Globalization and the development of knowledge based societies are the inevitable trends of the world. In education, globalization generates keen competition for students from around the world; while in the knowledge based societies, more and more is expected from the students: in addition to high educational qualifications, they are also expected to be good communicators with preferred soft-skills in specific regions. These trends pose some major challenges to educationists in various aspects. In life science education, for example, the delivery of factual knowledge by face-to-face classroom teaching has been the norm in the past; however, this mode of education is no longer sufficient to meet the needs of the students in the era of globalization and the knowledge based societies

I, herein, propose the model of LEARN 1.0 to 5.0 of life science education to be the road map to improve education quality in the globalized knowledge based societies. LEARN 1.0 is the traditional face-to-face classroom teaching of factual knowledge and technical skills; where face-to-face teaching is fundamental and indispensable in a sense that students need to develop their people skills through the face-to-face interaction with the teachers and other fellow students in class. Yet, this traditional classroom teaching cannot fully meet the demands of a globalized knowledge society nowadays; therefore, in LEARN 2.0, the training of soft-skills, including transferable skills, is incorporated in the curriculum. It is particularly emphasized that the soft skills should equip the students for the globalized perspectives, such as communication skills, cultural sensitivity, and etiquette, together with the ‘general transferable skills’. In LEARN 3.0, innovative technologies, such as flipped-classroom and virtual-reality teaching, in life-science education should be employed. Many knowledge based societies are also the ‘smart-cities’, where communication and everyday-life tend to be incorporated with innovative technologies. Life science education should be in line with the latest technological advances; thus, in LEARN 3.0, education is delivered through technologies as an integrated part of living. For curriculum development, in addition to the core knowledge and techniques, LEARN 4.0 suggests that students should have the space to select their topics of studies, where the curriculum, for a particular proportion, should be student-centred or student-decided. Finally, in LEARN 5.0, the knowledge acquired by the students should be applied in the real world. For life science graduates, it can mean employment in the industry related to their field of studies and knowledge transfer: transforminging knowledge from the universities to applications in the societies.

It is hoped that the education of life science, from LEARN 1.0 to 5.0, can better match the trends of globalized knowledge based societies, where our students can make the most benefits from their university education.

Lo F.H. (2015). Pilot Study of the Teaching of Critical Thinking Skills and Creative Talents for Biochemistry Students at University. Conference on Education and Teaching in Colleges and Universities (CETCU 2015). Lo F.H. (2014). Expectations of life science students in university from two education systems. International Conference on Education Science and Human Development (ESHD2014). Lo F.H. (2013). Study of the expectations of life science students on their university education. International Conference on Education, Management and Social Science (ICEMSS 2013). Lo F.H. (2012). Pilot study of the use of mobile device for the study of life sciences students in Hong Kong. 2012 International Symposium on Information Technology in Medicine and Education (ITME) 1: 94 – 97.