Forward-looking education concept Three-year STEAM plan to cultivate inventors with both political integrity and talent

PLK Mrs. Ma Kam Ming-Cheung Fook Sien College has long foreseen the impact and importance of STEAM education on society. Principal Joanna Yuk King Or adheres to the belief of "affection drives learning" to implement STEAM education in schools, hoping to discover students to become inventors. The school carries out STEAM education step by step and starts the "First Three-Year Plan" from 2018 to 2021 to help students learn to apply knowledge and try to invent. Afterwards, the "Second Three-Year Plan" will be planned from 2021 to 2024 to meet the development needs of the times. So far, after going through two three-year plans, the school has rich experience in innovation and technology education. It has implemented its original intention in terms of curriculum planning, activities, collaboration plans, etc., and has been keeping pace with the times. While providing teaching, it also cultivates a group of inventors with both ability and political integrity to contribute to society in the future.

Paying equal attention to theory and practice, "Innovation Technology" has a solid foundation

The first step of the school's "first three-year plan" is to popularize STEAM education among junior high school students, and merge the original computer subjects and technology subjects into "Innovative Technology Subjects." Its goal is to use it as a platform to provide students with opportunities to use interdisciplinary knowledge in production and research and integration of knowledge. "Innovative Technology" pays equal attention to theory and practice. In addition to teaching students programming, building components and other knowledge, it also allows students to try to make artifacts so that they can apply what they have learned. Technology is advancing rapidly. Regardless of whether they develop in innovation and technology in the future, the foundation of science and innovation laid in junior high schools will help them cope with the challenges of the 21st century.

Principal Joanna Yuk King Or added: "Students must first be exposed to STEAM before they can develop their interest in STEAM. The 'Innovative Technology Section' is a good opportunity to be exposed to STEAM, and it can also explore students' interests and potential in STEAM. The school will focus on training top students who are interested in and good at STEAM, so that students who are interested in innovation and technology can further develop and gradually realize their dreams."

Cooperate with professional institutions to develop special research to inspire potential

The school is well aware of the benefits to students of collaboration with academia and industry, so it has been actively cooperating with external organizations since the implementation of the "First Three-Year Plan". For example, we launched a STEAM education collaboration project with the Information Technology Development Center of the University of Hong Kong. Principal Joanna Yuk King Or pointed out: "Tertiary institutions are good at integrating knowledge and constructing theoretical frameworks. Through cooperation, not only can the school continue to develop, but it can also help students take root in subject knowledge and theory, and analyze students' performance so that they can continue to improve." During the cooperation period, A number of research topics were conducted, allowing students to do and learn through "hands-on" work, such as making a "fidget spinner", teaching students to combine mathematics and technology to design the spinning method of a top; for "Innovative Elderly Care Products", students designed products for the elderly to train their large and small muscles, such as basketball machines, mazes, etc.

At the same time, the University of Hong Kong has invited experts from the Federation of Hong Kong Industries to help students improve the shortcomings of their works so that they can become more advanced in terms of knowledge, creativity, and problem-solving. In addition, during the cooperation, the products were turned into merchandising products, allowing students to explore everything from innovation and technology products to marketing, and understand business concepts such as pricing and cost-effectiveness, so that students' inventions are no longer just the results of competitions, but products that truly contribute to society. For example, the basketball machine learning set is made of environmentally friendly materials to reduce costs and allow more people to buy it. Principal Joanna Yuk King OrIn addition, schools will also educate students on business ethics, such as not seeking huge profits and not cutting corners, etc. Through cooperation with academia and industry, students not only learn how to apply knowledge, but also learn how to commercialize inventions and cultivate business ethics.

Create professional platform and competition to strengthen scientific and technological innovation exchanges

Talent training is the key to Hong Kong's long-term development. However, to cultivate talents, it is necessary to establish a platform for them to develop. Therefore, as early as three years ago, with the sponsorship of the Home Affairs Bureau, the school began to organize the "Hong Kong Youth STEAM Competition and Exhibition (from AI to SI)" as a "professional platform" for primary and secondary school students in Hong Kong to participate, allowing participants to design AI (artificial intelligence) and use it in SI (social intelligence), thereby strengthening professional exchanges with sister schools. The competition is organized by students from PLK Mrs. Ma Kam Ming-Cheung Fook Sien College, and invites university scholars, relevant experts from the Education Bureau, and experts from the industry, such as the Federation of Hong Kong Industries and different science and technology innovation companies in the Science Park, to serve as judges to enhance the professionalism of the competition. The school also cooperates with the University of Hong Kong and the University of St. Francis to provide participants with training in AI and SI, which has benefited the participants a lot.

Principal Joanna Yuk King Or said: "The competition has been held for three times so far and has achieved fruitful results. In addition to different works, it can also stimulate students to learn. I hope more similar platforms can be held so that students can absorb more knowledge, creativity and skills while appreciating other people's works, and at the same time gain valuable learning experience in organizing activities." In the future, Principal Joanna Yuk King Or plans to use experts to leverage the social intelligence of some of the winning works and develop them into products that can help mankind.

Vice President Chen Lili revealed that the fourth "Hong Kong Youth STEAM Competition and Exhibition (from AI to SI)" will include a mathematical modeling component to respond to the government's concept of improving students' ability to apply mathematics. "The importance of mathematics is the key to helping students explore the world of STEAM. At the same time, making AI popular, interesting, and diversified to avoid 'AI blindness' is what the school hopes to achieve."

Interdisciplinary collaboration model combining innovation and technology with morality and affection

Through an interdisciplinary collaboration model, the learning content of each subject is integrated to help students construct knowledge. The school connects different subjects through different themes, which not only consolidates different knowledge points, but also produces the effect of one plus one being greater than two. For example, "Eat with Dignity", launched in 2021, produces good-looking soft meals for people with dysphagia, so that they can eat healthily, eat with dignity, and eat happily. The principle of making soft food is to beat the food into puree, and then use a coagulant to solidify it on the mold to reshape the original appearance of the food. For students, on the one hand, it consolidates their theory in chemistry, nutrition in biology, and design knowledge in visual arts. On the other hand, it also allows them to experience first-hand the moral and emotional education that the humanities emphasize, cultivating students' spirit of respecting the elderly and helping them learn to pay attention to the needs of society.

In addition, the school combines technology with Chinese language and visual arts subjects, allowing students to try using high-tech equipment such as laser cutting machines and 3D printing technology to make Hui Chun and "Starry Night" reliefs, creating a more interesting learning experience and learning to apply knowledge. Principal Joanna Yuk King OrAdditionally, for teachers, interdisciplinary collaboration gives different disciplines opportunities to collaborate, promotes teachers’ professional development, and strives for excellence.

Focus on information literacy and cultivate mind and structure

Principal Joanna Yuk King Or believes that while discovering students to become inventors, their development in character is equally important. With the advancement of technology, cultivating information literacy is an even more important issue. If students establish positive values, it will not only help them learn, but they will also go further and more steadily in the future. Therefore, the school attaches great importance to information literacy education, and relevant content has been included in the "Innovation and Technology Subject" in junior high schools. The school selflessly included the "Information Literacy Video Competition" in the third "Hong Kong Youth STEAM Competition and Exhibition (from AI to SI)", allowing participants from sister schools to demonstrate information literacy from different perspectives. This is exactly a kind of positive education that personally teaches the students who organize the event a structure and perspective, allowing them to understand the importance of information literacy to Hong Kong and even the world. As a new generation of students, in addition to being talented, students must put morality first. Only by having both ability and political integrity can they develop better.

High-end hardware and equipment needed to support STEAM education

To promote STEAM education, hardware and equipment that keep pace with the times are essential. When the school implemented the "First Three-Year Plan", it set up an innovation and technology room, which was open to students for study, providing students and teachers with a learning environment dedicated to scientific research. The school has also purchased hardware such as 3D printers, laser cutting machines, drones, and mechanical dogs to meet educational needs and expose students to different high-end technologies. In addition, in order for students to keep pace with the times and have richer high-tech experience, the school also applied for support from the government’s Quality Education Fund and the “Secondary School IT Innovation Laboratory” program. Principal Joanna Yuk King Or revealed that the school will make good use of government funding to build an "IT Innovation Laboratory" for students and purchase more high-tech hardware to support students' further development.

Develop STEAM potential and achieve outstanding results in innovation and technology competitions

Students gain a sense of success from STEAM, which helps promote their conscious learning and achieve better development. The school actively cultivates students' interest in innovation and technology. In addition to setting up "Innovation Technology" and STEAM societies to expose students to STEAM, the school also encourages and supports them to participate in different STEAM competitions, on-campus and off-campus activities, etc. For example, students are recommended to participate in the Distinguished Mentor and Apprenticeship Program of the Hong Kong Academy of Sciences, and participating students are paired with a university scholar as a "mentor". The "mentor" will drive the students' growth in technological development and broaden their horizons. Every year, students who are selected to participate in the Distinguished Teacher and Apprenticeship Program benefit a lot and are successfully admitted to university. Some of them major in subjects related to scientific development, and their potential is also unleashed.

In terms of competitions, students performed well and continued to achieve great results. For example, it achieved the highest score in Hong Kong and Macao in the "ICAS International Joint School Subject Assessment and Competition", which is a remarkable achievement; it won the championship of the secondary school group and the environmental protection school award with the most water purification concept in the "STEM AI Water Filter Design Competition" organized by the Chinese Elite Rotary Club in partnership with the Hong Kong Association for the Promotion of Quality Education; and won the championship and merit award in the "Assembled LED Lighting Creative Design Competition" organized by the Hong Kong Institute of Construction. In addition, schools have also cooperated in the testing and examination system, and have made special arrangements to change unified testing into continuous assessment. Principal Joanna Yuk King Or shared: "This mechanism has been implemented for two years. Continuous evaluation can effectively evaluate students' performance and give students more space to participate in activities and competitions, so that they can develop their potential without affecting the evaluation results."

Professional education team, clear goals and strive to make progress

The entire teaching team of the school has a clear common goal and takes it as its own responsibility to help students develop their strengths and realize their scientific and technological innovation potential. The teachers actively learn from each other in a cooperative manner through joint lesson preparation and class observation. It is precisely because of this spirit that the teaching team has received many awards over the years, such as winning the "Outstanding E-Learning Award (2022/23)" Mathematics Education Silver Award at the "Hong Kong University E-Learning Laboratory"; and the HKU Faculty of Education's Educational Application Information Technology Development Research Center winning the "SDL-STEM Innovative School Multi-Level Leadership Learning Award", "SDL-STEM Learning Design Award, Most Humanistic Spirit Award", "SDL-STEM "Innovative Learning Development Award" and "Best Performance Award in Learning Design Competition", etc.

Plan for the next three years: Affectionate education drives learning

Principal Joanna Yuk King Or said: "We believe that affective education can drive learning, allow students to see the needs of society, and then use their creativity, which will greatly improve their motivation." In the next three years, the school will continue to develop in this direction and discover students with potential based on the past two three-year plans. Through internal and external courses, professional platforms, etc., we assist students to develop their innovation and technology potential and train them to become inventors. "Artificial intelligence and big data are changing with each passing day. I hope that the school's curriculum can keep pace with the times and cultivate a group of talents who know how to apply knowledge and invent a product for society in the long run, helping people in need in society and making life better."