SSPS students lead secondary school students in designing a board game to understand Sham Shui Po

Since the launch of the Bachelor of Social Sciences (Honours) in Sociology and Community Studies (BSocSc(SCS)) programme two years ago, community-based and experiential learning have been the two cornerstones of the programme. This year, a total of 28 students from the Department of Social Sciences and Policy Studies (SSPS) undertook four group capstone projects, requiring them to lead a half-year-long community-based learning activity and apply what they have learnt in the classroom within a community context. Apart from these group projects, one student from SSPS conducted an individual capstone project.

This issue of FLASS FORWARD reports two of these capstone projects. In the first project, conducted between February and May 2024, eight BSocSc(SCS) students taught a group of secondary school students about the historical and cultural stories of Sham Shui Po, one of the grassroots communities in the city. They then guided the secondary school students in designing a board game that allows players to deepen their understanding of both the old and new aspects of Sham Shui Po. On 3 July, our students and the secondary schoolers co-organised a game-experience day for an entire grade of primary school students.

Jack Tang Chun-fung and Emma Law Sum-yuet from the Queen Elizabeth School Old Students' Association Branch Primary School were two of the primary school students who participated in the experience day. Jack found the game easy to learn and remarked, “I didn’t know that Sham Shui Po has many markets and a hospital before playing the board game. I know that now.” Emma found the game very interesting, stating, “I learnt about the community’s history from the game. For instance, there is an art exhibition centre called JCCAC in the district. The game card informed me that the centre was previously a factory building constructed many years ago.”

Louise Huang and Cara Wu were two of the eleven F.5 students from the partner S.K.H. St. Mary's Church Mok Hing Yiu College who collaborated with SSPS students to lead the experience day. Besides acting as leaders during the event, Louise, Cara and their schoolmates also contributed to the design of the board game. To enhance their understanding of Sham Shui Po, they were divided into three groups to learn about the cultural, historical, and social aspects of the district. Led by SSPS students, they visited various locations in Sham Shui Po, where they took photos and made observations.

“Even though I live in Sham Shui Po, many features of the district escaped my attention. For example, I didn’t notice that there are many leather outlets and toy shops in the district. I learnt from the site walk that Tai Nan Street has been transformed into a flourishing cultural and creative neighbourhood,” Louise said.

Cara, who led Emma’s group on the game-experience day, initially worried about the primary school kids’ reactions but was pleased to find that they quickly engaged with the game. “I have held various leadership positions over the years during my secondary school studies. However, compared with my previous experiences, I acted more proactively this time. I made more efforts to observe how the primary school students played the game and thought about how to improve it,” Cara said.

Mr Lee Ho-yin, a recipient of the 2018/19 Chief Executive's Award for Teaching Excellence, is the teacher-in-charge from S.K.H. St. Mary's Church Mok Hing Yiu College. His strong belief that students can learn through play motivates him to use board games, either modified from existing ones or his own creation, to teach his students school curriculum. “Playing board games is a student-centred independent learning process. It unleashes students’ potential,” he said. Mr Lee highly appreciates EdUHK students’ commitment to leading the community-based learning project. “They have put their hearts into the project,” he said. He also praised his own students for their enthusiasm during the learning activity.

“Today’s secondary school students often focus on their immediate concerns. The project encouraged them to step out of their comfort zones to explore what was previously unknown to them in the community. It also enabled them to recognise their strengths: some discovered they are strong leaders, while others realized they excel at editing videos or creating artwork for the board game,” Mr Lee said. Known as Lee Sir by his students, he was happy to know that primary school students could follow the instructions to play and learn more about Sham Shui Po through the board game. “For EdUHK’s and my students, whether the primary school students enjoy playing the game is the ultimate test of the project,” he concluded.

BSocSc(SCS) student Khloe Liu Wing-sze is the leader of her eight-member team in the board game capstone project. She expressed gratitude to Lee Sir for his invaluable guidance throughout the project. “Lee Sir always emphasises the importance of learning through play. His belief in the power of learning through games has inspired us,” she said. As the secondary school students already had extensive exposure to educational card games, they contributed many creative ideas when designing the Sham Shui Po-themed board game.

Sham Shui Po is well known among Hong Kong residents as a grassroots district. It features numerous Chinese temples, old-styled housing estates, lively open-air markets, electric wares outlets, mom-and-pop groceries, Hong Kong-style bistros known as Cha Chaan Teng. To equip the secondary school students with knowledge about Sham Shui Po, Khloe’s team presented them the cultural, historical, and social context of the district through classroom lectures. “We brought them to Sham Shui Po so that they could experience it personally,” Khloe explained.

Khloe and her teammates discussed with the secondary school students how to incorporate knowledge about the district into the game. With assistance from Khloe’s team and based on what they learnt in class, through site studies, and online research, the secondary school students designed various game cards. “On some of the cards, they were asked to write information points about various community facilities, cultural spots, and landmark buildings in Sham Shui Po. We are thrilled that after several revisions, the game is not only entertaining, but also tests players’ knowledge about Sham Shui Po. It is gratifying that the final product of the capstone project can enrich people’s understanding of this historic community,” Khloe said.

Dr Benjamin Li Yuet-man, Associate Programme Leader of BSocSc(SCS) programme and advisor to the board game capstone project, stated that the inclusion of capstone project in the programme is intended to provide students with an opportunity to apply their classroom knowledge in designing and implementing a community-based project. “The capstone project, like other experiential learning, engages not only knowledge, but also practical skills like organisational and leadership skills in the learning process. I observed that both our students and the secondary school students gained significant experience in leadership during this capstone project. Overall, the experience day was full of fun and will become a memorable moment for everyone involved,” Dr Li said.

Please click here to understand BSocSc(SCS) programme, and read related story at Secondary schoolers learn about TCM and the community through a BSocSc(SCS) capstone project