Individualised Research Study (IRS)

Children are naturally curious about the things around them. Some like to break things apart to explore what is inside while some like to wonder how things will be different if one aspect has been changed or altered and there are others who find thrills in arriving at solutions to their problems they posed. The interests and sense of curiosity of our pupils have sparked them to work on studies such as coming up with various solutions to a problem or in-depth study or investigating a topic. Many of them work on topics of their interest and subsequently these grew into projects that could add value to the knowledge community. Many of the GEP pupils who won prestigious international project competitions began working on these projects or related ones as their Individualised Research Study (IRS). Hence IRS is a platform for talent development.The Individualised Research Study (IRS) is a curriculum that aims to ignite Gifted Education Programme (GEP) pupils’ enthusiasm and passion about things around them. In Primary 4, GEP pupils are taught basic research skills that train them to strive for accuracy, precision and clarity in thinking. In Primary 5, GEP pupils who choose to complete a self-selected research project will have the opportunity to apply what they have learnt in Primary 4. When completing the self-selected project of their interest, pupils learn to pose questions about their topic of interest and to determine the kinds of information or data that they need to gather to find answers to the questions they pose. Pupils learn the importance of gathering relevant and valid information and data through a variety of sources and reliable methods that will address their questions. Pupils also learn how to analyse and draw conclusions from the information and data gathered.