Learning better about students’ different ways of understanding to teach better through learning study

In Hong Kong, the educational reform launched by the Education Bureau since year 2000 encouraged primary schools to use the inquiry approach in the teaching of science and technology related topics in General Studies. It is believed that this student-centred approach can help students to integrate generic skills, knowledge and values in the learning of General Studies. However, primary school teachers in Hong Kong do not commonly practice the inquiry approach in the teaching of science concepts because they find it difficult to manage and do not have confident to teach the concepts well with the limited subject knowledge. This paper illustrates how a group of General studies teachers in a Hong Kong primary school collaborated with the researchers from The Hong Kong Institute of Education to improve their teaching in a science lesson through the Learning Study project. By discovering students' different ways of understanding (V1) in different stages of the Learning study, teachers were able to choose a more worthwhile object of learning which had been omitted in the textbook and redesign the variation pattern of the lesson in different cycles of teaching. As a result, a more effective lesson which applied the inquired approach was achieved. It was also shown that learning study can provide a platform to enhance teachers' professional development.