In 2019, Taiwan''s public schools introduced a new curriculum that puts more emphasis on hands-on learning and problem-solving. It''s not been long since the overhaul, but educators say it''s already having an impact on student engagement. From open-ended technology projects that let students make mistakes, to drama classes that heighten the senses, schools are slowly shifting the paradigm on what learning can be. We take you into the classrooms in our Sunday special report.

Today we’ve come to the Qingshan elementary and junior high school in New Taipei’s Xizhi District. Here, a group of students are immersed in a discussion over a design project.

Ideas ricochet back and forth, as adjustments are made onscreen. Their abstract concept becomes tangible with help from this laser cutter, which costs more than NT$10,000. The steps in the process are complex, but that doesn’t throw off these middle schoolers in the slightest.

Meticulous measurements are crucial to get the intricate pattern carved just right on the wooden board. From coming up with a concept, to making it a reality: this is a class on technology in everyday life.

Wang Ju-hsing
Principal
In the traditional technology classes, teachers make a finished product and then students replicate it. They’d follow the teacher’s instructions on the process, assembly, tests… It was just an OEM mindset. What we’re doing at Qingshan is letting our students explore their environment, to find problems that need solutions.

Su Yu-chi
Director of studies
When the COVID-19 pandemic started, the kids discussed it with their teachers in class. We joined an online maker group. We wanted to help out medical institutions by providing face shields for all the medical staff hard at work. So the teacher offered guidance to our students on how to laser-cut those things.

Taiwan’s new middle school curriculum offers a new variety of technology class. A key aspect of the new approach is to spark critical thinking and self-expression.

Huang Chung-ying
Practicum section chief
If during the learning process you let children learn and work toward the things they want to do for themselves. That brings out their independent study skills.

This kind of training happens to be precisely what the popular “maker education” is all about.

Under this approach, students become makers, and education becomes about hands-on experiences.

This friendly-looking soap dispenser can change color and sing. It was developed entirely by three dexterous students at the school. Their goal was to remind fellow students to wash their hands frequently during the pandemic.

Student
At the top, the main component is an infrared sensor. When it detects you, it dispenses hand soap. Then it starts making sounds. The indicator lights and the voice tell you the steps of washing your hands.

Su Yu-chi
Director of studies
While applying welding techniques, the kids get to understand how motherboards work. The students welded the pieces together themselves, and with some programming and a driver, they got the sensor up and running.

Teachers are careful to guide the students, rather than lecture them. It’s meant to get students to actively explore, instead of absorbing information passively.

Student
From the beginning, we wanted to invent something to fight the pandemic. So we started thinking about it from four angles. What do we want to change? What do we need to prevent? We also thought of some good COVID prevention measures that people often forget about. And we considered what kind of impact we wanted our invention to have. After considering these four ideas, we discovered that handwashing is the easiest and most important thing you can do.

To take ideas off the drawing board and into practice, the children have to work together as a team.

A student tinkers with the wiring under the car, while the other manipulates a hot glue gun and pliers. They’re trying to figure out how to get the car to move along the tracks.

Pulling up the thin wire and gluing it down is a true test of patience.

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Their teacher offers advice from the sidelines. Then it’s time for Test No. 2.

Huang Chung-ying
Practicum section chief
We still get them to learn some techniques, but in the end, we want to give them an open project. We tell them, “OK, we’ve learned these three things. Now I want you to make something that you want to create.” Under this mode of instruction, children gradually learn that, before making something of their own, they have to learn some other things first. They also know they’ll have a chance to share their insights at the end.

In this classroom, the kids apply their knowledge and learn fr