Other Information

      The subject's primary aim is to help students to develop the skills that are characteristic of a well-educated person. The topics in the various modules are, in one sense, just a means to this all-important end. In Hong Kong Studies, for example, it would not be difficult to devise an alternative syllabus covering matters of great importance to Hong Kong but with entirely different topics to those actually chosen.

      The question format used in Liberal Studies differs from that normally found in local examination syllabuses. The use of this format is intended to emphasize the need for an inquiry approach in teaching and studying the subject. Each module spells out a number of issues and the approach required is indicated by the questions that are listed under each topic area. It is not intended that each topic should be covered exhaustively.

      The question format is not meant to imply that all students should aim to identify certain correct answers. On the contrary, the approach used should stress that most issues are much too complex to allow for simplistic solutions. In this connection, students should be helped to appreciate the naivety of much of what they are exposed to in the public media and elsewhere.

      In order to understand an issue to the point where judgements can be made about it, it is, of course, necessary to have knowledge of a body of relevant facts. However, in this subject the emphasis is not intended to be on accumulating factual knowledge and great care will be taken in the examination papers to avoid questions which call for detailed factual recall. Instead, the emphasis will be on understanding and assessing the extent to which the candidate can demonstrate possession of the skills listed in the subject objectives.

      The modules which make up this subject are meant to be equally accessible to all students without regard both to the subjects they are currently studying and to those they studied previously for the HKCEE. Teachers and students reading the details of the syllabus for the first time need to bear this in mind and carefully study the aims and objectives both of the subject and the individual modules.

    It would be a mistake, for example, to conclude that because a topic resembles one to be found in an Economics syllabus that it should be taught in the same way. In Liberal Studies, topics of this sort should be taught from the point of view of the impact on our lives, on Hong Kong and on the wider world. Such topics do not, therefore, require the teacher to have knowledge beyond that possessed by a well-read individual and the student should not aim to acquire knowledge of the underlying economic concepts which might be appropriate if the topics were being studied as part of the A-Level Economics syllabus.

      In the same way, it is not intended that students studying Environmental Studies should have a knowledge of the complex chemistry, physics and biology which underlie the issues discussed in this module -- one can have knowledge of what comes out of the exhaust of a motor vehicle and appreciate the problems that such exhaust gases cause, without understanding the processes involved in the working of the internal combustion engine.

Subject Aim

      The subject aims to broaden the horizons and skills of Secondary 6 and 7 students by having them study areas outside the traditional A-level syllabuses, to increase students awareness of themselves, and to engender a critical awareness of the society in which they live, and the way that society relates to an ever-changing world.

      The subject also aims to provide the means by which students may learn to harmonize the different approaches found in the sciences and humanities. In addition, the format also allows schools to choose from the list of modules in such a way that at least one module can provide a contrast to the student s main course of study.

Subject Aims

      The subject aims to provide a framework within which students are encouraged....

1. to become better informed, interested in and concerned for Hong Kong and the wider world;

 
2. to achieve greater self-reliance in learning through the development of self-study skills, independent use of resources and self-discipline in the organization of study time and other priorities, which would ultimately lead students to the point where they can learn to satisfy their intellectual curiosity;

 
3. to develop the ability to analyze complex wholes into their component parts and to evaluate the adequacy of evidence to support conclusions and the validity of arguments in terms of their objectivity and freedom from bias or prejudice;

 
4. to think more independently so that they are willing to seek alternatives, to assess and evaluate opinions put forward by others and to be open-minded enough to accept the views of others; or, where there are good grounds for doing so, to maintain their own views;

 
5. to be more creative in the sense that they learn to identify problems and their solutions through the application of their skills, their intellectual resources, and what they have experienced, in ways that are new to them.

Assessment Objectives

      The following assessment objectives spell out specifically what the subject objectives, given above, imply. Not one of them is unique to this subject since they are meant to exemplify what is meant by a well-informed and well-educated person who is both open-minded and able to communicate effectively.

In the Liberal Studies examination and project work, candidates will need to be able ...
 

- to understand sufficiently the basic terminology central to the issues being studied to follow non-technical articles on these issues,
- to scan documents rapidly to locate relevant information,
- to skim through a document so that its gist is understood,
- to read for detailed information,
- to categorize and classify information,
- to extract information relevant to a specific issue from a variety of sources.

- identify central ideas,
- decide what inferences or predictions might be made on the basis of given accounts,
- understand the purposes, biases and assumptions which may underlie a particular view,
- differentiate between what is less important and more important when evaluating a case,
- test the validity of arguments by relating cause to effect and evidence to conclusions,
- interpret and use data whether in written text, tables, charts, graphs, or other forms,
- differentiate among facts, opinions and value judgements,
- provide evidence, usually in the form of specific examples, for a particular conclusion,
- validly draw conclusions from given evidence,
- discriminate between various sources, to evaluate information coming from these sources with an open mind, and to appreciate the differences between first  and second-hand information,
- be critically aware of the underlying concepts involved when faced with two or more apparently authoritative views on an issue,
- organize and present ideas in a clear, and logical form and in a variety of formats in order to make a convincing judgement,
- argue for and against when examining a particular issue,
- make a reasoned argument when choosing between alternatives,
- support their own value judgements with sound argument,
- show evidence of original and creative thinking,
- draw critically upon their own experience and their encounters within the community,
- appreciate the moral, ethical and social implications involved in the issues raised in the syllabus.

[Note: The CDC teaching syllabus adds to the above list since there are other objectives which the classroom teacher needs to take into account]

The Examination
 

The subject consists of six modules:

- Hong Kong Studies
- Environmental Studies
- Human Relationships
- The Modern World
- Science, Technology & Society
- China Today.

Candidates will have to offer two modules, and complete a project in one of the two chosen modules. Each module paper will contribute 40% towards the subject marks and the project the remaining 20%. Candidates will be required to submit details of module choice and project work at the time of registration.

Candidates will be required to sit a 2¹/₂-hour paper in each of their chosen modules.

Each module paper will consist of two sections:
 

Section 1 (75%)

      This section will consist of data-response questions, all of which will have to be answered.
 

Section 2 (25%)

      This section will consist of four questions, which may be in conventional or data-response format. Candidates will be required to answer one question only. 
 

Note 1: Data-Response Questions

In this syllabus the term data is to be interpreted in the broadest possible sense to mean any type of information. Hence when the syllabus says that "Section 1 will consist of data-response questions", this implies that candidates will have to respond to information which may be in many different formats including, for example,

- articles, news items, reports, memos, letters, advertisements;
- written dialogue;
- tables, charts, graphs, maps;
- cartoons, pictures, illustrations.

Note 2: Optional Issues/Topics

In each module, some issues/items are designated as 'optional'. (Please refer to the ANNEX at the end of the syllabus for this subject.) Section 1 of the question paper, which comprises compulsory questions, will not contain any questions related to the optional issues/items. In Section 2, where candidates are given a choice of one out of four questions, at least three questions will fall within the non-optional issues/items (i.e. at most one question will concern the optional issues/items but it will be possible not to set any question at all on these issues/items).
 

Project

      Every candidate is required to prepare a project report on one of the two modules he/she has chosen. The regulations, guidelines and methods of assessment issued by the Hong Kong Examinations Authority to schools will apply.

Results Profile

      The results for Liberal Studies will be reported in the form of a three-part profile. As well as a grade for the whole subject, there will be sub-grades for each of the two chosen modules and the project. The names of the two chosen modules will appear on the certificate. The project module will also be indicated.

The Syllabus

      The Liberal Studies syllabus in this handbook provides a basic framework for teaching and learning. The order in which the various issues are arranged is not necessarily the order in which they should be covered in teaching.