Author Subrata Chanda, from the School of Engineering, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, describes in this article that…

Effective learning is possible only when the adopted method suits both the learners and the teacher best.

Subrata calls it “Win and Teach-for-learning” or “WaT”.

Read the full article:

» Be the Best Teacher that You Can Be: Use the WaT Approach

(PDF, 103kb, 21 pages. Used with permission.)

Author

Subrata Chanda, Director-Designate Centre of Innovation (MOT), Ngee Ann Polytechnic

Background

Students taking Law modules offered at the School of Business & Accountancy are required to prepare and present answers to various legal problems during their 2-hour tutorial classes. The answers are discussed and amended during the class, and are archived for shared access for revision purposes.

The students bring their notebook computers to class and use them throughout the lesson.

Before Google Docs…

Before I started using Google Docs, the students developed and  presented their answers using Microsoft Office (mostly Word and Powerpoint).

I faced the following challenges, each of which reduced opportunities for learning:

1. I wanted everyone to see the student’s answer plus other resources at the same time

When a particular student’s answer was being discussed by the class, I needed all students to be able to view that student’s answer, and they also needed to see helpful resources (such as online legislation and case law, videos, news, corporate and other websites).

It was impossible to allow all students in a class to view both the student answer and a resource such as Statutes Online at the same time, since the only shared viewing space (the screen) was occupied by the projection from one computer.

Students could access other resources on their own laptop computers, but could not quickly and easily share what they were reading or watching with others in the class.

The tutor or students leading the discussion could not direct the entire class to other resources without first switching away from the student answer, thereby disrupting the focus of the discussion.

This caused some confusion and it was hard for students to follow.

2. I wanted all students to be able to conveniently make immediate amendments to, and comments on, the answer in discussion.

With Microsoft Office, amendments to the student answer could only be made from one computer, since that answer was usually only stored on that computer. Files could be sent from computer to computer, but not shared simultaneously.

This situation reduced the opportunities for collaboration between students.

3. I wanted to enable easy reversal of any unwanted changes.

"Versioning" (or the saving of multiple versions of a document for easy reversal of unwanted changes) all the way back to inception, was not available in Microsoft Office. Changes could be tracked, and the Undo function allows the reversal of unwanted changes before saving, but once changes are accepted or rejected, and once the file is saved and closed, only that latest saved version is subsequently available to the user.

4. Allow all students quick and easy access to the final version of the answer after the class.

This was accomplished by uploading the Microsoft Office file to a common password-protected repository (File Exchange in Blackboard). It was necessary for students to log in to Blackboard, download and then open the file to view its contents.

I felt these challenges reduced the learning outcomes, since what we were doing was neither efficient nor convenient.

A Revolutionary Idea? “Wiki-fy” the process

Google Docs is essentially a Wiki. Access to a Google Document is available via the Internet to any user with appropriate access privileges. A Google Doc is stored “in the cloud” (that is, on a networked server, not solely on one computer) and access is therefore available to more people than the one author. Wikis are almost as old as the World Wide Web but have only recently become popular.

The following features of Google Docs proved helpful in solving my challenges.

1. Google Docs was designed as a wiki…

Students in the class can all view the same Google Doc on their laptops as long as they have access to the Internet. This enables a "double-whiteboard" learning approach – one resource (e.g. the tutorial answer guide) can be viewed by the whole class as a projected image from one computer, while another resource, typically the student’s Google Doc answer under consideration, is available for viewing at all times on students’ laptops. Essentially, two shared viewing spaces are available. The entire class can view other resources, without first having to remove the student answer from their field of vision.

This has proven to be very effective from a learning point of view, since there is less distraction because of logistics.

Students use Google Docs in class

2. … and a wiki has simultaneous edit power

Up to 10 users can concurrently edit the same page on Google Docs. Changes are effected nearly simultaneously. Google auto-saves and almost immediately updates all changes in a Google document for viewing by all users.

Concurrent edit power makes Google Docs a practical solution for collaborative work where students must complete their work together in a physical classroom within a tight time-frame. Most other wikis, by contrast, are designed for asynchronous collaboration where users are expected to take turns and edits must be saved for updating one at a time. Such wikis are not suitable for a classroom scenario such as mine.

3. Changes can be reversed…

Like other Wikis, Google Docs implements versioning, or saving older versions of documents for later retrieval. Changes can be reversed even after saving, all the way back to inception. The ability to "rewind" a document may be helpful not just to erase errors but also to trace the chain of reasoning leading to the final answer. It can also be beneficial for assessment purposes, to ascertain what individual students contributed.

4. … and everything is always available, right after the class.

Students can view the final and all preceding versions of every tutorial answer, on the Web at any time, via any computer with internet access. Students do not even need to remember to save the document before the end of the class as Google Docs auto-saves changes. No uploading to an online repository is necessary since the document was already available online to all in the class at inception.

With these advantages, learning was enhanced since the technology became less intrusive.

Apart from learning their law lessons, my students also developed the ability to synchronously collaborate online, a skill that will become more important during the 21st century.

Slideshare explanation

This Slideshare presentation may give you a better idea of how the Google Docs lessons worked.

Student Feedback: Survey Results

I conducted a survey of the 8 tutorial classes who experienced law discussions using Google Docs. Over 90% responded positively when asked how they felt about using Google Docs for collaboration. When asked what they liked most about using Google Docs, the factors students cited most were:

1. Anybody can edit the answer and share the results quickly (74%)
2. Can access the document from any computer (66%)
3. Can share one document on screen and another on the laptop at the same time (60%)

(Students could respond to more than one answer.)

Qualitative feedback from the survey was generally positive, although some students had valid reservations over network lag and the limit of 10 concurrent editors. Some of the student comments included:

• "Helps in discussion better"
• "Need not be in front of the class to present (I’m shy )
• "Good to have for reference as sometimes the teacher may go too fast in class"

Conclusion

Google Docs is an example of a tool intended primarily for remote collaboration, and it has been successfully applied to enable collaboration in a physical, face-to-face classroom setting. The tool adds value to in-class instruction primarily because of its "view same document anywhere" and real-time "concurrent edits" features. Google Docs is an ideal tool to achieve the aim of a 21st century education to inculcate skills in communication and collaboration.

Two years after Google Docs was introduced in the School of Business and Accountancy, I find that students still consider the entire concept of working collaboratively on Wikis to be novel, especially when any change made by one student is viewed immediately by the rest of the class. Some students continue to express amazement at not having to share documents by emailing them back and forth. This insight is vital preparation for future online collaboration.

Moving forward, the introduction of competing web-based collaborative work tools by various vendors such as Microsoft’s Office Live and Sharepoint (both of which allow users to easily work collaboratively by saving documents in the cloud) opens up many interesting possibilities. Security of document contents is often cited as a reason to avoid cloud-based systems, but as long as the service provider is reliable, and files are encrypted during transfer and kept behind passwords, they are as secure as files kept within intranets.

My students found the experience of synchronous virtual teamwork to be quite valuable. Good synchronous virtual teamwork skills will be beneficial to our students when they enter the cost-saving, time-efficient and environmentally-conscious 21st-century professional or business workplace.

Author

Paul Ng Jin Meng, Lecturer, School of Business and Accountancy, Ngee Ann Polytechnic

When I was young, my parents encouraged me to keep a diary. My sister, who was 5 years older, had already been keeping one for a couple of years and, like most pesky younger brothers, I would have walked through poison ivy to have a peek into that book.

Privacy. Exclusivity. Secrets.

I wanted it too.

So I started my diary but in the end, it only documented three-and-a-half days of my life as an eleven year old.

My question then – and still is today – was “why write it if no one was ever going to read it?”

Self-reflection, some might say.

Catharsis, exclaim others.

Sense of achievement. Writing practice. Documentary proof.

The list goes on – but what was the point?

Writing For An Audience

One of the major discussions (or arguments) I have with students in my Storytelling Techniques class has been based around this simple question:

If you wrote a story and no one read it, would it still be a story?

For me, the answer is a plain and simple, no.

I think that any form of art is defined by the audience’s reaction to it. The Greek philospher and poet Aristotle said that a proper tragedy invokes both pity and fear in the audience. The audience relates to the story through pitying the characters and fearing their situation.

Notice how Aristotle never said you need an audience for a story. Why? Because it’s understood – the audience is always there and you are always writing for an audience.

So when I was writing my diary, who was going to pity me and fear my situation?

An Audience Of One

When I started teaching the Storytelling Techniques module in the Digital Visual Effects course and then for the Film, Sound & Video course, I found myself confronted by journaling once more.

The Journal Assignment was one I “inherited”, along with the module, from the previous module leader. Students were required to keep journals of their progression in the art of storytelling. These journals consisted of writing exercises as well as their own weekly reflections on the things they learned and how it was applied. They were compiled in folders and done on paper, handed in at the end of the semester.

An example of the paper-based journal entries I was receiving.

The first time I read the journals, I realized most of the entries were written for my benefit, as the students knew I would be marking it.

Being a writer myself, I was acutely aware that a writer’s greatest reward is the response you get from people when they read your work. Currently, these students were getting a response from a grand audience total of one – me.

Essentially, I was their audience.

Just me. One person.

No wonder they didn’t care.

A Perfect Fit

As the new semester drew near, I discussed this issue of lack of an audience with another lecturer who had been co-teaching the module with me. This was where the idea of a blog emerged. As it turns out, he had been exploring the option of using a blog as a journaling tool.

The blog, as defined by Dictionary.com, is “a Web site on which an individual or group of users produces an ongoing narrative”.

We had a group of users (students) and we needed them to produce an ongoing narrative (stories).

It was a perfect fit.

Getting Heard

The introduction of blogs at the beginning presented some challenges. I had two weeks before the start of semester to become an expert on blogging and I hadn’t even blogged before! But, like most things we have to do, I did it and at the end of the two weeks, I became some sort of a blogging guru, writing posts, putting up pages, changing themes and embedding video at the touch of a button. I started to write weekly posts, because I thought that if I expected my students to blog regularly, I would have to lead by example and do it myself.

When I introduced blogging in the first class, I received collective moans and groans – an almost immediate resistance. At first I was taken aback – had I made a wrong (or worse – uncool) decision? In spite of this, I persevered, instructing them on how to start a blog, how to create pages and how to post. Then I told them how their writing exercises and weekly reflections would be posted.

My students need to check my blog weekly to get their assignments and they then need to complete such exercises using their own blogs. I then read their blog entries and mark them while giving comments. In addition to the weekly exercises, they also have to write a post – I call it a reflection but I don’t limit the subject matter, as long as it’s not objectionable (vulgar, discriminatory, overtly sexual, etc.)

Screen shot of one of the first long posts I received after making the paper-to-blog transition.

Surprisingly, as the weeks went by, the groans and moans I heard in the first class never resurfaced. The students got into the habit of writing and I was getting reflections that were five times as long as I did when I used paper journals.

They were still acutely aware that I was reading and marking their work but they were also conscious of the fact that their classmates were also reading what they wrote. I think it was because of this awareness that made them more meticulous and insightful in their own writing; I began to see a marked change in the quality of the reflections as well as the work submitted.

Then the comments started.

It wasn’t a flood of comments but just one or two, here and there, on some of the blogs, from people they didn’t know. Some students panicked and told me that strange people were reading and commenting on their writing.

To them, it was inconceivable that someone would read what they wrote, who didn’t have to.

As word got around the class that certain people were getting external comments, I found the general standard of work in the class as a whole getting better. At first I couldn’t understand why this was happening. Then it hit me. The ones who had no comments were trying to get comments to their work while the ones who had comments wanted to get more.

They were finally writing for an audience.

Getting Better

One of the questions people always ask me is, “Does blogging improve writing?” As someone who used to write for a living and now teaches it, I’ll always say this: writing improves writing.

There’s no better way to improve your writing than to write and get it out there; essentially, blogging is writing. Getting students to blog is, in a way, getting them to write without them realizing that they are learning how to write and that’s the beauty of it!

Just look at this first entry from a student a few years ago.

Now compare that to his entry just two weeks after.

[See post]

Of course, my first thought was … plagiarism! But after speaking to him, he told me that when he realized people were reading it (albeit from his class), he wanted to make the best impression he could. So he had to improve his writing. Amazing.

Here’s another example of a student who was surprised at having received comments. She confessed to me that she never thought her writing was good, much less good enough to incite any sort of comment or discussion.

A good reflective piece about facing one’s past… and the six comments she received. [See post]

4 Blogs, 67 Posts, 43 Comments and 12 Pages Later …

A funny piece on pre-National Service jitters. [See post]

A student’s blog which is now his award-winning photo blog.

It’s been about 3 years since I started my first blog and sometimes I still surf idly into my old students’ blogs.

Obviously, in the fast-paced world that our students live in today, the number who maintain their blogs after my class finishes is low, but whenever I chance upon a new post from an ex-student I will always take the time to leave a comment. Whenever I see that I’m no longer the only one who’s commenting on their work, it always brings a smile to my face.

As for me, I now have 4 blogs, which I try to keep updated on a regular basis. Obviously, there are the ones for school but there’s also one I have devoted to my experiences riding a Vespa, another on my obsession with Mickey Mouse and also a personal one I like to call my “dumping ground”.

Blogging has helped me tremendously in my Storytelling class and I highly recommend it.

In this age of blogs (and now micro-blogs, for example Twitter), journaling has taken on a completely different meaning. The lines between what’s public and what’s private are blurring and although much can be argued on those grounds, you can’t argue the fact that the Internet is a ready audience for anyone who wants to be heard.

As one of my professors in university once said, “There’s no better way to learn to write, than to write to learn.”

Seek me out at Redpants and while you’re there, please visit some of my students’ blogs (you’ll see the links in my Blogroll on the right of the page) – they need all the audience they can get.

Excerpts from student blogs

These excerpts demonstrate some of the student writing output for the story-telling module.

The first one is an example of a 50-word story.

She Who Loves Strawberries

A girl who loves strawberries recently transferred to my school. She eats them all the time. Since she’s pretty, boys woo her with gifts to do with strawberries, until one day, she tells her best friend, “I never thought the day would come when I would be tormented by strawberries.”

[Nadiyah: 50 word stories]

Students have shared not only stories, but personal frustrations and triumphs, as in:

People seem to think that if they just enjoy and play they’ll be happy, but the truth is, it’s the accomplishment of what’s important to you that gives you real joy. And that’s what I’m feeling right now.

[ClareCheon: I’m writing this now because I’m bored…]

There’s even a Polerick (which is “less intellectually challenging than a poem and more fun than a limerick”):

The Nintendo Polerick goes something like this
Its starts on a sunny day with Mario and his Miss
Princess Peach is pregnant– her bellies so fat
Mario’s so happy as he shakes his red hat
“I love you Peach!” he says with a smile
The Princess just grins and laughs for a while.

[Theodorex: The Nintendo Polerick for round 4]

Author

Leslie Tan Wee Boon, lecturer, School of Film & Media Studies, Ngee Ann Polytechnic

Background

As a communication teacher, I have had the chance to hear over three thousand student presentations and read hundreds of written assignments. In that time, I have observed many students struggling to clearly express themselves using ‘proper’ English. In some cases, they have difficulty forming a complete sentence while other students cannot seem to find the right word in English to express what they are thinking in their native tongue.

I am in a fairly unique position as an American with knowledge of both Mandarin and Bahasa Indonesia/Malay, lecturing in the School of Business and Accountancy at Ngee Ann Polytechnic. This has helped me to better understand my students’ struggles and it has made it easier for me to help them.

For example, in the April 2010 semester, a couple of my second year students were working on a project, and could not figure out how to translate a word. They called me over, and asked me what word they should use for “”(zhùzhòng). I took a look at the report, and immediately knew they were looking for ‘to emphasize’, and they agreed.

This little incident highlights a common struggle – students are trying to write reports about everything from marketing principles to finance, but they often have trouble with simple, everyday language. It is hard to pinpoint an exact cause of this – some attribute it to the lack of spoken English at home – but whatever the cause, it is clear the issue needs to be addressed if we want our students to be able to become global citizens.

English is a problem for many

The more I taught, the more I realized how difficult speaking and writing English was for many of my students. This is not surprising, especially since many Singaporeans do not speak English at home. According to the Singapore government statistics, 39% of the Indian population speaks English at home, and for Chinese and Malay families, it is 28.7% and 13% respectively (illustrated below). Considering these data, it is not all that surprising that many students struggle to communicate using English.

Resident population aged 5 years and over by language spoken most frequently at home and ethnic group (2005 data). [Data source]

While I was able to understand their situation better after a few months of teaching, true empathy did not come until June 2010 when I was preparing for the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT, a demanding examination that tests logical reasoning and analytical skills, and is used to determine whether a candidate should be admitted.) During the examination, I noticed several instances where I would struggle to simply understand what the question or answer choice was trying to convey. This was frustrating because it added a new layer of complexity to an already challenging exam.

That experience, albeit not very extensive, is not all that different from what some of my students have to deal with on a daily basis. On several occasions I have had students tell me they understand the material from their various modules, but sometimes do not do well on their exams because they have trouble expressing themselves in English.

The author (with flower) with satisfied students.

The Importance of Communicating Effectively in English

The inability to communicate effectively or accurately is something that should be emphasized as Ngee Ann Polytechnic aims to prepare students for a future workplace which will become increasingly globalized.

This seems especially important in the School of Business and Accountancy. The school has intelligent, hard-working students that are being taught by dedicated teachers that have a lot of experience. Students are prepared for careers in local businesses and Multi-National Corporations (MNCs), or for many, further education in a University.

Yet, despite the knowledge gained in certain areas of business, many students still seem to struggle with their English skills. Whether written or oral, a great number of our students are not speaking and writing at the level they should.

As a communication teacher, I have observed several common language issues and I would like to propose some solutions to address these concerns. In the following section, I will discuss four items:

1. Grammar;
2. English differences;
3. Difficulties with professional writing; and
4. Presentation, thinking, and discussion skills.

Four Communication Difficulties

Problem #1 – Grammar

One of the first challenges I encountered in my first semester took place during our lesson on writing skills. I noticed that outside of ‘noun’, ‘verb’ and ‘adjective’, my students did not have a strong understanding of grammatical concepts. As a result, it was very difficult for me to explain important writing ideas, for example, tenses, voice, and subject-verb agreement.

Obviously, if students do not understand such concepts, it will be impossible for them to incorporate the rules into their writing. To get a better sense of this challenge, I have included a few examples below.

A. Active and Passive Voice

For one of the major projects in the second year Business Communication class, the students have to write a long report based on their own research (and some secondary research if they choose). In the report, we tell them to use active verbs throughout, and especially when they are writing their purpose statements.

In my first semester, however, I did not really spend a lot of time discussing active verbs, nor did I draw a distinction between active and passive writing. The distinction, while crucial, is something that I had simply grown accustomed to after several years of active writing in University.

I quickly recognized that my students lacked an understanding of this concept, so I tried to come up with new ways and methods to teach them. For a small minority of students, it made sense for me to point out the difference between active and passive voice in Mandarin. For example:

Literally: "This man BY dog bite."

That is, “This man was bitten (by a dog).”
[Source]

In the above example, the character in bold (bei) makes the sentence passive. Of course, not all students will find this type of example helpful, but it only takes a minute to explain, which I feel is worth it for those few students who will understand. This is one of a few cases where I will try to translate an idea or sentence for the students.

B. Subject-Verb Agreement

One place where students struggle is subject-verb agreement, which is one of the reasons we teach it in the first year module. One of the challenges teaching proper subject-verb agreement is that many of the students are not familiar with the terminology. Here is a typical explanation of subject-verb agreement:

A verb must agree with its subject in person and number.

Many of my students have no idea what it means. They might recognize ‘verb’ and possibly ‘subject’, but they usually do not know ‘person’ and ‘number’. In some cases this is because they were never taught, and in other cases they simply forgot.

The trick then is to provide several examples so they can see what it means to have your subject agree with your verb. After showing a few sentences, we have several slides with blanks so that the students can test their understanding of the concept. There are a few other exercises that will be discussed in a later section.

Helping students to improve their grammar

A. Drills and Tests

Drilling and testing is probably the most obvious method to get students to learn better grammar. From experience, it is easy to tailor a test to the specific difficulties our students are having. From our own observations, as well as those from second and third year teachers, we can focus our lessons and tests on those common mistakes. In class, this process usually occurs in three steps: in-class discussion with mini-drills, a worksheet or two, and then an online, ungraded test for e-learning week.

Despite making common mistakes in everyday language, our students tend to do quite well when they are tested. The thought is they will eventually be tested and drilled enough to remember without having to think about it too much.

In the April 2010 semester, I noticed that students were not only making fewer mistakes, but they better understood the mistakes when I pointed them out. For example, in one case a student used ‘advice’ instead of ‘advise’. As soon as I marked it, the student quickly knew how to make the change. I’ve witnessed this with several other issues, such as tense and sentence structure.

To illustrate some of these ‘common problems’, here is a list of words that our students frequently use incorrectly. The underlying grammatical problem is improper use of count and non-count nouns.

B. Making Sure Students Understand the Basic Concepts

Due to the difficult and complex nature of English grammar, it is important that students understand basic terminology before they can be taught about things like voice, tense, etc. In addition, many of our students have not had a lot of formal English grammar instruction, so they do not have a solid foundation.

For example, to show the active voice, we could say “James hit the ball”, which is active because James is the subject, and he acted (hit) the object (ball). Conversely, for passive voice, we would say “the ball was hit by James”. These simple examples help the students see the different parts of the sentence.

C. The Need to Write

Writing is a skill, and like any skill, practice is needed in order to improve. In the first year communication module, our students are expected to write several practice reports before their in-class writing test worth 30% of their grade. Part of the reason we have them practice so much is to make sure they understand how to write reports using the proper format, but it is also to help them improve their writing.

At the end of the semester, one student noted that the reports “helped me to improve my sentence structure so as to construct a proper and clear report to the readers”. Another student added that she “learnt to be consistent in tenses”, which was a key concept that I was trying to teach them during the semester.

Finally, writing several practice business reports helps students see and get a feel for organization and its importance. Since so many of our students are writing short messages to friends or blog posts on the web, they often lack the skills to organize a long report into a coherent piece. By teaching our students some basic report structures (in the first year we teach them three different styles), they are able to get an idea of how professional writing can be organized. Indeed, one student told me at the end of the semester that these exercises helped her write reports better.

The Business Communication module is a great place for these lessons to take place, but I think we cannot eliminate the emphasis on writing in other modules as well. Each assignment should have a small section in the assessment criteria for writing, which will ensure the students are getting experience expressing different concepts through writing. I distinctly remember one of our external examiners mentioning he was impressed with out students’ responses, but noted that they did not express their ideas very clearly.

Problem #2 – What English Are You Speaking?

Another challenge I encountered when I started teaching communication at Ngee Ann Polytechnic was the difference between Singaporean, British, and American English. On several instances my students were confused because the words I used to describe certain concepts were not the same as those they had been exposed to in the past.

The first issue occurred when I was teaching my students how to properly cite sources using APA Style Citations. I explained they needed to ‘put the source in parentheses just before the period’. After my instructions, most of the students stared at me with looks of confusion. I later learned that this would have actually been understood had I said ‘put the source in brackets just before the full-stop’.

In addition to punctuation, there are other subtle language differences that can cause confusion. Take the words ‘practice’ and ‘practise’ as an example. In British English, the former is a noun, but the latter is a verb. It is very similar to ‘advice’ and ‘advise’, with one key difference: Americans only use ‘practice’, regardless of whether it is a verb or a noun.

Since most of the teachers at Ngee Ann have had more exposure to British English, this distinction is of little concern. However, it does speak to an important aspect of communication, which is ensuring that your audience and you are always on the same page, and are using the same words to describe the same concepts.

In communication, we often regard jargon as an example of ineffective communication. For example, if you are a scientist speaking to an audience full of business students, you’re not likely to be effective if your presentation is filled with science terms.

Helping students speak the “same English”

Although the differences between British English and American English are quite minor, it is still important to try and understand the differences. For example, the English use ‘boot’ while in the US we say ‘trunk’ to refer to the storage space at the rear of a car.

As we get accustomed to language and concepts, we sometimes forget the people around us may not know what it is that we are referring to. In other words, we often fill our writing and presentations with jargon, which can serve as a major barrier to communication. Whether we are talking about sports or engineering, it is essential to consider if our audience will understand all of our vocabulary and acronyms.

Taylor contemplating a fine point of grammar

Problem #3 – Difficulties with Business and Academic Writing

A common issue I observe with my students is they have trouble finding the right tone for business reports, letters, memos, etc. Sometimes their writing is too informal, while at other times it is far too formal.

A. The Informal Problem

Our students spend so much time on Facebook, Twitter, MSN, and other social media sites, that I believe it is adversely affecting the way they write. In some cases they are simply violating basic principles like the avoidance of contractions (they should use “do not” instead of “don’t”, for example). In other cases, they are constructing sentences that closely resemble the Singlish they speak with their friends.

Although I do believe that Singlish is an important and significant part of the Singaporean culture, I think that it can be quite problematic when it interferes with students’ abilities to communicate with a world-wide audience. Since Singapore is a major international hub it means future bosses and colleagues are going to expect high quality written work. If our students cannot switch to proper English, it could damage their job prospects.

When students do have some Singlish influence in their writing, it is usually a grammatical issue. Singlish tends to violate grammatical rules because it borrows patterns and structures from Mandarin, other dialects and Malay, which are different from “standard” English.

B. The Formal Problem

Many students recognize the need to speak and write properly, but they often take it a little too far. For example, many of them will use Microsoft Word’s built-in thesaurus to change their words into bigger ones. When they do this, it is not only painfully obvious, but often incorrect as well. Instead of searching for big words and writing convoluted sentences, they should strive for clarity and conciseness. As George Orwell stated, “Never use a long word where a short one will do”.

Of course we want to sound intelligent, but with business, it is much more important to be understood. Thus, the simplest and most direct way is often the best. As noted in the Economist Style Guide, clarity of writing usually follows clarity of thought. (Economist, 2006, p.1).

I tell my students to think what they want to say, then say it as simply as possible. When students are trying to sound ‘smarter’, they often write longer and more convoluted sentences, which actually has the opposite effect.

Helping students with the formal/informal problem

First, I encouraged my students to use e-mail as a way to practice their communication skills. Instead of skipping the greeting and filling the message with excessive exclamation marks and smiley faces, I encouraged them to write proper emails. (I debated whether to make this a ‘policy’, but decided against it because I did not want to discourage questions and email communication.) The hope was that they would take an extra moment to construct proper sentences, and get in the habit of writing in a more formal way.

Next, I crafted a set of submission guidelines for my students to follow. After a couple semesters of receiving practice assessments riddled with grammatical and spelling errors, I decided it was necessary in order to get them to spend a few extra minutes on their work. The instructions were quite simple, and included things like running the spell checker, avoiding the use of contractions, and ensuring all the formatting was consistent and appropriate.

These were just two little ideas that I thought would help get my students to spend a bit more time refining their work. The results were fairly mixed. I did see more proper emails, but I would say a majority were akin to what they would send their friends. If I had another semester, I would push the idea a bit more, because I do think it is a quick and easy way to help our students improve. As for the submission guidelines, I did see improvement over the course of the semester. I was getting fewer reports with spelling and grammatical errors, which was a nice change.

I would tell students there is no need to try and incorporate new vocabulary words into a report they are struggling to complete. Similarly, there is no need to treat oral presentations as if they were being given at some official ceremony.

I think that I have been the most successful in conveying this oral presentation concept. At the start of the semester, many of the students looked like robots reading from a script. By the end of the term, several of them realized they could have a bit more freedom, and that something like a conversational tone was often more effective than a rigid, serious tone. This is not a new concept. The best presenters of our day (e.g. Steve Jobs) try to connect with the audience in a simple way. More ideas about presentation skills will be discussed in the next section.

Taylor shares a light moment with his BA students

Problem #4 – Presentation, Discussion, and Thinking Skills

I think our Business and Accountancy students are actually quite strong in their presentation skills – as long as they have time to prepare. The first year communication module gives them many chances to present in front of the class, and they always show improvement over the course of the semester.

However, when they do not have as much time to prepare, they tend to struggle a bit more (who doesn’t?). In my second year module, students are required to give two impromptu speeches during the semester. During this time, many communication difficulties emerge, especially for those who are not as strong in English. Below are two major problems I observe: the use of filler words, and the lack of organization.

A. Filler Words

This is something that many of us struggle with, regardless of our language ability. When we cannot find the words to express our thoughts, we connect sentences with a string of meaningless words. These words are filler words, and the most common are: ah, um, like, lor, la, uh, huh, yeah, so, basically, and actually. Of course many of those words are fine if used properly, but when they are used superfluously, they become fillers.

B. Organization

In an impromptu situation, most of my students have a hard time constructing organized speeches in their first few attempts. By ‘organized’, I am referring to a basic introduction, body, and conclusion.

This skill, which applies to oral and written communication, is crucial for clear communication, and shows that the speaker is a clear thinker. The problem is that students are often so focused on the words they fail to really pay attention to the structure of their presentation.

Helping students with presentations, discussion, and thinking skills

After sitting through over three thousand presentations, these are the three areas that I think should be the main focus for improvement in presentations. Once these three are accomplished, then students can move on to focusing on other areas.

A. Focus on the Structure

I focused a lot on structure, because it seemed that those without solid organization tended to be weaker in all other areas (especially for impromptu speeches). Without a clear structure, the mind tends to wander around, and it makes it difficult to remember key skills like hand gestures and effective eye contact. Thus, during my lessons and in my feedback, I made sure to place a lot of emphasis on the actual structure of the speech, and was really impressed with the outcome.

When I started teaching at Ngee Ann, I immediately remembered an old saying that I first heard from my Speech and Debate coach back in secondary school:

“Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them.”

This is the basic advice I give students before equipping them with some tools to help find a structure that works for them.

In my own experience, learning how to structure a speech is an extremely useful tool. Not only does it help me communicate more efficiently, but it can also help me to think more clearly. Once you have that structure, you can simply plug in your content and deliver your speech. For those who struggle with English, a basic outline can really help to shift the focus from content to speaking or writing properly.

I tell the students the best way to imagine the structure of a speech is to think of a roadmap and sign posts. In this case, the road map is used to tell he audience where you are going, and the sign posts are used to tell them when you get there. For example:

Typically, the number of points (sign posts) should be limited to only two or three per speech, but there can be as many sub-points and examples.

Once the basic structure is in place, the presentation can start to get a little more specific. For example, the speech can be organized by time (past, present, and future), or order of importance. While inevitably similar, each student will have their own style, which is fine as long as it is organized.

By the end of the semester, I was fairly impressed with this aspect of the presentations, and thought it contributed to an improvement in the overall delivery. Not only did I notice this, but the students did as well. The most common feedback I got from students had something to do with how they improved their presentation skills.

B. Fluency

This is probably the biggest difficulty for students that are weaker in English, especially in impromptu situations. In the struggle to find words, these students add lots of unnecessary filler words (ah, um, like, lor, la, etc), which really hurts the overall presentation.

There are a couple of ways to get rid of filler words and speak more fluently. The first is for the speaker to be aware of the word or words that are continually repeated. For students with this problem, I keep a count of all the times they say a certain word, then gently point it out to them and have them think about it before the next presentation. For example, in the April 2010 semester I had a student that said ‘basically’ almost every other word. After he finished, I took a big piece of paper, wrote ‘basically’ on it, and told him to think about it before the next presentation. Sure enough, by simply being aware of the word, and a little hard work, the student did not use ‘basically’ a single time in the following week’s presentation. (In this case, I’m considering ‘basically’ a filler word because in the context of his speech it did not serve any real purpose.)

Outside of the classroom, visual or physical reminders can also help students speak more fluently. One example I suggested for the former suggestion was to have a friend raise their hand every time they heard the presenter use a filler word. For the latter, students could get some harmless object (like a small crumbled sheet of paper), and have a classmate toss it at them each time they uttered that word.

With a combination of good structure and fluent speech, the overall presentation improves and it is easier to concentrate on other issues like hand gestures and eye contact. Of course, both components require a great deal of practice.

C. Practice

It is really hard to gain confidence and improve speaking skills without practice. One of the great things about the communication program that I taught is the fact that students have a chance to give so many presentations in class. Still, a lot of students wait until the last minute, and thus are not adequately prepared.

Preparing for a presentation should be thought of more like a practice along the journey of becoming an excellent speaker. One of the most important aspects for all students is that practice can help boost confidence. The more students are in front of a group, the more comfortable they will feel.

Conclusion

For many students, English can seem like a difficult and frustrating barrier. Not only do they have to grasp technical words and concepts, but they are expected to write about those ideas in clear, accurate English. However, by focusing on key problem areas, and encouraging practice, students can make remarkable progress in their communication skills.

References

Chapter 2: Education and Language. (n.d.). Welcome to Statistics Singapore. Retrieved September 3, 2010, from http://www.singstat.gov.sg/

The Economist (2005). The Economist Style Guide: 9th Edition. London: Profile Books.

Orwell, G. (n.d.). George Orwell – Politics and the English Language – Essay. George Orwell – Complete works, Biography, Quotes, Essays. Retrieved September 3, 2010, from http://www.george-orwell.org/Politics_and_the_Engl

Voice (grammar) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.).Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved September 3, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice

Resources

Books

1. Strunk, Jr., William, White, E.B., Angell, R. (1999). The Elements of Style. Longman.
2. Murray, H., Whichelow, C. (2007). It’s Not Rocket Science: and Other Irritating Modern Clichés. London: Portrait.
3. Ross-Larson, B. (1995). Edit Yourself: A Manual for Everyone Who Works With Words. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
4. The Economist (2005). The Economist Style Guide: 9th Edition. London: Profile Books.

Websites

1. The Grammar Girl This is an excellent site, with lots of good tips to help you improve your writing. If you want to learn more about a specific concept (passive voice, prepositions, etc), I suggest searching this site. Another great thing about the ‘Grammar Girl’ is that she also hosts a podcast. The podcast is free of charge, and quite short.
2. The Owl at Purdue This website is run by the Writing Center at Purdue University. It has a lot of useful information, but I find it especially helpful for APA style citations.
3. English as it is Broken English in Singapore! This is an interesting and informative site by the Straits Times’ Stomp.
4. The Economist Style Guide The Economist is one of the most respected publications in the world.

Author

Taylor Michael Maltz, International Fellow (2009/10), School of Business and Accountancy, Ngee Ann Polytechnic

The project simulates a real working environment by exposing students to technologies and experiences of a real work place. The project also leverages on Web 2.0 technologies so that students can share and review information posted by other team members, co-author documents that explain the concepts of cell layout methodologies, evaluate and critique the product of other members, and collaboratively build on each others’ work to present the final product.

These experiences have increased the level of students’ engagement in learning. The students tend to show greater interest in the topics and have demonstrated a deeper understanding of the concepts and theories related to this module.

“During this project, we discussed the problems together, helped each other and stayed back at school until it was finished. This was very inspirational and I learnt how to communicate with the others.” – Student feedback

Read the complete paper:

» Holistic Development through Project-based Learning in Engineering Modules [PDF, 11 pages, 129 kB]

Copyright © CDIO™. Used with permission.

Author

Linus Low Koon Teck is a lecturer in the School of Engineering, Ngee Ann Polytechnic

What is CDIO?

CDIO stands for Conceiving — Designing — Implementing — Operating.

According to CDIO.org,

The CDIO™ INITIATIVE is an innovative educational framework for producing the next generation of engineers. The framework provides students with an education stressing engineering fundamentals set in the context of Conceiving — Designing — Implementing — Operating real-world systems and products. Throughout the world, CDIO Initiative collaborators have adopted CDIO as the framework of their curricular planning and outcome-based assessment.

The 5th International CDIO Conference was held at Singapore Polytechnic, Singapore, June 7 – 10, 2009.

[Circuit image: source.]

The topic of stock-taking is best taught by allowing students the actual experience of participating in a real world stock-take. This provides opportunities for students to make authentic decisions (such as selecting samples of stocks to be test counted) and allows them to experience the detection and investigation of exceptions encountered during the stock take.

However, as you can imagine, it is difficult to find multiple companies that would welcome hundreds of students participating in and observing the real year-end stock take. Hence the topic had been taught in the past using lectures and tutorial discussion.

We began to consider other more effective ways of teaching this topic after a recent forum organized by the Teaching and Learning Centre, where we observed an open source virtual world platform called Project Wonderland. We realized this may be the solution we needed.

Project Wonderland is a Java-based toolkit for creating collaborative three dimensional virtual worlds. Within these worlds, users can move around, communicate using audio, and share live desktop applications and documents. They can even conduct real business transactions.

We crafted the following scenario as a graded assignment in “Auditing 2” (a 3rd-year module within the Diploma of Accountancy at Ngee Ann Polytechnic).

Our Virtual Scenario

Students firstly need to customize avatars that represent themselves in the virtual world. The main task is to navigate around 3 virtual rooms and complete various activities.

In the first room (briefing room), students access resources to learn the concepts and techniques behind carrying out a stock take observation. They need to access the stock list, from which they have to draw up their stock take samples for conducting test counts.

Learning concepts in the briefing room

In the second room (warehouse room), students work collaboratively in groups of 5 to 6 members to conduct their stock take of (virtual) DVD and Hi-fi players, and television sets. They interact with graphical representations of stock and are able to determine the quantity of stocks by clicking on relevant pallets.

Students conduct the stock count by comparing the details on the stock list received in the briefing room with details on the pallets of stocks selected for the sample counts. They are able to interact with their peers while conducting the stock take using either the chat function within the room or the audio and speaker functions which allow students to talk to each other.

Counting stock in the warehouse room

In the final room (audit room), students complete the audit work papers in groups after completing the stock take and note any exceptions or discrepancies in quantities between stock list and count.

Discussing and reflecting in the audit room

The completed audit work papers, together with an individual reflection of the virtual world experience and their suggestions for improvement are submitted via our learning management system for grading.

Findings

After running the assignment for the past 3 semesters, we noted from the working papers submitted by the students that on the whole they have grasped stock take concepts and techniques. The majority of students could perform the appropriate procedures in carrying out a stock take and most could document the findings and observations arising from their stock count.

A review of students’ reflections revealed that almost all of them appreciated the new learning approach and felt that the experience was interesting and fun and it allowed them to learn about stock taking techniques in a hands-on manner. They appreciated our efforts to introduce a new learning approach and felt that they were better able to learn the stock taking concepts using a virtual world approach rather than a traditional lecture and tutorial approach. Many had not encountered a virtual world before this experience and were also excited to learn a new e-competency.

The following are excerpts from students’ reflections:

• “Overall I think the whole virtual world experience is insightful and beneficial. I am able to try out how a stock take is conducted and (it) has allowed me to gain a better understanding of inventory auditing. It is quite an interesting experience”;
• “Through this assignment, I have benefited and this is an enriching experience for me as it allows me to explore and feel what is like to do a stock take for a client. It positively enhanced my learning experience for this chapter”; and
• “I believe that through this experience I learnt more than what I have through notes and textbooks”

Conclusion

The implications for practice are both encouraging and challenging. We are happy to note that students appreciated learning stock taking concepts and techniques in the virtual world platform which they have found to be more hands-on and practical than the usual lecture and tutorial style of learning. It was also nice they acknowledged the efforts of staff!

As the virtual world assignment required students to work collaboratively and to reflect on their learning experience, students have taken more ownership and were more engaged in their learning, which are features of learner centered learning.

However, we acknowledge that students are constantly exposed to rich interactive media platforms, and they have high expectations in terms of graphics and features in any online courseware or virtual world platform used for education. Since funding is limited we need to balance students’ high expectations with budgetary constraints.

Action Research

We conducted action research to improve this virtual world stock take project. Our paper was accepted and presented at the ICT2010 Conference organized by UniSim.

In this paper, we shared our experience of using a virtual world to inject a more practical slant in the teaching of audit of inventories to enable students to get a real-life feel of what doing a stock-take is all about, especially from an external auditor’s point of view.

Read the complete paper:

» Virtual Stock-taking: An Experience of Co-presence for Accountancy Students [PDF, 15 pages, 804 kB]

Copyright © 2010, ICT2010 Singapore Conference. Presented at the ICT2010 Singapore Conference. Reproduced by permission.

Authors

Mr. Lee Koon Yew is a lecturer in the School of Business and Accountancy, Ngee Ann Polytechnic

Mrs. Tiew-Teo Hui Leng is a deputy director in the School of Film & Media Studies, Ngee Ann Polytechnic

The following learner-centred e-learning activities were an important part of the success in engaging students in the module.

Ship Simulation Game

In order to generate interest at the onset of the module, ShipSim 2008 (a computer simulation) provides an exciting approach for the students to gain insights into the marine and offshore environment. The students are engaged by the visual, audio, and kinesthetic impact of this software. This greatly enhances their experiential learning as it allows them to explore the characteristics of various marine vehicles in a simulated marine environment.

3-D Modelling Software

Collaborative learning in practical sessions was achieved through computational methods (using 3-D modeling Delftship, and Google SketchUp) followed by discussions in the Blackboard environment. This required team work as students created the physical model of the hull form.

Mindmap Software

CMap (mindmapping freeware) and other variants (e.g. FreeMind) aid the students in developing and reflecting on various aspects of ship construction through a constructivist approach. In this project students are required to do simple research and reflect upon their learning in the form of a mindmap. The student mindmaps are shared with other users online.

Read the complete paper:

» Active Learning in Naval Architecture [PDF, 12 pages, 398 kB]

Copyright © CDIO™. Used with permission.

Author

David Seow Chih Wei is a lecturer in the School of Engineering, Ngee Ann Polytechnic

What is CDIO?

CDIO stands for Conceiving — Designing — Implementing — Operating.

According to CDIO.org,

The CDIO™ INITIATIVE is an innovative educational framework for producing the next generation of engineers. The framework provides students with an education stressing engineering fundamentals set in the context of Conceiving — Designing — Implementing — Operating real-world systems and products. Throughout the world, CDIO Initiative collaborators have adopted CDIO as the framework of their curricular planning and outcome-based assessment.

The 5th International CDIO Conference was held at Singapore Polytechnic, Singapore, June 7 – 10, 2009.

It is crucial that students know engineering codes of practice and how to apply them in the real work environment.

Delivery of content in a classroom setting is often dry and uninteresting to the student. We are faced with the challenge of how to transform the student’s learning experience from humdrum to interesting and meaningful.

In this paper, the author shares his experience in encouraging students to work on the topic “Refurbishment for Barrier-Free Accessibility in Buildings” through the use of a project-based method.

The paper was presented at a recent CDIO conference in Singapore.

Read the complete paper:

» Facilitating Independent Learning using Project-Based Method
[PDF, 9 pages, 1.12 MB. Copyright © CDIO™. Used with permission.]

Author

Mok Thai Koon is a lecturer in the School of Engineering,
Ngee Ann Polytechnic

What is CDIO?

CDIO stands for Conceiving — Designing — Implementing — Operating.

According to CDIO.org,

The CDIO™ INITIATIVE is an innovative educational framework for producing the next generation of engineers. The framework provides students with an education stressing engineering fundamentals set in the context of Conceiving — Designing — Implementing — Operating real-world systems and products. Throughout the world, CDIO Initiative collaborators have adopted CDIO as the framework of their curricular planning and outcome-based assessment.

The 5th International CDIO Conference was held at Singapore Polytechnic, Singapore, June 7 – 10, 2009.

Using technology to enhance the learning experience is common in schools of engineering. There are many simulation tools (both hardware- and software-based) which can be used to teach various engineering topics. However, for some new and complex engineering subjects such as Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB), securing a good learning tool at a reasonable cost is not easy.

The following paper talks about how we’ve used a self-developed DVB system customized to enhance student learning. Since students have easy access to the system, self-exploration is enabled and encouraged.

The paper was presented at a recent CDIO conference in Singapore.

Read the complete paper:

» Using Technology to Enhance Learning of Digital Video Broadcasting
[PDF, 10 pages, 119kB. Copyright © CDIO™. Used with permission.]

Authors

Eva Rosdiana

Chua Beng Koon

Eva and Beng Koon are lecturers in School of Engineering, Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

What is CDIO?

CDIO stands for Conceiving — Designing — Implementing — Operating.

According to CDIO.org,

The CDIO™ INITIATIVE is an innovative educational framework for producing the next generation of engineers. The framework provides students with an education stressing engineering fundamentals set in the context of Conceiving — Designing — Implementing — Operating real-world systems and products. Throughout the world, CDIO Initiative collaborators have adopted CDIO as the framework of their curricular planning and outcome-based assessment.

The 5th International CDIO Conference was held at Singapore Polytechnic, Singapore, June 7 – 10, 2009.

The Diploma in Product Design & Innovation (PDI) is a course offered by the School of Engineering at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

The PDI curriculum was designed on the principle that a good product is one that looks good, works well and sells well. A good product (e.g. mobile phone, printer, kettle, chair, vacuum cleaner or car) must be attractive, functional and marketable. This concept forms the foundation of the PDI curriculum.

The curriculum thus integrates the three important disciplines of product design: Arts, Engineering and Business. It focuses on the design process and methodology, from the conceptualization of creative ideas to the realization of innovative designs with quality design folios, mock-ups & models; computer models & presentations; and drawings & documentation for mass production.

The principal approach of PDI

Students graduate from the diploma with a design portfolio, complete with working prototype and business plan. They participate in overseas and local internships and immersion programmes at product design companies and institutions, and have access to facilities such as rapid prototyping, laser cutting and computer numerical controlled machines

2.  Learning how to design

We believe that learning to design is something like learning to play a sport such as badminton, soccer or volleyball. The students are the players and the lecturer is the coach. The students need to practice designing, repeatedly, to hone their skills, knowledge and attitude; and the coach’s main role is to observe, evaluate and guide the students in order to continuously improve their design abilities.

Learning to design is about understanding the design process and the associated factors. There must not be too much emphasis on the results at the end of the design process.  “Exploration” and “experimentation” are the key words. The lecturer’s role is to encourage the students to generate new and creative design ideas, instead of designs that have already proved to be working.

Are all designs successful? Inventor Thomas Edison once said:

"I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps."

Therefore, in design and innovation, mistakes are okay, except the designer must learn from them and pursue a better solution.

3.  Teaching design: Variety! Variety! Variety!

One of the key success factors in teaching design is to use a variety of teaching and learning approaches. That is, besides the traditional modes of lectures, tutorials, laboratory sessions, projects and assignments, there should be other appropriate ways to engage the students in learning. These include talks and seminars by practising designers, visits to design companies and design exhibitions, participation in design competitions, exchange programmes with other institutions, and so on. 

Variety in teaching and learning approaches helps to avoid boredom and provide freshness in learning among the learners. More importantly, as different students have different preferred modes of learning, variety in learning approaches will satisfy every student in some ways.

The following sections outline some of the approaches we have used, and the outcomes.

4.  Involve the students and make it real

a. Experiential Learning

“Tell me, I will forget. Show me, I may remember. Involve me, I will understand.”

This proverb speaks of the power of involvement in the experience of learning. In PDI, learning via involvement is a key feature in the programme.

Wheelchair exercise in the Ergonomics and User-Centred Design module

For instance, an exercise in the Ergonomics and User-Centred Design (EUCD) module required the students to design a wheelchair.

In order for the students to fully understand user needs and subsequently write the design specifications for the wheelchair design assignment, they were required to first sit and move around on a wheelchair and carry out some given tasks just like a real wheelchair user.

The tasks included getting to a meeting room and borrowing a book from the library.

Visually-impaired exercise in the Ergonomics and User-Centred Design module

In another similar exercise, the students were asked to write the design specifications for a product designed for the visually impaired. In this case, the students were grouped in teams of two.

Each student took turns being blind-folded and they experienced the problems faced by the visually-impaired. The students needed to carry out some given tasks such as buying a cup of coffee from the canteen, or delivering a letter to an office.  

At the end of the exercises, the students had a more comprehensive understanding of the needs of the target users of the products (i.e. wheelchair users and visually-impaired), and a more deep knowledge of the principles of user-centred design.

b. Field Trips: In the Product Form and Aesthetics (PFA) module, in order for the students to understand the contemporary design styling and trend in product designs, they were taken on a field trip to  Orchard Road. As they visited various shops, the students were required to study and sketch various products that were on sale. They then had to propose their own improvements to these products and present their findings.   

Field trip exercise presentation in the Product Form and Aesthetics module

c. Workshops by Experts: Another way to involve students in learning was to engage practising designers to give guest lectures or conduct design workshops for the students. Such sessions provided opportunities for the students to learn from the experiences of different designers. Following are pictures of a design workshop conducted by designers from the James Dyson Foundation.

Design workshop by James Dyson Foundation

d. Design Competitions: Another practice-oriented learning experience for PDI students was their involvement in various design competitions, In such competitions, a local sponsoring company provides some prizes for the best three to five designs. The advantage for the company is they see many new design concepts for their product range.

3D CAD images in the Singapore Mint souvenir design assignment

For instance, in the Product Form & Aesthetics module, the Singapore Mint sponsored the souvenir design competition assignment.

Design poster in the CyberInc mini computer design assignment

In the Ergonomics and User-Centred Design module, CyberInc sponsored the mini computer mouse design competition assignment.

In these design competition assignments, students work according to the company’s real-life design requirements, and the students had the chance to interact and learn from the company’s designers or engineers. In general, students are very motivated in such design competition assignments.

In addition, the compulsory three-month internship allows each PDI student the opportunity to understand the design process and factors in real-life design projects.

e. Other approaches: Other learning designs that have been used in the PDI curriculum include critique sessions and off-campus project exhibitions.

5.  What have the students designed?

With the help of the many practice-oriented ways to engage the students in learning as described in earlier sections, the students have produced many innovative designs, and some are shown in the following figures.

Water Skate – enablesthe user to walk or skate on water

Ice Stirrer – to cool drink without diluting it

Money Cleaner – preventing infection by killing germs on coins and notes

6.  How did the students respond?

Feedback from the students on the various innovative applied learning approaches in PFA, EUCD and PDAI modules is very positive.

Surveys and focus group discussions were conducted at the end of each semseter to assess the effectiveness of the teaching strategies employed, and students’ receptiveness to these approaches. The feedback provides good input from students, enabling us to work towards continuous improvement of the curriculum and to gauge the effectiveness of the various modes of teaching and learning.

Appendix A gives a summary of the survey results conducted for PFA and EUCD for the past semesters. Response to Question 2 in the survey clearly shows that the students have found the off-campus exercises to be extremely useful. In general, the module lectures, exercises, assignments and projects are appropriately structured to meet students’ expectations. Through the modules, they are able to understand more about consumers’ expectations and needs.

Focus group discussions have also been conducted to get students’ feedback on the innovative teaching and learning approaches adopted for the course.

Appendix B shows the positive outcome of these discussions.

7. Conclusion

Involving the students in every possible way in a variety of different learning approaches is key to the teaching of the Product Design and Innovation modules. Learning to design is like learning to play a new sport game – one has to actually play the game and practice constantly in addition to knowing the principles of designing. The favourable feedback of the students and their innovative design work indicates the approach used in the course has proved to be on the right track. The PDI course team believes in, and carries out continuous improvement and constant refinement to the approach in order to engage the new batch of students in learning every year.

Authors

Dr Tan Ah Kat

Richard Lim

Tan Ah Kat is Deputy Director and Richard Lim Chiok Ngee is senior lecturer in Mechanical Engineering Division, School of Engineering, Ngee Ann Polytechnic.