Towards exemplary teaching through collaborative inquiry into curriculum redesign

Abstract

Teachers of professionals in Singapore universities and polytechnics are guided and stimulated to reflect on their own practices and social contexts independently and collectively with a view of working towards exemplary teaching in their own classes. They are participants in a formal education programme- the Postgraduate Diploma of Teaching in Higher Education programme which is organized by the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University for new lecturers in tertiary institutions. This paper presents eight cases of reflective teaching based on a collaborative reflective inquiry framework which is made up of five R-stages of thinking: reflection, recognition, realization, response and resolution. Each case focuses on a faculty member and his/her concerns with the improvement of a particular aspect of teaching and/or student learning in diverse disciplines such as bioscience and nursing, business studies, computer and information sciences, engineering, medicine, and teacher education. The tertiary teachers report on the curricular changes made following reflections on their teaching problems, collaborative problem solving in class and attempts to engage the students in active learning.