Engaging science and non-science major students in scientific inquiry through common experiences

Abstract

In the education reform in Hong Kong's tertiary education system, students are required to complete a 4-year undergraduate education as compared to the previous 3-year period. During these 4 years of undergraduate education, all students are required to enroll into a number of courses which are called Common Core Courses which are aimed to borden students' horizon in subjects other than their own major programme. The course “The Science and Lore of Culinary Culture” (CCST9045) is an innovative course under the HKU Common Core Curriculum which aims to engage students, both science and non-science majors, to making connections between real life and the scientific content through everyday culinary experiences. The understanding of the scientific concepts associated with food, cuisine and cooking method are the main focus. Through carefully designed lecture content, demonstrations and lab experiences, students learn how the apply scientific method and knowledge on food preparation and cooking. Similarities between recipes and scientific articles or lab menu were highlighted on the first day of the course, which emphasized the idea that cooking is a scientific experiment that occurs in a kitchen. Students are asked to carry out their own investigation related to the course content using household chemicals and kitchen utensils. Various forms of interactive teaching and learning activities are specially designed and tailor-made for this course to maximize students’ learning experiences. Lab session is one of the essential components in this course. During the lab sessions, students would learn to record down the experimental observations and deduce their own conclusions from the findings. Through these hands-on experiences, student gained a better understanding of the concepts delivered in class. The second part of the hands-on learning experience is students' directed project investigation. Students were given a great deal of freedom in choosing a topic for their investigation for the scientific poster and oral presentation. This allowed the students to have a sense of ownership on their project investigation and increase their learning incentive during the scientific investigation process. This presents the course curriculum design, instruction pedagogy, highlights of laboratory experiments and students’ project work. Students’ feedback and comments on the structure and learning effectiveness are also presented.