CAPCL leads the way in STREAM education

In the latest episode of The Standard’s Education Facebook Live, Dr. Cora Hui, Head of School at CAPCL, and Vicky Wong, STREAM coordinator at CAPCL, shared insights into their pioneering STREAM program and vision for 21st-century learning.

STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education has rapidly expanded over the past decade as nations worldwide recognize the need to cultivate skills for the jobs of tomorrow.

It is against this backdrop that innovative schools like Christian Alliance P.C. Lau Memorial International School (CAPCL) strive to provide future-focused learning opportunities for their students with the launch of a new STREAM room called the WOW (Work of Wonder) Workshop, along with the current CA Makerspace.

Dr. Hui explained how STEM education has risen globally in response to the needs of an evolving job market that demands well-rounded skills and competencies like creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving. “Multi-disciplinary learning engages children and teaches them to apply knowledge in a flexible, relevant way. This is the way forward to get our students ready for the future,” she said.

Under a co-homeroom system, where a classroom is led by a Western and a Chinese teacher, project-based learning seamlessly blends STREAM concepts across subject areas based on the Canada Alberta Curriculum framework. “CAPCL’s ambition is to lead in developing well-rounded global citizens through expanding our model to STREAM – adding the new elements of research (‘R’) and art (‘A’) to STEM,” Dr. Hui explained.

In addition to the school’s The Treehouse Library’s excellent e-book and print collections that nurture students’ research and reading skills, the two STREAM rooms aim to provide “an even more hands-on, collaborative and tech-enabled learning environment conducive to unleashing creativity,” Wong said.

“Flexible furniture and a fully-equipped makerspace encourage collaboration and open-ended exploration across different disciplines,” Wong explained. “Interactive technologies and tools like a 3D printer, an interactive TV, tablets and electronic software are of immense help in stimulating student creativity through multiple options and creative preferences.”

While students take ownership of their learning by conducting research and investigations in the STREAM rooms, they would also be doing so under the guidance of teachers, which helps deepen children’s understanding and build higher-order thinking skills like analytical, critical thinking and refining methods.

Wong cited the example of a project on indigenous shelters conducted by upper primary students. For starters, they spent time in the WOW Workshop researching and analyzing useful resources and information to include in their projects. They sat in groups and discussed how they wanted to construct and build their shelters, listing out the materials to include and collect. Then, they moved to CA Makerspace to start building the shelters.

“Integrating both of our STREAM rooms doesn’t only benefit students’ learning, it also provides educators with even more flexibility to create purposeful STREAM projects for children,” Wong noted.

Both Wong and Dr. Hui concurred that CAPCL’s inter-disciplinary STREAM approach prepares students exceedingly well for the future, ensuring a seamless transition to secondary education and beyond. “They develop the cross-curricular and innovative mindsets so valued by secondary schools, universities and modern workplaces,” said Dr. Hui.

Going forward, Dr. Hui said CAPCL will be placing its priorities on cultivating students’ growth mindset and integrating all subjects with a cutting-edge, well-rounded curriculum. With purpose-built facilities and a visionary faculty, the school is poised to achieve this mission.