Funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust and organised by the Centre for Learning Sciences and Technologies (CLST) of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), the Jockey Club Community Care and STEM in Action Project has achieved fruitful results in the past three years. Students from six participating secondary schools have successfully developed 21 technological products specially designed for disadvantaged groups, with the assistance of student mentors from CUHK’s Faculty of Engineering, social service organisations and entrepreneurs. The project results and products were exhibited at the Learning and Teaching Expo 2022 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The project provided students with a three-phase curriculum and an interactive platform for STEM learning. In the first phase, students acquired the most up-to-date STEM knowledge and skills, and gained an understanding of the needs of underprivileged groups before coming up with ideas for innovative tech products and drafting product proposals. In the second phase, the proposals were turned into prototypes under the guidance of undergraduate and postgraduate mentors from the Faculty of Engineering. Representatives from social service organisations and the Hong Kong Automation Technology Council helped perfect and upgrade the prototypes’ functions and designs. In the final phase, students refined and tested the prototypes according to users’ experiences, and enterprises assisted with the realisation of the products. The products would be ultimately donated to the disadvantaged groups. The real-life STEM learning platform allows students to experience the “design thinking process” first-hand, from ideation to production, and from refinement to promotion, giving them an in-depth understanding of how a product comes to the market.