It was an insightful sharing and learning session for Centre for Learning and Teaching (CLT) members and participants of the “CLT Research Forum: Designing 21st Century Education”, organised by CLT on 18 October 2019 at UTAR Kampar Campus.

Present at the forum included Vice President of Internationalisation and Academic Development Ir Prof Dr Yow Ho Kwang representing President Ir Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat, CLT Chairperson Dr Wei Chooi Yi, keynote speakers namely Coordinator of Curriculum Development for Science and Technology Programmes Ts Dr Chen Kah Pin and Coordinator of Curriculum Development for Non-Science and Technology Programmes Dr Ngeow Yeok Meng, as well as staff, and participants.

Apart from providing opportunities for CLT members to share research ideas and learn through constructive feedback, the research forum also aimed to provide participants a platform to gain insights and discuss 21st century education. It also facilitated members and participants in building academic networks for future research collaboration.

“The 21st century, which has arrived with its new trends, concepts and ways of doing things is certainly for good reasons. It is no longer about making progress by adding to the current body of knowledge. Rather, it is about transforming our understanding towards the existing body of knowledge. We shall not spoon-feed our younger generations by pouring knowledge into their brains or training them to do things. We should instead educate them on how to live in the present and progress to be a self-reliant, life-long learner. In fact, we are preparing them for jobs that have not existed,” said Dr Wei.

She also urged, “The qualities of 21st Century learners should include creativity, intuitiveness, critical thinking, cooperativeness, empathy, imaginativeness, leadership and adaptability to changes. It is time for us to develop a new mindset whereby real progress is not solely judged by our university rankings and league tables but on how well-prepared our younger generations are for the future, unknown world as well. It is not about predicting what the future holds and making preparations for it, but it has also become important for us to generate a pool of talents who are engaging, passionate learners who themselves are eager in taking actions now, and then transforming our current paths for better futures.”

Lastly, she advised, “We should envision an inclusive future which is for everyone with diverse socio-cultural backgrounds, belief systems, social classes, learning preferences, physical attributes and others. It is no longer the one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, we should let everyone decide when, where, what and how they want to learn with the aid of technologies. It is not about creating different tasks for different learners. It is about taping into task complexity that allows each student to learn at their own pace within an environment that is conducive for effective teacher-student feedback practices. Students should make sense of their own learning, find meaning in it and set new learning goals while teachers should explore and experiment with new teaching methods as directed by the overall goals of educational institutions.”

“The title of the forum is very aptly, because it is very much related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). Very soon, 4IR will be outdated because researchers are already working on next generation technology and findings. In today’s classroom, it is no longer about transferring knowledge in one-way communication, rather it now requires two-way communication between students and teachers. In order to prepare our students for the current workforce, they must be equipped with the 21st century skills, including the ability to learn independently outside the classroom, and to work efficiently in the age of modern technology. We have to also collaborate with people, and this is also important. The younger generation must be able to work with different people, and to be able to communicate effectively as a team player, as well as to be able to contribute to the community through group projects. In order for humans to progress with the global change brought by technology, such as artificial intelligence and automation, we should prepare our students with the necessary skills to cope with the challenges in their workplace. If we continue to be ignorant of the importance of 21st century skills, we are actually jeopardising our students’ future. We ourselves must also be prepared. For the society to function properly, it will also require members to have the capabilities to see concept in new and different lights,” said Prof Yow in his speech.

He added, “Technology is conquering our world whether we like it or not. So it is our responsibility as educators to create a classroom that is conducive for students’ learning. We should no longer be enslaved by the syllabus, instead we should make way for a learning environment where students can make sense of new knowledge and information, and put what they have learnt to good use. Our ultimate aim is also to train students to acquire creativity, critical thinking, leadership, and adaptability skills to changes. Changes are constant and are happening very fast. As we make 21st century classroom accessible to everyone, we must be courageous in trying out new ideas of teaching.”

First keynote speaker Dr Chen emphasised the need for change in schools’ classroom environment. He pointed out some examples of local schools where children are seated in circles to encourage team discussion. On “Imagineering” the education system, Dr Chen defined this process as “imagining what learning would look like and how engineers will make it happen.”

“Higher education needs to undergo change. With the advent of globalisation and global economic crisis, employers want industry-ready graduates. Today, industries hire graduates with competency and skills, rather than graduates with a degree, even if they are from elite universities. The trend now is to accept non-degree credentials and provide certificates that show their learning abilities. With the advent of GIG economy, employers can obtain a cheaper but more effective workforce to perform the task required based on their competency and skills. Today, competency and skills matter more. The degree as we know is slowly, but surely, losing its value,” explained Dr Chen.

He further elucidated that new marketplace for higher education now looks into recruiting non-traditional students. “These type of students are members of the workforce of the government industry, and are actually lifelong learners. They have varying levels of education and experience. Some of these students also lack the privilege to study at the university, what more to wait four years for their degree. Instead, they take up part-time jobs or full-time jobs to acquire additional skills and knowledge. While they juggle between their family and studies, they also make time for themselves to learn at their own time and pace, which makes their learning experience more personalised.”

The participants also learnt the three categories of learning, which were Heutogogy, Paragogy (Peerogogy), and Cybergogy. He explained that heutogogy is a process of self-determined learning which give focus on the why. This method urges learners to act, think, and communicate from the inside out. Meanwhile, paragogy also known peeragogy, involved peer learning. He described it as an educational practice whereby students interact with other students to attain educational goals. On cybergogy, Dr Chen explained that the learning process involved the use of technology and the internet, which offers immersive learning. Some of the tools used under cybergogy were such as virtual reality, 3d printing, and virtual microbes.

Keynote speaker Dr Ngeow shared on “Rethinking 21st Century Higher Education: A Scholarly Reflection”. She touched on aspects relating to IR4.0, individuality and personalising learning, spectrum of learners’ diversity, scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), and lastly on her personal PhD journey. She explained that an enthusiastic learner often possesses qualities, such as critical, creative, collaborative, comprehensive, independent, integrated, and reflective. She further explained that higher education provides learners the ability to know (cognitive), to act (psychomotor) and to value (affective).

When comparing between the standardised and flexible 21st century curriculum, she explained, “An independent learner appreciates personalised education. They are autonomous, whereby they decide on what and how they want to learn. They are also effective time managers because they learn at their own pace; one episode at a time. They also give themselves space and decide what to learn best. They also decide on how much they want to or can learn. In the content aspect, this independent learning will decide which information is more relevant and the learner is free to use any technological learning tools to learn.”

She went on to describe the characteristics of a PhD learner, which were analytical, resilient, realistic, self-taught, independent, confident, argumentative, having multiple perspectives, and courageous. She later shared her personal PhD journey and how she overcame the challenges faced when pursuing her PhD. She highlighted that her family’s support and good time management were important factors for overcoming those challenges.

At the forum session, the panellists discussed on “Strategies to Cope with Challenges Faced by Postgraduate Students”. The moderator Faculty of Arts and Social Science (FAS) lecturer Dr Cheah Phaik Kin, introduced the panellists, which consisted of FAS Deputy Dean for Academic Development and Undergraduate Programmes Dr Khor Kheng Kia, FAS lecturer Dr Badariah binti Sani, Faculty of Engineering and Green Technology lecturer Assoc Prof Dr Sumathi Sethupathi, and Faculty of Information and Communication Technology lecturer Ts Anbuselvan Sangodiah.

Dr Cheah kick-started the forum by asking the panellists to share the types of challenges faced and ways to overcome those challenges. Dr Sumathi explained that she has always loved researching and it has been a passion since. She noted that passion in doing something is very important to get it completed, regardless of the challenges faced. She mentioned that with passion, one can remain motivated in spite of difficult times to get the task done efficiently. She also advised participants to manage their time effectively and balance their time between family and research.

Anbuselvan on the other hand, mentioned that he faced time constraint when conducting research for his PhD but he managed to overcome that challenge by maintaining self-discipline. He mentioned that his peers helped to keep him motivated. Dr Khor listed finding a good supervisor as one of his challenges. He explained that working with a good supervisor is important, and to be able to establish mutual respect, effort and good communication with one’s supervisor is vital to getting the research done.

The challenge Dr Badariah faced was having too many sources to read, which led her to have difficulty in finding the right source to use. “Reading a lot is good and it is good to refer to multiple sources, yet the real importance of all these reading is to be able to understand what the article is saying. By truly understanding the reading materials, we will be able to write well,” advised Dr Badariah. On the note of researchers being independent for their research, the panellists agreed that researchers must make time to meet their supervisors, at the least about once a month. They mentioned that supervisors are meant to help the researcher and guide them in the right direction.

The panellists also advised participants to form good communication (two-way) with their supervisors to ease disagreements and for the research to progress smoothly. Dr Sumathi added that researchers should ask why and understand the reason behind the suggestions made by their supervisors. She said that it is important to discuss and see if the suggestions are doable or not. However, Dr Badariah reminded participants to not go against their supervisor but rather, to discuss respectfully if they have any concerns or disagreements.

On choosing research topics, Anbuselvan suggested participants to look into areas that interest them. He also advised the participants to read and research about the interested area, and discuss with their supervisor on the topics they have in mind. Dr Sumathi also advised participants and asked them to consider the reasons for their research; whether it is for personal growth or to contribute to the society with their research findings. Dr Badariah, on the other hand, suggested that participants look into the current or trending issues. The insightful forum ended with an interactive Q&A session.

A sharing session among the CLT members and postgraduate students was held after the forum, which aimed to enlighten the postgraduate students on the members’ PhD experiences. The postgraduate students also obtained valuable advice and information from the members, namely FAS lecturer Dr Noor Azmira binti Mohamed, FAS PhD (Social Science) Programme Head Dr Gerard Sagaya Raj A Rajoo, and FEGT lecturer Ir Dr K. Chandrasekaran Krishnan.