—Richard Fung '73, SCI

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The after class consultation and tutoring by tutors was the best, most appreciated time I had. This should be encouraged and not seen as a chore and disturbance by some tutors. 

—Wilson Teo '95, SCI

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Teachers need to: 

• inculcate interest in their students. If students fall asleep in the halls, part of the failure lies with the lecturer. 
• format questions for thinking students. Don't regurgitate questions from past years. 
• speak English with enough polish not to have to struggle teaching an already difficult subject. 

—Anonymous (alum)

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Good teachers should have patience and be willing to explain one-to-one, but quite a few teachers lack this aspect. Maybe this is because undergrads are not to be "spoonfed". However, this should not give them the idea that they are not responsible for our growth. Although we should have more initiative in terms of reading and research, yet we are still human and learning ones too. 

—Ow Gan Pin, ENG

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Good teachers present in a clear and logical sequence. 

—Tok Kiat Siong, ENG

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Teachers should be more kind to students, that is, make students like to have contact with him/her. 

—Anonymous (student)

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Good teaching entails a student_teacher relationship maintained by trust, mutual respect and openness. The teacher is more like a friend who shares knowledge with us, a friend with whom we aren't afraid to share our views and even disagree with, a friend who is willing to not just help us learn but to learn him/herself. In this way, we can work and learn together as a team. 

—Goh Yong Wah '91, FASS

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A good teacher is one who thinks that he/she has not taught if the student has not learnt. 

—Ho Yew Wee, ENG

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Good teachers have great insights into the subject they teach. They pose challenging questions for us to ponder and can explain abstract concepts so they are easy to grasp. 

—Anonymous (student)

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Good teachers are also good facilitators. They draw out quiet students, keep good time and manage the discussion so it doesn't digress or become dominated by a few people. 

—Tan Song Lip, FBA

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A good teacher is funny enough to keep you interested but not overly so. He/she is to the point without beating around the bush. 

—Anonymous (student)

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My teacher's glamour is most embodied by his academic thoughts. His viewpoints are sharply controversial yet strong enough to convince me that they are supported by substantial research. His directness and excellence generated our inspiration, imagination, participation and, most importantly, independent thinking. 

—Li Shubin, FASS 

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On good teaching: 

• Teachers should not simply be told to improve their teaching methods. They should be motivated to do so by rewarding teachers who show innovation in teaching. 
• The curriculum should be designed in an interesting way so students have fun in class and want to learn. 
• Memory work should be kept to a strict minimum. 

—Anonymous (student)

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Good teachers have charisma, show individualised consideration and encourage intellectual stimulation. Their lectures have full-house attendance every week. Boring teachers with negative predispositions toward their students—always criticising us and complaining that we are lousy and lazy—usually get more of the same kind of response from the students. 

—Tan Zheng Da, FBA

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Lecturers should spend the first ten minutes of every class recapping what was taught in the previous class. 

—Grandi Srinivasa Deva Gupta, ENG

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My tutor is friendly but not too friendly so that he loses respect. He never gets angry when we don't pay attention in class or do the tutorial. He gives us advice so we realise our mistake by ourselves. He is very patient. If we did not understand the subject, he will try his best to explain it. If we still can't understand, he offers his free time to discuss the problem. If someone didn't get a good grade on his quiz or test, he will ask the person to meet him in his office, discuss the problem and find a solution. Being taught this way helped me build initiative to learn more. 

—Budi Juswardy, ENG

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In my experience, no matter how hard teachers try to fill up their students, the acceptance of knowledge depends only on whether a student learned it actively. I recommend "active" teaching. For example, leave some chapters to be studied in advance by small groups of students, and then it's the teacher who answers their questions in class! 

—Zhaohui Chen, ENG

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Good teachers help the student build a microstructure that links up different aspects of a module, and a macrostructure that links together different modules. 

—Soon Chun Siong, FASS

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A critical skill many lecturers lack is how to handle a lecture when there is a shortage of time. Many merely compress the lesson, not wanting to waste the materials they prepared. A better method is to select only the crucial points that need to be delivered, make them very clear to the class and provide well-filtered references for further study. 

—Amos Loh, MED

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I wish some lecturers would give us less things to copy, and make us copy the important concepts, notes and formulae so we can learn faster, instead of throwing everything onto us. 

—Steven Ong, ENG

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On good teaching: 

• Do your homework too. Prepare questions and exercises that will stimulate debate and make your students think on their own feet! 
• Rediscover your first love for teaching. Teach with passion and conviction! These traits are sure to rub off with the students. 
• The general environment should allow teachers to break from the orthodoxy of teaching. 

—Eduardo K. Araral Jr., FASS

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My tutor's informal style led to many lively and interesting debates in class. And by the end of the semester, the entire group became quite close through the group projects and presentations. Without such friendly environs, students will indubitably feel alienated. Kudos to her hands-on style. 

—Anonymous (student)

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On good teaching: 

• Use "discovery" exercises. Students discover how to use and apply a method in a particular case with the help of early, guided assignment given before the concept is taught. 
• Give well spaced, well planned assignments and avoid the lumping effect nearing exams. 
• Give feedback about assignments (and midterm exams) so we can learn from our mistakes or the lecturer's comments. 

—August Rusli, ENG

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It is the ability to help students relate to actual situations in the industry or working environment. Pure textbook knowledge does not help a student see the big picture. 

—Stanley Tay, ENG

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Although independence is a requirement for survival in NUS, sometimes this becomes an end rather than a means to an end (tertiary education). In such an environment, only the extremes of the spectrum of students— the elites and the incorrigibles—stand out and many who stand in between are forgotten. More should be done to eliminate the gulf between teachers and ordinary students that form the bulk of the population. 

—Anonymous (student)

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Good teachers transfer their ideas about research, their own interests and perspectives and related "real world" experience. They challenge students to form individual perspectives and generate ideas for research. Some sort of synergy whereby idealism (us youngsters) and experience ("them") form solid research. 

—Evan Yap Boon Heng, FASS

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One feature of good teaching is the stimulation of students to do their own reading-up, and not just relying on the notes provided in lectures. 

—Lim Yeow Heng, SCI

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Good teachers are able to simplify difficult theories into easy-to-understand concepts. 

—Edwin I. Sutedjo, ENG

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Some teachers teach well and some teach badly. This discrepancy should be due to a lack of communication among them. With communication, they can share their experiences and learn from one another. 

—Anonymous (student)

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Good teachers never let his/her students feel stupid. 

—Anonymous (student)

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