Bulletin Special Supplement Jun 1965

view to creating a basis on which students w i ll be more readily able to work constructively on topics arising f r om the course-topics presented in lectures. I n particular, there must be great selectiveness in the choice of topics for treatment in a course. ( i i) Reduction, except in rare cases, of the number of lectures given. (iii) Setting up along the lines suggested, of small- group teaching for a l l students in the first and second years (the most difficult and on the face of things the least attractive phase of student work — but by far the most important). T h is w i ll involve a certain amount of consultation between departments to avoid providing t o o m u ch small-group teaching. T h e results of these operations should be put into effect in the year 1965-6. L8 .3 I n agreement w i th the Committee on Teaching Methods, we recommend that the Senate should at an early moment give consideration to the question of examinations; and that in the degree examinations (or examinations for t h i rd and fourth year courses) provision should be made for the most extensive possible participation by the external examiners, so that they may be able to give the fullest assistance, if called upon to do so, in considering further developments in this matter. L8.4 T he development of language teaching techniques along the lines we have noted should continue w i t hout interruption: (i) experiments on methods of i mp r o v i ng use of laboratories; (ii) enquiry to elicit the hard facts about reading speeds at present; (iii) further study of the New Asia College pre- sessional course and possible development; (iv) provision for, or maintenance of, expert staffing in each college; (v) consultation between these teachers. L8.5 Following on f r om the suggestions made in paragraph 8.2 above, it would be highly appropriate that in the following year, namely 1966-7 small-group teaching in the t h i rd and fourth years should be thoroughly scrutinised by colleges, for all courses in all Faculties. T h o u gh urgent, this measure can take its t u rn after the more pressing matter of first and second year work has been dealt w i th thoroughly; also, it w i ll be convenient to face the issues involved as a whole at a time when questions of inter-college teaching become important through the imminence of the move to Ma - L i u - S h u i. In the meanwhile, there is of course much to be gained by College Departments at once developing seminar work for fourth- year students where appropriate, and small-group teaching for courses other than first or second year courses, as and when revised syllabuses give further point to this more selective approach. L8 .6 T he need for full consideration to be given to these points and for advantage to be gained f r om all the experience of the college teachers leads us to write about Board of Studies and the tasks before them. These Boards were envisaged by the Fu l t on Commission (paras. 115-117) as the discussion grounds where consideration would be given to existing courses and schedules or programmes of study and where proposals for new courses could be brought forward and their place in relation to existing courses and programmes worked out. L8.7 At first the Boards would have, as a part of their duty and responsibility to the University, to review existing courses and the programmes of which they are constituent parts; this would have several purposes including: (a) providing for equivalence (not un i f o rm i t y) of the courses and programmes in the three Colleges. T h i s we regard as important — it w i ll lead to members f staff in subjects learning more about what is done in the other Colleges and why it is done; and if intercollegiate teaching is to become a reality it is essential that courses shall be closely equivalent in academic demands (lectures, tutorials, preparative study, written wo r k) on the students' time, so that there w i ll not be danger of some courses becoming overloaded and others k n own (and possibly therefore attractive) as "soft options"; (b) the avoidance of unnecessary duplication in parts (large or small) of courses; for some lectures in a course — not necessarily for all �一 students f r om more than one College might j o in up, while the relevant tutorial and written work could still be dealt w i th in the separate colleges. L8 .8 T he Boards of Studies w i ll be the groups to wh i ch proposals for new courses can be brought forward whether by the Director of University Studies in the subject or by any Head of Department or member of staff who feels that it is appropriate and opportune to do so. We have in m i nd that the appointment of a member of staff to a college department may mean that an expert, a scholar or a researcher in a particular field becomes available to talk about his special interest; the potentialities of this should be made available at least to the two senior years of students (in all the Colleges) by considering whether his specialism m i ght be offered as one of a group of options in one of the more advanced courses either through a series (not necessarily extending over a whole year) of lectures or through discussion classes of some kind. L8.9 There is another point about the syllabuses and discussions about these in the Boards of Studies. We do not know how it is expected that the syllabus and examination position w i ll develop. Presumably the examination papers are essentially the same for students f r om all three Colleges; they 42