Republic Poly's Outdoor and Adventure Learning modules at Pulau Ubin

A unique approach
New chairman Richard Seow wants to spread the word
Lin Yan Qin, Today Online 12 Oct 09;

SINGAPORE - He would like to build up the brand of Singapore's youngest polytechnic, and hopefully improve its image and popularity among prospective students - many of whom may still not understand what Republic Polytechnic (RP) has to offer.

Even as its previous board has done a "tremendous job" in establishing RP, Mr Richard Seow, who took over as chairman of RP's board of governors in July, feels the public does not know what the "relatively new" institution, opened in 2002, stands for.

The school is not "unpopular", stressed Mr Seow, who is also the chairman of Parkway Holdings. Rather, it is a matter of publicising its unique brand of polytechnic education. "I thought I understood problem-based learning (PBL), but at my first PBL class at RP, I was really surprised by how it works," said Mr Seow.

Under this approach, students solve one problem a day and present solutions to their peers at the end of the school day - much as one would in a real work environment, he said.

And while the polytechnic has learnt that not every class can be taught with the PBL approach, such as more skills-oriented courses, it is also working to improve any shortcomings through symposiums on PBL where practices and research are shared.

"It's still one of our fundamentals," said Mr Seow, who spoke to the media at the opening of RP's new Experiential Learning Centre@Ubin. The $20,000 centre located on Pulau Ubin will allow students to learn how to solve problems in an outdoor environment. There, students can build hard skills, as well as soft skills such as learning to communicate well to perform tasks effectively.

It will also support RP's Outdoor and Adventure Learning modules, and could be used for other course work in future. For example, as flooding is one occasional hazard at the quarry, School of Applied Sciences students could look at ways of addressing this problem, said Mr Ang Keng Loo, senior director for student services at RP.