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Faculty
of Architecture and Building
Helping teachers help students
FAB recently conducted a series of four in-house teaching seminars on
the theme of critical and creative thinking. All staff were required to
attend at least one seminar in the series. In addition to promoting excellence
in teaching, the seminars offered tips and tools on helping students'
enhance their thinking skills. Topics included:
- Creative and critical thinking: Investigating its significance
to ABEM studies
- Assessment as a vehicle for creative teaching
and learning
- Strategies to promote value-added learning
- Creating professionals for the 21st century
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FAB staff, who are themselves recognised as good teachers, served as
the convenors and external speakers were invited to share their expert
views. FAB intends to publish the proceedings as a teaching guide for
its staff.
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Faculty of
Arts and Social Sciences
Surfing at the SUMMIT
In June 1997, FASS launched an electronic magazine, or e-zine,
called SUMMIT to serve as a source of information on IT developments,
know-how and resources at FASS and beyond. Conceived and implemented
by members of the faculty's IT committee, the inaugural issue includes
articles on: |
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- Organising a conference in cyberspace
- Welcome to a foray into IT
- The entangled web: Surfing with a purpose
- The biggest bug of them all
- Creating and enhancing your web page
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You can find SUMMIT through the FASS homepage or at http://www.nus.edu.sg/NUSinfo/FASS/webarts/FASS.html.
Watch out for the January issue on IT in research. Contributions from
all staff and students are welcome.
| For the second year running, the 15-year old Stanford-NUS
Senior Executive Programme has been offered in Hong Kong in addition
to Singapore. The intensive, three-week course features distinguished
faculty from both universities, an emphasis on managing companies
in the Pacific Rim and the opportunity to work with and know a diverse
group of executives from all over the world. |
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The course is one of nearly 60 FBA programmes that have trained over
9,000 executives from 80 countries since 1981. As one of few institutions
in this part of the world to deliver high quality programmes in English
and Chinese, FBA continues to live up to its motto "The Best of East
and West".
| Two years ago, the Faculty
of Dentistry introduced problem-based learning (PBL) into its tutorials.
PBL tutorials are student-centred. The teacher plays the role of facilitator,
not resource person. Carefully designed problems motivate student
discussions. Together, students uncover what they know, what they
need to know and where to find it. PBL develops research, reasoning
and communication skills and students become better managers of their
learning. |
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Cases that cut across disciplines help them see the big picture and make
connections. Students enjoy the tutorials and find the learning environment
less threatening. PBL is a useful teaching method and we plan to incorporate
it more widely into the curriculum.
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Faculty
of Law
Skills to last a lifetime
Several new courses—a Negotiation Workshop, Mediation Workshop,
and Negotiation and Conflict Resolution course—introduced over
the last few years help students develop skills and confidence.
Workshop lectures are short and students are expected to absorb
substantive knowledge from prescribed reading. The emphasis is on
experiential learning. Every session involves on-the-spot simulations
in which every student participates. Equal time is given to class
review, a lively exchange of views and reactions. And written journals,
required after every session and often returned with lots of teacher
feedback, become valuable tools for self-analysis and improvement.
From such strong reinforcement of theory with practice, many students
complete the workshops with a new discovery—the power of self-learning.
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Faculty
of Medicine
Plastic dummies join skills lab |
| As a result of the curriculum
review process, the Medical Faculty is making exciting new changes
in its course content and approach. This includes setting up a skills
training laboratory to help undergraduates learn basic emergency skills
like first aid and cardiac life support. Plastic dummies, or mannequins,
are a special feature of the new lab, enabling students to practice
skills like tracheal intubation as many times as necessary to attain
mastery. |
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The lab makes training and assessment more structured and skill competency
more uniform. In the near future, it will be expanded to include other
core skills like venepuncture, lumbar puncture and chest tube insertion.
Ultimately, the lab will also train postgraduates in advanced skills like
microsurgery and laparoscopy.
| The topic of how "buckyballs"
and nanotechnology will shape our destiny was discussed and debated
in one of some thirty seminars presented by participants in the Science
Talent Development Programme (Science TDP). The seminars, held in
October 1997, covered a diverse range of subjects such as gene cloning,
the physics of guitar playing and how to enjoy set theory. Science
TDP aims to provide an intellectually challenging environment for
students to pursue their scientific interests. |
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Participants write academic essays, present talks, design experiments
and conduct in-depth studies. They also have a chance to interact with
leading members of science and industry. Last semester this included tea
and lively exchanges with Professor Richard Ernst, Nobel laureate in Chemistry
(1991) and Professor Jerome Friedman, Nobel laureate in Physics (1990).
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