Centre for Language Studies
Providing Electronic Self-access for German as a Foreign Language

‘e-daf’—A Virtual German Language Learning Environment

Self-access has been advocated by educational researchers and practitioners as an excellent means of providing opportunities for greater individualisation in learning and for promoting learner autonomy. ‘e-daf’ (http://courseware.nus.edu.sg/e-daf/), an electronic self-access centre for German language learners, is conceptualised to fulfill these objectives by capitalising on the advantages of current Internet technologies.

Learning objects in ‘e-daf’ are developed and created by the centre’s German language faculty, some with the support from the Centre for Instructional Technology. Supplementing classroom materials, the vast range of learning objects and the various forms of differentiation in the interactive exercises and tasks allow learners to plan and carry out learning activities at their preferred pace, place and time according to their proficiency levels, needs and interests. Resources are organised in study paths, corresponding to the progression of the individual language modules, to provide easy orientation and navigation.

The developmental efforts since April 2000 have led to an increased awareness of and interest in computer-assisted and network-based language learning research among the German language faculty.

University Scholars Office
Building Bridges of Communication between Science and Humanities

Few students who signed up for the University Scholars Programme’s “Writing and Critical Thinking: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Mind” (UCW 2101R) come into the class ‘bilingual’ in the languages of both science and the humanities. As a way of getting the science and humanities students to ‘speak a common language’, the students are required to co-create an Online Research Folder on IVLE where they can mutually inform one another about the major terminology and concepts specific to their fields. Their IVLE postings expand on some term mentioned—but not explicitly defined—in one of the class readings and the subsequent research required to supply such explanations provides practice in locating and citing authoritative secondary sources (e.g. standard textbook accounts and encyclopedia entries). The final product not only facilitates their ability to write and think intelligently across various academic disciplines but is also a publicly-shared resource of their joint creation that each co-author can consult to inform their future essay writing as well. As such, it is a genuinely ‘multidisciplinary text’ in the best sense of the term.

Faculty of Science
Practical Demonstrations in Lecture Theatre

Sometimes students are lost in a class due to a lack of perceptual knowledge. This is especially so when the lecture topics are process-related. Part of the lecture contents of ML 3102 “Ceramic Materials” involves ceramic processing, which is rather difficult to follow without visuals of a typical processing set-up for processing ceramic materials. To help students better understand the principles and operations behind processing ceramic materials, some practical demonstrations were conducted on several key processing set-ups for ceramic materials, and at the same time, the underlying theories and working principles are delivered in the lecture theatre. In addition, some real ceramic materials and components were also brought in to stimulate students’ interest. Students have benefited considerably from these demonstrations and visuals of real ceramic materials and components. Furthermore, a laboratory tour was arranged for students to visit the relevant research laboratories, thereby allowing students to build some ideas on the newest development in the subject area.

Faculty of Medicine
Try PISER for Interactive and Collaborative Medical Teaching

The traditional lecture is generally thought to be an efficient method of conveying information to large- and medium-sized groups of students. In many medical schools, lectures are still the main mode of formal teaching. Unfortunately, it is difficult to engage students during lectures. Questions posed to students seldom draw a satisfactory response and are usually answered by only a motivated minority. The lecturer is often left wondering if the majority of the students have grasped the main concepts. The other significant problem of the traditional lecture is that there is a lack of constructive interaction among students during lectures. The main form of communication among them is
background chatter that contributes little to learning.

The PISER (Peer Instruction & Student Electronic Response) Method

Lectures are given in short segments interrupted by multiple-choice concept-based questions emphasising key principles. Students are asked to answer these questions using an electronic response system (Student Electronic Response). From the instantaneous electronic display of the answer statistics, the lecturer can assess the students’ grasp of the subject. If necessary, they are asked to discuss the question with their peers before answering the same question again (Peer Instruction). The group discussions followed by re-confirmation of answers encourage constructive peer interaction and collaborative
learning.

The Personal Response System (PRS) is easy to set up and use.
Please note that this picture was taken off the internet.