Mainland Study Tour and Related Project Learning

The following paragraphs explain the points to note about the school arrangements for the Mainland study tour and project learning. To understand the school arrangements for the Mainland study tour and project learning, teachers may also refer to the example in the Appendix.

4.6.1 Building on prior experiences

Project learning has been implemented in primary and secondary schools since 2001.

The learning elements of project learning have been incorporated into the learning and teaching activities of many subjects. Teachers should understand students’ prior

experiences of project learning and their self-directed learning capabilities to facilitate the implementation of project learning under the Mainland study tour of Citizenship and Social Development at the senior secondary level.

4.6.2 Mainland study tour

The Mainland study tour of Citizenship and Social Development is closely linked to the themes of the curriculum, and provides opportunities for students to experience the development of our country and to enrich their learning experiences. The EDB has organised diversified Mainland study tours which are in line with the curriculum aims and objectives. There have been itineraries which cover both short and long trips, and different locations that are relevant to the various themes of the curriculum so as to allow teachers to choose appropriate study tours for their students to participate.

Before the study tours, students have to prepare well by searching and reading relevant information about the tours. After the study tours, students also have to conduct project learning to consolidate and reflect on what they have learnt.

If students have practical difficulties with sound justifications for not participating in the Mainland study tour, they should apply for and obtain prior permission from schools. Schools should handle these matters prudently on a case-by-case basis.

Schools should also provide feasible alternatives which are meaningful and in line with the curriculum for students to acquire learning experiences that help them understand the development of our country. For example, virtual reality or videos can be used to let students experience the development of our country in the form of a remote study tour. Schools can also consider arranging sharing on the learning outcomes of the Mainland study tour. This arrangement provides opportunities for students who have participated in the tours to share their insights of learning, and provides reference for students who cannot participate in the study tours (such as sharing the photographs and video footage taken on the spot). Students who cannot participate in the study tours can compare these photographs and video footage with the virtual reality or videos they have seen to understand the development of our country. Besides, students who have not participated in the Mainland study tour also have to conduct project learning based on the information they have browsed and collected, and submit their project reports to schools for assessment.

Teachers’ concrete guidance and leadership are important factors accounting for the success of the Mainland study tour. Teachers can help students acquire the relevant knowledge by designing worksheets appropriate to the different spots to be visited.

Teachers can also assign tasks and set reflection questions for completion after the study tours to help students conduct the tours and consolidate the learning outcomes

with proper focuses. In addition, teachers have to guide students on the directions and means of collecting information, and help them connect and apply what they have learnt from the Mainland study tour of Citizenship and Social Development and different subjects so as to enrich the content of the project reports.

Each student has to be responsible for his/her own project report, but they can still benefit from sharing their views, experience and learning outcomes gained from the study tours. Teachers should appropriately introduce group learning activities during the study tours and project learning in order to encourage and lead students to collaborate and share.

4.6.3 Project learning

The project learning that comes with the Mainland study tour is also an integral part of the Citizenship and Social Development curriculum. Through participating in project learning, students gain experiences of self-directed learning, which are conducive to achieving the curriculum aims and objectives of this subject.

The experiences gained from study tours can be the starting point of conducting project learning in this subject. This can be subsequently integrated with the knowledge learnt in Citizenship and Social Development and other subjects to formulate the titles and delineate the scope of the study. Elements related to Chinese culture must be included. Teachers can help students formulate appropriate topics and delineate the scope of the studies. Students should understand the itineraries of the tours and the spots to be visited before the trips, and search for relevant information on the Internet or in the libraries. During the Mainland study tour, students have to collect more information within the scope of their selected topics. As they have already read relevant information before the tours, students should be able to conduct observations with focuses on the spots to be visited and collect information about these sites through different means. Such information can match and enrich what students have observed in the tours so as to enrich the content of the project reports.

After the study tours, students can integrate what they have read before and after the tours with the information collected from the spots visited, and formally start writing the reports. Students should have developed the elementary skills of conducting project learning at the junior secondary level. Teachers can give appropriate guidance to students after understanding their prior learning experiences, including orientating the titles and directions of studies to be in line with the curriculum aims and objectives of Citizenship and Social Development. Teachers should also give

guidance to students on how to analyse information and data, and construct knowledge based on the information collected.

Project learning emphasises personal reflections of students. Teachers can encourage students to reflect on how the experiences gained from the Mainland study tour have helped them understand the development of our country, learn Citizenship and Social Development and their personal development. Students may also reflect on the myths which have been dispelled through the activities of the study tours. In addition, teachers should emphasise to students that they should take the major responsibilities for the learning progress of project learning so as to help them become self-directed learners.

In addition to the written mode, students can also adopt the non-written mode to complete the project reports. For example, model-making, short videos and webpages are all acceptable modes of presentation for students to present their ideas appropriately. Diversified presentation modes suit the different needs, inclinations and abilities of students, and create space for nurturing their creativity. However, teachers should remind students that the choice of presentation mode aims primarily to help deliver knowledge and content appropriately and therefore students should not spend effort on fancy decorations and possibly meaningless audio-visual effects.