Topic XVI Investigative Study in Chemistry (20 hours)
Chapter 6 Learning and Teaching Resources
6.5 Resource Management
6.5.1 Acquisition of Resources
Students and teachers should share the responsibility for locating useful learning and teaching resources. For example, teachers can provide students with lists of recommended websites and reference books for particular topics in chemistry; and students can also search for useful resources from the Internet, libraries, government departments and other community organisations on their own, and make suggestions to enrich the teachers’ lists.
6.5.2 Sharing Resources
A culture of sharing is the key to effective knowledge management. Schools should make arrangements for:
teachers and students to share learning and teaching resources through the Intranet or other means within the school;
teachers to form professional development groups for the exchange of experience through well-established web-based platforms such as the Hong Kong Education City website or face-to-face meetings.
6.5.3 Storing Resources
Schools should assign staff to keep up-to-date inventories of learning resources, using school Intranets or e-learning platforms to enable students and teachers to access suitable resources for specific topics easily.
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Appendix 1
Timetable arrangement and deployment of teachers to cater for the diverse needs of students
There are four subjects Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Science (including Mode I and Mode II), offered in the Science Education KLA, leading to a number of different options for students to choose from. The provision of these options serves the needs of students pursuing different pathways. Possible ways of managing school time-tabling and deployment of teachers are discussed below.
Implementation of Mode I Integrated Science Curriculum
If this subject is to be taken by a class of students as a single elective subject, the normal time-tabling for elective subjects can be adopted. It is a common practice in schools for teachers to be involved in teaching a course for three years. However, due to the multi-disciplinary nature of this subject, schools may consider assigning teachers with different expertise to teach this subject at different levels (S4, 5 and 6), or two teachers with different subject expertise to teach one class, so that teachers can focus more on modules with which they are familiar. This helps share out the effort required in preparing for the new curriculum.
We encourage schools to promote partnership in the preparation of lessons, team teaching and lesson observation, so that teachers can learn from each other. It is recommended that schools reserve time for collaborative lesson planning in the time-table so that teachers can work together.
In cases where a school is offering this subject to two or more classes, it is advisable to assign teachers with different subject expertise to the different classes. With special time-tabling, it is then possible to swap classes so that teachers can concentrate on the modules they are more familiar with. After a few years, the teachers will be able to cover the teaching of the whole curriculum and to monitor the progress of the students effectively.
The following illustrates the different arrangements that schools may adopt, according to their resources and the readiness of their teachers:
Option A: One teacher teaches one class at all three levels. If the teacher is required to teach beyond his/her own expertise, more time should be allowed for his/her professional development in knowledge updating and lesson preparation.
Option B: Teachers with different expertise share the teaching of one class.
This allows them to concentrate on preparing the modules in the areas in which they are most knowledgeable.
Option C: Two teachers with different expertise teach two classes, with each teaching one class. These teachers should share their knowledge and experience regularly and help each other in preparing resources.
Option D: Two teachers with different expertise teach two classes, with a special time-tabling arrangement which allows them to swap their responsibilities at various times in the year.
Implementation of Mode II Combined Science Curriculum with Biology, Chemistry and Physics
The Combined Science Curriculum is designed for students taking two elective subjects in the Science Education KLA; it comprises three parts with the content selected from the Biology, Chemistry and Physics curricula. Students will have to take the two parts that are complementary to the discipline in which they specialise. Special time-tabling and teacher deployment are needed for its smooth implementation in schools.
To help students build up a broad knowledge base, it is recommend that students should be offered more elective subjects in S4 and be guided to select two or three electives to focus on in S5 and S6. Students wishing to opt for two elective subjects in the Science Education KLA should start with all three science disciplines, using the lesson time for two elective subjects in S4, i.e. if it is planned that four periods per cycle are allocated for one elective subject, schools may arrange two to three periods per cycle for each science discipline in S4.
Teachers should refer to the respective Curriculum and Assessment Guides for a selection of topics suitable for inclusion in the S4 curriculum to help students build up a broad foundation.
Schools may consider the following two arrangements in S5 and S6:
A. Flexible grouping and split class arrangement
Students from two or three different classes are arranged into three groups namely, a Biology group, a Chemistry group and a Physics group, depending on the specialised subject they opt for. As illustrated in the figure below, the students will have four periods per cycle for their specialised subject and two lessons per cycle for the other two complementary subjects.
Figure A1: An Example of 2 Classes Taking Two Elective Subjects from the Science Education KLA
To implement the split-class arrangement, three common blocks in the time-table have to be arranged for the Biology, Chemistry and Physics teachers. That is, in the four periods allocated for the 1st Block, the respective subject teachers will be teaching the groups that chose to specialise in their areas. In the 2nd and 3rd Block, they will give two lessons each to the groups taking the other two specialised subjects.
Biology Teacher Chemistry Teacher Physics Teacher 1st Block
(4 periods)
Biology (Bio Group)
Chemistry (Chem Group)
Physics (Phy Group) 2nd Block
(2 periods)
Biology part of Combined Science
(Chem Group)
Chemistry part of Combined Science
(Phy Group)
Physics part of Combined Science
(Bio Group) 3rd Block
(2 periods)
Biology part of Combined Science
(Phy Group)
Chemistry part of Combined Science
(Bio Group)
Physics part of Combined Science
(Chem Group) S4
S6
S5
Bio Chem Phy
Class A Class B
Bio Chem Phy Bio Chem Phy
Bio Chem Phy
Class A Class B
Bio Chem Phy Bio Chem Phy C P
Bio
Bio Group
C P Bio
Bio Group
B P Chem
Chem Group
B P Chem
Chem Group
Chem
Chem Group
C B Phy
Phy Group
B. Block time-table arrangement
Schools may arrange three common blocks in the time-table for three classes. The three subjects in each block will share the same time slots in the time-table. In each block, students may take any one subject from the three subjects offered in the block.
Class A Class B Class C Other Classes
Core Subjects
Chin Lang Chin Lang Chin Lang Chin Lang
Eng Lang Eng Lang Eng Lang Eng Lang
Math Math Math Math
LS LS LS LS
1st Block Biology / Combined Science (Chem, Bio)
/ X from other KLAs Integrated Science
2nd Block Chemistry / Combined Science (Phy, Chem)
/ X from other KLAs X from other KLAs
3rd Block Physics / Combined Science (Bio, Phy)
/ X from other KLAs X from other KLAs
In the above arrangement, X is an elective subject from the other KLAs or an ApL course.
Students in Classes A, B and C are offered the following possible choices:
Biology + 2X
Chemistry + 2X
Physics + 2X
Biology + Combined Science (Phy, Chem) + X
Chemistry + Combined Science (Bio, Phy) + X
Physics + Combined Science (Chem, Bio) + X
Biology + Chemistry + X
Chemistry + Physics + X
Biology + Physics + X
Biology + Chemistry + Physics
3X (from other KLAs / ApL course)
From the time-table, it is clear that two teachers of each science discipline are needed.
For example, in the 2nd common block, one chemistry teacher is needed to teach four lessons of Chemistry, and another chemistry teacher is needed to teach the two lessons for