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Running over 3 days from 5 to 7 March, the Centre for Educational Development
(CED organized the International Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Symposium 2007 on campus. The 550 delegates represented various institutions around the world, from Singapore, neighbouring Malaysia and Indonesia to far-flung South Africa, UK, US and Canada amongst others. They shared the latest developments in PBL research, reflected on the best practices and debated avidly on new directions beyond the PBL horizon, in tune with the theme – “Reinventing PBL.”
The symposium started on a strong note when the Guest-of-Honour, Minister of State for the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Manpower, Mr Gan Kim Yong graced the opening ceremony. It was followed by a stimulating keynote speech by Professor Maggi Savin-Baden from University of Coventry, UK on “PBL Second Life: Liminality, Liquidity and Learning”. The three other keynote speeches delivered over the three days were “Changing Perspectives on Problem-Based Learning” by Professor Henk Schmidt from Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands, “Pedagogical BIASes and PBL” by Professor Dan Pratt from The University of British Columbia, Canada and “Pedagogical Beliefs and Institutional Practices at Republic Polytechnic” by Dr. W. A. M. Alwis, RP. The morning ended with a group of RP students and graduates sharing their engaging PBL experiences in a student forum.
After the eventful commencement, the delegates attended parallel sessions of paper presentations, PBL tutorials and workshops that would quickly become the pulse of the symposium. Towards the end of the first day, our students conducted tours to showcase our new Woodlands campus. Amidst all these, there was a poster exhibit and a cocktail reception at the Agora Hall.
The highlight of the symposium was inarguably the symposium dinner. Held on the historical Fort Canning Hill, the delegates experienced Singapore’s colonial history with a Battle Box tour. Dining on a delectable spread of local delicacies under the stars, the delegates enjoyed a showcase of local culture, with exciting cultural performances put up by student Interest Group (IG) members from the Indian Cultural Group, Malay Cultural Group and Modern Dance.
In all, the symposium was a success, in part due to the hard work and dedication put in by the organizing team and supporters and our students from the Student Working Committee comprising RP students from various Clubs and IGs. Coupled with the excellent teamwork and commitment, the symposium exemplifies the close-knitted RP community and augers well for the next symposium in 2 years’ time.
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