Applied Learning Programme
Chongfu School aims to nurture a community of thinkers who are patriotic, gracious and global in outlook. To achieve this, students will have to be equipped with skills and knowledge, social and emotional competencies and life skills to develop into concerned citizens and active contributors. The school is constantly looking for opportunities to impart students with the skills, abilities, mind-set and values for long-term growth.
The ALP will focus on the use of Design Thinking practices to deliver the observable, aspirational and achievable outcomes as stated in the table below:
APPROACH
Our efforts to drive the Chongfu Design Thinkers’ Programme will be done using the Design Thinking (DT) Framework to solve problems which students identify. This design methodology provides a solution-based approach to solving problems. As shown in the diagram below, it is a non-linear, iterative process where the students will work in teams to understand the users, redefine the problems, challenge their assumptions and create innovative solutions. They will also prototype and test their solutions.
Students will be guided through these 5 processes in the Design Thinking Framework to generate innovative solutions and use enterprising ways to tackle everyday problems.
The 5 non-linear processes students will experience are briefly explained below:
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All our P3 and P4 students internalise the Design Thinking processes through 20 hours of hands-on activities, discussions, group work, prototype building and presentations where students go through the entire Design Thinking Process, making for a rich learning experience.
Students will have ample opportunities to generate innovative solutions for everyday problems and will be empowered to work with group members to use enterprising ways to care for the environment. Students will learn to build empathy in reframing and resolving problems, practice wearing user-centric lenses, and learn to present with aids such as prototypes and storyboards to garner feedback and spark new ideas as part of the non-linear, iterative Design process. Interacting via Zoom with students from other countries will help open their minds up and help them to challenge assumptions. Students will enjoy the engaging learning process as they develop crucial future-ready skills to face a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world.
Students presenting their prototype
Prototype building
Students showing off their prototype -
To further develop creative confidence in our students with intentionality, in 2022 and 2023, Chongfu School collaborated with the National Agency for Design, Design Singapore Council (Dsg), and EYEYAH!, a President’s Design Award Recipient which specialised in using vibrant images and animations in developing creative confidence in young students. The outcome was a course on creative confidence for all our P4 students to sharpen their Design Thinking skills.
This year, we also introduced a Poster Exhibition, Augmented Reality (AR) segment and assembly talk to further enrich the learning process. In the Poster Exhibition, students learnt to slow down and interpret thought-provoking environment-themed posters, building their creative muscle. In the AR segment, P3 students learnt about fun as a creative technique to persuade through personal experience. Through the P3 assembly talk, P3 students were trained in curiosity and creativity.
Students were delighted and challenged with a poster exhibition held in the library, where students learnt to slow down, interpret the posters themed around sustainability, and build their creative muscle though observation, visual learning, making connections and divergent thinking.
Students also loved the interactive assembly programme, where students were taught how to think like a designer to train 21st century Design Thinking skills of curiosity and creativity on sustainability topics.
Students particularly loved the fun Augmented Reality Treasure Hunt, where they grew their creativity muscle as they participated and even pledged to eat even ugly fruit and vegetables (which make up 40% of total food waste!) This incorporation of gamification helped to ignite learning through play.
Students have given feedback that they have learnt a lot through the teachers’ skillful facilitation of the arresting, thought-provoking, well-designed illustrations in the worksheets and slides, empowered by technological affordances (e.g. Augmented Reality) and enhanced by gamification (e.g. Kahoot quizzes) as well as timely peer-to-peer and teacher feedback (e.g. through Padlet, Nearpod, face-to-face communication)
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Selected Primary 5 students join the Innovation Programme (IvP). The IvP aims to promote creative and independent thinking in students. Through the IvP, the students understand real-world problems, generate solutions, and develop innovation prototypes. These aspiring young innovators work actively in groups on a self-selected project under the guidance of their teacher-mentors.
During IvP sessions, students will have opportunities to interact with innovation-mentors from external organisations.
The IvP culminates in the Young Innovator’s Fair in November, where selected projects will be showcased through a stage presentation and poster exhibition.
Innovation Mentor from Nanyang Polytechnic
Doing a Divergent Thinking Activity
Brainwriting -
Selected Primary 5 students participate in the Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan (SHHK) Thinkers’ Programme. Students will use Design Thinking approaches and concepts from Artificial Intelligence to develop and present novel ideas to solve real-world problems. The theme for 2023 is “Towards a Healthier Lifestyle”.
Over the March school break, our students had the chance to engage with industry professionals, including a doctor and senior staff from the Ministry of Health and the Health Promotion Board. The knowledge and perspectives shared by these experts helped our students generate ideas and solutions to empower Singaporeans to improve their quality of life by staying healthy.
Our students will be participating in a Thinkers Showcase where the best teams from all 5 SHHK schools come together and pitch their ideas to a panel of judges.
Booth at the final showcase in 2022
Sharing with judges and guests