One of the Faculty of Education's missions centres around striving for excellence in teaching and learning along with nurturing effective professionals in education. With the implementation of the new 3+3+4 curriculum and in line with the University Grants Committee's (UGC) Outcomes-Based Approach (OBA), the Faculty of Education is putting considerable effort into enhancing effective learning and teaching and establishing learning outcomes at various levels. In order to provide an overview of the development of OBA in the Faculty, we have invited Prof. Lee Chi Kin John, Dean of Education and Chairman of the Faculty's OBA Task Force, to share with us his thoughts concerning the development and progress of OBA in our Faculty.

Question:	Would you first outline what OBA is?
Answer:	An Outcomes-Based Approach is a policy of the University Grants Committee (UGC) which emphasizes student learning outcomes. The UGC encourages funded institutions focus their education efforts on learning outcomes in order to lead to better teaching and learning.
Question:	What are the strengths of the Faculty and the challenges facing it in implementing OBA?
Answer:	Teaching and learning is one of our areas of expertise in the Faculty. Professionalism in teaching, holistic views over educational change, innovative research projects, open atmosphere for exchanging views and sharing ideas, regular programme reviews, course revisions, curriculum restructuring etc. – all these help enhance the effectiveness of teaching and learning. We have also been awarded three funded Teaching Development Grants projects regarding student learning and OBA, which has further helped facilitate our striving for excellence.   For the challenges, teaching and learning comes in many forms with diversified views and approaches. Various opinions have been expressed and efforts are being taken to develop a broad consensus among Faculty teachers as to which is the best way for the Faculty as a whole to proceed in terms of implementing OBA.
Question:	What has the Faculty been doing regarding the implementation of OBA?
Answer:	An OBA Task Force was set up in February 2008 to oversee the development and implementation of OBA within the Faculty. I have personally convened the Task Force, which is now made up of the Associate Dean (Education), representatives of the three programme boards, representatives of the four departments, the Physical Education Unit and the Teaching Practice Office.   So far, we have held four Task Force meetings as well as Faculty-wide meetings to discuss and share OBA-related issues such as the reviewing of course objectives and programme objectives, alignment of learning outcomes and activities, framing learning outcomes in OBA terminology, developing a course outline database and a website of Teaching and Learning.   All along, we strive to provide an enriched environment for our students to receive an excellent professional and academic training. To ensure quality teaching and learning, courses and programmes are reviewed regularly. Besides, as mentioned before, the Faculty has three on-going Teaching Development Grant projects on student learning and OBA. The outcomes of these projects will better inform Faculty members about our student attainment of learning outcomes and the implementation of OBA in teacher education programmes. Moreover, a review of course outlines (from all programmes of the two terms in 2008-2009 and the first term in 2009-2010) has been conducted to identify the current level of consistency with OBA principles. The results of this exercise indicate that our course outlines already include the essential features specified in the OBA course outline template.   We also know that sharing and exchanging views helps to develop a consensus among Faculty teachers. In this regard, a Faculty-wide workshop on aligning descriptors with learning outcomes was held in June 2009.   In addition, in order to further extend such good practices of teaching and learning, we have developed a Faculty website on "Teaching and Learning". Through this website we hope that a comprehensive and sharing platform can be gradually established.
Question:	What is the Faculty Roadmap? What is the strategy and planning regarding the development of OBA in the Faculty?
Answer:	Currently, we have drafted an overall plan with strategies for the implementation of OBA from 2008 to 2012. At the Faculty level, there will be on-going sharing sessions to exchange views and ideas. Strategies on the alignment of learning outcomes and learning activities and assessment will be discussed for implementation accordingly. Revisiting programme objectives and learning outcomes for curriculum mapping at the Programme level is expected to be completed in the academic year 2009-2010. At the Course level, colleagues are strongly advised to make adjustments to their course objectives so that these are in line with OBA elements.
Question:	What's the Faculty next action?
Answer:	According to the Faculty OBA Roadmap, the curriculum mapping of each programme is planned for completion in the academic year 2009-2010. Further, in order to structure course outlines into an OBA format, a consultation group will be set up to examine relevant issues. The group will comprise a representative from each department / unit to review and suggest learning outcomes in appropriate OBA terminology, the alignment of learning outcomes with learning activities, alignment of learning outcomes and assessments etc. – with a view to improving the quality of presentation in course outlines. A Teaching and Learning website comprising resources related to teaching and learning, new curriculum, OBA, research projects etc. will be launched very soon on a pilot basis.
Question:	What are your future expectations?
Answer:	More engagement, more interaction and more reflection on teaching and learning will be encouraged among colleagues with the ultimate goal of bringing continuous improvement to all aspects of teaching and learning in the Faculty as well as highlighting the values and limitations of OBA for teaching and learning. This will be an ongoing journey of deliberation, exploration and reflection.