The Faculty of Science (FOS) held its Annual Teaching
Workshop on 22 April 2009, and this year’s discussion
centred on Freshmen Seminars. FOS teaching staff and
guests from other faculties were introduced to the aims
and rationale of running such a programme in NUS, which
is elucidated in this statement from Deputy President
(Academic Affairs) and Provost Prof Tan Eng Chye: |
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Freshmen 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 energizing.
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.
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The workshop featured presenters from FOS, the faculties
of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS), Engineering and the
School of Design and Environment (SDE), who shared
their experiences teaching such seminars, including
how the small group teaching format helps to break
down communication barriers between students and
faculty, thus motivating students to be more active and
independent learners. The presenters were also candid
about the challenges they encountered, such as getting
enough teaching staff to conduct such seminars regularly,
especially in large faculties such as FASS. Participants
also had the chance to hear from two distinguished
educators, Prof Satoshi Ogihara from Osaka University
and Prof Jeremy Bloxham from Harvard University,
both of whom provided valuable insights into how the
Freshman Seminar programmes are conducted in their
respective universities.
Students who attended some of these seminars also
shared their thoughts about how it has influenced them
academically. According to Ms Chua Pei En from SDE,
attending “Policies for Building Sustainable Cities”,
conducted by Dr Asanga Gunawansa and Dr Kua Harn
Wei, was a breath of fresh air after years of “being
schooled in the ‘Ten-Year Series’ mentality, where
learning was rarely about discovery or serendipity”. She added that she greatly appreciated the small class
size as it put her at ease to ask questions, and being
able to learn through discussions enabled her and her
peers to take greater ownership of their own learning
journeys. Anisah Ahmad, who attended Assoc Prof
Paulin Straughan’s seminar “Love Actually? The Social
Construction of Romantic Love”, also had positive things to
say about her experience:
I thoroughly enjoyed discussing an “airy
fairy” albeit non-exclusive domain, such as
Love, that has otherwise always been spoken
about in a casual and untailored manner almost
comparable to fluff. In this class, however,
fitting Love to an academic grounding was the
challenge that kept me on my toes. Finally,
rounding up the module with an extensive
research paper on Portrayals of Romantic
Love in Bollywood Movies, was by far the
most exciting and engaging assignment I’ve
undertaken. A fantastic lecturer like Prof.
Paulin to top it off, takes the Freshmen Seminar
to a whole new level!
It is evident that such seminars have made an impact
on their attitudes towards learning. Hopefully it will be
incorporated into the university curriculum so that more
students may benefit from it.
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