Dear Editor,
I am writing to express my opinions about whether textbooks should be used in Liberal Studies, one of the core subjects in NSS.
As the first DSE exam is around the corner, students taking the exam are getting more and more nervous. They are especially worried about the new core subject, Liberal Studies.
Liberal Studies is a subject which has mainly six modules. The subject stimulates students to think from different perspectives and encourages students to care about social issues. Many students and teachers find that the curriculum covers many areas. Even though textbooks are used, students still find it hard to get a high mark in the paper. Then, should textbooks be used in this subject?
In fact, while studying Liberal Studies, students will find that there are many key words and concepts which need to be memorized. For instance, ‘socialization’ is one of the key words that appears in several modules and the concept of ‘sustainable development’ is commonly used in the module Hong Kong Today. Textbooks can help students organize tones of keywords and concepts so life can be easier when students do revision.
Moreover, as each module in Liberal Studies is separated into different topics, students need time to understand each of them. Textbooks can then give examples or references for those topics. Students can, thus, understand them more easily. Examples and references in textbooks are also more reliable. Students can avoid getting fake information from the Internet.
Yet, some argue that the Liberal Studies textbooks, which are full of information, will just encourage students to develop a bad habit of learning. They may simply memorize all the information in the textbooks without independent thinking, deviating from the aim of studying Liberal Studies.
Furthermore, as the Liberal Studies textbooks cannot be updated every day, the information will become outdated and will no longer be useful. On the contrary, information given by teachers may be even more up-to-date and useful to students, since the subject is about social issues which will change every day.
To me, Liberal Studies textbooks are reference books only. I will go over the examples and remember the key words that have been mentioned in the books when I study. Apart from reading the information in the textbooks, there are still ways to study this subject. Reading newspaper every day, especially focusing on some hot topics, like the Chief Executive election in these months, is important. Finding different people’s views on a specific topic through the television, radio, newspaper and so on can also help develop good critical thinking skill. We should gain knowledge bit by bit every day. Then we can apply it in the exam.
Studying Liberal Studies is not easy indeed. Yet, a man reaps what he sows. Work hard for the subject every day. Perhaps you can just use 15 minutes to read the newspaper. Put effort into studying Liberal Studies. You can score good grades one day!
Yours faithfully,
Chris Wong