Evaluation of students’ first-year experience and reflection on new curriculum

Principal Supervisor

Professor Chan Lai Wan, Faculty of Engineering
Professor Dennis K.K. Fan, Faculty of Business Administration
Professor Sunny K.S. Kwong, Faculty of Social Science
Professor Lai Pan Chiu, Faculty of Arts
Professor Patrick S.Y. Lau, Faculty of Education
Professor H.K. Ng, Faculty of Medicine
Professor Poon Wai Yin, Faculty of Science
Professor Steven Gallagher, Faculty of Law
Duration

2 years & 8 months
Approved Budget

HK $2,500,000
 
  • Project Objectives
  • Key deliverables expected
  • Evaluation of deliverables/outcomes
  • Dissemination of deliverables/outcomes

Project Objectives

  • to evaluate students’ learning and experience in the courses offered in the Faculty Package or by departments;
  • to evaluate students’ overall experience in their first year of study, including department/ programme/ faculty and university core requirements;
  • to compare and contrast students’ experience with reference to their education backgrounds (for example, different secondary school backgrounds and different faculties);
  • to conduct longitudinal studies to identify major factors that affect students’ overall development; and
  • to provide feedback and suggestions to academic units for their review and consideration.

Key deliverables expected and timelines for completion

The overall timeline, stages, and corresponding outcomes and deliverables are outlined in the following table:

Project stage (year) 2013 2014 2015  
Month 1-3 4-6 7-9 10-12 1-3 4-6 7-9 10-12 1-3 4-6 7-8 Specific tasks, with corresponding outcomes & deliverables
(1) Evaluation of students’ learning and experience in Faculty Package 1a
1b		 1a
1b		                   (1a) Conduct literature review
(1b) Design focus groups/ interview protocols for all eight faculties
(2) Evaluation of students’ overall ‘First-Year Experience’ 2a
2b
2c		 2a
2b
2c		   2a
2b
2c		 2a
2b
2c		 2a
2b
2c		   2a
2b
2c		 2a
2b
2c		 2a
2b
2c		   (2a) Conduct focus group interviews in each faculty
(2b) Evaluate students’ learning and experience in the Faculty Package
(2c) Evaluate students’ overall ‘First-Year Experience’ and track characteristics of their development
(3) Analyses comparing and contrasting students’ experience from different backgrounds 3a
3b
 3a
3b
   3a 3a
3b
 3b   3a 3a
3b
 3b   (3a) Focus Group data documentation
(3b) Conduct content analysis of qualitative data to compare and contrast students’ varying experiences
(4) Longitudinal studies that identify factors underlying student development 4a 4a
4b		 4b
4c		   4a 4a
4b		 4b
4c		   4a 4a
4b		 4b
4c		 (4a) Conduct in-depth interviews with student panels
(4b) Identify factors that affect students’ learning and experience
(4c) Develop other measurements (e.g. questionnaire) for collecting other sorts of (e.g., quantitative) data
(5) Feedback for academic units   5a 5a     5a 5a     5a
5b		 5a
5b		 (5a) Send intermediate reports to faculties
(5b) Document and disseminate final reports

Arrangements for evaluation of project deliverables/outcomes

The building blocks of the project are longitudinal in nature, and will be repeated each year in the current triennium. To ensure that the results will be best aligned with the objectives, the supervisors will perform data analyses and evaluation once each stage of the project is completed, so as to prepare for the design of the next stage of the process.

Means for disseminating project deliverables/outcomes

All the eight faculties and units that support the teaching of core requirements will take part in the project. Hence, results will be readily disseminated across the university in an effective and efficient manner.