STEM

STEM with Methodist College

With a cross-discipline approach, STEM education empowers students to solve problems innovatively with hands-on practice and project development support. STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Recent years, STEAM with an additional art element in STEM was advocated. Indeed, through the class practice in design and research, students would apply art and humanistic approaches to study the root of human problems. Students are required to collaborate in team work and communicate with patience and ideas. Art element actually paves the way to creative technology and team success.

Our junior students have a school-based curriculum to participate in different projects for developing the essential skills on project development, problem-solving, and critical thinking. Students would use computers, robots, electronic devices and various maker’s tools to prototype their projects. We value diversities and originality of customized solutions.

    Senior students could also continue their adventure by joining a range of competitions, workshops and visits. When they need the support with STEM facilities, our new STEM room has the space and equipment for prototyping. If students need professional tools, partnerships with external workstations and skill support are available by request. 

The New STEM Curriculum

1. AR and metaverse 

In recent decades, the technology moved many of the offline direct interactions to be the online social life. We play games online, work online, and even share our emotions online nowadays. Furthermore,  the latest augmented reality (AR) technology is merging the digital world in our reality world. It is expected that our students will work in the metaverse sooner or later. Therefore, we provide AR experience using AR101 and other AR applications on mobile devices. 

3D tools such as Tinkercad could let students quickly model their designs. Professional CAD and CAM such as CorelDRAW for laser cutting and engraving are available for students to taste prototyping.

2. AI and Robotics

Among the impactful technologies in this decade, artificial intelligence (AI) has infused into our lives through services such as recommendation engines, customer chatbot and face recognition. Our approach is beyond having the experience with the latest AI technologies for students. We believe when students build their skills in AI training today, we will shine in the upcoming innovation journey. 

This year, our school would follow the suggestion of Education Bureau and allocate 10 to 14 hours of AI learning in Secondary 2 and 3. Module on Artificial Intelligence for Junior Secondary Level covers topics on AI basics, AI ethics, computer vision, computer speech and language, virtual reality, robotics, societal impact and future of work, etc. Students will learn Python programming, robotics, IoT and discuss various topics in AI ethics. The curriculum will introduce a range of AI topics, provide the interaction with AI, and empower students with experiments.

Besides, we also provide students with different types of robotics kits for project developments.

3. Prototyping and Application

The core spirit of STEM is to solve real problems. Students would have full opportunities and support for them to own a project. Beyond 2D, students could use CoSpaces to create VR experiences in a 3D environment for immersive gaming and story-telling. Moreover, different project development skills such as design thinking and computational thinking are introduced for students to improve their projects in a spiral process. 

Hardware Support and Software Application

micro:bit and App Inventor 2 are suitable for beginners to kickstart their project with functional features. For advanced students, we also provide them with Arduino and AI toolkits with a range of sensors for automatics and even ioT solutions. For competition teams, they could also practice with mbot robotics, DJI AI car and a list of devices.

4.     Competition and Activities 

To extend the project learning and build friendships with talented students, we have iSTEM Club and iRobotics Team established in 2022-23. The ‘i’ stands for ‘Innovation’ including radical, incremental, and disruptive innovations. iSTEM Club provides training workshops, event visits, talk sharing by industrial professionals and the latest news in STEM. iRobotics Team would include a list of robotics competitions and also innovation projects Including but not limited to programming, green design, research and development and e-sport. Here is a list of competitions we joined or we applied.

INTER SCHOOL COMPETITIONS:

Formula AI 香港校際AI方程式

ICE Challenge - Codecombat

First Lego League (FLL)

World Robot Olympics (WRO)

World Mathematics Invitational

BBC Micro:bit Race for the Line Rocket Car Competition

BBC Micro:bit 氣墊船比賽

Mini Robocon Hong Kong

ROBOFEST Hong Kong 機械人大賽

遙控模型車學界賽

國際專業無人機學會全港無人機大赛