An implement of outcome-based approaches to student learning in common core curriculum

Abstract

The higher education reform has launched a new education structure (334) in Hong Kong, which provided a four-year undergraduate curriculum replacing traditional three-year education curriculum. In the first year of new education structure, students were engaged in studying the Common Core Curriculum (CCC). To achieve the high effectiveness of education, the University of Hong Kong has promoted the Outcome-based Approaches to Student Learning (OBASL) during the preparation of CCC since 2008. Hereby, the university designed six aims of education that all new undergraduate curriculums should achieve. Thirteen outcomes were designed to achieve in CCC programme following the university aims. Moreover, each course also set up the learning outcome under the University aims and outcomes of CCC programme, for example, in CCCH9029 “Ideas and Practice of Healing in Traditional China”, we designed four outcomes, which were alignment and fulfilled with CCC outcomes (thirteen items) (Table 1). How can we know students achieve the learning outcome? We thereby designed assessment tasks, e.g. tutorial, presentation, assays, filed trip and reflective writing, which should be alignment with the course learning outcomes (four items in CCCH9029). OBASL entails a shift in focus from teaching to learning. The ultimate goal is to engage students in deep understanding (deep learning) rather than a surface factual recall (surface learning). Therefore, in CCCH9029, we shifted the role of teaching and learning from teacher-centered to student centered. The course consists of 36 contact hours, with a 2-hour lecture and a 1-hour tutorial per week. Each tutorial has a limited number of students to 15. Therefore, every student has opportunity to communicate, discus the relevant issue, conduct the critical thinking and solve problem in small group under the guide of tutor. In the left 114 hours, we also designed other learning activities to enable students to active learning through fieldtrip, visit, group project, essay, reading, self-study, etc. With the plentiful teaching and learning activities, students showed more active to learn and easier to achieve the learning outcome.