General University Requirements at Hong Kong Polytechnic University: evaluation findings based on student focus groups

General Education Learning Outcomes and Demographic Correlates in University Students in Hong Kong

“…Moreover, students finally are able to recognize and enjoy the benefits of inspirational teaching and learning pedagogy in most general education subjects, despite difficulties they encountered at the beginning. This assertion is evident by previous findings on how students perceived the general education subjects in Hong Kong -although some students expressed that they felt difficulty in digesting multidisciplinary knowledge and fulfilling educational demands in general education subjects, most students regarded the rich content and active pedagogy in these subjects as helpful and effective in cultivating their all-round competencies (Shek and Law 2014;Shek et al 2014b). As a result, students' achievement in different dimensions of learning outcomes found in the present study provides evidence for the value of the general education-embeded higher education system, which in general could help promote university students' holistic development.…”

“…For example, experiential and interactive pedagogy adopted by most general education subjects, which require students' active learning and engagement may put extra pressure on students to adjust to university study (Shek et al 2014b). This is because Hong Kong students were used to didactic teaching and rote memorization before entering university and may have difficulties and reluctances in shifting to studentcentered and independent, active, and comprehensive learning (Jaffee 2012).…”

“…Among the seven dimensions, we measured four that can cover both cognitive (Beffective reasoning and problem solving^, and Bintegration of learning^) and social aspects (i.e., Bleadership^and Bmoral character^) of student development. The attributes measured by these four dimensions are largely aligned with the intended learning outcomes of general education in A university (Shek et al 2014b). These attributes were measured and compared across four years.…”

“…For example, students were required to study Freshmen Seminar in Year 1 and Service Learning in Year 2, and they were advised to complete the components of Leadership and Intrapersonal Development, Cluster Areas Requirements, Healthy Lifestyle, Language and Communication Requirements in their first three years of university study. Noteworthy, these components covered a wide range of subjects, which were well-designed to cultivate comprehensive competencies in students, such as critical thinking, problem solving, and ethical leadership (Shek et al 2014b), which were conceptually similar to the multi-dimensional general education SLOs in King et al's (2007) model. Therefore, King et al's (2007) seven-dimensional model was utilized to guide measurement of multiple general education learning outcomes.…”

The Development of a Service-Learning Outcomes Measurement Scale (S-LOMS)

“…In conjunction with the 2012 reforms, many Hong Kong universities launched service-learning programs, reflecting their own needs and circumstances (Ma, 2018). The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, for example, seized on the introduction of an extra year in the undergraduate program to stipulate the incorporation of a service-learning component in their graduation requirement (Chan & Ngai, 2014;Shek et al 2015).…”