Group4 Reflection

11 July 2017

Group 1
Bernice Leung
Annie Suen
Pamela Tang
Beata Wong
Vanessa Yu

Neuroscience is a science that studies our nervous system, that's something that we all possess. We are fascinated by how our nerves are coordinated, and are interested to explore more on this topic. The lesson provides us an opportunity to discuss and explore on issues about Neuroscience which, in our opinion, helps us a lot on our further studies as all of us in the class take Biology.

We were so engaged in the discussions of our global project, in which we all shared our ideas on how an ideal community can be built. We particularly loved creating the identity of the residents of our island. Since our group consists of students from Hong Kong, Singapore, and Brazil, we shared how our cities were named and its heritage. Based on those ideas, we came up with a story on how our island was founded. It was an intense discussion and it had been a really valuable experience communicating with students of other nations.

Group 2

Cherry Hui

Popo Fung

Betty Liang 

Ellie Tang 

Rachel Tse 

Today was the first day of lessons at Stanford. Our day began with a lesson on Neuroscience, a study of the nervous system. We learnt the basics of the nervous system and the contribution of neuroscientists to society. This session involved a lot of group discussions sharing, which is very different from Hong Kong's education style. We benefited a lot from it as it is part of our Biology syllabus next year. Through the discussion, we also improved our communication skills in English.

Later in the afternoon, post lunch, we started discussing our ‘Global Solutions Project’ with other international participants. In our group, there were students from Brazil, China and Singapore. In the beginning, we didn't have enough confidence to communicate with each other because of our diverse culture and background. However, everyone was kind and willing to share their ideas. Also with the help of the residential counselors, we were able to express ourselves freely and cooperate harmoniously. More importantly, we slowly began to feel comfortable to reach out to others whenever there was any difficulty and this way, we were able to make great progress. Last but not least, the instructors were brilliant and very friendly.

Group 3

Serene Lam

Kelly Wong

Cherine Chan

Candy Lo 

Anna Choi

In the morning, we attended a class on normativity taught by Mr. Freedom. At first we were a little confused as we were not familiar with the topic. After some discussion and explanation by our experienced professor, we quickly grasped the concept of normativity and had an insight on our first norm, which is integrity. We took turns to introduce ourselves and shared the reasons for our existence and what we are committed to in life. We learnt more about ourselves and our classmates. For example, some of us want to be responsible people and adapt to the rapidly changing environment and also to create and empower the world. It was a fun and meaningful experience for all of us and is definitely of great use in the future. 

In the afternoon, we started to understand the concept of our project that we are supposed to present next week. We formed groups and each group had to create an island and its core values which is 'IRISE', they are integrity, respect, inclusive, scholarship and exploration. These served as guidelines when we were discussing our projects and we had a deeper understanding about the core values which would definitely help us lead to a better and fulfilling life in the future.

This is the beautiful building where we had our lesson in the morning. 

Group 4
Melanie Ip
Janet Lee
Greta Lam
Dorothy Ma
Christine Lum

In philosophy lesson, we learnt about normativity and we are inspired. Unlike having a very fast pace lifestyle in Hong Kong, the lesson allowed us to learn about moral values and rethink about our existence. Our teacher taught us in great detail and we discovered that action is what makes a change instead of thinking.

We also participated in the global project meeting, we met our group mates from different countries and worked on the project together. Through communication, we learnt about their culture and shared our values. We learnt a lot from each other and are looking forward to cooperating with each other.

July 11, 2017

Group 5

Victoria Ip

Kathy Lau

Tivona Yeung

Joanna Keung

Jacqueline Lo.

Today, we had our first lesson at Stanford - Visual Design Thinking. We had fun with anagrams, and constructing structures with spaghetti and marshmallows We also had a lot of fun creating stories from an intriguing picture. The process was not only entertaining but also thought-provoking in the way that we were guided to see the design and creativity in everyday actions.

In the afternoon, our final “Global Solutions project” kicked off with a few icebreaking games for us to get to know other international participants from French House. The project involves designing a country with an identity in areas such as economy and trade, sustainable environment, education system, political system, etc. We later listened to briefings on the project outline and core values that we should be mindful of.  We were then organized into groups with other international participants. Our team began discussions of our chosen hypothetical country, an island. It was amazing to see how diversity in the group yielded a variety of interesting ideas.  Overall, the day was pretty intensive but very productive. We all look forward to the coming two weeks!

Group 6

Claire Chen 

Eunice Choi

Tiffany Chow

Jessie Ko

Christie Maw

Our first day at Stanford was wonderful! Our Art and Design class this morning was truly amazing. We learnt how to analyze a photo, not quickly drawing a conclusion, but first learning to observe carefully. It was also great fun to collaboratively build a tower made from spaghetti sticks and marshmallows.  This activity required us to use our creativity and our group members came up with interesting ideas.

Later in the afternoon, we had a briefing on our final “Global Solutions” Project. The aim of the project is to design a new country, an island, with a plan for developing and managing this new country.  The project teams have been formed to ensure that there is a mix from other international groups. We will work with our groups to make a final presentation at the end of our program, drawing ideas from some of our classes that we will attend. Today, the briefing session allowed us to get to know students from different countries understand more about their culture and appreciate the importance of respect and working as a team.  Our day was full of inspirations and we all enjoyed it a lot!

 Group 7
Ailsa
Annabelle
Idy
Simran
Tinny

Today was the second day of our Stanford Tour. We had a lot of fun in our two classes which are Normativity and Visual Design.

For the normativity class, we learnt how to take action to make things work. Furthermore, we used our critical thinking to a full extent. In visual design, we learnt to draw animals by observing their outlines. 

We also had a brainstorming session for our global solutions project. We all participated in the discussions actively and learnt more from others' thoughts too. Additionally, we had a chance to communicate with people from different countries.

Group 8

Michelle Cheung 3S (4)

Winsome Liu 3S (22)

Sharon She 3S (28)

Sherry She 3S (29)

Jade Ngan 3T (22)

Our first day of the Stanford classes commenced with a very interesting session on ‘Neuroscience.’ Our instructor, Ms Maral, conducted the interesting lesson using an interactive approach. She made a few classmates teach the rest of the class by looking at a picture and we found this peer teaching method a great way to learn. 

One of us had Visual Arts Design lesson and she learnt to think and analyze a photo and learnt steps to design. Our instructor, Mr Bill Scott, taught us to think out of the box and how we can adjust rules limit our creativity, emphasizing that we should explore the world and things around us. 

Overall, the classes we attended was a whole new and precious experience for us, widening our horizons and satisfying our curiosity. We were impressed by the passionate and highly motivated staff and teachers. We really enjoyed their teaching style and look forward to the following days. Today was a great start of our Stanford tour.