Teaching Philosophy

Teaching Goals
I teach because I believe the future of Singapore and our world lies in the hands of our students. We need to understand them and help them develop competence, a sense of social responsibility, creativity, and zeal.
To educate is a privilege and, at the same time, a heavy responsibility. Technical and professional content are important to ensure competence, employability and career success. This will affect their livelihood and standard of living. However, what is more important is that the students learn skills that will help them to manage their career and life as a whole. Some of these non-technical skills include the ability to see an issue from different points of view, critical thinking, communication skills, and teamwork. Finally and very importantly, students should develop a sense of social responsibility, and think about how they can make the world a better place. Even though the last goal is non-examinable, it must be imparted to my students through my interactions with them.

Fundamental Beliefs
Fundamental beliefs that I hold:
To motivate students to learn, they need to be engaged.
Learning occurs when knowledge is contextualised and applied in authentic real world contexts.
Students need to be given opportunities to learn independently. Spoon feeding destroys deep learning.
Students learn as they collaborate and share with their peers.
Student feedback is important because they provide the basis for improving teaching approach and material and my communications with them.

Approach
My teaching approach is guided by the following:
Start off by establishing the modules connection with real world issues and context
Explain the structure of the module clearly and comprehensively
Design opportunities for interactions and deep learning through a variety of activities, challenging tasks and use of IT and multimedia
Encourage collaborative learning through projects, group tasks and tutorial sharing
Account for the differences in background and abilities of students
Make time for reflections on teaching performance