NUS Business School                                      
Experiential Learning

One of the courses taught at the NUS Business School was BSP1004 “Legal Environment for Business” (AY 2004/2005). Hitherto it was conducted seminar style and was well-received by students for its high level of interactivity. To encourage students to participate even more in class, the lecturer, Associate Professor Ravi Chandran, introduced a mock trial component. Students were divided into two teams: one team had a plaintiff, a plaintiff counsel and three witnesses while the other had a defendant, a defence counsel and three witnesses. The rest of the class acted as judges and were free to ask questions as the trial proceeded.

While the intention was to encourage greater participation, it was discovered (through the questions raised during class and from student feedback) that students actually got to understand legal principles and their nuances better by discussing a ‘real’ problem. The mock trial also helped students learn other practical matters not covered in textbooks (e.g. the difficulty of keeping up with a lie during a cross-examination session at trial).

The mock trial not only increased participation and learning, it also enabled students to have fun and excitement in class. Thereafter as a result, there was also an increased interest in the module. While this mode of experiential learning took place in the context of a business law module, experiential learning could apply in other contexts as well. After all, as has been said before, actively doing something is always better than passively reading or learning about something.

School of Design and Environment                                      
Teaching Development Seminar

On 8 September 2005, the Departments of Building and Real Estate organised a teaching development seminar for faculty members to help them improve their teaching. Associate Professor Kulwant Singh, winner of NUS Outstanding Educator Award 2004, was invited to share his teaching tips and experience.

Figure 1. A/P Singh sharing his teaching tips and experience.

In the talk, he recommended that faculty members should set the right tone in the very first lecture. He also encouraged lecturers to teach outside of the textbooks to include current, contextual and challenging material for students. A/Prof Singh also urged that students should be viewed as partners, not as ‘enemies’ or even ‘customers’. On the one hand, perceiving students as ‘enemies’ implies a competitive relationship of which there can only be one winner. On the other hand, if faculty members treat students as customers who are always right, they may not learn effectively. By treating students as partners, students will be more involved and committed to the learning process and this partnership concept is a win-win situation in the end. For example, A/Prof Singh allows his students to influence the content they learn (e.g. allowing students to propose topics, select cases and projects for in-depth discussion).

The talk was not only insightful; it also provided many discussions among the faculty as it is only through constant discussions that teaching methods may be improved.