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Written by: Chen Jiahui
2021-05-31 07:00
Last update date: 2021-05-31 07:00
In recent years, Hong Kong has emphasized STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education, but STEM is not included in the formal curriculum, but is implemented in a school-based format.
The head of the Tin Shui Wai Direct Subsidiary Middle School said that STEM education can help grassroots students to understand and integrate into society, and broaden their horizons. He also believes that regardless of whether the prestigious school or the grassroots students, they all start to learn STEM on the same starting line.
This year’s DSE Diploma Examination has just ended. Some people who passed the exams that year passed only one subject and successfully entered the prestigious Stanford University with an interest in STEM. According to the admission requirements of foreign prestigious universities, the importance of public test scores is becoming less and less important. Instead, it is increasingly valued whether students are willing to make achievements for their interests.
Huang Yingdong, head of the Wanjun Boqiu School of Tin Shui Wai Direct Subsidiary Middle School, said that the school started to implement STEM education more than 10 years ago. The starting point was "game-based learning". It was discovered that students could not only play games but also create their own creations. At first, only 4 or 5 students participated in computer games. Later, more students joined. The school gradually added this learning method to the junior high school information technology curriculum, and has now added artificial intelligence and deep learning.
Huang Yingdong believes that both prestigious and grassroots students start STEM at the same starting line. On the contrary, traditional subjects such as English and social sciences, some students may be more dominant because of their family background.
(Photo by Chen Jiahui)
STEM education helps students in Tin Shui Wai broaden their horizons
Why is STEM education emphasized so much?
Huang Yingdong said that the school is located in Tin Shui Wai, and the enrolled students are not the most "privileged" students in Hong Kong. STEM education helps students understand and integrate into society and broaden their horizons.
He also believes that both prestigious and grassroots students start STEM at the same starting line. On the contrary, some students in traditional subjects such as English and social sciences may be more dominant because of their family background.
Huang Yingdong observes that the government has invested a lot of resources in recent years. Schools can implement STEM education in a school-based manner, which can achieve a full bloom. However, the contradiction is that many schools and teachers still value curriculum guidelines and scope. Fortunately, there are many local promotion of STEM education in recent years. Good examples are for reference. In addition, different schools have also started to organize study groups to implement STEM courses together with other schools.
Epidemic helps teachers and students learn together
Schools have been closed for a long time due to the epidemic. Under the pressure of catching up with the course, do teachers still have enough energy to prepare for STEM courses?
Huang Yingdong pointed out that when answering this question, it is necessary to distinguish between class hours and class hours. At present, most teachers are catching up with class hours, but they are not necessarily learning new things. Facing new shocks, they can help teachers and students learn new things, such as the epidemic. In the early days, teachers and students were very happy when they were learning to use Zoom in class, because they were "trying new things together."
Huang Yingdong believes that the best way to learn anything is to practice according to interest. An important element of STEM is to allow students to do it. "This is similar to what I did in engineering decades ago when I was studying." He was helpless in Hong Kong. Similar subjects in society have not been taken seriously, but so far, STEM should be regarded as a mainstream education project.
Zhao Jingxian (first from right) looked back from campus to workplace, and moved forward with his interest in STEM.
(Photo by Chen Jiahui)
Only pass 1 subject in the college entrance examination and advance to a prestigious American school with interest in STEM
Zhao Jingxian, a partner of ClickVentures Venture Capital Fund, used himself as an example to show that interest first can also be successful.
Zhao Jingxian laughed and said that he was a "negative teaching material". He was enrolled in industrial high school, but he spent most of his time developing his interests-playing games, indulging in the machine shop to play Street Fighter, and lingering about Gordon and Gold from time to time; but also because of interest , He began to borrow books from the library to learn programming languages and develop his own games.
Zhao Jingxian laughed and said that because time is spent on "interests", the examination results are naturally very poor. Only one subject of physics is passed. After discussing with his parents, he chose to go to the United States to re-enter two years of high school and then enter a community college, but he was pleasantly surprised. He found that his personality was more suitable for the local educational system with more liberal education. Later, he successfully entered the prestigious Stanford University. After graduation, he joined Morgan Stanley and was responsible for the research and development of derivative tools. Later, he went to Silicon Valley to start a business. He has 7 US invention patents.
The importance of public examinations for prestigious school admissions is getting less and less important
He looked back from the campus to the workplace, and moved forward with his interest in STEM.
Regarding the environment for the implementation of STEM education in Hong Kong, he believes that Hong Kong has rich educational resources and world-class hardware facilities, but it is necessary to create an atmosphere for the development of innovation and technology, including regularly holding various entrepreneurial competitions.
The HKDSE this year has just ended. Can candidates who are frustrated with the public examination find a way out according to their interests?
Zhao Jingxian said that as one of the admission committees of Stanford University in Hong Kong, he can see that the importance of public test scores is becoming less and less important. On the contrary, the more and more they value whether students have personal talents and whether they are willing to make achievements for their own interests.
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