- Final exam for the controversial subject likely won’t be as tough as previous years, said King’s Glory Education tutor Liu Tin-yan
- Other possible topics include Hong Kong’s role in the Greater Bay Area and the city’s light public housing scheme
The rise of artificial intelligence is sure to be a topic on this year’s Liberal Studies exam, so study up on the subject! Photo: ShutterstockThe liberal studies paper is possibly one of the most daunting subjects on the DSE. With the exam less than two weeks away, King’s Glory Education seasoned tutor Liu Tin-yan shares four key tips for sailing through this year’s paper.
This is the last year the controversial subject will be tested, which may benefit candidates nervous about the exam. “I think the question paper will be more conservative, and the passing rate will be higher than in previous years because students don’t have a chance to take the exams again,” she said.
Check out the tutor’s advice for this year’s paper:
1. Double down on current affairs
Liu picked a few topics that could appear on this year’s exam: artificial intelligence (AI) in our daily lives; AI’s effects on the economy and society; China’s 14th five-year plan; Hong Kong’s role in the Greater Bay Area; and the city’s light public housing scheme.
“Students who pay attention to current affairs should already be aware that there has been a lot of chatter about ChatGPT. It’s definitely worth reading up on this and how AI impacts our everyday lives and various industries,” she said.
Regarding China’s 14th five-year plan, students should pay attention to the country’s role in global governance and how it has alleviated its poverty problem.
According to Liu, two core modules students should focus on in their revision are China and Hong Kong today, as a significant portion of Papers 1 and 2 will be dedicated to these two modules. “Even if the topics are related to global issues, there is a fair chance the questions will be related to China or Hong Kong,” Liu said.
As for local issues, she suggests focusing on ways in which Hong Kong can integrate with mainland China, such as its involvement in the Greater Bay Area. Other areas to read up on include the city’s light public housing scheme, the waste charging scheme, and recent policies concerning post-epidemic recovery measures announced by Chief Executive John Lee.
2. Come up with your own answers and responses
While preparing for these topics, ask yourself questions about the effectiveness of various policies and what measures other countries have taken to tackle the same issues. An example is whether the government should legislate the waste charging scheme or dedicate more resources to educating the public to solve Hong Kong’s waste problem. “Try and formulate similar sorts of questions [and corresponding answers] during your revision as they will always appear in the exams,” she said.
She added that students tend to miss out on counterarguments in their answers and that they could prepare some of these responses as well.
3. Get key concepts right
This is crucial for staying on-topic on the exams. According to Liu, many students confuse terms such as “sustainability” with “environmentally friendly”. “When students answer questions about sustainability, they usually only answer from the environment’s perspective, when in fact, sustainable development is also related to social and economic sustainability, and this is where they often lose points in their answers,” she explained.
Other easily misunderstood terms include “quality of life”, which is different from “lifestyle”, and “social ladder”, which is often confused with “social political participation”. “The definitions of all these terms are in the textbook, and it is essential to get them correct to avoid going off-track in your answers,” she said.
Liu also suggested drawing mind maps while revising, a method that has proven extremely effective with her students. She added: “Especially in the last two months leading up to the DSE exams, I always print out an A3-sized mind map and get my students to write down all the concept words and phrases and then identify how they are related.”
4. Time management
Liu emphasised the importance of time management on the exam. “This is probably the main problem all students have when attempting the actual papers,” she said. Once students are in the zone, they lose track of time. What happens is the same scenario that she observes every year – not having sufficient time to answer the crucial 8-mark question that can make a difference between a level 4 and level 5 response.
As such, she strongly advised students to allocate enough time for every question by spending only 150 seconds for every mark allocated to a question and to move on to the next one when the time is up.
“Mind your time and attempt all the questions. Honestly, for liberal studies, sometimes the more you write, the more marks you can gain.”
“I hope all students can get a good result,” she said. “After all, this is the last year of this subject.”