EMAS Award Winner TGC Sharing Session X-SPACE, TAYLOR’S COLLABORATIVE CLASSROOM

INTELLECT NEWSLETTER

April – June 2013 For Internal Circulation only

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INTELLECT NEWSLETTER

EMAS AWARD

April – June 2013

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INTELLECT NEWSLETTER

INTEGRATION KIT FOR NEW ACADEMIC STAFF

To ensure a smooth transition and integration process for our new academic staff, TED has developed an Integration Kit for all new academic staff.

In the kit, new academics will be able to locate general information such as the University’s core purpose, mission and values; the compulsory training modules which must be completed within the first 6 months of joining Taylor’s University; guidelines on training registration; and FAQs such as the contact numbers for ICT, HR or even car parking facilities.

If you are a new academic staff, or know of any new academic staff, do direct them to the Teaching & Educational Development (TED) department at Block C, Level 2 (Opposite the Library), to obtain a copy of this Integration Kit.

The Integration Kit for New Academics contains a total of 20 pages with general information regarding the University, compulsory training and FAQs.

IN-HOUSE SEMINAR BY DR. SHANTON CHANG

(From Left) Dr. Shanton Chang, Ms. Claudine Ngoh, Ms. Wong Wai Keet, Ms. Reenajeet Kaur, Ms. Loshini Logonnathan

TED organized two in-house seminars on 10th May 2013, in collaboration with The University of Melbourne. The speaker who conducted the seminars is Dr. Shanton Chang from University of Melbourne.

Dr. Shanton, is a Senior Lecturer and Assistant Dean (International Exchange) in the Department of Computing and Information Systems, University of Melbourne. Dr. Shanton’s research interests include young people’s online behavior and its impact on education, mental well-being, social networking, health informatics, information needs, and information systems security.

Dr. Shanton is also the Vice-President (Professional Development) of the ISANA International Association and Co-Convenor, Special Interest Group on Internationalization of Curriculum, International Education Association of Australia.

The two seminars which Dr. Shanton conducted were entitled “Young People Online: Impacts on Education” and “Teaching and Learning Across Cultures”. Both seminars were attended by lecturers from all schools. Dr. Shanton was a humorous speaker and he provided many examples which were closely related to our lifestyles, hence his sessions were extremely interesting and interactive. Dr. Shanton’s Chang seminars were fully

seated by academic lecturers from all school.

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INTELLECT NEWSLETTER

ACADEMIC STAFF TRAINING PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING BY PROFESSOR DR. ROLAND SIRISINGHE (April & May) @ C6.07/C6.06 TED organizes Academic Staff Training every month as an initiative for continuous professional development within Taylor’s academic staff. Among the trainings conducted last quarter, Professor Dr. Roland’s Problem-Based Learning session received very good responses and feedbacks.

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is not a new teaching concept. However, the application of PBL must be executed with correct triggers and strong facilitating skill. Recognizing this developmental need within our academic staff, TED had organized two sessions of PBL workshops which were facilitated by Professor Dr. Roland. The first session was held on 22nd April 2013 titled ‘A First Look at Problem-Based Learning’, and the second session was held on 22nd May 2013 titled ‘Creating Triggers for Problem-Based Learning’.

We managed to obtain some comments from Professor Dr. Roland regarding the workshop he had conducted.

“It was September last year that I joined Taylors University as a member of the academic staff of the School of Medicine. As would be expected, within those first few weeks, I learnt of many traditions and procedures of my new institution

One among these was that it was the time of the year when training schedules under INTELLECT were being planned. This information came with an enquiry if I would be able to undertake the conduct of one or more workshops on problem based learning (PBL) as part of the University training program. PBL had been suggested as a desired area of training by several Schools. I was happy to have the opportunity to share my experience with my colleagues in the University and readily agreed on two workshops; one an introduction to PBL and the other an introduction to trigger writing.

I was not new to PBL workshops; but they had been for programs that already practiced PBL and were health-related. I soon became aware of two new challenges – some, if not most, of the audience would be PBL-naïve and/or from fields other than health-related.

The workshops, each of two hours duration, were in my opinion was just sufficient for participants to have a glimpse of the subject. Ideally I would have liked to conduct the workshops in a problem based format i.e. ‘problems’ first, then discussion and content later. Unfortunately this format requires significantly more time to deliver than the ‘content first’ format. Therefore I planned to present only a part of the workshops in a problem based manner. Perhaps it was for the better as the audience may not have been receptive to a complete ‘problem first’ presentation. I hope the few occasions when the PBL approach was used did not appear to the audience as instances of deliberate withholding of information!

At the workshops, I would admit, the audience probably did not receive all the answers to the questions on PBL they had, but this would not concern me too much. Indeed I would feel vindicated if the workshops made the participants generate further questions on PBL in their own minds. True to PBL philosophy, answers may be found relatively easily, if one raises the correct questions. I would also be heartened by the recollection of a feedback on PBL sessions from a student I, as a PBL facilitator, received many years ago: “We are still somewhat confused about the content matter, but we learnt how to think.”

Prof. Dr. Roland Sirisinghe Assoc. Dean, Learning & Quality School of Medicine

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TAYLOR’S GRADUATE CAPABILITIES (TGC) CONSULTATIVE SESSIONS

Following the Taylor’s Graduate Capabilities (TGC) & Blended Learning Retreat held in March 2013, Dr. Tang Siew Fun and Ms. Wong Wai Keet from Teaching & Educational Development (TED) were invited by LASC to be involved in 2 of its TGC Consultative Sessions, for School of Bio-Sciences (SBS) and American Degree Programme (ADP). These sessions were conducted with the main purpose of providing guidance to the academic lecturers in mapping the TGCs into relevant documents such as the module outlines, teaching & learning activities and assignment. The session for SBS was held on 19th March 2013, for approximately 10 academic lecturers. Dr. Phelim Yong, the ADLQ for SBS had a lot to share about the TGC Consultative Session.

The session for ADP was held on 4th June 2013 for Ms. Parvinder Kaur, is the ADLQ for ADP and also the coordinator of this session, managed to group for approximately 20 academic lecturers for this session. She shares her views regarding the session with as follows:

“Many of the most renowned universities have their own graduate capabilities or simply termed as employability skills. For Taylor's University, we go beyond this 'employability skills' where Taylor’s Graduate Capabilities (TGC) encompass knowledge, skills, abilities and qualities that will empower Taylor's graduates to be ‘future ready’ in their prospective career. Realising the importance of TGC, School of Biosciences with the support from Integrated Teaching and Life-long Learning Centre (INTELLECT) conducted a strategic curriculum mapping of its academic programmes (Food Science & Nutrition, Biotechnology and Biomedical Sciences) to evaluate and improve the alignment between programme learning outcomes, module learning outcomes and more importantly the contribution of each individual modules towards the development of the overall TGC. This TGC Consultative Session which was conducted on 19th March 2013 also served as the third stage in the Decision Innovation Process (Rogers, 2003) for the academic staff from School of Biosciences by having the module coordinators evaluate the concept of TGC and selectively weigh the TGC to be incorporated in their modules. Through this session, it is envisioned the process of TGC adoption and inculcation among undergraduates will continue to be effective.”

Dr. Phelim Yong Voon Chen Assoc. Dean, Learning & Quality School of Biosciences

Ms. Parvinder Kaur Assoc. Dean, Learning & Quality American Degree Programme

As education becomes more market and industry-driven, the attainment of the Graduate Capabilities by the Taylor’s graduates will provide a benchmark against which Taylor’s University’s performance will be measured. TGCs will result in greater quality assurance and accountability for the learning outcomes the teachers set out to achieve.

The workshop on 4th June 2013 was organized to incorporate TGCs at the various stages of the course design. The departments teamed up to collaboratively to identify the TGCs relevant for their courses and to their unique contexts. The faculty was seen thrashing out their questions and doubts. This was made possible because the ratio of facilitators to faculty was low and their enthusiasm infectious. After identification of the relevant TGCs, we moved on to incorporation and assessment of TGCs into the course material. Some went on to discuss how TGCs should be incorporated into assessment criteria and rubrics etc.

It was a fruitful workshop done in the spirit of great camaraderie.

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IPAD GRANT “There can be infinite uses of the computer and of new age technology, but if teachers themselves are not able to bring it

into the classroom and make it work, then it fails.” - Nancy Kassebaum

“New technology is common, new thinking is rare.” - Sir Peter Blake

With these two well said quotes, TED has managed to get a grant worth approximately 60K to kick-start our ipad4u

project. The main objective of this project is to enhance the use of technology in the classroom. After all it’s unfair to

expect output without any effort. To support the uptake of technology in the classroom TED has determined to offer IPADs

for trainings to academics who want to improve and learn new pedagogy to be implied in classroom. IPAD4U grant has been

used to get 15 Ipads for training purposes and another 15 Ipads has been placed under the eLearning academy for loaning

purposes.

The 21st Century classroom must be geared towards supporting students to learn critical thinking and workplace

skills that will prepare them well for their future. It is not just about learning facts and figures, but learning about

collaboration, problem-solving, communication, leadership, motivation, productivity, and self-direction. Simply put,

integrating technology (IPAD) into the classroom helps to prepare Taylor’s University students for the complex world they

will face after graduation.

AN INSIGHT INTO NEURO LINGUISTIC PROGRAMMING

Confucius said: “ If language is not correct, then what is said is not what is meant: if what is said is not what is meant, what must be done remains undone; if this remains undone, morals and art will deteriorate; if justice goes astray, the people will stand about in helpless confusion. Hence, there must be no arbitrariness.

Engaging with other people includes informing them, influencing them, selling to them, leading them and helping them. It also means hearing them, learning from them, loving and respecting them. A half-a-day workshop has been conducted for School of Communication on 10th April 2013. About 30 academics from the school attended the workshop. Due to numerous requests, TED has opened up another session on the 17th April 2013 for all Taylor’s University academics.

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CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR ACADEMIC STAFF

April = 12 sessions

May = 9 sessions

June = 12 sessions

ONLINE RESOURCE BANK FOR INNOVATIVE TEACHING IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR TU ACADEMICS!

In addition to the many teaching enhancement activities that Teaching and Educational Development (TED) Department had offered previously, and will be offering in the future, we are now also sharing our previous and future training resources in ORBIT (Online Resource Bank for Innovative Teaching). These resources are now available for download at the TEG wiki site. Besides the training materials, you may also find our latest training schedules and announcements here.

To access ORBIT, please visit http://wiki.taylors.edu.my/sites/TEGPEDIA/ORBIT/Pages/Home.aspx

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TGC SHARING SESSION BY THE ACADEMICS

INTELLECT would like to take this opportunity to thank the presenters below who made our inaugural TGC Sharing Session on 21st of June 2013 successful and engaging. Indeed, the spirit of sharing was alive as our colleagues shared their experiences of how TGC has been fostered and rolled out in various schools from the challenges faced to the innovations made in technology and assessment. The presentations showed that our lecturers have made great inroads in developing, interpreting and customizing their teaching and learning activities to make TGC a part of the students’ university experience.

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PEER ASSISTED LEARNING SERVICES (PALS) APPRECIATION LUNCH 10 MAY 2013, FRIDAY @ LT 17

The PALS appreciation lunch was organized as an annual event to appreciate and acknowledge the contributions of senior student leaders

graduating soon from Taylor’s. This year the event was extra special as ADP student leaders joined the PALS appreciation event for the

first time. Another highlight was the PALS revamped website with our new Facebook group was also showcased at this event.

The event was officiated by Dr. Logendra Stanley Ponniah, the PALS Steering Committee adviser. During the lunch he stressed the

importance of creating a learning community where learners can share their experiences with weaker learners.

Chin Jitki from School of Communication and IT (SoCIT) unveiled the new PALS website and Facebook group. The website was aimed at

supporting information – sharing among the student leaders and for electronic submission of PALS documentation such as their forms,

writing journal, etc. online.

Student Leaders also shared about their experiences in conducting their first peer learning sessions. The first to speak was Akshay Budia,

an architecture student who taught French language at Taylor’s School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts. Akshay shared that

despite his initial trepidation, he’s now enjoying the fruits of peer learning as it has helped to enhance his TGC in particular in

communication skills, leadership skills & problem solving skills. His fellow peer leader, Lee Khai Jett from ADP, added that he got a lot of

satisfaction from PASS sessions as he was able to share his knowledge with his peers and felt blessed after each session.

After listening to their inspiring experiences, Ms. Eshodha Ann, Head of LASC was called upon to present the certificate of appreciation

to these leaders.

PALS TRAINING FOR BIOSCIENCES 18 MAY 2013, SATURDAY FROM 9AM TO 4 PM AT E4.07

The PALS student leaders training session for new recruits from the School of Biosciences was held on 18 May 2013 (Saturday) from 9.00 am to 4.30 pm at

E4.07. Around 11 young and energetic students attended the training.

The session started with an introduction to PALS as an impactful support service for peer learning by Ms. Carolina Vanathas. Then, the student leaders

were introduced to their roles & responsibilities for student leaders in the learning processes by Dr Phelim Yong, Associate Dean (Learning and Quality)

from the School of Biosciences.

Ms. Sumitra Ravindran Naidu conducted a session on the different types of collaborative learning techniques which they could use to facilitate sessions.

Dr Adeline Chia, module coordinator for Principle of Life Sciences (BIO1004) also exposed the student leaders to questioning techniques. They could use

when conducting the PASS/ P2P sessions.

Subsequently, the student leaders discussed how to plan and design future PALS sessions with their Module Coordinators. They were given advice on

suitable activities for different sessions. The training ended at 4.30pm with a short reflection on the training by the student leaders.

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INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO COLLABORATIVE PROJECT WITH CVE

Lecturers from the Citizenship Value Education Unit (CVE)and e-Learning Academy have been working together to design several prototypes to produce instructional videos. The framework of the design consisted of 4 main components: Laptop, recording device, recording software and light.

The first prototype consisted of a tripod, camcorder and a table lamp.

This approach produced good quality videos but required technical knowledge about the recording device and editing skills.

The second prototype comprised a mic stand and a webcam (connected to a PC / laptop).

While this was a simple setup, the lecturers found bringing the recordings equipment around convenient.

The third prototype involved of PVC pipes and a webcam.

This prototype was light and easy to use. So far this prototype has been the most popular as it helped lecturers from CVE to produce 7 instructional videos.

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X-SPACE, TAYLOR’S COLLABORATIVE CLASSROOM Over the last decade, collaborative classrooms have become an important milestone for universities around the world. Many academic reports have shown collaborative classrooms can play an important role in shaping human learning and teaching capabilities.

The first X-Space is up and already being used. 4 more are on its way and is expected to be ready by September 2013.

April – June 2013