General university requirements and holistic development in university students in Hong Kong

Daniel T.L. Shek; Lu Yu

doi:10.1515/ijamh-2017-3006

Article

General university requirements and holistic development in university students in Hong Kong

Daniel T.L. Shek and Lu Yu

Published/Copyright: June 14, 2016

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From the journal International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health Volume 29 Issue 1

Abstract

The General University Requirements (GUR) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is an integral part of the new 4-year undergraduate curriculum which attempts to promote holistic student development. To evaluate the effectiveness of the GUR, a study adopting a static group comparison design was conducted, with a sample of Year 3 PolyU students studied in the 4-year undergraduate degree program (n=566) compared with a control Year 3 sample recruited from a comparable university in Hong Kong (n=285). The students in both samples responded to measures on empathy, positive youth development, and engagement in university study. Results showed that although both groups basically did not differ in the major background demographic variables, PolyU students performed better than did the students of the control group on measures of holistic development. Bearing in mind the intrinsic problems of the static comparison group design, the present findings provide support for the effectiveness of the GUR at PolyU.

Keywords: Chinese; Hong Kong; positive youth development; students; university

Corresponding author: Daniel T.L. Shek, PhD, Associate Vice President (Undergraduate Programme) and Chair Professor of Applied Social Sciences, Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hunghom, Hong Kong, P.R. China

Acknowledgments

The preparation for this paper and the GUR evaluation study are financially supported by the Teaching Development Grant of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The authorship is carried equally by the first author and second author.

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Received: 2015-1-8

Accepted: 2015-2-16

Published Online: 2016-6-14

Published in Print: 2017-2-1

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/ijamh-2017-3006

Keywords for this article

Chinese; Hong Kong; positive youth development; students; university