Guiding Principles

Textbooks and other resource materials should be chosen and used to:

 address the learning targets and cover the core elements of the Biology Curriculum;

 arouse students’ interest and motivate them to engage actively in learning tasks;

 provide students with access to an adequate knowledge base;

 provide scaffolds to help students construct their scientific concepts;

 cater for learner diversity by including different levels of difficulty;

 complement and extend what students have learned in class to promote independent learning; and

 promote discussion and provide possibilities for further inquiry.

6.3 Types of Resources

6.3.1 Textbooks

Well-written textbooks developed in accordance with the curriculum framework can facilitate learning and teaching. Textbooks should contain the core elements of learning in the subject recommended by the CDC and be used to develop critical thinking, creativity and other generic skills. By reading textbooks of a good standard, students can achieve the learning targets and outcomes, consolidate what they have learned, and extend their personal knowledge.

(1) Selection of textbooks

A set of guiding principles has been formulated for the writing, reviewing and selection of textbooks; and a list of recommended textbooks will be compiled and updated. Schools and teachers should refer to the list and guidelines at http://www.edb.gov.hk/en/curriculum-development/index.html, when choosing the textbooks for their students. The following factors should be taken into account when selecting biology textbooks:

 the approach and content should facilitate the development of the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes promoted in the curriculum;

 the learning content should be suitable;

 the language should be accurate and appropriate;

 the learning activities should be appropriate;

 the examples and illustrations should promote effective learning; and

 the safety aspects of the practical work should have been taken into consideration.

(2) Flexible use of textbooks

Teachers are encouraged to use textbooks flexibly according to the needs, abilities and interests of their students. While textbooks can be used as the basic resource for learning and teaching activities, they should not be the only resource. Other learning and teaching resources (e.g. audio-visual materials, natural resources from the environment, the Internet and community resources) should be used to complement textbook materials. Teachers should feel free to select and/or adapt relevant parts of textbooks, and to modify the sequence of presentation to suit their learning and teaching approaches and purposes. Teachers may also choose to provide students with school-based learning and teaching resources which are better suited for implementing the curriculum. Overall, teachers are advised to use their professional judgment to select tasks and exercises from textbooks, make use of a variety of educational resources, and develop school-based learning and teaching resources based on the needs of their students.

6.3.2 References

A variety of references can be used to enrich the curriculum, arouse students’ interest in learning, and promote “Reading to Learn”.

(1) Textual material

Students should be encouraged to read extensively to extend the scope of their knowledge and understanding. There are a lot of useful and interesting texts (e.g. books, journals, magazines) of appropriate breadth and depth. These include, for examples, stories about modern science, and articles on current developments or issues in the field of life science. It is important to set up a text-rich environment with ample curriculum-related materials appropriate to students’ ability, linguistic competence and interests to encourage them to get into the habit of reading about science, and so kindle a lifelong interest in the area.

(2) Mass media

Materials from the mass media, including audio-visual materials, news articles, TV programmes and advertisements are authentic learning resources for encouraging discussion and helping students to make informed decisions and judgments. Some videotaped programmes can keep students abreast of the latest scientific and technological developments;

and a large number of television programmes have a high educational value. Also, documentaries produced by professional bodies and broadcasting organisations are often pitched at an appropriate level for students. Teachers are encouraged to bring such TV programmes to students’ attention as they may make learning more relevant and interesting.

Local newspapers can also be a valuable source from which to develop learning activities and assessment tasks. To extend their learning, students can collect cuttings on topics of interest to them in relation to the Biology Curriculum, such as the ozone depletion in the Earth’s atmosphere, or the Human Genome Project. Learning and teaching resources from the media can provide students with a variety of perspectives on biology-related issues and stimulate their thinking. Students’ motivation and interest in learning biology may be increased by discussing relevant media reports. Teachers should make flexible use of such resources for consolidating biological concepts, raising conceptual conflicts, visualising connections, and evaluating and applying biological knowledge.

Teachers should, however, be aware of the risks associated with the use of such a variety of resources as they may sometimes present inaccurate, biased or out-of-date information and present scientific knowledge in “black and white” terms, as if there were no doubts about the information. Resources need to be examined carefully to ensure that they are appropriate for the learning and teaching intentions.

6.3.3 The Internet and Technology

The Internet and technology play an important role in the provision of learning and teaching resources for biology. Strategic use of technology can enhance student engagement and give convenient access to vast amounts of information. Teachers can act as facilitators of learning by helping students to search for information and to work on it in ways that enable them to turn it into personal knowledge.

The Internet and technology can help students to learn by:

 providing audio-visual aids for difficult concepts and abstract ideas;

 providing access to information from a wide variety of sources and processing large quantities of information;

 allowing students to work at their own pace, including the use of specially designed software;

 promoting interaction and collaboration among learners, and between the teacher and learners; and

 facilitating the acquisition of information, the development of critical thinking, and the co-construction of knowledge.

Teachers are encouraged to make use of the Internet to promote active learning in students, as it offers opportunities for them to collaborate with their peers in other schools, obtain and deal with real life data, discuss with scientists, publish their work and access learning materials and journals. Many internet sites offer rich sources of information and materials on issues related to biology, such as genetically modified food, stem cell therapy, environmental conservation, and the outbreak of disease. It is useful for teachers to give students hints, key words or focused areas for Internet searches, to preview and bookmark useful websites and to make connections to useful websites in their school network.

There are also computer software programs suitable for the learning and teaching of biology.

Such programs include tutorial software, databases of information and simulations or modelling of life processes and experiments. For instance, teachers may use a computer simulation of rat dissection to help students to investigate its body structure. Also, modelling software, which allows students to test their proposed models through virtual experiments, is useful in helping students to develop conceptual understanding and reasoning from their own ideas. Some CD-ROMs provide students with interactive learning experiences by presenting information in a variety of forms and requiring them to make notes, search for key words, answer questions, give explanations or solve problems. Finally, the use of devices such as data loggers and computer-based laboratories can help students to collect, interpret and analyse data when conducting scientific investigations.

6.3.4 Community Resources

The learning of biology is more effective, when students are able to relate their study to daily-life contexts. Life-wide learning opportunities should be provided to widen their exposure to the scientific world. A variety of organisations and persons in the community can contribute useful learning and teaching resources for biology or provide students with appropriate learning experiences and up-to-date information. Some examples of community resources are noted below for teachers’ reference, but the list is by no means exhaustive.

Teachers are encouraged to explore further opportunities available in the community and use them effectively to make the learning of biology interesting, authentic and meaningful.

 Resource materials are available from professional organisations (e.g. the Hong Kong Association for Mathematics and Science Education, the Hong Kong Medical Association), non-government organisations (e.g. the Family Planning Association of Hong Kong, the World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) Hong Kong, the Conservancy Association), pharmaceutical companies, forensic laboratories and hospitals.

 Government departments such as the Environmental Protection Department, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, the Hospital Authority, the Department of Health and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department support the learning and teaching of biology in many ways. For examples, they are sources for people who can provide valuable assistance or advice for the development of school-based programmes. The visitor centres, education centres, laboratories, herbaria and libraries of some of these departments may also provide life-wide learning contexts and abundant learning resources to complement self-learning.

 Venues such as natural ecosystems, field study centres, country parks, marine parks, botanical gardens, Ocean Park, museums, universities, research institutions and school grounds are good places for fieldwork. Fieldwork allows students to integrate the study of key concepts and gain first-hand experience of biological phenomena. Some organisations also offer guided educational tours for schools.

 Local competitions such as the Hong Kong Student Science Project Competition can provide valuable opportunities for students to develop their biological knowledge and skills for scientific investigation. The publications provided by organisers of these competitions are also very useful references for ideas on scientific investigations and inventions.

In addition, parents and alumni can be a very valuable resource for supporting student learning. Parents and alumni from different professions can be invited to deliver speeches or lectures to enable students to gain authentic knowledge about various disciplines and careers.

They can also discuss social, moral and ethical issues related to biology with students, and share their views on the value of learning to learn to encourage active learning in students.

The EDB will continue to develop and update useful resources, including supplementary documents to support the implementation of the Biology Curriculum. A list of resource materials published by the EDB can be found in Appendix 2. Also, to assist schools in managing curriculum change, the EDB has provided a one-stop curriculum resources

directory service at http://www.edb.gov.hk/en/curriculum-development/resource-support/overview/index.html

which provides a central pool of ready-to-use learning and teaching resources and useful references developed by the EDB and other parties.