GE Programme

General Education at HKBU

The General Education (GE) Programme at HKBU is purpose-built to provide students with the foundation of a well-rounded university education. The goal of the programme is to promote Whole Person Education through exposure to a range of transferable skills, guiding principles, and attitudes that all students will need in their future professional and personal lives. Through whole-hearted participation in the GE courses, students will begin to construct a deeper understanding of the world around them by making connections at personal, societal, and historical levels. In doing so, they will begin to determine where they can best contribute their unique talents within the complex and ever-changing global community. The GE courses at HKBU are taught by our best teachers and the GE programme is tailored with clear intended learning outcomes for the students, building on their respective strengths, towards achieving the HKBU Graduate Attributes. Obviously, the GE programme at HKBU was designed in accordance to an outcomes-based teaching and learning (OBTL) approach.

Intended Learning Outcomes of the GE Programme

The aim of the GE curriculum is to provide a foundation for each student’s development as a Whole Person. Accordingly, by the time students have completed the 38 units of the GE Programme, they are expected to have achieved a number of intended learning outcomes. Broadly speaking, students should be able to:

1. Communicate effectively as speakers and writers in both English and Chinese;
2. Access and manage complex information and problems using technologically appropriate means;
3. Apply appropriate mathematical reasoning to address problems in everyday life;
4. Acquire an active and healthy lifestyle;
5. Use historical and cultural perspectives to gain insight into contemporary issues;
6. Apply various value systems to decision-making in personal, professional, and social/political situations;
7. Make connections among a variety of disciplines to gain insight into contemporary personal, professional, and community situations.

General Education & Graduate Attributes (GAs)

The ultimate aim of General Education is to support the University’s aspiration to help students develop the HKBU Graduate Attributes, which expect students to:

1. Be responsible citizens with an international outlook and a sense of ethics and civility;

   成為具國際視野、品行高尚、有責任感的社會公民

2. Have up-to-date, in-depth knowledge of an academic specialty, as well as a broad range of cultural and general knowledge;

   掌握對學術專業當前最新學問，並有深厚認識，亦有廣闊的文化知識和通識基礎

3. Be independent, lifelong learners with an open mind and an inquiring spirit;

   以開放接納、獨立探求知識的精神，貫徹終身學習

4. Have the necessary information literacy and IT skills, as well as numerical and problem-solving skills, to function effectively in work and everyday life;

   擁有資訊科技、數字處理和解難能力，在生活及工作上發揮所長

5. Be able to think critically and creatively;

   具備批判思考以及創意思維

6. Have trilingual and biliterate competence in English and Chinese, and the ability to articulate ideas clearly and coherently; and

   精通兩文三語、能清晰表達有條理的想法

7. Be ready to serve, lead and work in a team, and to pursue a healthy lifestyle.

   具備領導和服務團隊的精神，實踐健康生活模式

The foundation for developing these GAs is provided by the General Education Programme, made up of the Core Requirements, which imbue students with transferable skills, attitudes, and guiding principles, and the Distribution Requirements, which expose students to disciplines outside their major area of study and encourage them to build connections among the various disciplines.

The GAs are further promoted and supported through other elements of the four-year curriculum structure, including the following: the in-depth knowledge provided by concentrated study in the student’s academic major, the enquiring spirit encouraged through the availability of completely free electives, and the opportunity to develop additional service and leadership interests outside the classroom through participation in both extra-curricular and co-curricular activities.