Converting Class Syllabi to the Outcomes Based Teaching and Learning Format

The UGC is encouraging (read mandating) that all Hong Kong universities implement the Outcomes Based Teaching and Learning (OBTL) approach to curriculum design and class teaching as soon as possible. The approach is based on a particular philosophy concerning the educational process, and it involves both rethinking the curriculum as a whole for each academic major and revising the way virtually every individual class we teach is conceived, implemented and, most immediately, presented on paper. The purpose of this document is to describe the OBTL approach as I understand it in order to facilitate the process of transformation to OBTL in the School of Communication. Because the OBTL philosophy of the educational process is somewhat loosely articulated in the documents I have been provided, I have tried to make the philosophy as clear as possible and then to present an approach to the transformation process that is manageable in the time available (read September 2008 for HKBU).