Assessment of Design Thinking Integration in Applied Learning Programme Development among Public School Students

Mr Cai Yinzhou asked the Minister for Education (a) how has Design Thinking been integrated into the Applied Learning Programme (ALP) while nurturing Emerging 21st Century Competencies in schools; (b) what proportion of public schools currently utilise industry-partnered design challenges; and (c) how does the Ministry assess the qualitative impact of these non-examinable programmes on students' ability to solve authentic, real-world problems and build empathy.

The Applied Learning Programme (ALP) in schools provides opportunities for students to develop 21st Century Competencies (21CC) by applying their learning in real-world contexts. Schools may adopt different problem-solving approaches, of which Design Thinking is one. Through the ALP, students develop 21CC, such as civic literacy and interpersonal skills, as they consider diverse users' perspectives and solve real-world problems. As students work in teams to define problems and generate solutions, they also develop collaboration, critical and inventive thinking skills.

Schools collaborate with external partners, including industry partners, Institutes of Higher Learning and other external organisations to create authentic learning contexts for students. About a third of them have participated in external-partnered design challenges.

As 21CC is developed through different learning experiences, including academic subjects and co-curricular activities, it would be difficult to isolate and evaluate the impact of a single programme. Instead, the Ministry of Education monitors students' 21CC development through avenues, such as internal studies, commissioned research and international benchmarking studies.