Welcome Back to the New Academic Year!

Welcome to our first bi-weekly newsletter of this new academic year! We are excited to share with you various new initiatives and activities in this semester, which will enrich the incorporation and design of high impact experiential learning in the curriculum.

First thing first, the new round of Experiential Learning Fund is now open for application with deadline on 27 October 2014. The Fund has already supported 27 projects from 8 Faculties. An information session will be held on 7 October 2014 to facilitate colleagues to better understand the purpose of the Fund and application procedures. Please register HERE.

HKU had recently signed an agreement with International SOS to provide worldwide emergency support services to our staff and students. 5 information sessions will be held between September and October, in the Main Campus and the Sassoon Road Campus. Please join our information sessions to learn how International SOS could support you and your projects and how you can begin accessing its services.

Last year, through the Experiential Learning Fund, students and teachers were sent to various places in and outside Hong Kong, such as Guangdong of China, Malaysia, Thailand and India. Students and teachers came back with deep insights about putting the theory to test in the real world. In the upcoming GHELC seminars and newsletters, we will invite these pioneer teachers, community partners and students to share their unique learning journeys in various settings such as social enterprises or old age homes in Hong Kong as well as dental hospitals in India.

At the same time, we will continue to identify interesting experiential learning sites with new community partners. In the following issues, we will feature an introduction of the new projects in a coffee farm in Laos and a joint project between the faculties of Social Sciences and Engineering and a secondary school in the rural area of Vietnam. If there is any project ideas or community partners that you would like to explore further, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

We will also start initiating discussions and dialogues to explore the ethical terrain of experiential learning. When students are being put into a real-life situation to solve problems with a specific learning agenda, we are very aware that there will be ethical issues involved, and that intentional preparation is necessary. We will take steps to mainstream the ethical dimension into curriculum design and better prepare our students.

We hope that by working together, GHELC will continue to be a valuable platform for sharing new information and incubating creative experiential learning opportunities in the new semester.

News Update

Experiential Learning Fund 2014-2015 (Second Round) – Call for Applications The Experiential Learning Fund supports Faculties in introducing, expanding or enhancing experiential learning in their undergraduate curriculum. The deadline for the first round of application is 27 October 2014. This round of application is for experiential learning projects to take place in the Second Semester and Summer, 2014-15. Learn more

International SOS – Information Sessions HKU has recently signed an agreement with International SOS to provide worldwide emergency support services to all HKU staff and students. Please do come and know more about how the International SOS could help with your trip planning. 6 Oct 2014 (Main Campus) 10 Oct 2014 (Sassoon Road Campus) 14 Oct 2014 (Sassoon Road Campus)

GHELC Seminar Series – Experiential Learning in Social Venture Management Social Venture Management Internship (BUSI2812), a 6-credit course offered by the Faculty of Business and Economics, provides leadership opportunities for students in socially minded companies. In this seminar you will hear from the course instructor, business leaders, and the students themselves concerning what they have learned along the way. Learn more

GHELC Student Workshops – Project Preparation Series

GHELC organizes workshops to equip students with necessary skills and knowledge to take full advantage of experiential learning opportunities in unfamiliar environment.

Let’s equip yourselves at the Project Preparation Series!