School of Design and Environment
Teaching Seminar 2004/2005

To kick off the second semester in AY 2004/2005, the Departments of Building and Real Estate held a lunchtime teaching seminar as part of its regular series of talks. The seminar was attended by staff from both departments and for the first time, it was open to Teaching Assistants as well. The speaker was former OEA winner, Associate Professor Bernard Tan, who heads the Department of Information Systems at NUS. The topic of his talk was ‘Coping with the Challenges of Rapid Content Changes’.

Figure 1. The School of Design and Environment’s Teaching Seminar 2004/2005.

As in many technology-related fields, Information Systems (IS) is fast moving, characterised by rapidly changing technologies and practices. This poses special challenges to the IS faculty who have to constantly react and respond to rapid content changes during the course of teaching. Using CS 4251 “Strategic IS Planning” as an illustration, A/P Tan discussed some ways in which he and his colleagues are able to both deal with rapid content changes and at the same time, add value to students’ learning experience. The approach emphasises the importance of stable conceptual frameworks to anchor the body of rapidly changing contents and to guide the design of major class assignments. Calling such an approach ‘Process-Centric Education’, A/P Tan cited the following additional benefits: the updating of course materials through completed assignments and mutual learning for both lecturer and students.

A/P Tan concluded his presentation by providing insights into the implications for staff in terms of time and effort. During the Q & A session that followed, staff queried the mechanics of the implementation of assignments, the judicious handling of the increase in contact time with students and time management in general. Feedback to A/P Tan’s presentation was very positive—“enlightening”, “refreshing”, “candid and confident”. More concretely, some staff members indicated that they were going to try out or adapt some of the techniques for student management and assessment to their modules.

Faculty of Engineering
Laboratory as a Practical Training Venue

A laboratory setting is a more conducive learning environment than lecture halls (especially for large classes) as it provides students with real life situations and a chance to exercise their problem-solving skills. By reducing the amount of technical materials in handouts/manuals and providing the optimal (but not excessive) number of experiments, we can minimise information overload and regurgitation among students. At the same time, students have more time and opportunities for hands-on experience, active thinking and knowledge reflection. In addition, a teamwork environment encourages students to practise their interpersonal skills as well as to nurture team spirit and leadership. Finally, oral examinations and presentations provide an opportunity for students to sharpen their mental response and presentation skills. Exposing students to the abovementioned elements will make them more equipped when they step into the workforce, whether they are in engineering, research or business.

Faculty of Science
Learning to Experiment...Experimenting to Learn

The journey to provide hands-on learning experience to students of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering continues! During the first semester of AY 2004/2005, more than 250 students enrolled in CN 3421 “Process Modeling and Numerical Simulation” were involved in group projects dealing with the design and analysis of experiments.

While most student groups (maximum three members per group) focused on understanding the effect that design variables had on response variables in different activities (e.g. rock climbing, riding a bicycle, concocting sparkling cocktails, rice making, popcorn making, oxidising apples and designing paper fighter aircrafts), other students either completed a computer-based design of experiments and optimisation project or developed a soft sensor using industrial data. Despite the stress of planning and conducting experiments and completing the project in a short time period, students responded admirably to the challenge. Many students indicated that it was a refreshing learning experience.

Virtual Lab Sessions for Math Module

For the second semester in AY 2004/2005, the regular lab sessions for MA 1506 “Mathematics II” are replaced with virtual lab sessions. In the past, Engineering students had to travel to the Science faculty to attend these sessions at the math computer labs at scheduled timeslots. A lot of administrative work is therefore required to coordinate the booking of labs, assigning of lab assistants and marking of lab quizzes.

Figure 1. Screenshot of Virtual Lab in session for MA 1506.

The new virtual lab allows students to access the lab online anywhere anytime. Each lab comprises two components: lab activities and a lab quiz. In the lab activities, students will use Web tools or applets to explore and visualise concepts taught in lectures. Breeze presentations are also developed to demonstrate how to use the various Web tools. Discussion forums are also set up for students to discuss among themselves as well as to communicate with both the lecturer and lab assistant. The lab quizzes are designed using the IVLE assessment tool and are marked automatically by the computer programme, thereby saving time.

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Personalising Learning in Theoretical Classes

Students often remark that they find it difficult to relate abstract lecture concepts to their everyday life and future career. A new component—a post-lecture question—of IF 2210 “Aesthetics of New Media” aims to bridge together abstract concepts with students’ everyday experiences.

Figure 1. Student Tan Meng Lee considers this photo as ‘a
successful portrayal of adorable 'her', describing how
her aunt used ‘props’ (a hat, a pretty ‘large’ umbrella,
a make-up) in this picture to ‘assist’ herself in representing
the ‘adorable nature of children’.

To illustrate, after the lecture on ‘representation’ and the aesthetics of ‘realism’, students are asked to submit their favourite picture and explain the reason for their selection. Some of these answers (that better relate seeming ‘realism’ of the picture to a complex set of chosen manipulations) are then read in class. Students are proactive and highly creative in answering the post-lecture question, even though it accounts for only a small portion of their class participation grade. As a result, their understanding of the subject and its relevance to their future careers in creative industries has been improved.