XN000022-1996-03-27 — Page 29

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Reply: .

Mr President.

Modular Curriculum is a theory about reorganising a curriculum into smaller teaching and learning units called modules, to facilitate addition, deletion, integration or relocation in the 'curriculum to meet the needs of students. A curriculum module is intact in itself, with clear objectives, defined contents and specified teaching strategies and methods of assessment. There are core modules for all students, extended modules for the more able and remedial modules for the less able students. With the proliferation of knowledge in subjects, optional modules can be developed to supplement the core modules instead of creating new subjects.

Mastery Learning is a theory about teaching and learning that is closely tied to a set of instructional strategies. In a Mastery Learning Programme, the concepts and materials to be learned are defined and divided into sequential learning units, each with specified learning objectives and steps. These objectives are arranged in order of increasing complexity and difficulty. A diagnostic test is administered at the end of each unit to establish whether students have mastered the content or not, and to identify the areas in which they experienced difficulty. The aim is to ensure that all students will acquire the necessary foundation knowledge at each unit before moving on to the next units.

(a)

(b) & (c)

Two units, each with one Principal Curriculum Officer and one Senior Curriculum Officer, were established in October 1992 to conduct studies on Modular Curriculum and Mastery Learning respectively.

Details on researches and experiments conducted so far are summarised below.

Modular Curriculum

The Modular Curriculum Unit has developed and tried out a number of modules in selected schools at upper primary to junior secondary levels to enhance students' study skills and assist them in their learning. All the completed projects covering subject areas like Social Studies & Library, EPA and Physical Education have been well received by teachers. These modules have been made available to interested schools for use after successful trial runs. Other ongoing projects due for completion in August 1996 cover subject areas like Language. Humanities, Mathematics, Science, and two modules for special schools. The general feedback so far is very favourable. If the experiments are successful, these modules will also be made available to interested schools.