In this issue of CDTL Brief on Research and Classroom Practices, NUS colleagues discuss ways of student engagement across various disciplines in the University.
A comment and feedback platform is available at the end of each article—please scroll down to access the platform.
Email Editors |
|
|
| Action Research in Teaching |
| Dr Grace Wong |
| Department of Real Estate |
|
Action research is a systematic and structured selfreflective inquiry or a small-scale intervention in the functioning of a real world social situation, with a view to understand and improve the teaching of decision-making in classrooms. Continue reading |
| Major Challenges Instructors Face in Teaching Undergraduate Contemporary Life Sciences |
| Associate Professor Tang Bor Luen and Assistant Professor Yeong Foong May |
| Department of Biochemistry |
| Instructors of life sciences are often confronted with at least two major challenges—how to impart skills such as scientific knowledge enquiry and acquisition, and how to bridge the gap between the practising professional scientist and the student, especially with the rapid and exponential expansion of the scientifi c knowledge base. Continue reading |
| Small Group Teaching—Get and Give 100% the ‘Old-fashioned’ Way: Perspectives from the Pathology Classroom |
| Dr Nga Min En |
| Department of Pathology |
|
Small group teaching is a great opportunity to interact with students, exchange ideas and impart knowledge. With large student cohorts being the norm in the medical faculty (>250 students), we often face a new group each time. Continue reading |
| Two Strategies to Facilitate Active Learning in Large Classes |
| Dr Seow Teck Keong |
| Department of Biological Sciences |
Strategies that facilitate active learning are instructional activities that “involve students doing things and thinking about what they are doing” (Bonwell & Eison, 1991). Various strategies and methods that claim to aid active learning have been documented in the literature (Silberman, 1996). Continue reading |
| Using Short Stories as an Instructional Tool for Teaching Human Anatomy in the Classroom |
| Dr George W Yip |
| Department of Anatomy |
The study of human anatomy is fundamental to the learning of medicine. Indeed, Gray’s Anatomy, a classic anatomy textbook currently in its 40th edition (Standring, 2008), is held in the highest esteem in a doctor’s education and ranked as essential reading beside the Bible and the works of Shakespeare (Richardson, 2008). Continue reading |
| Customising Continuous Assessment Exercises |
| Associate Professor Sing Tien Foo |
| Department of Real Estate |
Continuous assessments such as essays, quizzes, individual and/or group projects constitute an important part of university courses. Designing an effective continuous assessment could supplement and reinforce classroom teaching, and sustain students’ interest in the subject. Continue reading |