It was not so long ago that the first personal computers appeared, we started using the internet and cameras went digital. The breakneck speed of technological development in the past 20 years has changed the landscape of how we work and promote our businesses.
Studying for an undergraduate degree at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has also changed - upped from three to four years in line with undergraduate programmes across Hong Kong.
'By enabling students to create new knowledge and to communicate, curate and cultivate that knowledge, students will be better prepared to adapt to the many changes that will occur over the course of their careers,' says Professor Arthur Ellis, CityU provost and one of the architects of the school's discovery-enriched curriculum (DEC). 'In short, our objectives are to offer all our students a world-class professional education attuned to the rapid pace of technology and globalisation.'
In the first year, students will be exposed to cutting-edge interdisciplinary ideas through gateway education (GE) courses, as well as first-year core courses designed by the college or school they are enrolled in.
However, students do not directly enter a major, as previously, but choose one at the end of their first year, at the earliest.
The GE courses comprise 30 credits, or a quarter of the curriculum, giving students a broad interdisciplinary knowledge base. They must take at least one GE course in the three distributional areas: art and humanities, science and technology, and studies of societies, social and business organisations.