Abstract

• The proposed project aims to set up a partnership programme between School of Life Sciences (SLS) and General Education Foundation (GEF) Programme. Senior students from SLS will partner with teachers to organize scientific experiential learning workshops for GEF students. The workshops are relevant to the classics in one of the GEF courses, In Dialogue with Nature (UGFN1000).
• The classics in UGFN1000 entails rich ideas in response to sustainable development goals (SDGs). The workshops provide a valuable opportunity for GEF students to gain hands-on experience in performing the scientific experiment/ investigation relevant to the classics, thus allowing students to better comprehend the features of scientific method and deepen their reflection on SDGs.
• This project engages SLS students as teachers’ partner to develop the scientific inquiry workshops. SLS students are also responsible for delivering scientific knowledge and providing technical guidance to GEF students during the workshops. This strengthens their ability to communicate professional knowledge to non-technical audiences, which is well aligned with the key outcome of SLS programmes.
• Ten workshops will be organized in each semester. They are categorized into three distinct themes corresponding to the SDGs: “Good health and well-being”, “Zero hunger” and “Life below water”.
• The GEF participants are required to hand in a written report, including the result or observation in the experiment/ investigation as well as their reflections on the corresponding SDGs related to the activity. The participation and the written report will account for 6% of the GEF course assessment scheme.
• Quantitative and qualitative methods will be employed to evaluate the success of the project, including online surveys, focus group interviews, and textual analysis of written reflections.
• The proposed project well aligns with the strategic development direction of the University that promotes “Engagement of Students as Partners in Curriculum and Teaching and Learning Development” and “Contribution to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals”. The project can be extended to other sessions of GEF courses and applied to other CUHK programmes and courses that aim at fostering students’ skills of communicating professional knowledge to non-technical audiences.

Brief write-up

Project objectives

The objective of this project is to set up a partnership programme between the School of Life Sciences (SLS) and the General Education Foundation (GEF) Programme. Senior SLS students, recruited as Science Communicators (SCs), can partner with GEF teachers to organize scientific experiential learning workshops for students taking “In Dialogue with Nature” (UGFN1000).

Activities, process and outcomes

This scheme consists of Science Communicator Training Scheme for senior SLS students and UGFN1000 Experiential Experience Training Workshops for GEF students. There are three distinct themes which correspond to three of the classics in the UGFN1000 course, including Theme 1: Antibiotics in action: Natural Selection and Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria on SDG Good health and well-being; Theme 2: The Secret of Life: Adaptation of the Avery-MacLeod-McCarty experiment on SDG Zero hunger, Good health and well-being; Theme 3 on Life Below Water: Coral Adoption on SDG Life below water.

Deliverables and evaluation

The success of the project was evaluated both quantitatively and qualitatively. On the quantitative side, online surveys were introduced to both the SLS science communicators and GEF participants to measure the perceived effectiveness of the partnership programme in attaining the proposed aims. On the qualitative side, focus group interviews were conducted to investigate how the partnership programme brings about students’ attainment of the proposed outcome.

Dissemination, diffusion, impact and sharing of good practices

One oral presentation in a departmental conference in 2021, one external oral presentation at CUHK Teaching and Learning Innovation Expo 2021, and coming external oral presentation in Community of Practices Symposium of Education Innovation and Technology 2022.

Impact on teaching and learning

This activity allows teachers to partner with students in delivering knowledge. While UGFN1000 is a course on teaching science classics, this experiential activity can enrich students’ textual understanding and learning experiences.

Video Report

Please click the following link for viewing the report.
https://cuhk.ap.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=2af6088b-399a-4d28-87ae-b12200b2acdf