activitiy -> Org. experience -> internship -> music/art/sports -> experience of the workplace -> experience of deprived rural villages -> external exchange to overseas (aimed to increased from 28% - 100% of students) => formalized this into compulsory give students their choices, so that people know students went through the whole spectrum
Suggestions
- Promote ILOP to employers (http://www.hku.hk/gened/ilop1/)
- Make good use of the one additional year in the study, not filling it up with only with "books"
- Improve students' language skills to improve their confidence and communication
- Professors may need to get more industry experience to keep up to date e.g. professors in medical schools keeping their practice
- Improve students' knowledge in China in order for them and HKU to play the role of interpreting China to the world and vice versa
Posted on Fri, 15 Sept 2006
Focus Group (I): Partnering with Society
Date: Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Summary of Discussion
The overall focus of the discussion was on how "Partnering with Society" can help the University's development in relation to its' Centenary Vision and the statement:
"As a research-led institution, the University seeks to renew its vision to act as a confluence of scholars from East and West, to interpret China to the world, and to bring the world to China. This is a role for which it is uniquely place and apt to perform, and will help usher in an era of engagement and understanding."
1. The different interpretation of "Partnering with Society" was discussed:
2. It was agreed that with the trend of globaliz
| - Interaction between the University and the Community on peoples' daily lives | |
| - The way that students and staff integrated with the society | |
| - The role of HKU in Hong Kong's development | |
| - Research relevance to the society |
ation and the University's aspiration to become a leading international university, the "society" relevant to HKU includes not only Hong Kong, but also the Pearl River Delta, the greater China and ultimately the global community.
3. In regard to what the University can do to partner with the society, the following comparative advantages of HKU are identified:
| - Language and understanding of both Western and Eastern cultures | |
| - Unique position and credibility to interpret China to the world and vice-versa as HKU is a confluence of scholars from East and West (e.g. interpret whether China is a positive force or a threat to the Western world) | |
| - Ability to address the common problems around the world (e.g. natural resources management, research on conflict resolution and peace) |
4. Hence, HKU can take the leadership role when partnering with the society. The following initiatives were suggested:
| - HKU to act as a platform to encourage more teaching/research programmes on problems that are relevant to more people on a global level | |
| - More international exchanges for teaching staff, students and research programmes | |
| - To communicate with the society HKU's achievements on the above through annual stakeholders' meeting, roadshows and perhaps release of annual report on social services together with annual financial report |
Dear Friends,
My vision of HKU is that it is a truly values-based learning community that places the search for meaning and purpose at the heart of education and emphasises the worth and integrity of each person involved in the provision of education, in the home, school and community.
I would be happy to be included in the mailing list for Forums, Exhibitions and news updates.
Chris Drake