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Students’ views on general education: insights gained from the narratives of Chinese students in Hong Kong

  • Daniel T.L. Shek EMAIL logo , Florence K.Y. Wu und Wen Yu Chai
Veröffentlicht/Copyright: 22. November 2016

Abstract

The General University Requirements (GUR) is a component of the new 4-year undergraduate program at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). This study examined students’ views and experiences of the GUR using a qualitative methodology. Written comments of 240 freshmen, sophomores, and senior-year students with reference to open-ended questions on their memorable experiences in the GUR study were collected. The qualitative findings suggested that students generally had positive views on the GUR in terms of its widely adopted active and experiential learning pedagogy, useful and attractive contents, caring teaching staff, and rich learning outcomes. Challenges were also identified for further improvement of the GUR.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank The Hong Kong Polytechnic University for providing financial support via the Teaching Development Grant in conducting the 5-year GUR evaluation study.

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Received: 2016-8-20
Accepted: 2016-9-25
Published Online: 2016-11-22

©2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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