培養的是興趣 說到培養，不少人的腦海總會浮現出枯燥的題 海和讓人不明所以的知識點。王教授解釋說： 「初一中學生平均年齡也就十二、三歲，我不 可能很深入地去闡釋生命科學。我最重要的是 以簡單有趣的方式讓他們明白或是好奇而問出 下一個『為甚麼』，提升他們對科學的敏感程 度。興趣對一個人未來要做的事很重要。」她 坦言自己也是有了興趣才能從容面對研究中的 不順利並一直堅持下去。 那麼參加奧數培訓的學生應該是為了比賽吧？ 梁應德教授笑著說：「我們培養不是以拿獎為 目的，雖然這會是很多人的目標。我希望能培 養他們從科學角度出發的思考方法，對數學感 興趣。利用培訓時間讓他們多見些題目，鼓勵 參賽，但不是狂練。他們代表澳門外出交流也 可以增長見識。」兩位教授都認為，教育並不 能立竿見影，但一定會對學生產生影響，也許 是多年後才能顯現出來，抑或觸類旁通，在別 的方面都有幫助。 Cultivating Students’ Interest in Science When talking about the prospect of nurturing students, most people would think of boring test questions and incomprehensible theories. ‘! e form-1 students I teach are usually between 12 and 13 years old, so I cannot teach them very di& cult knowledge in life sciences,’ says Prof Wang. ‘Instead, I use simple and fun activities to stimulate their curiosity about science and prompt them to raise their own questions. It is very important to develop a strong interest before starting a career in the # eld.’ She adds that it is her passion for science that has kept her going when faced with di& culties. What about the students that receive training for the IMO? Surely they participate in the competition to win, right? ‘Winning is not our # rst priority, although this could be the goal for many people,’ says Prof Leong. ‘I hope to teach the students to think scienti# cally and to increase their interest in mathematics. During the training, I expose them to various kinds of test questions and encourage them to apply for the competition, because I feel the experience itself can help broaden their horizons, but I do not force them to do practice questions over and over again.’ Both Leong and Wang agree that education does not always produce immediate results, but it will certainly have a positive in$ uence on the students in the long run. Sometimes it may take years for the e" ect to manifest itself. Sometimes, the e" ect may even spill over into other areas of the students’ life. 王雅凡教授所教的中學生到澳大實驗室學習 The secondary school students taught by Prof Wang study in a lab at UM 服務社群• COMMUNITY SERVICE 50
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