Induction Course for New Economics Panel Chairpersons

1. Induction Course for New Economics Panel Chairpersons 12 November 2010

2. Contents • Roles and Functions of Economics panel chairperson in general • Learning & Teaching • Internal assessment • Development of the Economics panel

3. Managing the curriculum Understand the curriculum and learning context Curr. Guide; community culture and society needs; school vision, mission & policy; students’ abilities and interests Planning and implementing the curriculum design & implement schemes of work / proper learning and teaching sequences make appropriate adjustments in L&T strategies design modes of assessment and tasks to promote AFL Evaluating the curriculum (for improvement) Roles & Functions

4. Managing the curriculum Developing learning and teaching resources tasks: develop, collect & organise types: worksheets, articles, reports, videos, software; school & communities resources / people; ICT Building capacity knowledge: Econ., curr. dev., L&T team building: collaboration, sharing & support; networking: other schools, outside organisations Managing changes Roles & Functions

5. Leader Planner Coordinator Lead & plan curr dev., clear direction Monitor implementation; make adjustments Plan & carry out prof. dev. (int. & ext.) Strengthen coordination and communication thro formal & informal meetings Make best use of res. Roles & Functions

6. Learning & Teaching • What are the essential conditions for effective teaching? (effective teaching: teacher-student interactions in the classroom that enhance the cognitive and affective performance of students) • understand the teacher • understand the curriculum • understand the learners • understand the L&T strategies • understand the assessment

7. Learning & Teaching • 5 key factors (behaviours) contributing to effective teaching • Lesson clarity • Make ideas clear • Explain concepts in a logical, step-by-step order • Oral delivery: direct, audible to all, free of distraction • Instructional variety • Variability & flexibility in presentation • Ways:- questioning, using learning materials, equipments… • Teacher task orientation • Amt. of time for teaching the subject matter • For: (i) getting learners ready to learn; (ii) presenting, questioning, encouraging learners to enquire or think independently (iii) assessing learners’ performance

8. Learning & Teaching • 5 key factors (behaviours) contributing to effective teaching • Engagement in the learning process • Amt of time learners devote to learning (think about, working with or using what is being presented) • Ways: (i) move around to monitor (ii) Design interesting and worthwhile tasks at right level (iii) Abundant use of res. & activities that are at or slightly above learners’ current level of understanding • Student success rate • The rate at which students understand and correctly complete exercises and assignments.

9. Learning & Teaching • Adoption of wide range of learning & teaching strategies- foster students’ learning • Lesson observation in Economics

10. Learning & Teaching Strategies • Assessment for learning • Designed Activities • Cooperative Learning • Mastery Learning • Differentiation

11. Lesson Observation

12. Teaching

13. Teaching organisation Organisation of learning activities/tasks • Clear objective(s)? • direct, concrete, observable • e.g. differentiate between...; identify the result of…; solve a problem in…; compare and contrast… • Suited to learners’ needs / ability levels? • Appropriate expectations? • Check prior knowledge? / Activate prior knowledge? • Build on previous learning? / Draw on daily-life experience? • Appropriate pace? • Well-sequenced activities?

14. Teaching process • Use of resources Proper use of *classroom resources / subject resources / reading materials / IT ? • Classroom management Established classroom routines? Manage classroomeffectively? Safe / Favourable envir. ? (learners are encouraged to express / participate)

15. Learning atmosphere & class interaction Good interaction between *TS / SS? • Catering for learner diversity Diversified strategies catering for different learning *styles / needs? Adjust *content / strategies / pace? Opportunities for different learners to participate? Challenging tasks to stretch learners? Provide individual support? Appropriate grouping (purpose?); Monitor progress?

16. Communication and presentation skills Adopt appropriate medium of instruction? Clear; Concise; Accurate; Systematic? *Arouse / Sustain interest; Facilitate understanding?

17. Questioning • Appropriate frequency? • Appropriate level? • cognitive complexity • Ask a range of questions? • purposes: getting interest & attention, diagnosing & checking, recalling facts / info, managing, encouraging higher-level thinking, allowing expression of affect • cognitive complexity • Effective *prompting / probing? • elicit clarification (rephrase or reword) • solicit new info to extend students’ response • redirect or restructure

18. Questioning • Provoke thinking? • convergent (direct or closed) • divergent (indirect or open) • Encourage inquiry learning? • Enough wait time? • longer wait time: longer responses, more voluntary responses, more complex response, students more confident in responding

19. Questioning • Any undesirable questioning practices? • overly complex or ambiguous questions • reject unexpected ans. even it is correct • supply the correct ans. yourself without probing; prevent students from completing a wrong ans. • punishing or embarrassing students

20. Feedback and follow-up • Assessment of learning progress Share learning objectives? Opportunities for students to *demonstrate learning / raise questions? *Peer / Self assessment?

21. Feedback Positive? Timely? Specific? Facilitate *learning / improvement? Encourage *self-reflection / peer feedback? • Following up *Consolidate / Extend learning? Set improvement targets?

22. Learning • Learning process - Attitude, Interest & Motivation - Use of strategies, resources & feedback - Use of appropriate strategies - Peer learning - Independent learning

23. Teachers’ sharing

24. Internal Assessment • Promotion of Assessment for learning • The gap between where a learner is in their learning, and where they need to be – the desired goal. • This can be achieved through processes such as sharing criteria with learners, effective questioning and feedback. 

25. Different assessment tasks e.g. data response questions T/F + explanation mini-projects

26. Plan for internal summative assessment Examination blueprint Argue, assess, evaluate, judge, predict, support, evaluate Evaluation Arrange, create, construct, design, develop, prepare, propose Synthesis Analyze, compare, contrast, criticize, distinguish, examine, categorize Analysis Application Apply, demonstrate, illustrate, interpret, solve Comprehension Explain, classify, discuss, recognize, identify Knowledge Define, list, relate, name, order

27. Teachers’ sharing

28. Development of Econ Panel • Interface between junior and senior level • Implementation of SBA • Planning in line with school short- and medium-term goals • Resources for NSS Economics Curriculum

29. Interface between Junior & Senior Level • No junior secondary Econ., any interface issues? any curriculum planning needed? • Any expectations of new S4 Econ students? • findings of the research conducted by CUHK • have brief idea of what economics is • interested in economics • be aware of economic issues

30. Interface between Junior & Senior Level • How to make use of junior secondary PSHE curriculum to prepare students studying Economics? • strand 5 (Resources and Economic Activities) of the PSHE KLA curr. framework • essential learning elements related to strand 5 in Life and Society • Major factors affecting the use of personal resources; • Econ performance of HK, employment situation of labours, and the role of the HK Gov’t on the econ front; • An overview of the economy of our country and factors facilitating its econ development; • Dev. trend of worldwide econ activities and the work of some related org.

31. Interface between Junior & Senior Level • Examples of these essential learning elements • Decision making about the use of money • Prin. of sensible consumption, rights and responsibilities of consumers • Econ situation of HK & its challenges as revealed from data • Econ & social consequences of pub fin and gov’t policy • Labour market in HK • Macro-economy of our country and its regional econ dev • Role of Chinese Gov’t in the economy • Importance of the status of int’l fin centre to HK • Consequences of free trade and econ globalization • Int’l org, and their work, that promote econ globalization

32. Interface between Junior & Senior Level • What options we have? • EPA, L&S, IH, sch-based prog, collaborate with J PSHE teacher • Objectives: • Equip students with basic econ concepts required in NSS Econ • Econ literacy: • meaning / implications of some econ terms, econ statistics; • graphical representations / skills • Summary (writing) of econ news reports / promote awareness of econ issues (budget, min wage…) • Simple way of econ thinking: people choose; people’s choice involve costs; people response to incentives in predictable ways; people create econ systems that influence ind choice and incentives; people gains when they trade voluntarily; people’s choice have consequences that lie in future

33. Interface between Junior & Senior Level • What options we have? • Collaborate with teachers of other KLA • maths • language

34. Implementation of SBA • Start from 2014.

35. Sample 2 Sample 1 Designed worksheet

36. Planning in line with sch short-term and long term goal • School’s major concerns e.g. (1) reading to learn  reading list (2) learning to learn (metacognition)  learning diary etc

37. Teachers’ sharing

38. Learning & Teaching Resources

43. Teachers’ sharing

44. Q & A