learning - Academic Conferences Limited

Independent Learning in Need or in Crisis? Independent
Learning Under the new Four-Year Undergraduate
Curriculum in Hong Kong
Yin Ha Vivian Chan, Delian Dawn Gaskell, Mei Ah Tan and Lip Yan Felix Chao
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China
chanyh@cuhk.edu.hk
b123499@mailserv.cuhk.edu.hk
meiahtan@cuhk.edu.hk
felixchao@cuhk.edu.hk
Abstract: Accompanied with the rapid development of technology, independent learning, especially in the format
of multi-media, has inspired a great deal of enthusiasm and energy in academia over the past few decades. This is
certainly the case in Hong Kong since the number of university students has continued to increase dramatically.
One particular point that has placed Hong Kong in the spotlight is that there will soon be a complete switch from
the previous 3-2-2-3 education curriculum to the 3-3-4 curriculum in 2012. Under this new system, university
students will be required to spend four years rather than three to obtain an undergraduate degree. In response to
this, Hong Kong teachers and administrators have been propelled to reconsider the role self-access centres
should play in this situation. The eight tertiary institutions currently funded by the University Grants Committee
have all been running language centre or self-access centre, sometimes both. The majority of these centres
provide language learning resources and language support, some of them are directly under language centres.
The Independent Learning Centre (ILC) of the Chinese University of Hong Kong is a special case. It serves more
or less as a standalone unit, and there have been instructions from higher authorities to broaden its scope from
language to subject-related matters. The ultimate goal is to create an online platform that contains comprehensive
teaching/learning materials on various disciplines for students to study on their own. This paper uses the ILC as a
point of investigation. Through discussing the challenges and difficulties it faces in the process of transition, this
study explores the role self-access centres should play, including what is practical and reasonable, and what is
theoretical and idealistic. It begins with a review of the concept of independent learning and the ideology behind it,
followed by a discussion of autonomous learning in Hong Kong and the functioning of the self-access centres,
proceeds with the challenges the ILC faces, and concludes with possible solutions to these challenges in the face
of the upcoming four-year curriculum. It is hoped that this research can shed light on what independent learning
means, if technology is the ultimate solution to budget strain, and how self-access centres should perhaps function
with the benefits of students in mind.
Keywords: independent learning, autonomy, education reform, financial imperatives
1. Independent learning: A contested concept
Independent learning has inspired a great deal of enthusiasm and taken up a large amount of energy in
academia in the past few decades. In Hong Kong, this has been driven by a combination of the fact that
an increasing number of students have been admitted to local universities, while the development of
technology has become ever more influential in local education. However, independent learning is a
thorny concept because though it is not new, there is no universal understanding of what exactly it
means. In fact, researchers such as Broad (2006) list several major definitions. The earliest may be
Moore’s (1984: 27) “broad and accessible” definition from the Open University: “working with
increasingly less structured teaching materials and with less reliance on traditional kinds of tutor
support”, which is understandable when considering the nature of adult education. There are also the
social factors behind the surge of independent learning. Instead of pointing to the structure and setting,
Kesten (1987) emphasizes the autonomy of the learner to make the decisions necessary to meet one's
own needs. She also notes the social aspect of learning by iterating that “[t]hese decisions ought to be
made within the bounds of social acceptability and by self-directed, self-motivated, willing learners.”
(1987: 5) Broad (2006: 121) himself states that the ultimate goal of independent learning is to teach
students “to learn for themselves and in turn empower them in their learning whatever the context."
Summing up these definitions may give us a rough idea of independent learning but what exactly is
understood by “independent” is still ambiguous and open to many interpretations. In fact it is interesting
to view the plethora of results from Kesten’s (1987) audit of the terms used synonymously to describe
this type of learning: autonomous learning, independent study, self-directed learning, student initiated
learning, project orientation, discovery and inquiry, teaching for thinking, learning to learn, self
instruction and lifelong learning.
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