APPLIED LEARNING PROGRAMME(ALP)

Over the past few years, the advent of technology has seen Singapore placing heavy emphasis on research and technology. As our country moves towards becoming a smart nation, it is important to teach and equip our student with the relevant skills that will give them a head start in their future careers. In Regent Secondary School, we aim to do this through our Applied Learning Programme (ALP), which serves as a platform to guide and expose our students in the area of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). Our theme for ALP is Emerging Technology. Through our programme, students will be able to appreciate the relevance and value of what they learn in their academic curriculum.

Coding is one of the fundamental skills that is needed to integrate into a digital world. In the first half of the year, Secondary 1 students will have the opportunity to build an Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle from scratch. Students will be exposed to collaborative learning and thinking as they work together to complete this project. At the same time, students are taught block programming to control the Remotely Operated Vehicle using Micro:Bits. In the second half of the year, students will progress from controlling the vehicle to incorporating sensors into a Micro:Bits vehicle, where they will learn how to move the vehicle autonomously. This encourages self-directed learning, and builds their critical thinking, problem-solving and decision-making skills. Through this project, students will be able to appreciate Singapore’s efforts in moving towards a digital nation, such as our introduction of driverless vehicles.

In Secondary 2, students will have the opportunity to work with Amazon Web Services (AWS). The ALP programme is spearheaded by AWS and Cloud Tech to equip our students with technical literacy in coding and cloud computing. Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, such as Alexa. Our students will learn how to use AWS services and Python programming language to create websites, chatbots and Alexa & Deeplens applications, in order to provide solutions for real-life problems. Students first learn Python programming through playing a game called Code Combat. This hands-on activity will allow them to pick up the required skills they need in a fun and interactive way. Experienced facilitators from Cloud Tech are engaged by AWS to guide and mentor our students to create their final product. Each group of students will produce a personalised quiz using Alexa by the end of their Secondary 2 ALP journey.

Our Secondary 3 students will be exposed to a wide range of STEM industries through a series of Learning Journeys, Elective Modules and Advanced Elective Modules. In 2019, our students visited big companies such as Apple, where they learnt advanced coding skills. Students also get to try their hand in a Drones flying program, whereby they apply the skills they have learnt in lower secondary to programme a drone to fly autonomously.

Our three-year ALP programme has been specially curated to benefit our students and keep them relevant in our digital world. Moving forward, our team will continue to seek opportunities for collaborations with other tech companies to make learning meaningful for our Regenites.