Team Curtin Malaysia (left to right) Pang Po Ken, Natallee Faith Kwan, Lai Zhenyue and Hii Kiew Ling.
MIRI: A team of four academics from the Faculty of Engineering and Science of Curtin University Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia) has been placed among the top five finalists for the Minister of Education Special Award: Curriculum Design and Innovative Delivery (AKRI 2018) out of a total of 201 teams.
Team Curtin Malaysia comprised team leader Hii Kiew Ling from the Faculty’s Chemical Engineering Department and members Lai Zhenyue from the Mechanical Engineering Department, Natallee Faith Kwan from the Foundation Studies Department, and Pang Po Ken from the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department.
The Ministry of Education Malaysia initiated the Minister of Education Special Award: Curriculum Design and Innovative Delivery (AKRI 2018) to foster and share best practices and re-design higher education in Malaysia through the identification, recognition and sharing of best practices from projects and initiatives implemented either at institution or individual level in three categories; namely Innovative Studies Programme Curriculum, Transformative Teaching, and Immersive Teaching.
Team Curtin Malaysia submitted a project titled ‘Exposing Students to Community Service through Creative Foundation Engineering Physics Projects’, an innovative alternative assessment built upon the High Quality (HQ) Project Based Learning (PBL) framework and infused with community engagement. This transformative teaching approach was implemented in the Physics 062 unit of the Foundation in Engineering programme at the university.
PBL aims to holistically equip students with 21st-century skills that encompass teamwork and leadership skills, technology skills, and creative and critical thinking skills.
Exposure to community service increases students’ awareness of their social roles and responsibilities as they learn to care for others who are less fortunate. This promotes a balance between building cognitive and psychomotor skills to create well-rounded characters for our society.
The team said PBL was successfully used to motivate students in the Foundation in Engineering programme and pique their interest in learning physics. They learned to be more responsible and committed to teamwork as well as be more empathetic towards the needs of the community.
Hii was delighted to be given the opportunity to present the project before a panel of judges at the Movenpick Hotel and Convention Centre in Sepang on Dec 13, 2018.
“We are so proud that our project was recognised at the national level. It has given us the motivation to continue innovating to make project-based learning relevant and authentic for our students,” said Hii.
In congratulating the team on their achievement, Curtin Malaysia’s pro vice-chancellor, president and chief executive Professor Jim Mienczakowski said the four academics had done the university extremely proud by coming up tops among both private and public universities in the country.
The other finalists in the category were teams from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Taylor’s University, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM).
Mienczakowski added that the team’s achievement follows several other prestigious awards for teaching and innovation achieved by Curtin Malaysia academics this year. They include the Higher Education Academy (HEA) Fellowships won by Lai Zhenyue, civil and construction engineering lecturer Dr Wong Shi Yee and mechanical engineering lecturer Chew Ing Ming; and the Curtin Award for Programmes that Enhance Learning by senior lecturer Dr Shamsul Kamariah Abdullah.
Curtin Malaysia is well known for its commitment to innovative learning and teaching, including the creation of modern, technology-rich learning facilities and developmental opportunities for staff and students. The support it provides has enabled staff to demonstrate creativity in their teaching, and to create meaningful learning experiences for their students.
For more information on Curtin Malaysia, visit its website (www.curtin.edu.my), Facebook page (CurtinMalaysia), Twitter profile (curtinmalaysia), Google+ page (Curtin Malaysia), Instagram (curtinmalaysia), YouTube channel (Curtin Malaysia) or LinkedIn page (Curtin Malaysia).