Newsletter No. 372

2 No. 372, 19.2.2011 新課程準備就緒 CUHK Gears up for New Curriculum knowledge, as well as independent research or practical work. This innovative course is a culmination of the undergraduate experience, sharpening students’ thinking through research and helping them to integrate and apply their knowledge.’ Students will gain invaluable research experiences from the course which will be beneficial for further studies and career prospects. To enrich students’ interdisciplinary knowledge, each Faculty will provide a faculty package offering a basket of different courses for students to take outside their majors, thus broadening their knowledge beyond their chosen fields of specialization and complementing their major studies. Students will also enjoy greater flexibility to pursue double majors and double minors, significantly raising their competitiveness upon graduation with their extensive knowledge base. Currently, over 90% of each cohort of students are able to undertake overseas exchange, 20% of that for one semester or one academic year to some 200 prestigious institutions worldwide. Professor Young remarked, ‘In the new four-year curriculum, our goal is for 100% of each cohort to have at least one opportunity for exchange, and for 30% to go for one semester or longer. We hope that all undergraduates who wish to go on exchange will have the chance to do so. This will broaden their horizons and enable them to set higher aspirations.’ The core requirement for all undergraduates will increase from 23 units to 39, accounting for about one- third of the overall required units. The core programme includes Chinese language, English language, general education, information technology and physical education. The required credits for the General Education Programme will be increased to 21 from 15. The University has begun offering a brand new General Education Foundation Programme, which comprises two courses, ‘In Dialogue with Humanity’ and ‘In Dialogue with Nature’ that encourage students to contemplate perennial concerns of human existence through the reading of classics. A website ( www.cuhk.edu.hk/334/english/ ) has been launched containing information related to the new curriculum. 跨科學習： 回歸大學教育的基礎 Interdisciplinary Learning: Return to the Foundation of University Education 為迎接本港推行3+3+4新學制，中大已全面準備就緒。大學早前公布，將於2012學年推行的新課程，會着重跨學 科知識和通識教育的培育，讓學生掌握專門知識外，同時具廣闊的學識基礎，這與早前到訪中大的哈佛大學工程 及應用科學學院的戈登．麥凱講座教授哈里．劉易斯的意念不謀而合。 負責設計新課程的小組主要成員包括（左起）：大學通識教育副主任兼通識教育基礎 課程主任梁美儀教授、中國語言及文學系系主任何志華教授、副校長楊綱凱教授、 英語教學單位主任柯安迪教授，以及資訊科技教育促進中心主任兼計算機科學與工 程學系教授李浩文教授 Key members of the task force which designs the new curriculum (from left): Prof. Leung Mei-yee, associate director of University General Education & programme director of General Education Foundation Programme; Prof. Ho Che-wah, chairman of Department of Chinese Language and Literature; Prof. Kenneth Young, Pro-Vice-Chancellor; Prof. Andy Curtis, director of English Language Teaching Unit; and Prof. Lee Ho- man Jimmy, co-director of Centre for the Advancement of Information Technology in Education and professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering 新 課程的一大特色，是各主修學科增設「總結科目」， 所有學生須在畢業前參與研究或實習，汲取經驗。 楊綱凱副校長指出：「『總結科目』讓學生通過獨立研究 或實習，融會不同學科的知識，鍛鍊做研究的精密思維， 融會其學習所得。」這些不可多得的研究經驗，對畢業後 進修或就職均有莫大裨益。 此外，為擴闊學生的跨學科知識，各學院將增設學院課 程，學生必須在其學院所提供的不同科目中，選讀非主修 的科目，涉獵其他學術領域的知識之餘，並可對主修科目 的學習帶來裨益。同時，學生選擇修讀雙主修及雙副修的 靈活度亦大增，多元的知識基礎為日後發展不同事業創造 優勢。 現時參與各類海外交換計劃的學生已超過每級人數的九 成，其中兩成有機會到世界各地二百多所著名學府作為期 一個學期或一學年的交流學習。楊副校長說：「我們已定 下目標，將前往外地交流的中大生名額進一 步提升至每級人數的百分之百以上，其中出 外交流一個學期或以上的名額則提升至三 成。希望所有有志前往外地交流的學生都 能如願，放眼世界，建立更遠大的志向。」 大學亦會大幅加強包括中文、英文、通識教 育、資訊科技及體育的核心課程，由目前的 二十三學分增加至三十九學分，佔總學分三 分之一。通識課程將由十五學分增至二十一 學分，新推出必修的「通識教育基礎課程」 分為「與人文對話」及「與自然對話」，鼓勵 學生細味歷代經典的智慧，思考與人類生 存有關的永恆課題。 新學制的相關資訊已上載專備網站（ www. cuhk.edu.hk/334/chinese ） ，歡迎閱覽。 I n the new curriculum, all major programmes will include a ‘capstone course’ that gives all students the opportunity to participate in research and/or internship. Pro-Vice-Chancellor Prof. Kenneth Young said, ‘The “capstone course” targets the synthesis of subject CUHK is fully ready to implement the ‘3+3+4’ academic structure. With a prime focus on cultivating interdisciplinary knowledge and general education, the new curriculum will take effect in the academic year of 2012 to sharpen students’ intellectual faculty with both breadth and depth of knowledge across disciplines as well as within specialties. This philosophy finds parallel in the thought of Prof. Harry R. Lewis, Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University, who recently visited CUHK.