civil & structural engineering - Institution of Engineers Singapore

INTERVIEW
SIT is also considering the possibility of extending the
existing two-year programmes to three or even four years.
The lengthening of the course period will allow SIT to take
in students from non-articulating diplomas, who would then
acquire the required knowledge content. SIT would also be
able to impart the soft skills that students need for their
chosen careers.
Q: Could you elaborate on the SIT-DNA and on ‘learning,
unlearning and relearning’?
A: Many higher education institutions are looking to ensure
they educate their students to be relevant and effective in a
world in which change is occurring at an increasing pace and
industries will need to evolve and change constantly.
The work-study model, devised by SIT, encourages students
to take up meaningful work stints as part of their university
education.
The SIT-DNA will enable its graduates to be able to boldly
embrace change and to be adaptable. We also want our
graduates to be thinking tinkerers - people who are hands-on,
resourceful and practical.
The importance of learning, unlearning and relearning becomes
clear when we realise that with improving healthcare, most of
us will work for some 40 plus years - nearly three times longer
than the duration of our formal education.
So for those who want to succeed, they must be able to deal
with disruption. They will need to know how to learn, unlearn
and relearn, while working.
Unlearning has to do with mindsets and attitudes. It is about
accepting that something you have learnt is no longer useful or
applicable, showing the willingness to accept reality and then
having the courage and fortitude to adapt and change. This can
apply to technical know-how that has become obsolete, or
even when a company has to relocate in order to survive or
take advantage of new business opportunities.
After unlearning comes learning and relearning. We constantly
add new skills during our lifetime. As industry, processes and
technology change and evolve, the question is whether or not
our graduates are imbued with the right mindset to adapt to
this new future.
A key feature of the SIT pedagogy, moving forward, will be
to ingrain into each and every one of our students that life is
going to be about learning on the job, from the job and during
the job.
Q: From an overall perspective, in an uncertain world
economic situation, what are some of the challenges
faced by institutions of higher learning and how is SIT
addressing them?
A: Challenges faced by institutions of higher learning include
having to meet the needs of the domestic economy against
an ever-changing world economic situation. As one such
institution, SIT will need to remain nimble and fl exible in terms
of programme offerings and, at the same time, be able to train
students to willingly embrace change and be adaptable.
In order to address these challenges, SIT will not have the
traditional faculty/school structures but will create multi-varied
skills clusters to encourage cross-fertilisation.
Our programmes will build on the skills and hands-on
orientation of the polytechnic graduates, so that they become
‘thinking doers’. Also, with our industry-driven programmes,
we hope to ensure that SIT graduates have the skills necessary
for the future.
Another challenge is that since industries expect graduates
to be work-ready, there is therefore a need for a different
programme structure to create value-added graduates.
The University of Glasgow, UK.
Accordingly, SIT will be working closely with industries to
shape the teaching pedagogy via integrated work-study
learning, project-oriented learning, IT-enhanced self-learning,
and integrated global learning environments.
February 2013 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER
17