Integrated Framework of IoC in CUHK 

A Model of the Aligned Curriculum (Figure 1)

Curriculum Development 
at CUHK

IF pix

The University regards teaching and learning (T&L) as a core function and places great importance on the culture embedded in the institution and its history, and also on explicit systems and procedures to assure and enhance the quality of the educational experience for students. These principles have been incorporated into a curriculum development model as shown in Figure 1 below, which is also included in the University’s Integrated framework (IF) for Curriculum Development and Review. The model commences with student learning needs which are utilised to formulate desired learning outcomes, leading to the five elements in the integrated curriculum framework: desired learning outcomes, content, learning activities, assessment and feedback for evaluation. These five elements are also incorporated into the procedures for programme development, programme review, course development and course review. Feedback for evaluation is central to the model as it informs reflection upon practice.

Conceptual Framework on Internationalization of Curriculum

To guide internationalization of curriculum at faculty and programme level, a conceptual framework on internalization of curriculum has been developed based on inputs from Faculties, and with reference to the curriculum development model (Figure 1) adopted by the University. Programmes are encouraged to take into consideration the aspects listed below for internationalizing various elements of the curriculum in their design of courses and programmes:

    In an internationalized curriculum, students are expected to:

    Primary considerations:

  1. demonstrate an ability to consider issues from different perspectives and think globally;

  2. demonstrate the capacity to apply international standards and practices within the discipline or professional area;

  3. demonstrate an awareness of cross cultural issues relevant to the discipline/professional practice; and

  4. embrace multilingualism.

    5. Secondary considerations:

  5. demonstrate an awareness of Chinese culture and its perspectives and other cultures and their perspectives; and

  6. appreciate the relation between local and global field of study and professional practices.

    With an internationalized curriculum, educators can:

    Primary considerations:

  1. use materials with case studies, projects, and examples from different countries;

  2. use currently published international textbooks, journal articles or book chapters;

  3. make critiques on international case studies and academic materials; and

  4. examine global humanity issues and related social and economic issues.

    5. Secondary considerations:

  5. facilitate students to reflect critically on individual cultural identity and its social construction in university study;

  6. facilitate students to reflect critically on Chinese cultural and geographical context in university study;

  7. include specific reference to contemporary international and local content; and

  8. include accounts of the historical background to current international practices.

    To introduce internationalized elements to teaching and learning activities, educators can:

    Primary considerations:

  1. include presentations or input from guest lecturers on international practices/perspectives;

  2. include international contacts and networks in the discipline/professional area;

  3. require students to locate, discuss, analyze and evaluate information from different international sources;

  4. provide students with opportunities to establish working relationships with non-native students from diverse backgrounds and cultures;

  5. include internships/placements/experiential learning opportunities in an international or cross cultural context; and

  6. post case studies to an online ‘bulletin board/forum’ for students to have academic discussion in the university platform/social networked space.

    7. Secondary considerations:

  7. use electronic means, synchronous and asynchronous communication to connect with overseas students of the discipline;

  8. include learning tasks and/or research assignments with an international or intercultural component;

  9. require fieldwork with local organizations to work on international projects or trans-cultural projects;

  10. encourage students to use personal experiences as examples; and

  11. conduct research through the online/cloud platform to explore professional practices in different cultures/countries.

(4) Assessment

    Educators designing assessment tasks within an internationalized curriculum can:

  1. include tasks requiring students to compare local and international standards in the professional area/discipline; and

  2. include group projects in which students are assessed for their ability to work with others, consider peers’ perspectives and compare between perspectives.

    3. Apart from the suggestions for internationalizing the curriculum related to the four aforementioned elements included in the curriculum development model, faculties and programmes are also encouraged to refer to the following considerations in relation to professional development of teachers when considering “internationalizing the curriculum”, since professional development of teaching staff is also a component of the quality assurance framework for T&L at the University, as stipulated in the IF:

    To teach in an intercultural setting, educators who teach an internationalized curriculum need to:

    Primary considerations:

  1. deal with cultural differences.

    2. Secondary considerations:

  2. use a non-native language of instruction with their students;

  3. be aware of learning and teaching styles;

  4. have an understanding of using media and technology in bridging local and non-local communication and interactions;

  5. acquire international requirements connected with the academic discipline;

  6. have good knowledge of the local education systems; and

  7. perform personal and professional qualities.

The above considerations are adapted from the resource kit of the Centre for Curriculum Internationalization from Oxford Brookes University with inputs from all faculties, and are intended primarily for internal circulation and discussion at the University.

Internationalization of Curriculum/ Internationalization at Home Ten Practices of internationalization of curriculum on T&L

# Place Aspect Details
1 CUHK Learning activity A CLEAR project (2016-2019) on internationalization of curriculum invited teaching staff from different faculties to review and embed international elements in the course design. One of the initiatives involved a law course on using digital tool to facilitate discussion in class. Google document was used as an online platform to document the in-class discussion and facilitate students’ communication. The discussion on the Google document was later published on an open-access textbook on internet law. 
(Collaborators: CLEAR and Prof Angela Daly)
2 CUHK Assessment The same IoC project also invited a CUHK teacher from the English Department to internationalize the course design. After a series of discussion on course review, the assessment rubrics and students’ presentation topics were embedded with international elements. The internationalized curriculum allowed the CUHK English major students to take on a global perspective and consult international journals and case studies when they conducted research on the assignment. 
(Collaborators: CLEAR and Dr. Suzanne Wong)
3 The Netherlands/ Belgium (Brussels) Learning activity A collaboration between the architecture faculties of two universities, one from The Netherlands and the other from Belgium. The students were assigned a project to design a bridge for a chosen location from the other country. The home students needed to research on the geographical, social, and political environments of the other country and design a bridge and present their design to each other. 

This case study was shared by Prof Jos Beelen at an EAIE Spring academy workshop in The University of Bordeaux in April 2019.
4 USA/Australia Teaching activity This paper introduces a novel cross-discipline and cross-country activity with the overall goal to expose students to an international environmental problem (climate change) that requires an awareness of different perspectives, so as to contribute to their development of responsible global citizenship through internationalization of the curriculum. Students studying in Australia and the United States of America completed an anonymous survey on their climate change perceptions, and then the students discussed the results via a live video link. The survey results provided the catalyst for students to reflect on the ecological impact of their different lifestyles. The students could demonstrate their critical thinking skills and develop cross disciplinary thinking by exploring the vexed issue of climate change science, perceptions, and culture. Overall, the survey was simple to implement and the tutorial was successful despite the different time zones. Our activity achieved the broader goal of internationalization of student learning and enhanced our students’ ability to view problems from different angles and helped foster boundary-crossing skills.

Helen V. McGregor, Beth O'Shea, Chris Brewer, Pamela Abuodha & Emma J. Pharo (2014) Internationalization of the Curriculum Through Student-Led Climate Change Teaching Activity, Journal of Geoscience Education, 62:3, 353-363, DOI: 10.5408/13-033.1
5 UK Curriculum design and course development Examples of designing courses for internationalization were given by authors from CELT, the Centre for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching, Lancaster University. The examples include 1. Extra English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and study skills courses; 2. content-related work on reading strategies, writing critically, referencing and using other voices in academic essays for both British and non-British students; and 3. Courses embedded within students’ degree schemes which had an internationally comparative approach.

Luxon, T., & Peelo, M. (2009). Internationalisation: Its implications for curriculum design and course development in UK higher education. Innovations in Education and Teaching International,46(1), 51-60. doi:10.1080/14703290802646172
6 UK Technological University Dublin Approaches, assignment, activities This publication provides a comprehensive list of possible activities to internationalize an architectural curriculum to help prepare students for professional practice in a transnational world. Activities include: 
  - Design assignment set on a geographical border-assessment by cross-national academics 
  - Cross-disciplinary assignment with medical students to design a hospital bedroom. (Architecture students           work with medical students) 
  - Architecture students present house design to client and medical students. 
  - Online architectural communications module with Dutch students 

Cleary, J. (2015) OUR (DIFFERENT) PLACE IN THE WORLD Internationalising an Architectural Curriculum to help Prepare Students for Professional Practice in a Transnational World. Dissertation submitted to Dublin Institute of Technology in partial fulfilment of M.A. in Higher Education, 2015.
7 UK Inclusive pedagogy, learning activities The study gives examples of different practices on art and design to internationalize the curriculum. One of the examples is a case study on a Ghanaian fashion student designing a range of funeral wear, an unusual and unprofitable choice for a product range from a European perspective, but for which there is a viable market in Ghana. (Harley et al, 2008). The study on Art, Design and Architecture pedagogies also explores the possibility of studio teaching and notes that ‘studio can also provide a supportive environment for all students, and that its interactive nature has much potential for helping home students to increase their global awareness, which is an important goal of internationalization.’

Caldwell, E. and Gregory, J. (2016), ‘Internationalizing the art school: What part does the studio have to play?’, Art, Design & Communication in Higher Education, Vol.15 (2), pp.117–33
8 UK/Australia Portal Pedagogy (virtual classroom) A collaboration project involving ‘an interdisciplinary undergraduate unit, ‘Forms of identity’, co-taught by Monash University (Australia) and the University of Warwick (UK) via an innovative new international portal teaching space’(Monk et al., 2015, p.67). ‘In the Australian evening/UK morning, students and staff are challenged to consider their notions of ‘space’ and what is ‘real’, engaging with classmates and colleagues on the other side of the world via the live video-link projected through the portal, which, according to the students, allowed them to talk as if they were in the same room. The unit attracted students from diverse disciplinary backgrounds, which resulted in fruitful discussion not only across the cultural and geographic boundaries bridged by the portal, but also among students from different faculties and areas of study’ (p.68)

Monk, N., Mcdonald, S., Pasfield-Neofitou, S., & Lindgren, M. (2015). Portal Pedagogy: From interdisciplinarity and internationalization to transdisciplinarity and transnationalization. London Review of Education,13(3), 62-78. doi:10.18546/lre.13.3.10
9 The Netherlands CANactions School (UA/NL), The Independent School for the City (NL) Spring School The 8-day programme, ‘Borders are for crossing’, is designed for up to 30 master- students and graduates from the fields of Architecture, Urban Design and Planning, Architecture History, Sociology, Anthropology, Political and Cultural Studies, Arts and Media, and other related fields. The participants will be guided to explore how the intra-European transfer of people, ideas, goods and finances effects spatial, social, economic and political conditions in a western city.

http://internationalspringschool.com/
10 Australia Curriculum design A feature of Australian Higher Education over the last 10 years has been the increased numbers of international students. This feature has been perceived to have great potential for enhanced learning for all students - both international and domestic. Yet, student surveys and research clearly indicate that there is very little interaction occurring between domestic and international students. This article reports on a study that investigated the extent to which university teaching can promote interaction between students from diverse cultural and linguistic background. Using an innovative video-analysis methodology, the research found that academics engage in a variety of activities to encourage interaction between student groups. In order to assist academics in planning interaction, one of the main findings of the study was the development of ‘The Interaction for Learning Framework (ILF)’, that identifies key dimensions for curriculum design that can be used by academics to inform ways that they can enhance interaction between diverse student groups within teaching and learning contexts.

Arkoudis, S., Watty, K., Baik, C., Yu, X., Borland, H., Chang, S., . . . Pearce, A. (2013). Finding common ground: Enhancing interaction between domestic and international students in higher education. Teaching in Higher Education,18(3), 222-235. doi:10.1080/13562517.2012.719156
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