Po Leung Kuk 1983 Board of Directors’ College 保良局八三年總理中學

Po Leung Kuk 1983 Board of Directors’ College保良局八三年總理中學 Theme : Open-ended Instructions 主題：開放式提問

This project is for F.1 – F.3 Integrated Science Social Studies

Preparation before the school year Prepare a list of open-ended instructions (refer to handout)

Running open-ended instructions in lessons 1. Issue instructions 2. Group discussion (Record points of discussion) 3. Presentation in front of the class (whole group comes out) OR in Collaborative learning style : Each group sends a member to next group to present During presentation, everyone can raise questions and record their queries/comments (so as not to get off-task)

Class Activity Teacher gives an open-ended instruction . Then students have group discussion.

F.2 Integrated Science 試想像人類的耳朵可以聽到更大的頻率範圍，後果會怎樣？ Imagine what will happen if human ears can hear a wider range of frequency.

F.2 Integrated Science 如果人類生來沒有舌頭，那麼人類的生活有什麼不同？ What will be the change in lifestyle if humans were born without tongue ?

Group presentation The groups make presentation. (take turns OR only some groups are chosen) Other groups make cross-examination i.e. ask them questions to seek clarification

When being asked …. The presenters discuss the questions at once and respond to the questions. Other groups could offer suggestions.

Motivate the class by a small competition Any group that asks a meaningful question OR helps other group to answer questions is awarded 1 point and will get small gift/stickers at end of lesson

What is the change in teaching and learning? Students become active learners. Teachers become facilitators. They make judgement if necessary, highlight and summarize main points

In an open-ended instruction Design an experiment to show how to make an egg float in water We got 4 suggestions from students and they discovered something novel in each of them

Different suggestions from students 1. Use the upthrust from running water 2. Put egg in acid to produce carbon dioxide which will make egg float 3. Add salt to water to increase density of water 4. Use an stale egg 5. Yet Students discovered another method when they tried out method 1……

What is the new method they discovered ? Please pay attention to the first 10 seconds in the video.

The new method that students discovered is …. When running water hit on the egg directly ,the egg floated. This is a phenomenon in Physics , same as the pressure difference that lifts up the wings of planes.

The activity also initiated the curiosity of students “Will the gas produced from the acid and shell of egg buoy up the egg ?” Students asked. “Let’s try out!” (Though the answer is not accepted by the teacher as acid is not water.)

Aims of these activities Nurture analytical thinking skills 培養批判思維能力 Initiates curiosity and creativity 誘發好奇心，展示創意 Improve communication skills (verbal presentation skills) 勇於表達意見，學習當中技巧

F.1 – F.3 still have their syllabus, so ……. We have these activities once three weeks on average. Seems time-consuming but worthwhile.

Inrecent years More and more open-ended questions have appeared in public exam. CE AL .

Our students may benefit from these learning activities because we encourage them to try to answer open-ended instructions

A newspaper cutting from Hong Kong Economic Times in May 2003

牛津劍橋古怪面試題(I) 為什麼植物沒有腦子???

牛津劍橋古怪面試題(II) 若果一個公園外有「車輛不准進入」的告示,你若推一架嬰兒車入去,是否犯法???

End of part I (Integrated Science) Thank you

Po Leung Kuk 1983 Board of Directors’ College 保良局八三年總理中學