Still on the subject of General Education… From time to time, you hear complaints about our university graduates. Some of the criticisms are just stereotyping but some are worth giving more thoughts. My observation is that many students don’t want to get out of their comfort zones and take more risks in learning new things, trying out new ideas, meeting new people…etc. I think this is because things have been laying down for them so well by their parents. This is not good for training their independence and problem solving skills which are the essentials in life! Our new 4-year university structure has a large GE component which aims to improve students’ independent & critical thinking skills, widen their horizons…etc. In my earlier post, I observed that some students choose GE courses that are related to their majors because they simply want better grades. That would defeat the purpose of GE. How do we encourage students to explore new things? Here are two thoughts:
No grades, just a pass or fail
Many teachers will be uncomfortable about this idea arguing that no grades equal no motivations from students. But is it? There are many literatures stating that grades create anxiety and unnecessary competitions among students which are the learning obstacles. Grades or not will not stop the highly motivated students from learning. It is the average to low motivated students, which is the majority in most cases, deserve more help and caring from the teachers.
No prescribed area/domain of study
A majority of universities divides the GE into several areas or domains and students are required to study courses from all areas so that they can gain a broader knowledge. This is a good thing to do but if we want our students to be more independent, can we do more? Instead of forcing them with rules of course selection, can we let them choose what they want to study, especially when all the courses have only passes or fails. To one extreme, students may choose courses only in the areas that are familiar to them, but that’s ok. If they choose grades over the potential opportunities to widen their knowledge, they may realize later in life that it is probable not a good decision. Well, at least they realize that and would make efforts to gain the knowledge back… may be a bit late that teacher would want, but the important thing is that a lesson has been learned and education is a long-term thing. I think this way will give more responsibilities to the students. They have to learn to live up with their decisions. Amherst College (see my previous post) let students choose their own courses and I think this is a true liberal mode that we should consider.
最近智經研究中心 (Bauhinia Foundation Research Center) 向一千多位16至35歲嘅香港市民做咗一個叫「年青人多樣化」的調查，結果在「個人抱負:十年目標」一項中，只有15.4%人選擇「貢獻社會」為目標，1.2%選擇「到內地生活」，在「工作期望:理想工作條件」一項中，最少受訪者將「 能增進對中國內地的視野」及「能擴闊國際視野」視為好工作的條件。大件事！佢地不放在眼內的東西就是學校想要佢地識或做的東西！唔怪得當學校期望佢地畢業之後要貢獻社會，佢地會聽到訓教啦！每間大學甚至新高中嘅通識，一定會涉及中國國情及國際視野，但係原來佢地唔太care！最擔心嘅係近半數受訪者考慮未來10年移居其他城市，其中84%是為了追求較佳生活質素！我未知果一千受訪者嘅詳細教育背景，但呢個調查係咪要提醒我地要在課程設計上，尤其在通識科目，要反思一下what the students want呢?
我地現時設計大學的課程都好綫性(linear)，學生以時間(time)去進級，例如學生在year one term 1 讀 Maths. I，pass之後就可以在下一年(year two)繼續讀Maths. II，如此類推，呢個想法Sir Ken Robinson 都挑戰過，所以不在此重覆；新學制加入30-40%通識似乎打散咗小小個綫性，情况我比喻為要做一個pizza咁：
The Pizza Model
Pizza 上面不同嘅toppings 就好似GE (或有大學稱之為Common Core) 不同的 area /domain /cluster 咁，例如你想整一個雜錦pizza，你便走去放肉類嘅容器揀你想要嘅肉放落去個底上面，就好似在GE Area 1 揀 course A, B, C…etc.咁，通常大學會將d互相配合嘅材料放比學生揀(呢個都係問題，留番遲d講)，但係好多時大部份學生都有困難將不同GE科目連結在一起，又或者覺得GE同本科Major冇關係，當然如果有人生閱歷就可以串連一起並知道everything connects to everything，但學生沒有工作經驗又未試過任何大挫敗，係好難貫通嘅，就等於個pizza個底做得唔好(甚致沒有底)，咁樣個pizza點會好食呢？要針對90後嘅學生，點樣整個好底托起所有toppings呢? 其實大學生嘅終極價值係點樣用方法去解決千奇百怪的問題，是嗎？咁你話每一科都要做大大小小的project，同個別degree都有final-year project，咪可以訓練學生嘅problem solving skills囉？係可以，但係都侷限於學生所讀嘅專業範圍，但係現實嘅問題複雜得多，例如香港要起高鐵，點止係工程問題咁簡單呢？我想不如要學生做一個Super Integrated GE Project，有以下特點：
Group work – 要有n+1位成員，n是你大學有幾多schools或faculties，例如中大有8個undergraduate學系，咁n=8，每一位project成員就讀不同學系(可重覆一次)，可以由電腦中央分派。呢個做法係針對現在學生很少兄弟姊妹，訓練佢地同唔同背景嘅人合作，現實世界都係咁架啦，你係唔可以揀同邊個合作。
Solving problems in different perspectives – project 可以由一個panel想出黎，panel member由各個學糸派出教授，一個project可以由多過一組學生負責以提高鬥心，並要求學生以多角度去提出一套可行嘅solutions，咁project嘅性質就要複雜d，學期完做一個solution week，每組present自己嘅solution由一個panel去評分，成員可以有校外專家參與。
最近有機會被問起乜叫Liberal Arts (中文又譔博雅教育、通識教育等)，突然語塞，有d內疚因畢竟都接觸咗咁耐，唔緊要，反應唔夠快就將勤補拙啦，冇野係唔可以學嘅，終身學習都係通識精神嘛！從 Wiki維基或者個名都略知一二，佢係注重通識教育培育通才，同訓練專業如醫生、會計師、工程師等概念相反，據大英百科全書定議：
“college or university curriculum aimed at imparting general knowledge and developing general intellectual capacities, in contrast to a professional, vocational, or technical curriculum”
美國有好多Liberal Arts Colleges，通常都係小規模，注重師生之間的互動及關係，三大長春滕(Ivy League) 大學Harvard, Yale and Princeton 就好多人知，Liberal Arts也有「三小長春滕」，就係Amherst College, Wesleyan University and Williams College，佢地通常都會以小班教學為主(<30人)方便互動討論。通識教育係一個世界大趨勢，香港中學新高中課程都有一科Liberal Studies，大學為應付334新學制都已經有新degree structure加入大量通識科目。
“In a complex, shifting world, it is essential to develop a high degree of intellectual literacy and critical-thinking skills, a sense of moral and ethical responsibility to one’s community, the ability to reason clearly, to think rationally, to analyze information intelligently, to respond to people in a compassionate and fair way, to continue learning new information and concepts over a lifetime, to appreciate and gain pleasure from the beauty of the arts and literature and to use these as an inspiration and a solace when needed, to revert to our historical past for lessons that will help shape the future intelligently and avoid unnecessary mistakes, to create a sense of self-esteem that comes from personal accomplishments and challenges met with success.”
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