In May–June 2001, 29 NUS Geography students participated in NUS’ first Field Studies module in northern Thailand’s Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son provinces. Dr Carl Grundy-Warr (Department of Geography) devised the module, which was based on project and teamwork ‘in the field’, with no final exam. Each student undertook four team projects and one individual assignment during almost six weeks of field-based studies. Collaboration with Chiang Mai University and with various Thai government and non-government agencies facilitated the trip. Invited practitioners and scholars supplemented fieldwork with seminars. Students engaged in various projects and fieldtrips on a broad range of topics including cultural landscapes, hill-tribe cultures and tourism, agro-tourism, eco-tourism and conservation, community forests, and migration geographies.

Field Studies helps to generate a sense of collective and individual responsibility for learning. In the process, students apply various field methods; improve their observation and analytical skills; apply concepts and ideas learnt in the classroom to the real world; develop awareness and an appreciation of the problems, pitfalls and potential benefits of doing primary fieldwork; and see the links between research, teaching and learning. To take the geographical Field Studies module into its next phase, Dr Grundy-Warr, Dr Paul Barter, and Dr Tim Bunnell are planning a fieldtrip to Malaysia and southern Thailand in November–December 2002.

Faculty of Dentistry                       
Back to Our ABCD...

Traditionally, small-group seminars in dentistry are teacher-centred and involve the review and presentation of several staff-selected scientific papers by students to their peers. The staff then discusses the merits of individual papers and the validity of the conclusions drawn from the research. Due to time constraints, the scope is often limited and learning issues are seldom clear. Consequently, student and staff feedback over several years have shown that undergraduates had problems associating basic knowledge gained to the clinical practice of dentistry. To ensure maximum participation by students, optimum internalisation and sound application of knowledge gained, ‘ABCD (Applied Basics in Clinical Dentistry) seminars’ were recently developed and introduced.

ABCD seminars are student-centred and the responsibility for learning is entrusted to the student. Learning issues (basic knowledge), grouped into various sub-headings (e.g. material, properties), are raised in the clinical setting that students are exposed to (application). Individual students select their own reference sources from textbooks, lecture notes and scientific articles. Foundational knowledge obtained by students is summarised during the seminar and applied to the clinical selection, usage and failures of dental restorative materials. A global approach to learning is used to help students see relations between concepts and applications and build connections between topics. To sustain a high level of attention and interest, activities such as the manipulation of materials and reading of manufacturers’ instructions are included. From a feedback survey conducted, all students agreed that the ABCD seminars have helped them associate basic knowledge with clinical applications. Approximately 80% of students ranked this seminar format most beneficial compared to the other types of seminars that they have experienced.

Faculty of Engineering                       
Adopting a Multi-disciplinary Approach: A Minor in Bioengineering

The Faculty of Engineering has recently launched a new multi-disciplinary Minor in Bioengineering Programme. Administered by a newly formed department, Division of Bioengineering, this programme has contributions from the Departments of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Chemical & Environmental Engineering, Mechanical Engineering as well as the Faculties of Medicine and Science. Its aim is to provide a broad-based training for engineers who are conversant at the interface between engineering and the life sciences, so as to meet the manpower needs of the biomedical industries.

This Minor is currently being offered to Stage 2 engineering students. The students are required to take four additional multi-disciplinary modules outside their major: one compulsory core module known as the ‘Principles of Bioengineering’ and three modules chosen from the new Life Sciences Curriculum, thereby requiring students to attend lectures conducted at the Faculties of Medicine and Science. So far, the students have found the Minor very enriching and have gained a whole new insight on applying engineering skills to solve problems in biology and medicine.

Faculty of Medicine                       
Medical Ethics Come Alive!

In August 2001, the Faculty of Medicine initiated a Debate-cum-Seminar to create awareness and stimulate interest in Medical Ethics among our students. The topic for the debate was ‘Human Genetic Testing’ and the debate pitted Year 3 head-on against Year 4 medical students. There were animated arguments for and against the topic, making the subject come alive for many in the audience of over 200 students. The seminar that followed featured two prominent medical professionals, Drs Lee Suan Yew and Chew Chin Hin, who serve as role models for students and young doctors to emulate. The Debate-cum-Seminar will be an annual event, constituting an essential component of the Medical Ethics Module developed by the Faculty of Medicine for the New Curriculum. Apart from being exposed to various aspects of ethical issues in clinical practice, students will also be responsible for completing an Ethics Case Study as part of the course requirements.

Faculty of Science                       
The New Undergraduate Life Sciences Curriculum

In the academic year 2002/2003, the Faculty of Science in collaboration with the Faculty of Medicine will commence a new integrated undergraduate programme in Life Sciences. Designed to provide NUS undergraduates with fundamentals in biological and biomedical sciences, this curriculum will enable graduates to contribute to various life sciences initiatives in Singapore. The new curriculum will be broad-based, integrated as well as streamlined. Core skills in the life sciences will be developed through emphasis on fundamental concepts and principles, laboratory competence and research techniques. The undergraduate life sciences curriculum is a four-year degree programme. In the first two years of study, students take foundation courses in Cell, Molecular and Organismal Biology as well as Chemistry, Biocomputing, Bioinformatics and Biostatistics. From Year 3 onwards, students can choose to concentrate in one of three areas: Biomedical Science, Molecular and Cell Biology or Biology. For further details, please visit: http://www.science.nus.edu.sg/Undergraduate/LifeSci/.

School of Business                       
Team-based Multi-disciplinary Problem Solving

The School of Business will offer an Advanced Module, entitled Team-based Multidisciplinary Problem Solving, to University Scholars Programme participants from July 2002. This module will help students learn and think across disciplines and direct their own learning through a problem-based learning (PBL) approach. During the first few weeks, the concepts of PBL, cross-disciplinary learning and problem solving will be discussed. The remaining weeks will be devoted to hands-on investigation of several multi-disciplinary problems designed by the course facilitator.

Each problem investigation goes through three phases: 1) brainstorming in class to identify the knowledge areas and concepts required to understand the problem; 2) researching the identified knowledge areas and concepts from books, journals, databases, and discussions with experts within and outside NUS; 3) meeting in class subsequently to share and discuss the individual discoveries in various knowledge areas in order to understand and solve the problem. For example, students will conduct a feasibility study of a bullet-train link between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. To cover the problem from different perspectives, students are expected to self-research relevant concepts in physical and human geography, civil and structural engineering, physics, politics, sociology, and economics, as well as the experiences of actual high-speed commuting projects in the world.

School of Design & Environment                       
Teaching Thinking & Inquiry in the Building & Real Estate Disciplines

As part of its continuing series of Teaching Seminars, the Department of Building and the Department of Real Estate hosted an In Conversation session with Prof K.P. Mohanan, CDTL’s Deputy Director, on 7 November 2001. The discussion centred on how staff can help to promote critical thinking skills and inquiry-based learning for building and real estate students at the School of Design and Environment that will help prepare them for their professional roles in construction and real estate. Prof Mohanan provided insights to certain teaching-learning and assessment tasks that he has designed to help students enhance their capacity for independent thinking and inquiry. He also elaborated on some of the methodological strategies he has used in achieving his goals based on an experimental General Education Module called ‘Introduction to Rational Inquiry’ which he had taught recently. This module aimed to help students understand and appreciate the modes of thinking and inquiry in academic disciplines, and provide first-hand experience in the strategies of discovering and constructing knowledge, as well as the ways of critically evaluating knowledge claims.

An extended and lively dialogue ensued about the problems of teaching thinking and inquiry within the cocktail of multi-disciplinary modules taught in the Departments of Building and Real Estate. Nevertheless, all present agreed that the knowledge base for developing the capacity for thinking and inquiry would necessarily include subject areas like cognitive neuroscience, physical sciences, pedagogical theory, philosophy of science, and ethics, which could be reasonably representative of the spectrum of academic knowledge.