Sec 2 Interdisciplinary Studies (IDS)

Name of Team	Sec 2 Curriculum Core Team
Title of Project	Sec 2 Interdisciplinary Studies (IDS)
Facilitator	Whang Ai Lee
Team Leader	Lena Teo Christopher Slatter
Secretary	NA
Members	Benjamin Kong Mae Ho Christina Lye Sam Ho Choon Juen Zhang Bo Zhu Haibin Crescendra Chong Chiu Wee Meng Esther Cheong Lim Ting Fang Lim Shi Min
Initiated on (date)	Term 2 Week 7
Completion date	Term 3 Week 2
Objectives/Targets	All Secondary Two students offer the Interdisciplinary Studies (IDS) over a period of 6 weeks starting from Term 2 weeks 7 to 10 and Term 3 weeks 1 to 2 in 2017. IDS is designed to enable students to begin to deliberate and solve real world problems using the knowledge, skills and thinking taught in various disciplines/subjects from languages and the humanities to maths, science, art and music. This is part of the NYGH’s total curriculum and instructional experience which is rigorous and enriched to ensure an all-round development in the 5 domains of moral 德, cognitive 智, physical 体, social 群 and aesthetics 美.  At the same time, it provides students with an experience that is authentic, personalised and relevant. It also enables students to make meaningful connections, have positive engagement and be of service to the larger community. The overall objectives of the IDS are to create opportunities for students to: • develop a meaningful understanding of complex associations and influences within specific concepts; • make decisions, think critically and creatively as well as synthesize knowledge beyond the disciplines; • identify, assess and transfer significant information needed for solving novel problems; and • embrace cooperative learning and a better attitude towards oneself as a learner and a meaningful member of a community.
Implementation Process	IDS was conducted over a period of 6 weeks starting from Term 2 weeks 7 to 10 and Term 3 weeks 1 to 2.  In the first 2 weeks of IDS, students went through enrichment clusters in groups to understand the concepts of Mobility, Health, Environment and Entertainment in application to the real world. In week 3 of IDS, students made use of white spaces to explore, think about and create their prototype.  Week 4 of IDS was set aside for students to complete their Community Education and Community Education Fair. Students continued their IDS prototype phase in IDS Week 5 and their prototypes were assessed in IDS Week 6 through video presentations and Exposition Day.  During these 6 weeks, the regular timetable was suspended and a special weekly timetable was generated to support the IDS.  Students were informed of their timetable before the start of each week.  Curriculum time was also set aside for students to attend special lectures by industry partners as well as white spaces to work in their teams and to consult their teacher mentors.
Extent of Improvement/ Targets met	1) Synergistic integration of IDS with ComEd using the concept of “Sustainable Community”: Sec 2 students are involved in Community Education. To complement their Community Education, the IDS is designed to enable students to explore the idea of a sustainable community. Through their contact and service, students investigated the needs of a particular underserved group in the community before creating a prototype. The Design Thinking approach was used, and teacher mentors guided students through the five phases of Design thinking i.e. “Empathise, Design, Ideate, Create and Test” to produce tangible outcomes, which in this case, are prototypes that can improve the quality of life of target groups. 2) Blended learning approach: Teaching and learning were transformed by adopting a cluster learning model, that was well-supported by technology. In groups of three classes, students rotated through four different clusters of “Mobility”, “Health”, “Environment” and “Entertainment” to build their understanding of what a sustainable community entails. An online learning community that is collaborative in nature was also set up to make students’ learning and thinking visible.