Views of Chinese students on general education based on individual interviews

Abstract

As there are few studies examining the views and experiences of students on general education, the present study explored students' perceptions and experiences of the General University Requirements (GUR), which is intrinsic to the four-year undergraduate degree program at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). Fourteen first-year undergraduate students were interviewed individually. Results indicated that students generally supported the rationales of GUR. They also perceived the content of GUR as clear and attractive, and teaching and learning as active and engaging. Most importantly, students perceived GUR as beneficial to the development of effective communication, leadership and problem solving. However, some students raised concerns on their GUR study, such as teaching science subjects to non-science major students and the meaningful use of group projects to promote learning.