History

The History teachers employ a diverse range of teaching approaches and methodologies to cater to the different learning needs of our pupils.  The History curriculum emphasizes critical thinking through strategies like Hilda Taba’s strategy of concept development, Socratic seminars and Experiential Learning.

1.         Hilda Taba’s Concept Development

Hilda Taba’s concept development strategy basically aims to help students construct definitions and meanings on their own. Students have found it difficult to comprehend and explain historical concepts explicitly. They usually describe rather than define the concept. In Dunman High School, history teachers have utilized this strategy to help students comprehend and define historical concepts. By getting students to group key words associated with a particular concept; and after several attempts at refining to come up with logical labels for the groups, teachers would then guide the students into coming up with plausible definitions of the concept. This is a very useful constructivist strategy to engage students in formulating their own understanding. It convinces the students that these definitions are integral in their learning process because they were heavily involved in defining these concepts. This strategy is effective for improving the writing skills of the students. It enables them to adequately understand the logic and links inherent in the concept and so that they can come up with appropriate points to address the historical issues related to the concept.

2.         Socratic seminar

Socratic seminars aim to develop critical thinking among the students in Dunman High School. It is largely derived from the Socratic method. The Socratic method, named after the classical Greek philosopher Socrates, is a form of inquiry and debate between individuals with opposing viewpoints based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to illuminate ideas. The Socratic seminar strategy is an improved platform of the Socratic method. Instead of inquiry and debate between individuals, the Socratic seminar is tailored to involve groups of students in debate and discussion as a class. Students are tasked to phrase their points clearly; and clarify and explain how their points support or oppose the hypothesis at hand. Students are divided into pairs (one will be the note taker and the other one will be the participant). They are supposed to engage each other on the points that they raise. The history teacher plays the role of a facilitator and ensure that the seminar is conducted in an orderly manner. The contributions of the students will be recorded and summarized into an argument map. This is a good strategy to compel the students to constantly clarify and re-clarify what they are trying to bring forward. This will stretch the students to consider the issue at hand critically.

3.         Classroom experiential learning (Historical Simulation through the use of board games)

Experiential Learning aims to promote active learning in the classroom by engaging the students through interactive platforms. In Dunman High School, students are given the opportunity to ‘re-live’ the past through the use of board games such as Axis & Allies and Diplomacy. These games can recreate specific circumstances of past events and allow students to participate in the ‘shaping’ of history. This will not only incite students to be interested in history, but also to apply the historical concepts and knowledge that they have learnt in the decision-making process of the historical simulations.

Geography

The study of Geography centres on humans and the environment around us, and in Dunman High School, the inquiry based learning approach has been aptly adopted as it basically teaches students ‘to have a greater understanding of the world they work, communicate, learn, and live in’ (Teachnology Inc., 2011). The inquiry based learning approach facilitates autonomous learning with the intention that students take ownership of their own learning as they construct their own knowledge through asking and answering geographical questions.

Through experiential learning (by conducting fieldwork and field studies) and authentic performance tasks, students’ thinking is enhanced and sharpened as students attempt to apply critical thinking and analytical skills to understand and solve real-life problems. Therefore the knowledge and skills gained, which are transferable to various situations in the future, will become the students’ assets.

With inquiry based learning as the main approach, students’ learning of Geography in DHS is scaffolded through the use of several student-centred pedagogies such as conducting Socratic seminars, concept-mapping and investigative studies.

Socratic seminars focus on the democratization of knowledge and students take responsibility for their own learning and knowledge advancement. It often takes the form of a discussion where teachers and students are given the opportunities to ask meaningful questions that stimulate the thoughtful interchange of ideas. Students may also play the role as observers of the seminar by recording important points and doing reflections. This activates their meta-cognition and allows them to draw connections with their own personal experiences of the world. Socratic seminars are held for the Population Geography topic in Junior High, and the Senior High topics of Atmospheric processes, hazards and management as well as The Globalisation of Economic Activity. The pedagogy lends itself well to human geography and synoptic units in the curriculum which explore the complex interrelationships between humans and their environment.

Concept mapping involves the use of concepts as anchor points to draw connections among all the concepts to provide a big picture of the topic. The use of concepts and the tool of concept mapping have helped both teachers and learners understand complex relationships and establish the intrinsic linkages between seemingly disparate themes and sub-topics within a curriculum. In the JH and SH Geography curriculum, concept mapping is often used to initiate the unit by getting students to map their preconceptions of the topic. It is also used as a unit close to reconstruct their understanding of the theme through a collaborative effort with the teacher and their peers. Students are thus better able to see the interconnectivity between different concepts and themes.

The DHS Geography learning journey not only focuses on geographical concepts but connects other cross-curricular concepts and skills as well, including the development of desirable attitudes and values like the strive for excellence and the concern for the environment. 

Active Citizenry Education

The ACE team in DHS uses Understanding By Design (UbD) as the main curriculum framework to guide students’ exploration of six themes including, (1) Singapore as a Nation in the World, (2) Conflict and Harmony in Multi-Ethnic Societies, (3) Understanding Governance, (4) Sustaining Economic Development, (5) Facing Challenges and (6) Managing International Relations. Each unit is framed with a set of essential questions and students go through a series of lessons and tasks in order to reach an enduring understanding of the topic.

The team employs a diverse range of teaching approaches and methodologies to cater to the different learning needs of our pupils.  The ACE curriculum emphasizes critical thinking through Richard Paul’s Elements of Reasoning. Current and controversial issues are presented through different sources, and students attempt to reach a balanced judgment after exploring the topic. Students also partake in Socratic seminars to engage deeper with issues such as Multiple Citizenship and Human Rights and Responsibilities.

The ACE team also attempts to bring the learning back to the individuals’ lived experiences and renewed understanding. Reflection logs, 3-2-1 reflection worksheets and takeaway cards all seek to help the learner consolidate and reconstruct the knowledge learnt throughout the course.

Economics

The Economics curriculum at Dunman High School aims to prepare our students not only for the GCE ‘A’ Level examination but establish a firm foundation in the subject in preparation for undergraduate courses in renowned universities. The programme also equips students with a functional understanding of Economics that would enable them to interpret contemporary economic issues such as the 2008 global financial crisis. This means that there is a strong emphasis on theoretical rigour, historical context and real world applications.

历史 

历史教师运用多种教学方式，以满足不同学生的学习需求和能力。历史课程着重于通过诸如希尔达塔巴的概念发展策略，苏格拉底式的研讨会和体验式学习法来提升学生的批判性思考能力。

1.         希尔达塔巴的概念发展策略 

希尔达塔巴的概念发展策略的基本宗旨在于帮助学生形成他们自己的定义和意义。学生们常难理解和明确解释所学的历史概念。他们通常只能描述但没能充分给予这些概念一个清楚的定义。本校历史教师就常用上述策略来帮助学生克服以上难题。学生首先将一组关键字与特定的概念关联，在经过多次运用逻辑标签来为这些关键字组命名后，教师接着会引导学生得出合理的概念定义。这是可让学生制定自己理解框架的一个非常有用的建构策略。它能同时让学生明白，这些定义是他们在学习过程中不可或缺的，因为他们为这些概念定了位。这策略也有利于提高学生的写作能力。它帮助学生们理解逻辑和概念的内在联系，从而选择适当的要点来回答相关问题。Listen

2.         苏格拉底式的研讨会 

苏格拉底式的研讨会目的在于加强学生的批判性思维能力。它主要源自于苏格拉底提问法。这个由古希腊哲学家命名的方式，是让持有不同观点的学者互相辩论和探讨的一种途径。这在阐明观点的同时也提高学者的批判性思维能力。苏格拉底式的研讨会是苏格拉底方式更适合教学用途的一种演变。它通过学生组队在课堂中互相辩论和探讨课题的同时，帮助他们更清楚自己的观点，也能更好地解说和澄清论点。历史教师扮演促进交流者互动的角色，并确保研讨会有秩序和有条理地进行。学生们的观点也将被记录成一个总结。这是一个能让学生不断阐释和重新说明自己看法的一种良好策略，从而使学生能更全面地探讨课题。

3.         课堂体验式学习法 

这种通过历史游戏来进行的学习法的目的，是通过互动方式来促进学生在课堂上的学习。学生运用游戏方式来“亲身体验”历史事迹。这些游戏不但能让学生们回顾过去事件，也让他们拥有重新“塑造”历史的机会。这不仅会激发学生对历史的更大兴趣，也让他们更关注并应用决策过程中所需考虑的种种因素。

地理 

地理课程针对人类和周围的环境做深入学习。本校采用“探究式学习法”，让学生对自己本身交流、学习和生活的环境有更多的理解。此学习法有利于促进自主学习，通过提出问题和寻求答案的过程，提升自身对地理知识的体会和认可。

通过体验式学习（包括实地考察和研究）和具真实性的专题作业，学生能在批判和分析事情的过程中，强化自己的思维能力。这过程中所获得的知识和能力，也将对学生未来有着积极的影响和帮助。

这些以学生为中心的教学法，如苏格拉底式的研讨会，概念图和专题研究作业等，在探究式学习法中扮演了举足轻重的角色。

苏格拉底式的研讨会侧重于知识的“民主化”。这意味学生对自己的学习和知识应负起重要责任。此教学方式往往通过一个讨论的形式，让教师和学生有机会提出有意义的问题来激发更多的意见交流。学生也可以扮演观察者或记录员的角色。这不同的角色能增进他们的元认知，同时也能让他们把自己个人经验和世界发生的事联系起来。初中部应用此方式举办了《人口地理》的专题研讨，而高中部则同样的探讨了以《大气层的内部过程》和《全球化经济活动》为主题的课题。这教学方式非常适用于人文地理和那些探讨人类与环境之间复杂关系的课题。

概念图把所学的单一概念串联在一个共同主题下。它能帮助教师和学生理解复杂的关系，并让看似不相关的概念能很有系统地联系在一起。本校教师常通过概念图让学生在学习一个新主题之前先澄清他们的误解。它也常作为一个主题的完结活动，让老师与同学们共同总结对主题的理解。这样一来，学生们就能够更好地明白不同概念之间的相互联系。

地理部所举办的学习之旅不仅着重于传授地理概念，也重视教育其他跨学科的概念和技能，以及培养正确的态度和价值观 （例如，力求精益求精的态度，和对环境关注的信念等）。

公民教育课程 

公民教育课程

此课程使用逆向课程设计(UbD)作为主要课程框架，来指导学生在六个主题中做探讨学习。这六个主题包括（1）新加坡在世界的地位，（2）在多元种族社群中如何维持和谐和避免冲突，（3）治国原则与方针，（4）持续经济发展，（5）国家如何面临挑战（6）建立和维持国际关系。每个单元是通过一系列的重点问题来引发学生探索与学习持久性的知识重点。

本校采用多元化的教学方式，以满足不同学生的学习需求。此课程应用保罗 理查德的推理元素来增进学生的批判性思维能力。学生先从不同的信息管道获得当今具争议性课题的一些背景资料，然后试图推理分析，以达致一个公正的判断。除此之外，学生也参加苏格拉底式的研讨会，对“多重国籍”与“人权和责任”等相关课题来做深入探讨。

课程也试图让学生把学习点联系到自己的生活经验中，好让他们对知识获得新的诠释。教师也通过反思笔录，3-2-1反思作业和学习摘要等，帮助学生巩固所学的知识。

经济学 

此课程不仅为剑桥'A'水准考生做准备，也同时为他们日后修读大学本科经济学打下稳固的基础。课程也让学生能够充分应用所学的知识来分析如“2008年全球金融危机”等现今经济问题。课程的重点特色，在于理论的严谨性，历史背景的准确性，以及分析与应用能力的培养。Listen