Entrepreneurship at NUS
Apr 20th
Last month, the Straits Times conducted a survey of about 500 people on the values that mattered most to them. Honesty, kindness and gratitude came up tops. Curiousity was ranked last; creativity and courage were not too far from the bottom. Perhaps the sample size is too small for us to have any conclusive sense. But a few were quick to jump in to say that this is why we do not have great inventions and Nobel laureates.
Do Singaporeans have what it takes to stay relevant, ahead and prosperous in the next 50 years? Singapore has done well in the past 47 years. We have first world infrastructure (some may not agree, with the recent MRT breakdowns), the rule of law, reliable regulatory frameworks, and a hardworking and resilient labour force. But, in this innovation-driven era, ideas, creativity and enterprise – these are what will shape and define our future. You may like to read this great article by Farhad Manjoo on the competition in the IT industry.
Last Friday, I was invited to be a judge for the inaugural NUSSU Test-Bed Programme, a joint initiative by NUSSU and NUS Enterprise. Our students and alumni submitted a total of 63 business proposals, of which 10 were shortlisted to pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges. The panel would select a few of the winning ideas which will be test-bedded in NUS. NUS, with its 45,000 staff and students, provides a ready ‘customer’ base to seed and spawn these ideas.
Entrepreneurship can be a daunting endeavour. It begins with curiosity, ideas and dreams, of a product, technology or service that could bring value to society. However, it does not stop there. The next step entails venturing into the unknown – attempting to translate this idea into fruition. Much work goes into sourcing for support and resources to develop and fine-tune the product or service. And finally, the greatest challenge beholds, to capture and harness the value created in the marketplace.
While we know that it is important to nurture entrepreneurial skills and mindsets, some would say that the Asian upbringing is not particularly conducive for this purpose. In our growing years, many of us try not to question or challenge our parents, elders or teachers too much, as we do not want to be misconstrued as being disrespectful. Many parents prefer their children to pursue tried and tested professional careers, rather than to venture into start-ups.
I am thus very heartened by Friday’s event. The ideas of the 10 shortlisted teams are testament that there are budding seeds of adventure and enterprise within our community. I applaud and commend each team for their efforts. In formulating the business proposals, these students have had to “think outside of the box”, and though the course, they would have developed a sense of opportunism and savvy. It is an experience that textbooks cannot impart, yet the wisdom and acumen gained will come in useful in their future endeavours.
Eventually, the panel of judges selected 4 proposals for test-bedding at NUS: SnapSell, Intraix, YourKaki and Munshi Labs. SnapSell is an app that will make selling and buying of second-hand items such a breeze and a delight. Intraix is an energy management system which incorporates an interesting gaming/challenge component. YourKaki is a refreshing one-stop community and directory for sport enthusiasts. And finally, Munshi Labs will facilitate researchers, consultancy firms and the like, with an easy database of respondents for research and surveys. There was a proposal (i.e., Clault which ensures security in cloud-based storage and applications) for which the judges thought was highly marketable, but unsuitable for test-bedding in NUS. Congratulations to all the teams for your fine participation.
I also wanted to also convey the message to our students that if you think you have an enterprising knack, or if you are curious about creativity and innovation, there are developmental avenues and opportunities in NUS you can explore. The NUS Entrepreneurship Centre has been actively supporting and encouraging entrepreneurship endeavours within the university community. The Centre provides physical incubation space to NUS startup companies, and mentoring, financial and marketing support, as well as business network access that is vital for small businesses to thrive and take off.
Or perhaps, you will relish a work-study stint in an entrepreneurial hub. Take a look at the NUS Overseas College Programme (NOC). NOC is a distinct flagship educational programme which gives students the opportunity to be immersed in leading entrepreneurial hubs, such as Silicon Valley, Philadelphia, Stockholm, China, India and Israel. NOC students spend a year in these hubs, working as full-time interns in high-tech start-ups or innovative companies; they learn directly from founders and entrepreneurs, and witness firsthand, the business and operating environment. At the same time, NOC students will read entrepreneurship-related or discipline-based courses at established NUS partner universities at these overseas locations.
Finally, may I share a quote from Samuel Ullman, an American poet. He once aptly described youth as a state of mind – it is a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigour of the emotions, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over love of ease. This sums up the spirit of entrepreneurship that we hope will flourish in our community. Stay youthful, always!
Exams and CAs
Mar 16th
In an earlier blog post, I had mentioned that NUS has been progressively moving towards decreasing the weightage of final exams.
I thought it might be interesting to share this table which shows the distribution of CA-weightage across modules offered in AY2010/11. One-third of the modules have 100% CA, and more than half our modules have CA components of 60% or higher.
Table on Number of Modules by Level in AY2010/11 and the CA Component
|
Level |
Modules with CA at 100% |
Modules with CA at 80% to 99% |
Modules with CA at 60% to 79% |
Modules with CA at 40% to 59% |
Modules with CA at 20% to 39% |
Modules with CA at 0% to 19% |
Total |
|
Level 1000 |
111 |
0 |
67 |
147 |
30 |
5 |
360 |
|
Level 2000 |
120 |
2 |
128 |
251 |
66 |
4 |
571 |
|
Level 3000 |
288 |
1 |
145 |
251 |
81 |
5 |
771 |
|
Level 4000 |
274 |
2 |
107 |
214 |
68 |
14 |
679 |
|
Total |
793 |
5 |
447 |
863 |
245 |
28 |
2381 |
|
Percentage |
33% |
0% |
19% |
36% |
10% |
1% |
100% |
There are however, some variations between the Faculties/Schools, as there are differences in the content and nature between the disciplines. The final exam weightage tends to be higher for the science and technology courses, than for the arts or humanities. In the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and Business School, 70% or more of the modules have CA components comprising at least 60% of the final grade. In Faculty of Engineering, slightly more than a quarter of modules offered have CA components comprising at least 60% of the final grade (and for the Faculty of Science, the corresponding percentage is 33%). This is probably not surprising as intuitively, many are aware that presentations, group case studies and discussions have traditionally been part of the pedagogies employed at business schools, whereas exams are the traditional testing method for technical subjects like mathematics, hard sciences and engineering.
Table on Number of Modules by Faculty in AY2010/11 and the CA Component
|
Faculty/School |
Modules with CA at 100% |
Modules with CA at 80% to 99% |
Modules with CA at 60% to 79% |
Modules with CA at 40% to 59% |
Modules with CA at 20% to 39% |
Modules with CA at 0% to 19% |
Total |
|
Arts & Social Sci |
304 |
2 |
291 |
278 |
3 |
- |
878 |
|
Engineering |
88 |
1 |
27 |
162 |
133 |
12 |
423 |
|
Science |
131 |
- |
32 |
232 |
102 |
2 |
499 |
|
Business |
143 |
2 |
28 |
60 |
- |
1 |
234 |
|
Computing |
41 |
- |
48 |
68 |
1 |
- |
158 |
|
Design and Environment |
51 |
- |
19 |
63 |
6 |
13 |
152 |
|
CELC |
35 |
- |
2 |
- |
- |
- |
37 |
There is a place for exams, and in many level 1000 or 2000 classes, exams will remain as an important assessment tool. But for the level 3000 and 4000 classes, we are moving towards placing more emphasis on continual assessment.
Admissions and Financial Aid
Feb 29th
The days following the release of the GCE ‘A’ Level Results mark the traditional peak season for university applications. I thought it is timely for me to convey some key attributes of the NUS’s policies on admission, and on the related issues of tuition fees and financial aid.
Admissions
Admission to the NUS is competitive. We receive over 30,000 applications annually, but we only have places for about 6,700 freshmen. Each application is assessed solely on merit. For certain courses, candidates are shortlisted for further assessments, and the Faculty considers each applicant’s achievements, aptitude and personal qualities in assessing the applicant’s suitability for the course and/or the profession. An applicant’s family background, schooling history or financial circumstances will not have a bearing on the selection process. Essays are reviewed without reference to the applicant’s personal details; interviewers and selection panels do not have access to the candidate’s financial status.
The NUS also sets aside up to 10% of our places for Discretionary Admissions (DA). DA provides us with an avenue to consider applications from deserving students whose high school grades may not meet the entry requirements for admission into NUS, but have the potential to pursue an undergraduate education, and to contribute to the NUS community. For DA applicants, NUS will consider their contributions and achievements in other areas, beside academic grades.
DA students add diversity to our campus and this scheme has increased the opportunities for students with different talents, achievements and experiences to join the NUS community. Many DA students are faring well. Some years back, when I was Dean of the Faculty of Science, I admitted an applicant with weak A level results to the Faculty of Science. We noted something special about her. She had been giving tuition to support her family since she was in Secondary 3, as her father was then retrenched. Her tuition business expanded, and by the time she was in JC 2, she founded a thriving tuition centre. Her involvement in the tuition business was probably one of reasons why her A level grades had suffered. She was also actively involved in community work. In spite of her weak A level grades, she coped well academically at NUS, and was even admitted to the University Scholars Programme. Eventually, she graduated with a Second Upper Class Honours, and was selected as the valedictorian for her commencement ceremony. She is now pursuing a medical degree at the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School. I am thus grateful for the DA scheme, which has allowed me to give deserving students like her a chance to benefit from an NUS education.
An NUS education will remain affordable and accessible to all Singaporeans who qualify for admission
Some students have expressed concern that students from lower income families may be discouraged from pursuing a university education due to financial difficulties. I would like to take this opportunity to assure all existing and potential students, that NUS has in place, a robust financial aid framework to ensure that an NUS education remains affordable and accessible for all Singaporeans who are admitted to the university.
NUS is cognizant that society regards university education as an economic leveller and a means of social mobility. For many decades, an NUS degree is an aspiration of many Singaporean families. NUS counts many first generation graduates in each cohort. This is also true for the professional courses; each year, we train many first generation accountants, architects, dentists, doctors, engineers, lawyers and pharmacists. Although the income profile of NUS students does not exactly mirror that of the general national income profile, there is a substantial number of NUS students whose per capita household incomes are at the lowest quintile.
We remain committed to enabling needy and deserving students to pursue their university studies with us. Every needy Singaporean admitted to the NUS will have access to sufficient funds to meet the costs of undergraduate education. Students from middle-lower income families (this applies to about half of Singaporean households) will be able to obtain sufficient funds to meet the full costs of tuition and living expenses through a combination of bursaries and loans.
Enhanced Financial Aid Framework – Helping the Needy
For AY2012/13, NUS will be extending even more help, especially to students whose families are in the lowest 20th percentile of per capita household income. As explained in my earlier circular to all students, NUS has conducted a comprehensive review of our financial aid schemes and we have made considerable enhancements. The key features of the enhanced financial framework are first, the annual bursary quanta for the neediest Singaporean students will increase from $4,750 to over $8,000. This will significantly reduce the loan burden for students from very low income families, and more than 1,100 needy NUS students will benefit from this bursary increase. Second, the bursary quanta awarded will be more finely means-tested according to the student’s financial circumstances. The neediest students will receive more financial aid. This acknowledges the different circumstances that the neediest students with very low household incomes face. Third, eligible local students may receive more than one bursary, up to the maximum bursary quantum prescribed for their per capita household income. Fourth, needy Singaporean students participating in academic programmes such as the University Scholars Programme, Student Exchange Programmes, etc., will be provided with proportionately higher financial support. Overall, NUS will be increasing student financial aid by $4.5 million, which will bring overall student financial aid for AY2012/13 to $9.5 million.
Many students have expressed support for and welcome the enhanced Financial Aid Framework. NUS is also working hard at fund-raising, as philanthropic donations will allow us to expand the pool of funds available for financial aid. In the meantime, if you do know of any students who are struggling financially, please drop a note to financialaid@nus.edu.sg, and we will look into every case closely. For some students, their family circumstances may change midway through their studies at NUS, and as a result, they may be encountering financial adversity; please encourage them to approach us.
The Bell Curve
Jan 20th
I chuckled when I read this article: Desperate undergrads pray to ‘bell curve god’
Superstitions aside, students correctly know that the bell curve does affect them in some way or other. However, I hope that no one is feeling haunted by the bell curve.
What is this ‘bell curve’ all about?
In probability theory, the normal distribution is a continuous probability distribution that has a bell-shaped probability density function, known as the Gaussian function, or informally, the bell curve. The normal distribution is the most prominent probability distribution, because many large sets of data are approximately normally distributed.
For example, the heights of all students in NUS are likely to be normally distributed. The weights of NUS students probably follow a normal distribution too. Likewise, if I set exams targeted at the average competency of a group of students, and if the class is large enough, the exam scores are likely to follow a normal distribution curve. Setting such an exam is, by no means, easy. Pitch it tough, most students will fail. Set it too easy, and many will score very high grades, and the resulting scores are hardly differentiated.
Grading and Moderation
Differentiation is necessary for CAP purposes, and for Honours classification, and these are here to stay for the foreseeable future. Most if not all major universities have variants of degree classes or GPA scores. And because of the need for differentiation, many institutions from North America to Asia, use the bell curve as a mechanism to moderate marks.
Module requirements may encompass different modes of assessment such as tutorial presentations, laboratory reports, projects, essays, as well as mid-term and final examinations. Grading may be based on absolute performance, relative performance, or a combination of the two. Higher-level modules with small enrolments typically grade a student based on his absolute performance; larger lower-level modules take into account a student’s performance vis-à-vis the other students in the same module. Where necessary, the final grade which a student receives for a module may be subject to moderation.
One important reason for grade moderation is that examiners come from diverse academic backgrounds and may be accustomed to different marking regimes. While we do make every effort to make sure modules are designed with clear learning outcomes, and professors are responsible to ensure their exams are pitched at the right level, grade moderation will prevent grade inflation or deflation, and helps to achieve consistency in assessment grading across modules.
How NUS Applies the Bell Curve
At the end of the semester, a student is awarded a grade (and not specific marks) for each course taken. As such, NUS adopts a ‘recommended grade distribution’ in the following manner. I shall illustrate with an example – bear in mind that this is meant for illustrative purposes and is not the actual distribution that we are currently practising.
Example of a Recommended Grade Distribution:
| Grade | A+, A, A- | B+,B, B- | C+,C | D, F |
| Proportion | Not more than 25% | Not more than 40% | About 30% | Not more than 5% |
One could compute the average grade point:
(5 x 0.17 + 4.5 x 0.08 + 4 x 0.14 + 3.5 x 0.13 + 3 x 0.13 + 2.5 x 0.15 + 2 x 0.15 + 1 x 0.05)
which is approximately 3.34, or roughly B grade.
And here are 3 possible course grade profile scenarios after moderation. For the first module, the test/exam may have been too easy, resulting in high cut-off marks for each grade. The average mark was 83 for a class of 630. The department will also look at the paper before moderation.
In the next scenario, the resulting cut-off marks for each grade after moderation, are moderate.
In this final scenario, the resulting cut-off marks for each grade after moderation are rather low.
I must emphasize that the recommended grade distribution is not applied blindly, and there are ample opportunities, within reason, for discretion and flexibility.
- First, the class size must be large enough, preferably above 30. For smaller classes, Professors are given discretion on an appropriate grade distribution because small sets of data may not be normally distributed.
- Second, we are not looking for a perfect fit, i.e., we usually ignore small deviations.
- Third, if Professors have strong reasons to deviate from the recommended grade distribution, we are usually amenable to acceding to their requests. For example, some modules belonging to special programs in the various Faculties/Schools have their own distributions.
- Fourth, we sometimes also look at the CAP profiles of a class, and tweak the grade distributions appropriately. For example, if many students with high CAP choose a particular course, it will not be fair to apply the recommended grade distribution to this class. Another example: for Honours classes comprising students with an average CAP of at least 3.5, the grade distribution will be skewed higher.
Additionally, much goes on post-exams, before the grades are finalized and released to students. First, the grade profiles for individual modules are examined and compared at the Department level, and then across Departments at the Faculty level. All grades are carefully scrutinized by Department and Faculty Boards of Examiners before they are submitted to the Board of Undergraduate Studies and the Board of Graduate Studies for approval. Further checks are conducted at the University level by the Board of Undergraduate Studies and Board of Graduate Studies to ensure that there is consistency of assessment across Faculties/Schools.
In conclusion, I hope that this post has given a better picture of how the bell curve works at the NUS, and hopefully this helps to alleviate some bell curve anxiety. The bell curve is used primarily as a tool to moderate grades, and as a guide to prevent grade inflation or deflation. We do not apply the bell curve mindlessly or excessively. Students are sometimes worried about falling on a ‘wrong side’ of the bell curve. Do not worry too much, more often than not, we err on helping students along.
Here’s also wishing everyone a joyous Lunar New Year!
Career Workshops for NUS Students
Dec 11th
There is a pressing need to raise the career preparation skills of NUS graduates. In a recent survey of major employers of graduates in Singapore, 70% opined that NUS graduates are lacking in this area. This is what employers are saying about NUS graduates:
- ‘I was shocked to see an NUS graduate dressed casually in jeans for the interview, thinking that it is appropriate, because it is at Sentosa.’
- ‘Only half of the interviewees did proper research about our company.’ This feedback was received from one of the largest companies in Singapore.
- ‘Students can sell themselves better by putting important things upfront. For example, they should highlight their CAP score if they did well academically. Students are quite shy, and are too modest. They should try to market themselves better and ask more questions.’ This feedback was received from an American MNC.
- ‘Local graduates are excellent at breaking down problems and delivering results. But they undersell themselves and do not get opportunities they deserve as they are being overshadowed by the vocal and domineering personalities from the US.”
- And one of Singapore’s largest graduate recruiters wrote ‘Some candidates were neither prepared nor appropriately dressed for interviews. In terms of ratings of performance among the 3 local universities,
- for Oral Communications: SMU 1, NUS 2, NTU 3;
- for Maturity: SMU 1, NUS 2, NTU 3;
- for Grooming: SMU 1, NTU 2, NUS 3.’
Clearly, this is a gap we need to fill.
What should the university do, and how can we help our graduates?
Let me share more about the current situation.
Career preparation workshops are being offered to students on an optional basis, and they do not carry academic credits. Last year, the NUS Career Centre (NCC) offered a suite of 5 workshops (comprising Career Planning, Resume Writing, Interview Skills, Networking Skills, and Business Etiquette and Corporate Dressing). Each workshop was a 2 to 3 hour session, and students were charged $8 to $10 per workshop. The workshops are offered to students at highly subsidized rates, and a nominal fee is levied to prevent no-shows.
Of the 25,000 undergraduates enrolled at the NUS, only 1,500 students attended at least one workshop, and amongst them, 320 of them attended all 5 workshops. Of the 320 students who completed the suite of workshops, about 150 are from Pharmacy, because they had an astute Head of Department, who saw the importance of the workshops, and had made them compulsory for final year Pharmacy students.
Should we then mandate the workshops as a compulsory graduation requirement? If we maintain status quo, the take-up rate of the career preparation workshops is not likely to improve. Interestingly, in a recent survey involving more than 3,000 NUS students, 56% supported the idea of the university implementing compulsory career preparation workshops; 11% of the respondents were unsupportive. At the NUS Business School, career preparation workshops are not compulsory. Yet, students prioritize these learning opportunities and nearly 95% of their students elect to attend them sequentially over 3 to 4 years.
We then sought to understand why NUS students are not signing up to attend career preparation workshops. The student survey further revealed that top 3 reasons were:
- I do not have time! (40%)
- The workshops clash with my lectures/tutorials. (25%) We were certainly puzzled by this response as many workshops are held on weekends.
- I am not aware of these career development workshops. (25%)
After much deliberation, we have decided to defer the ‘compulsion’ measure for now, and will instead adopt a moderate approach.
Over the next 3 years, we will nudge all students from the Faculties/Schools of Arts and Social Sciences, Computing, Design and Environment, Engineering and Science, to complete the suite of 5 workshops. The workshops will be offered free-of-charge.
Here are the implementation plans:
(1) An Opt-Out System for Freshmen
- Each freshman will be assigned to attend the 5 workshops in one of the two semesters in AY2012/13. Students who do not wish to attend will have to provide good reasons to the NCC.
(2) An Opt-In System for the Graduating Cohort
- For existing students, career preparation workshops will be offered to you in your graduating year, and we will facilitate your attendance by ensuring that the workshop schedules do not clash with your formal classes. You will have to register to attend these workshops.
To conduct these programs on a large scale, the NCC will be recruiting more career counsellors; many workshops will also be outsourced to competent vendors. Notes and resource materials will be prepared and made available online, so that the workshops are more hands-on and practice-oriented. On top of the 5 first-tier career preparation workshops, the NCC will also offer many additional courses under the umbrella of the ‘Future Ready Programme’. Some target specific skills; others are industry-specific.
The workshops by themselves are no guarantee that NUS graduates will become expert job hunters after attending them. But, our aim is to sensitize our students, right at the onset of their university life, to the importance of planning and preparing for their future careers. Better earlier than later, as students can then start to think and plan their curriculum, education and projects accordingly, to hone expertise and experience and to develop a credible portfolio towards their career goals.
For students who do not have stellar CAP scores, please do not give up, or be overly discouraged. It is heartening to note that many top employers such as Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Keppel Corporation, Proctor & Gamble, ExxonMobil and others, have shared that they are moving away from CAP to look at strong CCA qualities and soft skills. One firm shared that ‘We do not look at grades, but how the graduates present themselves. Core values such as integrity, and encouraging a non-defeatist, positive attitude is vital to success in society.’ Do take heart, and press on with your job hunt.
In short, we will be making career preparation workshops as accessible and convenient for students to attend them, and in so doing, we hope to ‘nudge’ students towards making beneficial decisions. We sincerely hope that our students will take up these opportunities to enrich themselves, and to enhance their employability.
Recent Comments