This issue of CDTL Brief features articles based on select presentations at the Teaching Workshop on Freshman Seminars conducted by the Faculty of Science on 22 April 2009.
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Freshman seminars provide an unparalleled opportunity for first-year students (freshmen) and faculty to explore a scholarly topic of mutual interest together, in a small group setting of about 15 students. Designed with freshmen in mind, students’ intellectual curiosities are sparked as they are orientated into becoming an active member of the NUS intellectual community. Faculty benefits too from interacting directly with a handful of bright and talented new students, which can be inspiring and energising. Obviously, senior students could also benefit from such seminars. In addition to fostering an exciting intellectual environment, the close interaction and early building of rapport between students and staff in these seminars is expected to set the stage for mentoring relationships that could extend to later undergraduate years. Looking forward, freshman seminars will become an important learning component of residential life in the University Town. Professor Tan Eng Chye |
| Freshman Seminar: A Forum to Learn More by Teaching Less |
| Professor T. S. Andy Hor |
| Department of Chemistry,
NUS Teaching Academy Fellow |
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Many of us tend to ‘over-teach’ because it is very tempting to subscribe to the notion that the more we teach, the more students can learn. Continue reading
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| FSE1202: Great Discoveries and Inventions |
| Associate Professor Anjam Khursheed |
| Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering/Engineering Science Programme |
| A new freshman seminar module in the Faculty of Engineering, FSE1202 “Great Inventions and Discoveries”, gives students opportunities to carry out their own case studies on innovation and conduct their own experiments. Continue reading |
| Freshman Seminar Module: A Mathematical Experiment |
| Associate Professor Leong Yu Kiang |
| Department of Mathematics |
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When the idea of a freshman seminar module (FSM) was first introduced in AY 2006/07, it was novel to NUS. Continue reading |
| Promoting Individual Learning Through Small Classes |
| Professor Satoshi Ogihara |
| Biological Science, Graduate School of Science Office for International Planning and Programs, International Affairs Board Osaka University, Osaka, Japan |
For decades, Japan’s Yutori education, which means ‘relaxed education’ or ‘education free from pressure’, has led to an education crisis characterised by students’ declining academic abilities. Continue reading |
| Teaching Sustainable Development to Freshmen |
| Dr Asanga Gunawansa & Dr Kua Harn Wei |
| Department of Building |
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We live in a world in which almost every literate person has heard of the term ‘sustainable development’ (SD). Continue reading |
| A Freshman Seminar in FASS: “Representing War” |
| Dr Barbara Ryan University Scholars Programme Professor John Richardson |
| Director, University Scholars Programme |
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The FASS freshman seminar, “Representing War,” had two main objectives and two peculiarities. Continue reading |
| At Last, Learning Can Really be Fun! |
| Vettai Anathanarayanan |
| Professor Emeritus, Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences McMaster University Ontario, Canada |
As new entrants to the university, freshmen have high expectations about the opportunities to learn in a scholarly atmosphere which is different from what they had in their previous education. Continue reading |