Teaching a liberal arts education

• Massification of higher education in Asia has been accompanied by a desire to improve the quality of teaching. A notable trend, in this context, is that several leading universities have been strongly interested in, or have developed liberal arts education programmes. These typically emphasise broad-based curricula, interactive pedagogies like tutorials and small-group seminars, and extensive residential experience.
• This approach contrasts with long-standing and entrenched traditions of early deep specialisation, and rote-learning based predominantly around lectures. The goals of these programmes vary but the common thread is to nurture graduates who have deep critical thinking abilities and creativity.
• While the number of Asian universities that have launched liberal arts programmes is small, this is an indicator of a much wider interest in broader-based education and more interactive pedagogies that engage and activate student learning. The experience of the Yale-NUS College was briefly shared as an illustration. More...

By Colleen Flaherty. Major study by American Academy of Arts and Sciences seeks change in curriculum and assessment, commitment to funding public higher education, new ideas about the faculty role, and more. More...