SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1974
INTEGRATED SCIENCE COURSES FOR H.K. PROPOSED PILOT SCHEME PROVED SUCCESSFUL
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THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT IS CONSIDERING THE INTRODUCTION OF INTEGRATED SCIENCE COURSES INTO JUNIOR FORMS OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN HONG KONG, THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION (CHIEF INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS), MR. ARTHUR BROWN, DISCLOSED TODAY.
THE INTEGRATED SCIENCE COURSE TO BE ADAPTED FOR USE IN HONG KONG HAD BEEN DEVELOPED IN SCOTLAND, AND TRIED AND TESTED BOTH THERE AND OVERSEAS. HE SAID IT AIMED AT OFFERING KNOWLEDGE WHICH WAS COMPLETELY RELEVANT TO THE MODERN WORLD.
MR. BROWN EMPHASISED THAT THE COURSES WOULD BE MODIFIED AND DEVELOPED TO SUIT THE NEEDS OF HONG KONG STUDENTS.
FOUR TUTORS FROM SCOTLAND HAD CONDUCTED AN IN-SERVICE TRAINING COURSE HERE LAST SUMMER FOR SCIENCE TEACHERS IN THE LOWER FORMS. THEY WOULD RETURN HERE LATE THIS MONTH TO CONTINUE THE TRAINING PROGRAMME, HE SAID.
+THIS IS A KIND OF EXPERIMENT-ORIENTED LEARNING, USING LABORATORY AS PLACE OF EXPLORATION, HE EXPLAINED. +IT OFFERS TRAINING IN OBSERVATION AS WELL AS IN THE ABILITY TO ASSESS AND RELATE OBSERVED DATA.+
INSTEAD OF LEARNING FROM TEXT BOOK, STUDENTS OF INTEGRATED SCIENCE ARE GIVEN WORK-SHEETS FROM TIME TO TIME. THEY WORK IN THE LABORATORY AND RECORD WHAT THEY OBSERVE AS THE EXPERIMENTS GO ON.
+THIS IS HOW A SCIENTIST WOULD APPROACH THE PROBLEM, + MR. BROWN SAID.
IT MAKES THE SITUATION EVEN MORE REALISTIC BY KNOCKING DOWN THE BARRIERS BETWEEN SEPARATE SCIENCE SUBJECTS SUCH AS PHYSICS, CHEMISTRY AND BIOLOGY AND TEACHING SCIENCE AS ONE COHESIVE WHOLE, HE ADDED.
AS A PILOT SCHEME, THE INTEGRATED SCIENCE COURSES HAD BEEN ADOPTED IN FORM I CLASSES OF 20 SCHOOLS IN SEPTEMBER LAST YEAR AND IT HAS PROVED TO BE SUCCESSFUL.
+A FEW MORE SCHOOLS ALSO EXPRESSED INTERESTS IN JOINING THE SCHEME TO ADOPT THE SUBJECT IN THEIR JUNIOR FORMS, SAID MR. BROWN.
TOUCHING ON THE QUESTION OF EXAMINATIONS, MR. BROWN FELT THAT CHANGES IN THE TEACHING IN LOWER FORMS WOULD INEVITABLY INFLUENCE THE WORK IN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOLS.
HOWEVER, THE CERTIFICATE OF EDUCATION BOARD WAS CONSIDERING WHAT, IF ANY, CHANGES WERE NEEDED IN THE EXAMINATIONS TO MEET THE NEEDS OF STUDENTS, STARTING OFF WITH THIS COURSE IN SCIENCE.
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