Faculty of Architecture, Building & Real Estate                   
Using Games as a Supplementary Teaching Tool

The Teaching Development Committee of the School of Building and Real Estate recently organised a Teaching Seminar entitled, ‘Using Games as a Supplementary Teaching Tool’ on 24 January 1999. Dr Ong Seow Eng and Mr Cheng Fook Jam conducted the session, explaining how they had successfully used this method in teaching The Effect of Experimental Economics. Real-world conditions were simulated in which students role-played as developers and investors in a Development and Investment Game, thereby testing various theories the students had been introduced to earlier in their module. Students’ performance was graded and counted towards their final examination mark as part of continual assessment; students appreciated the exercise and found the experience valuable. The seminar presenters then shared some points on how this ‘game’ method could be utilised for maximum benefit. For example, students must first be briefed adequately, provided with ‘pre-game’ material and taught fundamental principles related to the topic. Staff were encouraged to adapt such a ‘game’ for teaching use to make their subjects more interesting and create varied learning experiences for students.

Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences                                                     
Video Conferencing: EN 4205 Postmodernism & Postcoloniality

The Department of English Language and Literature organised a series of eight video conferences in collaboration with the Department of English Literature at the University of Western Australia (Perth) from 23 July to 15 October 1998. Twenty-six NUS Honours students and over a dozen students from Perth participated in these sessions that were initiated when NUS’ A/Prof Ban Kah Choon met A/Prof Dennis Haskell from UWA who was visiting Singapore. Along with A/Prof Rajeev S. Patke, also from NUS, they worked out a syllabus comprising shared texts dealing with postcolonial and postmodern cultural issues in the Asia-Pacific region. Each session lasted for one hour. Six sessions were devoted to student presentations on a variety of topics and regional texts, followed by energetic discussion from both sides. Two sessions were reserved for live interviews with local authors. In the first, poet Edwin Thumboo fielded questions about his poetry, Singaporean literary culture, and the prospects for new writing in the region. In another, novelist Philip Jeyaretnam talked about the genesis of his recent novel, Abraham’s Promise. The Australian side thus gained a better idea of literary culture in Singapore, while also giving local authors and students a detailed sense of how Australians look at Singaporean literary issues. Local students became clearer about the Australian literary scene. The video format enabled hands-on discussions about and across cultures that our students found invaluable. As one of the participating students, Eddie Tay, reported, “The video conferences are for me a learning experience that extends beyond the scope of the syllabus. I now realise that academia is not only about research, essays and presentations, but also about being able to convey and discuss ideas via verbal discourse.”

Faculty of Engineering                                                                                 
Web-based Virtual Laboratories with Real-Time Video Capture Go Online for 1000 Engineering Students

Users of virtual laboratories are able to conduct actual experiments from remote computers anywhere in the world 24 hours a day, as if they were working in actual laboratories. A virtual laboratory consists of a cluster of programmable instruments interfaced with a set of Internet-linked personal computer systems and servers. With the ability to configure instruments and data analysis remotely through a web browser, virtual laboratories facilitate the sharing of expensive instruments and equipment, thereby making laboratory education more flexible as well as promoting distance learning.

A group of researchers, led by A/Prof C.C. Ko and Dr Ben M. Chen from the Department of Electrical Engineering, has developed a set of web-based virtual laboratories (http://vlab.ee.nus.edu.sg/vlab/) on a first year oscilloscope experiment. When students log onto the web site, they can control both the computer and the equipment, and also observe the whole experimental process through real-time image sequence captured by a video camera set up in the physical laboratory located in the Electrical Engineering Department. These virtual laboratories provide: a) distance learning for part-time and remote students; b) pre-experiment ‘hands-on’ experience for students before they go to the actual laboratory; and c) easily captured data and images for students to write laboratory reports online.

Faculty of Business Administration                                                          
Students Publish Their Project Work on the Web

Over the past year, students in Asia-Pacific Business, a third-year FBA module, have been required to publish their term project work on the Web to create a repository for their work. Besides increasing the transparency of assessment, the web sites allowed students to access each other’s work. From the experiment, we (Drs Douglas Sikorski, Cho Kang Rae, Rachel Davis and Chandru Rajam) learnt a few lessons. First, with the explosion of information of varying quality on the Internet, instructors using such projects must ensure that students develop the capability to judge the quality and credibility of their sources of information. This may include cross checking facts and figures against reputable sources, conducting background checks on the authors (based on publicly available information) etc. This process of validating what they find is an excellent vehicle for teaching critical inquiry skills. Second, all bibliographic references must appear close to where they are cited for easy verification so that the instructor can check if students have synthesised the material garnered from various sources. Otherwise, such term-projects (web-based or submitted on paper) may become massive cut-and-paste exercises. On the whole, the experiment produced some good work that demonstrated comprehensiveness of search, synthesis, critical thinking, clarity and creativity of presentation and project-management skills.

Faculty of Science                                                                                 
Innovative IT-based Education Programs for Undergraduate & JC Students

The Centre for Information Technology and Applications (CITA) was established recently to meet the challenge of putting IT to effective use in teaching, learning, research and administration. It has three divisions: Education, Science Online and Service Support. The Centre currently offers a Computer Programming and Applications (CPA) program in the Science Faculty. Since its inception, the CPA program has been continually refined to prepare the students for the diverse areas of IT applications, and to underpin the ability of lifelong pursuit of rapid-changing technology. The program has received overwhelming response from cross-faculty students and exchange students with over 2000 students in an academic year. A new minor in Scientific Computation and Communication will be offered in July to better prepare students for the information age and cultivate in them the ability to adapt to the ever-changing trends in technology.

As a continual effort to enhance IT awareness in Science Faculty, CITA also offers workshops for both students and staff members. To date, two short courses on multimedia and web development have been conducted. These courses will be re-packaged for school teachers and students during the June and December school holidays. To help our staff and students use IT more effectively in their teaching, learning and administration, CITA will conduct other workshops and short courses on a more regular basis. In collaboration with Stanford University, CITA will also introduce a pilot distance learning program, Education Program for Gifted Youth (NUS-EPGY) for JC students. In the initial phase, the NUS-EPGY programme will offer four Mathematics courses and four Physics courses. With minimal disruption to their school activities, these participants can study at their own pace through our computer-based learning programs. They can also discuss problems with the tutors by email. For some advanced courses, the students can earn credits, which can be used for advanced placement at NUS and Stanford.