Page 26 - FSTE A5 Handbook

Chapter Two
Common Core Requirements at the
UGC-funded Universities

Introduction
General Education, which is also known as the Common Core curriculum in some institutions,
refers to the idea that everyone should be equipped with some basic skill sets, perspectives and
knowledge of the world because these are considered as a common and necessary foundation
among tertiary graduates. Institutions consider the outcome of GE, not only as a preparation
for the experience of tertiary education, but also as contributing to the development of their
graduate attributes (Nichols & Nichols, 2001). Although different universities share a similar
attitude in adopting the idea of “common core,” this notion of “common” differs in meaning
and structures across universities.

In this chapter, the common core requirements among UGC-funded universities will be
reviewed, all of which is based on the results of the study on GE practices in Hong Kong
conducted by the Research Team. The mapping of intended learning outcomes of UGC-funded
GE curricula and the related categories of knowledge using the Kereluik Framework will be
discussed as well. To protect the interest of the eight UGC-funded universities, their names
will be presented by labels except for that information which is already in the public domain.
Fulbright Hong Kong General Education Program (2008-2012)
In 2006, the Hong Kong General Education Initiative (HKGEI) committed itself to providing liberal
arts training for undergraduates. By sponsoring Fulbright Scholars in liberal arts education, the
HKGEI hoped to develop curricula that could deal effectively with personal, interpersonal and
community problems and to address various global issues including but not limited to climate
change and global warming, public health, unequal resource utilization and distribution of
wealth, religious and ethnic conflict and more (The Clinton Foundation, 2016).

The Fulbright Scholar Program has been the U.S. Government’s flagship international education
exchange program since 1946 and is supported by the U.S. Department of State and partner
countries (U.S. Department of State, 2016). To make good use of the expertise of Fulbright
Scholars in GE, the Po and Helen Chung Foundation supported the Fulbright Hong Kong General
Education Project (FHKGEP) with funding matched by the UGC from September 2008 to June
2012. FHKGEP invited 20 American scholars in four cohorts to provide guidance to Hong Kong
academics in planning and preparing for the curriculum transition, that is, transforming from a
three-year curriculum to a more broad-based four-year curriculum with the inclusion of GE and
an enriched competencies-based pedagogy, e.g. shared inquiry, problem-based instruction,
service-learning and the use of information technologies (The Clinton Foundation, 2016).

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