Undergraduate Education

Programme Diversity

Underpinned by its “Education-plus” vision, the Institute will launch the Bachelor of Social Sciences (Honours) in Psychology in 2012-13. This unique programme will offer concentrations that develop students’ intellectual capacity and occupational readiness in three interrelated areas relevant to the needs of the community: School Psychology, Health Psychology, and Human Relations and Communication.

This is the fourth University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded multidisciplinary programme introduced by the Institute, following the launch of the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Language Studies and Bachelor of Social Sciences (Honours) in Global and Environmental Studies in 2010-11, and the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Creative Arts and Culture in 2011-12.

As of 2011-12, the Institute offered 29 education and education-related multidisciplinary bachelor degree programmes. To ensure synergy among programmes, more cross-offerings of major, minor and elective courses are being developed, and both formal and non-formal learning opportunities are provided for students. In this way, a truly coherent multidisciplinary environment is being created, conducive to the cross-fertilisation of knowledge and the active interflow of ideas among students from different disciplines.

3-3-4 Academic Structure

The 3-3-4 academic structure, to be launched at university level in 2012-13, aims to nurture students who can capably and confidently deal with the fast-paced and unpredictable changes of the 21st century that have been brought about by the globalised information era. To keep abreast of such changes, students need to go beyond their discipline-based knowledge and be equipped with a broad knowledge base and vision.

To nurture students with such qualities, the Institute aims to provide all students enrolled in its undergraduate programmes with a holistic common curriculum that covers General Education, Co-curricular Learning, Field Experience / Internship and Overseas Learning Experiences as well as Language Enhancement, whereby they are expected to meet functional tri-lingual proficiencies and language exit requirements in English and Putonghua.

Under the 3-3-4 academic structure, students pursuing the Bachelor of Education (BEd) (Honours) degree programme will follow a new 5-year curriculum, which will prepare them with professional knowledge and experience for teaching at primary and secondary schools. The integrated 5-year curriculum has the following distinctive features:

•	Flexible structure with multiple learning pathways
•	Total learning experience to groom both depth of professional and specialist knowledge and skills, and breadth of general knowledge
•	Outcome-based Learning (OBL) approach to curriculum design, teaching, learning and assessment
•	Reconceptualisation of General Education with the theme of "becoming an educated citizen"
•	Incorporation of local, national, regional and international dimensions
•	Experiential learning opportunities
•	Opportunities for research experience through curricular and / or co-curricular activities
•	Inculcation of professional ethics

The Institute attaches great importance to attracting high quality students to become future teachers. During the year, the Bachelor of Education Programmes Nomination Scheme was launched for the first-ever Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education cohort to be admitted in 2012-13. Under the Scheme, secondary school principals were invited to nominate up to ten students per school with the potential, ability and passion to become teachers for admission. The Scheme received an overwhelming response with 1,510 nominations from 215 secondary schools. These nominated students were invited to an Information Day held on 12 May 2012 and to attend admission interviews in June 2012.

Postgraduate Education

With the establishment of the Graduate School in April 2010, the Institute has steadily expanded its offering of taught postgraduate and research training programmes. As of 2011-12, over 2,000 students were pursuing 29 taught postgraduate programmes, covering among others, the Doctor of Education (EdD), the Master of Education, a number of Master of Arts and Master of Social Science Education programmes and the Postgraduate Diploma in Education.

We continue to play an active role in catering for the needs of professional enhancement for people with an interest in Education and related disciplines. In the 2011-12 academic year, the Institute launched new taught postgraduate programmes in Contemporary Studio Art and Criticism in Education, Educational Linguistics and Communication Sciences, Greater China Studies, Mathematics and Pedagogy, and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.

In 2011-12, a new area in Curriculum Studies within the EdD programme, as well as new masters programmes in Child Studies, Creative Arts Management and Cultural Entrepreneurship, Educational Counselling, Educational Speech-Language Pathology and Learning Disabilities, and Public Policy and Governance commenced the programme planning process for subsequent academic years. During the year, three students from the first cohort of the EdD programme launched in 2007-08 successfully completed their four years of part-time study.

On top of our students who pursue the newly developed undergraduate andpostgraduate programmes, part-time students coming from different walks oflife have been an important part of the Institute community. They are keen toenhance themselves through, for example, the study of Postgraduate Diplomain Psychology (Schools and Community Settings); Postgraduate Diploma inEducation (Professional and Vocational Education) as well as Bachelor ofHealth Education (Honours) programmes, which provide valuable contributionto the relevant professions.

In October 2011, the third cohort of the Research Postgraduate (RPg)programmes commenced their study. In addition to academic affiliation toteaching departments, locals and non-local students from Mainland China,Italy, Bangladesh and Malaysia were academically affiliated to either InstituteorFaculty-level Research Centres. Moreover, the RPg programmes haveattracted 167 applications from 23 countries and administrative regions foradmission to the fourth cohort in 2012-13.

With an increasing number of RPg students, the Institute proactivelyorganises activities to provide them with opportunities to broaden theirresearch exposure, experience and international horizons through interactionwith overseas scholars and their counterparts from other parts of the world.The first International Exchange Tour of Research Postgraduate Studentswas held on 4-9 March 2012. During the tour, students attended lecturesand seminars, and engaged in scholarly exchange activities with researchstudents and academic staff in Singaporean universities.

The First and Second rounds of the Summer School and ResearchConference for Postgraduate Students were held in July 2011 andJune 2012, respectively. Approximately 100 and 160 postgraduatestudents from Macau, Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong attendedthe Summer Schools. As part of the Research Conference, a series ofworkshops on developing advanced research skills was deliveredby speakers from the USA, Australia, Singapore, Macau andHong Kong.

Learning Support

In different phases, the Institute has upgraded its hardware, software and IT facilities, in preparation for the double cohort year. IT improvement works have covered, among others, Wi-Fi infrastructure to meet increasing demand for e-learning and mobile learning, and information systems enhancement to facilitate student administration in areas such as admission, e-application, timetabling, access to library information and learning resources. In terms of hardware and facilities, the Institute has carried out renovation work on classrooms, lecture theatres, laboratories, the canteen and other ancillary amenities, and has enhanced transport services between the Tai Po campus and mass transport links. The Institute has also established the Tseung Kwan O Study Centre to meet on-going learning needs.

To support the implementation of the new undergraduate programmes beyond 2012-13 and provide the best learning environment for all students, the Institute will continue in its efforts to upgrade its support services and facilities.