Hong Kong went through a complete reform in its higher education curriculum, incorporating opportunities for interdisciplinary learning and holistic competency development. Almost eight years have passed since the reform, yet little is known about the current state of students' holistic competency development across different disciplines. Students' self-evaluation of their capacities in holistic competencies can provide us indirect evidence of student development of these competencies for quality assurance. This study does not only aim to explore how undergraduates in Hong Kong self-assessed their holistic competencies, but also to identify whether there were disciplinary differences. To do so, 2192 undergraduate students from six universities in Hong Kong were surveyed using the validated Students' Perception of Holistic Competencies Questionnaire. Analysis of the quantitative data revealed that students generally rated themselves strongest in Moral Values but weakest in Interpersonal and Leadership Competencies. However, no substantial mean difference across the different disciplines was evident in all six holistic competencies investigated. The overall results indicated that undergraduates in Hong Kong generally believe that they have a moderately high level of capability in holistic competencies. Copyright © 2022 Elsevier.

With the increasing interest in entrepreneurship education within engineering education, there are questions on what engineering entrepreneurship education should include. As engineering entrepreneurship education aims to foster entrepreneurial individuals who will contribute to knowledge-based societies and economic growth, student perspectives are crucial. This study assessed first and final year engineering students' perceptions on entrepreneurship education in a university in Hong Kong, identifying important competencies as learning outcomes and motivating and deterring factors for students to pursue entrepreneurship as a career. Findings offer implications for curriculum design and educational practices, particularly on formally offering entrepreneurship education in the engineering discipline, involving competencies development in educational practices and developing opportunities addressing students' factors of motivation and deterrence. Copyright © 2022 Routledge.

Background: Holistic competencies comprise various holistic skills (e.g., communication) and positive values and attitudes (e.g., empathy). There have been increasing efforts worldwide to foster students' holistic competency development within engineering curricula. While recent studies indicate a positive shift, it remains unclear whether such efforts are driven by only a handful of individuals or more widely supported by systemic changes to constructively align competency development with the engineering curriculum. Purpose/Hypothesis: This study investigates the extent to which endeavors to promote holistic competency development in Hong Kong's tertiary engineering education are supported by a broader, constructively aligned curricular system. The three key components of constructive alignment developed by Biggs in 2003—intended outcomes, teaching activities, and assessment—form the conceptual framework guiding this study. Design/Method: This study conducted document analysis of 245 engineering courses and interviews with five engineering instructors from three Hong Kong universities. Results: Only 34 of 245 syllabi analyzed incorporated holistic competencies in their intended outcomes. These outcomes were associated with both traditional and experiential pedagogies but were not matched with direct or explicit assessments. Data show that program leaders' conceptions of holistic competencies, instructor's limited capabilities, and issues assessing competencies pose challenges to constructive alignment. Conclusions: Challenges for achieving constructive alignment and recommendations for addressing them are discussed. Our findings highlight the need to train all levels of engineering instructors in student holistic competency development, to acquaint instructors with industrial experiences and expectations, to develop top‐down and bottom‐up reforms to refine engineering curricula, and to provide increased recognition for teaching quality and efforts. Copyright © 2021

In recent years, reflective writings have been increasingly incorporated into the higher education curriculum to enhance students' deep learning and to help assess their experiential learning outcomes. However, as reflective practices gain momentum worldwide, an under-researched question arises regarding whether teachers know how to assess reflection. Drawing on a teacher assessment literacy framework, this study explores how six novice university teachers in Hong Kong understand the assessment of reflective writings from three dimensions. Findings reveal that although teachers demonstrate a strong understanding of assessing reflection in a conceptual dimension (e.g. purposes and approaches of assessment), practically and socio-emotionally, teachers lack adequate knowledge and awareness to perform satisfactory assessment of reflection. The study subsequently discusses how and why certain dimensions of assessment literacy in reflection are prioritised in Hong Kong higher educationand provides a range of implications to improve future reflection practices and research. Copyright ©Routledge.

Can residential experiences help undergraduates develop holistic competencies? To answer this question, a study was conducted based on the insights of 211 residents in Hong Kong. Deductive and inductive content analyses were respectively used to examine residence life outcomes, particularly in holistic competencies, and to categorise the types of residential experiences deemed to be effective for these outcomes. Results revealed that participation in hall activities led to the development of residence life outcomes, including justice, humanity, wisdom, courage, transcendence, and wellbeing. Furthermore, planning/organising hall activities greatly improved students' sense of justice while interpersonal dynamics facilitated the improvement of humanity only. The analyses indicated that students without specific engagement in hall activities were also able to develop temperance, particularly in self-regulation. Recommendations are suggested based on the analyses. It is hoped that this study might help inform policy-making processes to provide better residential environment that is beneficial to student holistic development.
[Copyright of Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management is the property of Routledge.]

Animations have long been perceived as an effective tool in teaching and learning. While students' reception towards animations has often been studied, there is also literature covering how teachers perceive and incorporate animations into their classes. At a research intensive university in Hong Kong, animations on the topic of university assessment policy, such as rubrics and grade descriptors, have been produced so that teachers can understand the latest policy quickly without attending lengthy workshops. It was found that a striking 95% of teachers reported gaining better understanding of assessment rubrics after watching the animation. This paper will present the findings from a small study on how teachers perceive the use of animations for their own professional development, and how they perceive the incorporation of animations into their own disciplines to engage students. Despite positive attitude towards the use of animation for teaching and learning, academics expressed practical and technical concerns.
[Copyright of Innovations in Education & Teaching International is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2013.847795]

Many educational researchers have established problem-based learning (PBL) as a total approach to education - both a product and a process - from a pedagogical instructional strategy to skills development to assessment. This study provides qualitative evidences from educational practitioners in various professional disciplines, namely, Medicine, Engineering, Dentistry, and Science in Ireland and Hong Kong, on some of the identifiable issues that affect the effectiveness of the PBL process: the actual problem, the assessment, the students' pre-college learning culture and the facilitator's role. Given the increasing level of faculty interest in PBL in higher education, it is evident that training and guidelines must be provided. Moreover, clear understanding of PBL and communications between curriculum developers and PBL facilitators are vitally important for ensuring effectiveness of PBL implementation. Findings also suggest that the pre-college learning culture is least influential on PBL effectiveness, provided that students are given numerous opportunities to work collaboratively from the start of their university studies.
[Copyright of Innovations in Education & Teaching International is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2014.961501]

Curriculum reform in higher education has been taking place in many countries, with much attention paid to many such as the national-level Bologna process in Europe, institutional-level Melbourne Model in Australia and discipline-level Engineering Criteria 2000(EC2000). This paper gives a detailed account of the reform initiatives taking place in the recent Hong Kong educational system and in particular, focusing on a research-intensive university in Hong Kong through literature and consultations. Being aware that teachers often face challenges in dealing with curriculum changes, this small-scale study aims to identify areas which faculty members require assistance in their professional development by investigating university teachers' perception of the curriculum reform in the Science discipline. Through quantitative and qualitative methods, it was also found that academics expressed doubts towards the implementation of outcome-based and student-centered learning approaches in the new curriculum despite their understanding of these concepts.
[Copyright of International Education Studies is the property of Canadian Center of Science and Education. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ies.v6n4p56]