News & Stories

Dr. Melody Leung, Division of Life Science, tells us the differences between nasal spray and injectable vaccines. 

If You’re Getting Vaccinated, Read This!

The Hang Lung Mathematics Awards will empower Hong Kong's secondary school students to realize their creative potential in mathematics and sciences.

A robotic fish collects microplastics samples to help alleviating marine pollution

Prof. Jason Chan, Assistant Professor of Science Education in the Department of Chemistry, brings us lesson to the science behind COVID-19 Testing.

Effective STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education is a major challenge in Hong Kong’s schools and institutions, which have struggled with a lack of talent, time, and tools to support teaching, resulting from an exam-oriented culture and a staid system of learning. As an advocate for STEM education, Prof. Philip SOU Iam-Keong from the Department of Physics believes that it is important for STEM education to not stay in its current “Mickey Mouse” format but leverage existing technology and highlight discoveries from the most recent research so students can learn new knowledge. However, he also acknowledges teachers’ immense difficulty in teaching STEM subjects as they have no time to catch up with the latest scientific and technological innovations. “In schools, most of the teachers are too busy to engage in STEM, even though the government has allocated funds for STEM education, they are unwilling to pursue it,” comments Prof. Sou. 

STEM has been a “buzzword” in Hong Kong’s educational scene in recent years with schools investing resources in technology gadgets, but for Prof. King CHOW of Division of Life Sciences, the efforts do not seem to be on the right track. Hong Kong is a city known for rote learning, a key element of STEM education - trying to solve problems in an interdisciplinary approach - is missed out. This not only results in a cul-de-sac in science education but also an impediment to nurture innovators or scientists that Hong Kong needs. “STEM is really about allowing students to learn about methodology, approach and principles, and rules in application. Unfortunately, in many high schools and universities in Hong Kong, students learn information but miss out on logic and the analytical aspect of it,” comments Prof. Chow.

When I was in secondary school, my physics teacher, who was among HKUST's first batch of graduates, always encouraged me and my classmates to explore scientific questions according to our interests, even though those questions are outside the syllabus. With his encouragement and guidance, we participated in science competitions in high school, paving the way for my continuation of scientific pursuits ever since. Many of us in the science stream then were lucky to be able to receive comprehensive scientific training and study subjects such as additional maths, biology, physics and chemistry in addition to Chinese, English and maths for the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Exam. At the Advanced Level, we could focus on three science subjects in addition to English and Chinese. This gave us plenty of exposure to science subjects and room to explore the areas we liked most.