Page 79 - FSTE A5 Handbook

“I have taken a course related to science. The instructor wanted us to make a poster. I considered
this being graded by the course instructor was weird. Then later, I took a course on games.
Again, this course used a strange grading system. He said there’s a class participation weighting
of 35%. This was really odd. He said we would be graded when we had discussion in class. But
we have never discussed anything! At the end, we all had a grade which seemed to be derived
from nowhere.”

The uncertainty of the assessment criteria seemed to be particularly problematic for some
GE courses. For example, the use of a poster as a form of assessment is a little unusual for
many traditional disciplines in university. From the student’s perspective, the poster was too
simple to demonstrate what they have learned. This reflected the student did not have a
solid understanding of the requirements which were underpinned by the learning outcomes
of the course in question. Some GE courses often adopt atypical assessment methods and
therefore assessment criteria unfamiliar to many students would be deployed. Students may
not understand this completely and therefore more explanations are required before the
assessment commences.
(2) Course diversification
GE courses are meant to provide a common foundation for university education. Generally,
students expect GE courses to be diversified and allow them to explore different topics:

“I think there were choices. The most important thing for GE is to have a choice. I really think it
all depends on universities’ capacity to offer courses and choices.”

“I think GE is quite a special thing because my major has a wide range of areas covered. This
means I could learn more than just the basics of Chinese Medicine.”

The nature of course diversification in GE courses can also provide students an alternative
foundation for switching to other disciplines when they enter a university. In fact, when
students started their post-secondary study, some have already changed to a new discipline
which differed from the stream they belonged to in their high schools:

“I studied Science in secondary school. Then, I chose business in my associate degree study.
During my AD in Business study, there were some compulsory GE courses such as accounting
and economics which I had never studied before. I was thinking then as I wanted to switch to
other disciplines, the GE course would give me the foundation to understand them. When I
finish the AD programme, if I happen to find these business related courses interesting, I can
choose business major in my university study.”
The foundation provided through the study of GE allows students to be sure whether they
are capable or feel genuinely interested before they attempt a new major. It definitely helps
student make more informed decisions.

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