From Curriculum Planning to Timetabling Generating timetables based
From Curriculum Planning to Timetabling - Generating timetables based on curriculum proposals for a 24 -class secondary school
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What questions are asked first in NSS Curriculum Planning • Which subjects are to be offered? • How to offer? – – – – Taster year – students study 4 X in S 4? 3 X or 2 X in S 5 & S 6? Applied Learning (Ap. L)? Collaboration with other schools? Flexible grouping? No. of group for each subject? No. of lessons for the subject? How the additional resources like CEG, TPPG, SSCG can be used effectively? – …
How can these questions be answered? • Survey on student interest and inclination in S 3 • Reference to available human resources – matching teachers’ expertise with students’ demand to decide on the subjects offered and the number of groups of each subject • Reference to other available resources / opportunities – school facilities, Ap. L courses available
Overview of NSS Curriculum Plan for the 24 -Class Secondary School • Class Structure 444 • Timetable structure: – 40 minutes / period – 8 periods / day – 6 days / cycle • Progression of Study: 4 X in S 4; 2 -3 X (including Applied Learning) for S 5 -6 • No of elective subjects planned to offer: 11 • Elective subjects planned to offer: – Bio, Chem, Phy, Econ, Geog, Hist, Chi Hist, BAFS, ICT, VA, Science (Combined) • Ways to cater for learner diversity: – Science (Combined) in place of 2 science subjects in S 5 -6 – Applied Learning in S 5 -6
Curriculum Structure (S 4) Subjects offered No. of periods % of Time allocation English 8 16. 7% Chinese 7 14. 6% Mathematics 7 14. 6% L. S. 5 10. 4% Electives* 56. 3% 4 (x 4) 33. 3% OLE# 5 10. 4% Total 48 100% #More other learning experiences (OLE) like community service, career-related experiences, moral and civic education, physical and aesthetic experiences are provided to students after school or in post-examination school days, etc. In the present case, at least 2 periods are reserved for PE. 3 other periods are marked as OLE in the timetable shown later.
Curriculum Structure (S 5 -6) Subjects offered No. of periods % of Time allocation English 8 16. 7% Chinese 7 14. 6% Mathematics 7 14. 6% L. S. 5 10. 4% Electives** 56. 3% 5 (x 3) 31. 2% OLE# 6 12. 5% Total 48 100%
Groups of Elective Subjects offered in S 4 Group 1 Phy Chem Econ Geog C. Hist Group 2 Phy Chem VA Geog ICT Group 3 Bio Hist Econ BAFS ICT Group 4 Bio Hist Econ C. Hist ICT Notes on how to put the subjects into different groups: • Popular subjects offered in more than 1 group (e. g. Econ, ICT) • Mutually exclusive minority subjects put in the same group (None in this case) • Popular subject combinations put in different groups (e. g. More students opt for Chem+Bio, Hist+Geog) • Symmetrical groups as far as possible (Maximise use of school resources)
Groups of Elective Subjects offered in S 4 Group 1 Phy Chem Econ Geog C. Hist Group 2 Phy Chem VA Geog ICT Group 3 Bio Hist Econ BAFS ICT Group 4 Bio Hist Econ C. Hist ICT Facts: • 172 possible subject combinations • Students can experience the learning and teaching of subjects from different KLAs • On average, each group made up of only 32 students (= 40 x 4/5) – addressing the issue of workload to a certain extent
Groups of Elective Subjects offered in S 5 Group 1 Phy Science (Combined ) Econ Geog C. Hist Group 2 Phy Chem VA Geog ICT Group 3 Bio Hist Econ BAFS 1 BAFS 2 ICT C. Hist Notes on packing of subjects: • From 160 students with 4 X to 160 students with 2 -3 X, therefore ample room for packing • Interactive approach needed in deciding how to pack subjects (i. e. students interest + students’ performance in S 4) – appropriate student guidance needed • So long as number of subjects in a group > number of classes, most groups will be operating in a number less than 40 (In fact, with some subjects that are less resource-bound accommodating more students e. g. 35, the others can be taught in even smaller groups) • So long as there are enough teachers, may expand the number of subjects in a group to cater for more different subject combinations (e. g. Chi Hist in Group 3) – giving more choices • Similarly, BAFS is split into 2 groups to cater for the Accounting Module and the Management Module
Groups of Elective Subjects offered in S 5 Group 1 Phy Science (Combined ) Econ Geog C. Hist Group 2 Phy Chem VA Geog ICT Group 3 Bio Hist Econ BAFS 1 BAFS 2 ICT Facts: • 108 possible subject combinations C. Hist
But how does the proposed curriculum structure fit into a timetable for the whole school? Will it work?
Other requirements in Timetabling • • • No planned lesson unscheduled 1 Chinese Language lesson scheduled on each school day 1 English Language lesson scheduled on each school day 1 Mathematics lesson scheduled on each school day No multiple periods (e. g. double period or triple period) across break such as recess or lunch No PE lessons scheduled just after the lunch time Teachers with no more than 6 periods on each school day All lessons scheduled in the special rooms required All non-PE OLE lessons scheduled after lunch
To give you a feel that this is a genuine case … Curriculum and timetabling requirements for S 12 as follows: Subjects offered No. of periods Single period Double period English 10 4 3 Chinese 8 4 2 Mathematics 7 5 1 Life Education 3 1 1 C. History 2 2 0 E. P. A. 1 1 0 Geography 2 2 0 History 2 2 0 P. E. 2 0 1 Visual Arts 2 0 1 Music 2 2 0 PTH 1 1 0 I. S. 5 3 1 Computer Literacy 1 1 0 Total 48
Similarly, curriculum and timetabling requirements for S 3 as follows: Subjects offered No. of periods Single period Double period English 10 4 3 Chinese 8 4 2 Mathematics 7 5 1 Life Education 3 1 1 C. History 2 2 0 E. P. A. 1 1 0 Geography 2 2 0 History 2 2 0 P. E. 2 0 1 Visual Arts 2 0 1 Music 1 1 0 PTH 1 1 0 Physics 2 0 1 Chemistry 2 0 1 Biology 2 0 1 Computer Literacy 1 1 0 Total 48
Samples of Timetable generated by Web. SAMS version 1. 21 (Build 02032006) We will continue to upgrade Web. SAMS or develop other tools for schools to perform timetabling – further trial runs and your support needed
Reading to Learn OLE for Other Learning Experiences
Requirements No planned lesson unscheduled Degree of meeting the requirements 100% At least 1 Chinese Language scheduled on each 100% for S 1 to S 3 school day 58% for S 4 to S 6 (5 classes with 1 school day without Chinese) At least 1 English Language lesson scheduled on each school day 100% for S 1 to S 3 83. 3% for S 4 to S 6 (2 classes with 1 school day without English) At least 1 Mathematics lesson scheduled on each school day 100% for S 1 to S 3. 75% for S 4 to S 6 (3 classes with 1 school day without Mathematics) No multiple periods (e. g. double period or triple period) across break such as recess or lunch 100% No PE lessons just after the lunch time 100% Teacher with no more than 6 periods on each school day 84% 8 teachers with 7 periods on the same day All lessons scheduled in the special rooms required 100% All non-PE OLE lessons scheduled after lunch 100%
How about the teacher workload? Teacher with no more 84% than 6 periods on each 8 teachers with 7 school day periods on the same day • On average, each teacher will be teaching about 30 periods per cycle (as shown in a table on flexible grouping later). The actual workload depends on how flexible grouping is employed to address specific needs identified by the school and the school management can use the additional resources like CEG, SSCG, etc flexibly to address the needs. In the present case, the school deploys more resources to improve students’ English standard and on learning and teaching of LS.
This teacher is teaching 30 periods per cycle (48 periods).
More about Flexible Grouping
Flexible Grouping • Provide a better learning environment to students • Adjust the size of a group according to actual needs (Sometimes larger than the class size; sometimes smaller)
Different Ways to Implement Flexible Grouping • Several elective subjects put together in groups to allow for different subject combinations • For core subjects like Chinese, English and Mathematics, several classes come and mix together to form smaller groups for small-class teaching (e. g. 4 classes becoming 5 groups, or just the 2 weaker classes becoming 3 groups) • Likewise, small-class teaching may be applied to only some of the lessons in the timetable (e. g. for oral practices) • Biweekly mass lecture for Liberal Studies to introduce background concepts • . . .
Different Ways to Implement Flexible Grouping • 4 classes 5 groups e. g. Having Chinese Language periods at the same time, all 4 classes will merge and become 5 groups 4 A 4 B 4 C 4 D • Every 2 classes 3 groups, therefore 4 classes 6 groups e. g. Having English Language periods at the same time, 4 A & 4 B will merge and become 3 groups. It will be easier to arrange the timetable.
Different Ways to Implement Flexible Grouping • Only 2 periods out of 6 periods splits e. g. Oral lessons in Languages, IES in Liberal Studies
Different Ways to Implement Flexible Grouping • Offers 5 or 6 elective subjects in each elective group (Conduct survey to get initial picture of students’ choices) e. g. v v In S 4, students study 4 elective subjects Grouping of elective subjects: Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 v Phy Bio Chem Econ Chem VA Hist Econ Geog BAFS C Hist ICT ICT In S 5 & S 6, students study 2 -3 elective subjects Group 1 Phy Sci (combined) Group 2 Phy Chem Group 3 Bio Hist Econ Geog C Hist VA Geog ICT Econ BAFS ICT C Hist
Estimation of Teaching Load with Flexible Grouping e. g.
• With appropriate use of flexible grouping, some of the issues associated with class-size for SBA are automatically solved – No more 40 students per class for science practicals – Smaller groups for oral practices or speaking exercises • Other strategies to address student workload in administering SBA – Staggered arrangement in accordance with the timeline for submitting scores and reports provided by HKEAA – Maintaining a central database on how and when SBA is to be conducted for each subject for each class – Encouraging the use of SBA results to replace some of the midterm test or exam results (formalising the importance of diversified modes of assessment and whole-person development)
Early Planning • To test the different scenarios • To build up an initial working model for fine adjustment in the future • To develop prototypes for discussion, consensus building, identifying gaps in preparation (e. g. room conversion), etc • To convert some of the uncertainties into certainties (after knowing some of the feasibilities) • To ease teachers anxiety
Ways Ahead • A project on how timetabling in NSS can be performed using alternative methods • Trial runs of different methods and tools using more school data (schools with different settings and proposed curricula) • Workshop on using Web. SAMS to perform timetabling • Enhancement of Web. SAMS if appropriate
Thank You !!
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