University Review
Nurturing future-ready talent
Preparing students for the future
Adopting a transdisciplinary approach
To keep abreast with the fast-moving changes, developments and needs of today’s world, HKBU launched four new transdisciplinary undergraduate programmes from 2022-23. The programmes are: Bachelor of Arts and Science (Hons) in Arts and Technology; Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Business Administration (Global Entertainment); Bachelor of Social Sciences (Hons)/Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Innovation in Health and Social Well-Being; and Bachelor of Arts, Science and Technology (Hons). These uniquely formulated programmes are designed to future-ready students with a broad academic foundation and a comprehensive range of competencies by integrating science, technology and the humanities. Students will be well prepared not only for their own careers, but also the future development of their chosen fields.
Empowering students to thrive in the new world
HKBU is committed to developing academic programmes that support students in heightening their skills and becoming ready to navigate the new world. In the 2021-22 academic year, the Master of Science (MSc) in Drug Discovery (Modernization of Chinese Medicine) programme was introduced to provide students with interdisciplinary knowledge for the research and development of Chinese medicine. Other new programmes to be launched in 2022-23 include the Master of Science (MSc) in Marketing for the Creative Economy, the Master of Arts (MA) in Communication – Interactive Media, and the Master of Arts (MA) in Creative Writing for Cultural Professionals. The School of Business will also launch a new taught postgraduate double degree programme in Business Management, conducted in partnership with the Burgundy School of Business in France.
First fellowship scheme for working journalists
The School of Communication has established the HKBU Professional Journalism Fellowship, the first of its kind in Hong Kong, to raise the standards of journalism. Supported by the Dorothy Shen Wong Memorial Fund, the Fellowship enables practising journalists to take a sabbatical from their current work and enrich their knowledge through studying at HKBU. The programme also enhances local journalism education by fostering connections between the School and the media industry.
Grooming future Fintech talent
The School of Business at HKBU and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding in October 2021 to launch the Industry Project Masters Network scheme. Under this scheme, students of the Master of Science (MSc) in Finance (Fintech and Financial Analytics) programme will take part in Fintech research and application projects to gain practical skills and experience. The HKMA will connect with mentors from banks and Fintech firms while scholars from the School of Business will serve as academic mentors to the students.
Enriching students' learning experience
Digital transformation of teaching and learning
HKBU faculty made use of the opportunities presented by the pandemic to advance the use of technologies in teaching and learning activities. Our educators did not simply move courses online, but also utilised novel solutions to drive interactions among students and enrich their learning experience. Students reported high satisfaction levels with the University’s virtual learning and teaching initiatives.
HKBU has further advanced blended learning by developing Small Private Online Courses with 53 overseas partner institutions from 23 countries and regions. The courses have benefited over 3,200 students from HKBU and universities throughout the world.
In addition, the digital approaches to learning have encouraged the development of innovative assessment measures. HKBU and the Education University of Hong Kong have jointly developed technology-aided authentic assessment methods to understand how students apply their knowledge to real-life situations. The team released a compendium of exemplary authentic assessment practices in Hong Kong and provided recommendations for educators in conducting assessments and delivering timely feedback to students.
Using virtual set technology in news storytelling
Experiential learning is essential for equipping students with knowledge and skills to power their future careers. The School of Communication launched a new virtual set, which is equipped with a green screen and connected to a control room, to support teaching and learning for faculty members and students using digital technologies in the production of newscasts. With this facility on campus, students learn to apply on-screen graphics to create eye-catching virtual backdrops and practise different storytelling techniques for presenting the news, which enables the audience to visualise news stories vividly.
Experiential learning through the visual arts
In the General Education course “Art and the Community”, 60 students from different disciplines teamed up and worked on 11 art projects to engage the community in a variety of creative ways. Informed by knowledge and the practice of contemporary art in Hong Kong during the 1980s and 1990s, the students identified issues faced by the community and explored the themes of the past, present and future. After acquiring professional skills in art and design practices, the students worked on capstone projects and curated an online exhibition to showcase their creative outputs.
Promoting well-being on campus
As part of the University’s wellness drive, about 200 students were trained to provide emotional support to their peers through the Mental Health First Aid Captain Programme 2021-2022. During the past year, more than 100 online and offline wellbeing workshops and activities were run by the trained students, helping more than 2,900 participants to build a stronger awareness of mental wellness.
Fostering creativity on campus
Promoting contemporary Chinese literature and culture
The Chinese Writers’ Workshop (CWW), which was founded by the Faculty of Arts, hosted its 2021 “Distinguished Chinese Writers Series” online in September 2021. Renowned Chinese-American writer Mr Ha Jin delivered a Public Lecture, and also shared his writing insights with HKBU students at a Writing Masterclass. From March to April 2022, the CWW held its “Chinese Writers-in-Residence Programme” and “Hong Kong Writers-in-Residence Programme”. The three Writers-in-Residence, namely Ms Ho Sok Fong from Malaysia, Mr Lu Nei from mainland China, and Mr Keith Liu from Hong Kong, shared their works and experience with readers at a variety of virtual events.
Ms Ho Sok Fong
Mr Lu Nei
Mr Keith Liu
Overseas writers inspire literary creativity
The International Writers’ Workshop (IWW) hosted its Distinguished Writers Series in October 2021. The virtual event featured renowned Japanese fiction writer Ms Yoko Tawada, who gave a literary reading and discussed her works with local writers and readers.
The 2022 IWW Literary Festival took place in March with the theme “Writing and Well-being”. The Festival featured six international Writers-in-Residence, namely UK poets Mr Andy Brown and Mr Colin Herd; Colombian journalist Ms Catalina Lobo-Guerrero; Filipino fiction writer Mr Glenn Diaz; Polish writer and filmmaker Ms Marta Dzido; and Danish-Swedish writer and artist Ms Matilde Søes Rasmussen. They participated in a series of online events with readers to explore how writing can foster personal growth, encourage mindfulness, and increase emotional well-being.
Ms Yoko Tawada
Supporting diversified sports development
Ten elite student athletes admitted to HKBU
In 2021-22, HKBU enrolled ten top athletes on its undergraduate programmes through its Elite Athletes Admission Scheme. The athletes specialise in a broad range of sports, including karatedo, handball, rugby, artistic swimming, football, shuttlecock and lifesaving. It marked the first time that a shuttlecock athlete has joined HKBU through the Scheme. Under the Scheme, the University offers scholarship awards and flexible study arrangements for full-time athletes in Hong Kong.
New scheme to support athletes in pursuit of sport and education
In February 2022, HKBU launched the Talented Athletes Direct Admission Scheme (TADAS) pursuant to the introduction of the Student-Athlete Learning Support and Admission Scheme by the University Grants Committee. Under TADAS, the University supports entrants with personalised mentorship, academic advice, psychological counselling and career planning, as well as flexible study arrangements to facilitate their training and competition schedules. They are also allowed to extend their study period so that they can pursue their academic studies and develop their sporting careers at the same time.
Innovative pedagogies win international awards
Teaching and learning initiatives win QS-Wharton Reimagine Education Awards
“The Blue Sparrow English Poetry for Learners and Teachers” project, which was developed by faculty members from the Department of Education Studies and the Language Centre, received the Silver Award at Quacquarelli Symonds (QS)-Wharton Reimagine Education Awards. The project launched a multi-platform poetry e-corpus to promote poetry-reading practices in schools and digital poetry as praxis in teacher training courses.
At the same awards, the project “Sustaining Academic Integrity and Ethics (AIE) in Students through Mobile Augmented Reality (AR) Learning Trails”, which was led by the Centre for Holistic Teaching and Learning, was honoured with the Silver Award in the Virtual/Augmented Reality category. The project combined AR and mobile technology to create a blended learning environment for students and motivated them to continue their learning of AIE.
Gamified learning platform raises awareness about sustainability
At the eLearning Forum Asia Awards 2021, the Centre for Holistic Teaching and Learning’s “Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) eTournaments” project won the Silver Award in the Community Outreach category. Each eTournament is a gamified, challenge-based learning activity that raises students’ awareness of the SDGs. Since 2019, the eTournaments have attracted the participation of more than 1,750 students from 59 regions.
Blended learning activities enhance undergraduates’ research skills
In the 2021 International Contest on Blended Teaching and Learning organised by Peking University, three blended learning initiatives adopted by different courses were honoured with awards. The interdisciplinary course “Children as Consumers: Marketing to the Youth”, designed and taught by Professor Kara Chan (Department of Communication Studies), was awarded the Grand Prize. The course enabled students to acquire empirical research skills through a series of blended learning activities.
The flipped classroom approach adopted in “Teaching University Students”, a mandatory course for research postgraduate students delivered by a teaching team led by Dr Theresa Kwong (Centre for Holistic Teaching and Learning), scooped the First Prize. Dr Archimedes Guerra (Department of Finance and Decision Sciences) secured the Third Prize with his application of the Blended Learning for the Engagement and Self-efficacy of Students strategy in his course “Business Research Methods”.
Going global under the new normal
Going global under the new normal
AVA launches international art exhibition in six cities
The Academy of Visual Arts (AVA) organised the “First CITYA 2021: City as a Medium” international art exhibition, which took place in six cities around the world. More than 40 artists from Beijing, Hong Kong, Macao, Tallinn, Rome and San Francisco showcased their artworks in their respective cities in online or physical exhibitions from September to November 2021. The art pieces explored the inter-relationship between actual and digital spaces, and reflected the diverse social phenomena that had arisen in those cities during the pandemic.
Fostering alliances with top Mainland universities
To strengthen academic ties with higher education institutions in the Mainland with the ultimate aim of opening a new chapter for promoting novel development in education for the nation, HKBU and 18 leading Mainland universities co-organised the “‘Collaborating for a Brilliant New Chapter’ University Presidents Forum cum Agreements Signing Ceremony between HKBU and Mainland’s Leading Universities” in June 2022. Representatives of the Ministry of Education, the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR, the HKSAR Education Bureau, and member universities attended the online event.
International exchange in the virtual world
While the pandemic continued to affect regular student exchanges, the University adapted its teaching arrangements and launched virtual exchange programmes in partnership with 65 institutions in 24 countries and regions. A total of 6,200 courses from partner universities were offered to our students, while 139 courses across different disciplines at HKBU were made available to the virtual exchange students.
HKBU also provided students with increased opportunities to engage in virtual experiential learning. In addition to launching virtual speed networking campaigns, the University organised cultural immersive programmes and interactive workshops for HKBU students and their peers across the world. In addition, the HKBU Backpacker Learning 2021-22 programme was launched to support student-initiated outbound projects for learning or serving the community.
Set up by the International Office (IO) in 2020-21, the Mini-IO consisted of a team of HKBU students who helped forge global partnerships with overseas student bodies. This year, the growing members of the Mini-IO included incoming exchange students, and the unit has extended its Global Chapters to countries including Finland, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden and the UK.
Providing internship-driven exchange opportunities
Enabling students to gain early work experience is a critical step in preparing them well for success after graduation. During the year, about 700 students were able to secure physical or virtual internships and work attachment opportunities with companies in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area despite the pandemic. The University also connected students with overseas employers through virtual work attachment programmes in countries and regions, including Australia, Japan, South Africa, South Korea and the UK. These internship-driven exchange opportunities enable students to gain practical work experience while also broadening their horizons.
Strengthening social bonds across distances
The “Virtual Glocal Culture Orienteering on Sustainable Development Goals” programme, organised by the Undergraduate Halls, connected students from 12 countries and regions through a series of online cultural exploration activities. The programme not only helped students build multicultural competence, it also enabled them to gain a better understanding of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Numerous engagement activities ranging from leadership training workshops to webinars on a variety of themes were also held at the residential halls to provide students with a holistic living-learning environment.
Shaping socially responsible future leaders
Making a difference through service-learning
A vital component of HKBU’s whole-person education is service-learning. Not only does it connect academic study in the classroom with real-world experiences, it also creates opportunities for our students to increase their involvement in society. Despite the challenges presented by the pandemic in the past year, the University offered a total of 54 service-learning courses with the support of 94 community partners. More than 1,780 HKBU students served over 16,100 people in need through online modes, local and overseas services.
Treating patients with chronic diseases
Students who attended the one-year course “Orthopaedics and Traumatology of Chinese Medicine and Tui Na” connected with elderly patients who suffer chronic pain, and provided tailored health advice and Tui Na treatment to help relieve the patients’ symptoms. Led by Mr Cheung Chun-hoi (School of Chinese Medicine), the students produced a series of educational videos which guided the service users in locating acupressure points and conducting home exercises to relieve pain.
Training students with special needs to contribute to a low-carbon society
In the course “Energy Problems and the Environment” led by Dr Daphne Mah (Department of Geography), students worked with teachers of the Hong Chi Morninglight School, Yuen Long, to develop and lead a series of STEM workshops and activities related to solar data for students with special education needs (SEN). The course aimed to train the SEN students to be “little energy scientists” so that they could contribute to building a low-carbon society.
Tracing the development of rice farming in Hong Kong
Dr Kwok Kam-chau (Department of History) led a service-learning course that focused on issues related to agricultural diversity and the development of the New Territories. Students participated in a series of virtual tours and site visits of rice paddies in Lam Tsuen in the Tai Po District. They then made use of their knowledge of history and research skills to collect articles, books and historical documents about rice farming and production in Hong Kong as well as the agricultural history of Lam Tsuen Valley, and they analysed social issues such as rural-urban development.
Overseas service-learning activity explores social issues
In July and August 2021, students from the French stream of the European Studies programme offered by the Department of Government and International Studies participated in an overseas service-learning activity in France. Through the visits to three non-profit organisations, the students had a chance to explore social problems, analyse the social developments of France and develop a comparative perspective with Hong Kong.
Addressing social issues with innovative solutions
The Social Innovation Makers Programme brought together students from different disciplines to develop innovative solutions that create positive impacts on society. Under the Programme’s “Make a Little Thing” initiative, students took part in training workshops and created innovative interventions for three partnering organisations. Their projects included an online fun day to promote social inclusiveness, song lyrics that help build a sense of belonging in the community of To Kwa Wan, and a game design that raises awareness of traditional craftsmanship.
Building upon the “Make a Little Thing” initiative, the students developed the Twilight Buster Programme in collaboration with the Hong Chi Morninghope School, Tuen Mun, to promote inclusion in the community. This is the first student-led social innovation project supported by Wofoo Social Enterprises, and it included a variety of activities and workshops involving more than 80 HKBU students and over 60 students with intellectual disabilities.
