Project-based Learning

To cope with the challenges of the 21st Century, education in Hong Kong must keep abreast of the global trends and students have to empower themselves to learn beyond the confines of the classroom. The school curriculum, apart from helping students to acquire the necessary knowledge, should help the younger generation to develop a global outlook, to learn how to learn and to master life-long skills that can be used outside schools. The curriculum should also cultivate students' positive values and attitudes to achieve the educational aims of promoting whole-person development and life-long learning.

To achieve this goal, A-School has initiated whole-school project-based learning (PBL) as a powerful learning and teaching strategy to promote self-directed, self-regulated and self-reflecting learning. It usually starts with challenging questions or problems, and involves students working together to plan, research, read and make decisions over a period of time. A-School continuously develops PBL in the hope that students can connect knowledge, skills, values and attitudes and to construct knowledge through a variety of learning experiences.

By engaging in different performance tasks, students can strengthen their questioning, investigating and generic skills, develop positive attitudes, and broaden their horizons through local or overseas excursions and different interdisciplinary activities.

PBL focusare planned based on the framework of “Understanding by Design”:

A-School students need to solve authentic social problems using “design thinking”, which is a mindset and approach to problem-solving and innovation anchored around human-centered, instead of “problem-based” design. Our students have to work as a group to:

1. “discover” users’ painpoints by “interviewing” and “observing”;

2. “define” a problem by analyzing "stakeholder mapping" and setting “How might we…” action statement;

3. “develop” solutions by adopting “lotus blossom” and “cross-pollination” techniques; and

4. “deliver” the solution by prototyping, testing, evaluating and pitching.

At the end of Term P, students will showcase their findings and solutions in a creative way on the carnival-like PBL Showcase Day.

PBL also enables our students to learn the 21st century skills including:

● Critical thinking v

● Creativity

● Collaboration

● Communication

Highlights of PBL 2023-24

The theme of PBL this year is “A-Generation with Compassion”. It aims to inspire our youths to think beyond traditional problem-solving and embrace a vision where every person is empowered. Through the innovative ideas showcased at this event, we aim to ignite a spark within our community, inspiring others to follow the path of our compassionate innovators, "a generation with compassion".

Students’ Reflection on PBL 2023-24

Participating in the G4 Entrepreneurship PBL was an incredible experience. As the ‘CEO’, I learned how to build a business from the ground up—starting with an idea, designing a product, managing costs and revenue, and creating marketing materials. I also worked on website design, set up an online shop, and created a promotional video, theme song, and slogan, which taught me the importance of branding. I also gained valuable teamwork experience by recognizing my teammates’ strengths and helping them enjoy their roles. This project gave me hands-on entrepreneurship experience and boosted my confidence in leadership and teamwork.

Milton LAM 5B

Our project focused on the critical issues of waste management and food waste. Throughout this journey, we gained valuable insights, including causes of food waste, reduction strategies and environmental impact. By engaging in the performance tasks, we also learn various research methods that will be invaluable for our future. This project enhanced our knowledge on SDGs and equipped us with practical skills for addressing these important challenges.

Thomas YIP 6A