Each diploma in the School determines the subjects that would adopt the PBL mode of teaching and learning.

In line with TP’s recommendation, each diploma in the School has at least one subject that implemented PBL. However, diplomas have gone beyond that recommendation and have implemented the use of PBL in subjects where it has been deemed fit to do so.

Serious consideration is given before any subject adopts the PBL methodology, so as to ensure that both staff and students benefit from using this method of teaching and learning in the respective subjects.

Besides focusing on enquiry-based learning, which a key tenet of PBL, the school also focuses on another key feature of PBL, collaborative learning.

Training and Preparation

The School believes in preparing both staff and students adequately before they embark on any PBL programme.

Familiarity with PBL concepts and processes is gained by staff members during the THEC Programme. Beyond this, the School also works closely with the Learning Academy to organize and conduct PBL workshops for staff members.

These include the 30-hour PBL Foundation Programme, which comprises two segments:

Segment 1:

Segment 1 consists of a series of three full-day face-to-face workshops on the following areas:

- Understanding PBL and Experiencing PBL as a Learner
- Becoming a PBL Facilitator
- Curriculum Design for PBL
- Problem Design for PBL
- Assessment in PBL

The workshops are customized for the staff members and wherever possible, are designed and conducted based on the IT context. This way, staff members would be able to directly and immediately apply what they have learnt in their classes.

Segment 2:

In fact, it was a group of lecturers from the IIT School that formed the inaugural group to complete the 30-hr PBL Foundation Programme. The group found the training programme useful not only in helping them acquire insight into the theoretical underpinnings of PBL, but also in providing them with the practical skills of PBL facilitation and problem-crafting.

Students are not left out of the preparation process. To initiate students into the PBL mode of teaching and learning, the subject teams conduct briefing and induction sessions for the students. These sessions help to orientate the students to the PBL way of learning, and provide them with opportunities to clarify their roles.

The school stresses authenticity in its PBL programmes by emphasizing the importance of contextualizing them to benefit all who are involved.

Feedback

Each programme is carefully developed to suit the learning needs of the students.

Regular feedback is also sought from staff and students to learn what they think and feel about the use of PBL in the subjects. The feedback is useful in helping the subject teams refine and further improve on the implementation process.

Some feedback from staff and students are shown below:

Staff:

“The students have been positive about adopting PBL, and MP is suitable for the PBL approach as students could learn to be more independent and engage in individual research in a real world environment, and to solve problems at the team level.”

“PBL encourages students to explore the subject more. They actually learn more through PBL. They also pick up other useful skills like research skills.”

 

Students:

“I have learnt to work better with team members.”

“PBL has provided more opportunities for me to contribute ideas in the group.”

“I have learnt to be more independent … I have also learnt to solve problems as well as do research to find the most suitable solution to help me carry out my task.”

“I think PBL has helped me to be more ready for the industry.”