09 July 2021

Some students have found a new way of studying – streaming themselves online or tuning in to study videos. This activity is meant to replace face to face study sessions at cafes or libraries with friends.

Dr Brian Lee, head of the Communication Programme at the School of Humanities and Behavioural Sciences, Singapore University of Social Sciences, describes this as the Hawthorne effect – the tendency to work harder and perform better when one knows one is being observed.

There are study platforms like Britain-based StudyStream which allows users aged 16 and above from all over the world to enter video study rooms and stream themselves studying for free. These video calls are akin to a physical space such as the library.

Students have also turned to “Study With Me” videos on YouTube, which showcase the creators studying for hours.

07 July 2021

IQ is not the only indicator of success. Some of the greatest achievements by our species have primarily relied on qualities such as creativity, imagination, curiosity and empathy.

Many of these traits are embedded in what scientists call “cognitive flexibility” – a skill that enables us to switch between different concepts, or to adapt behaviour to achieve goals in a novel or changing environment. Cognitive flexibility provides us with the ability to see that what we are doing is not leading to success and to make the appropriate changes to achieve it.

Flexible thinking is key to creativity – in other words, the ability to think of new ideas, make novel connections between ideas, and make new inventions. It also supports academic and work skills such as problem solving. It is largely independent of IQ, or “crystallised intelligence”.

Creativity is also important in science and innovation, and is also associated with higher resilience to negative life events, as well as better quality of life in older individuals.

06 July 2021

The annual Pre-University Seminar was held online this year, and attracted more than 500 participants from 30 pre-university institutions over four days. This year’s seminar for college-bound students focused on challenges and opportunities for Singapore amid the pandemic.

Education Minister Chan Chun Sing spoke at the closing ceremony of the seminar. In his speech, Mr Chan urged students to treasure their local identity even as they embrace a global mindset.

“We must be careful not to get swept up in popular theories, rhetoric and movements which could divide us.” he said. Instead, young Singaporeans must understand what works best for the country given the nation’s unique context. They must be prepared to do this even if it sets the Republic apart from the crowd.

He also stressed that young people here must always be willing to do better and stay humble and agile, as how things are done could change as circumstances evolve.

06 July 2021

Stem subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) are going to play an increasingly important role. This is because many of the fastest-growing industries, such as informatics, biomedicine and green energy, require talent who are trained in Stem.

To encourage open-minded learning in the education system, we could create more opportunities for students to make use of evolving scientific knowledge to challenge conventional beliefs and reward them for thinking outside the box. It can also be helpful for curriculum planners and teachers to weave history into science education and encourage students to learn from platforms such as physical and online science museums.

In order to stay competitive, Singapore should further its commitment to investing in science, and continue to adopt an open-door labour policy to strengthen our Stem workforce. At the same time, we need to rethink how we are teaching Stem formally in classrooms and informally through outreach, to continually inject innovation in our approach to nurturing home-grown talent.

16 June 2021

The Nanyang Technological University has been ranked fifth among Asia’s top universities, while the National University of Singapore was ranked third place in the latest rankings by Times Higher Education.

Times Higher Education assessed the universities based on 13 performance indicators that are grouped into five areas: teaching (the learning environment), research (volume, income and reputation), citations (research influence), international outlook (staff, students and research) and industry income (knowledge transfer).

NUS noted that the recent developments in the world have accelerated the push for universities worldwide to transform and enhance their contributions to society.

An NUS spokesman said: “We have been sharpening our graduate’s competencies and preparing them to be more agile and adaptable by intensifying our focus on interdisciplinarity, experiential and cross-cultural learning, alongside our efforts in lifelong learning initiatives.”

05 June 2021

There will be an increase in requests for laptops and free hot meals for students during the home-based learning period.

President Halimah Yacob said in a Facebook post recently that it is important to ensure the needs of the vulnerable groups are attended to. She wrote about two primary school pupils called Ashrina and Adam, who received used laptops from South Central Community Family Service Centre during the circuit breaker period last year, which ensured their learning was not disrupted.

Madam Halimah said: “I hope more social service agencies would leverage the President’s Challenge to help more children from disadvantaged backgrounds and make sure no one is left behind during this challenging period.”

Apart from laptops, peripheral accessories are also in urgent need, such as USB headsets, webcams, laptop bags and solid state drives.