Newsletter No. 454

4 454 • 19.3.2015 A Manual for Mentors and Mentees www.cuhk.edu.hk/clear/qm/index.html 教 書是門藝術，而教師也如藝術家，不同人有各自一套 藝術表現手法。香港中文大學的核心使命是提供全面 綜合的高質素教育，因而教與學的質素保證不僅必要，更是 藝術。 2008年，中文大學成為本地第一所接受教資會轄下的質素 保證局（質保局）核證的高等學府。質保局同年9月發布《香 港中文大學質素核證報告》，由獨立評審小組專家編撰，讚 揚並肯定了中大的質素保證機制與措施。報告寫道：「中大遵 循其宗旨和使命，為學生提供良好的學習經驗，並設有完善 的質素保證制度。」 然而，中大並未因此而自滿，反而更積極提升教育質素和學 習環境，主要着眼於2012年開始的本科課程新學制。全校各 方的不懈努力最終匯合成一本《質素便覽》，現已放於網上 方便教師、學術行政人員和學生隨時使用。 常務副校長 華雲生 教授說：「大學致力保持其高質教學的關 鍵優勢，清楚體現在完善的質素保證機制上，從大學、課程、 科目三個層面確保學術水準和學習果效。」 《質素便覽》值得由頭至尾細讀，有需要時不妨反復查閱。 讀者可快速而全面了解到，大學實行了哪些保證教學質素和 學習效率的措施。附錄補充的資料對熱心教學和行政的職員 格外有用。 《便覽》觸及大學生各方面的學習生活——教室、書院、課 外活動、校外學習，一應俱全，是學術規劃、管理與評核的路 標、地圖與指南針。 它對於初入中大或初為人師的教員特別有價值。若你剛博士 畢業，一心當個好教師，《質素便覽》將是一盞明燈，指引你 逐步踏上高等教育的教學正軌。若你教的是研究生課程，會發 現評核研究生課業那部分尤能派上用場（第五章第三節）。 除教壇新秀外，資深教授同樣有求助於《便覽》的時候。譬 如，個案未出現時，很少教師會想到紀律的問題。萬一情況 發生，《便覽》中有關試讀、退學、學術著作誠信部分（第五 章第三、五、六節）就會大派用場，裏面提到的各項規章準則 對處理已經相當棘手而敏感的情況相信會有用。資深教授若 負責新課程的發展，就更離不開《便覽》，相關的政策與程序 在文內可一覽無遺（第三章）。 教與學質素寶典 協理副校長 潘偉賢 教授身兼學能提升研究中心主任，這個 中心在中大是質素保證機制與措施的重要把關。潘教授說： 「《質素便覽》記載了現時所有本科和研究生課程內，實施 的質素保證及提升的政策與措施。內容會根據相關人士和 部門的反饋意見而定期更新。我希望隨着大家使用和參與， 《便覽》可發揮愈來愈大的作用。」 T eaching is an art, and like artists, different teachers have different approaches to the performance of their art. For an institution like CUHK whose core mission is to provide quality education on a comprehensive scale, quality assurance of its teaching and learning functions becomes a necessity and an art in itself. In 2008, the Chinese University was the first local institution to be audited by the Quality Assurance Council (QAC) of the University Grants Committee. QAC released its Report of a Quality Audit of The Chinese University of Hong Kong , compiled by a panel of independent experts, in September that year and made many commendations and affirmations of our quality assurance measures and institutional practice. In its words, ‘CUHK is providing a high quality student learning experience that reflects its mission and role statement, underpinned by good quality assurance system.’ CUHK has not rested on its laurels, however. It has since continued to improve the quality of the education and the learning environment it offers, particularly but not exclusively for the new undergraduate curriculum that started in 2012. The Quality Manual is an offshoot and the natural product of such continuing efforts on the institutional level, now a user-friendly handle online for teachers, academic administrators and students alike. Prof. Benjamin W. Wah , Provost of CUHK, said, ‘The University’s commitment to its key strength in quality teaching finds unequivocal expressions in its many well- established and structured quality assurance mechanisms that ensure high academic standards and student achievement of outcomes on the institutional, programme and course levels.’ The Quality Manual is worth reading from beginning to end, in addition to being repeatedly referred to from time to time. It can also provide a quick and comprehensive understanding of what has been put in place to ensure teaching quality and learning efficacy. Its appendices supplement with further information and materials that every dedicated teacher and administrator would have found useful. The Manual touches upon and reaches down to every nook and cranny of a student’s learning life in the University— classroom, college, extracurricular activities, off-campus learning, you name it. It provides signposts, maps and guidelines in academic planning, management and assessment. It is particularly valuable to teachers who are new to the University or the profession. To someone freshly out of her PhD who takes her new teaching challenges seriously, the Quality Manual throws a thread that would lead her steadily through the maze of tertiary pedagogy. If she’s also teaching a postgraduate course, she will find the part on assessing postgraduate students’ coursework particularly useful (Ch. 5.3). Not only will new teachers find the Manual useful, but veterans should also have many occasions to refer to and consult it. For example, very few teachers would pay much attention to disciplinary issues unless and until they are faced with specific cases. They will then find the sections on academic probation, discontinuation of studies and honesty in academic work (Ch. 5.3, 5.5, 5.6), and the various regulations and codes of practice mentioned therein of especial relevance in situations already fraught with difficulties and sensitivities. It is also indispensable to veterans who are tasked with developing new programmes and who want to benefit from accessing all the relevant policies and procedures at a glance (Ch. 3). Prof. Isabella W.Y. Poon , Associate Vice-President of CUHK, is also the director of the Centre for Learning Enhancement And Research (CLEAR), one of the most important facilities in CUHK’s nexus of quality assurance mechanisms and measures. She said, ‘The Quality Manual documents existing policies and practices on quality assurance/enhancement implemented, in and applied to all programmes on the undergraduate and the postgraduate levels. It will be updated on a regular basis with feedback and input from all interested parties and units. It is my wish that the Manual will thus be made fitter and fitter for our purposes.’