Discussed during and after the presentation of Mr. Seah Zong Long and Mr. Pok Ruey Jye. This blog post is prepared by members of DYOM LC (find more in About Us).

This blog post presents the experience of facilitators and co-facilitators. Members of DYOM LC discussed methods that work and challenges that need solving. Members also discussed the different roles of module coordinators and facilitators and mechanisms that one could adopt to create a sense of ownership in a DYOM. 

The general comments were that the presenter’s DYOM succeeded in conducting interdisciplinary learning. Students learnt technical and academic aspects, and this was made easier by the fact that the DYOM had facilitators who had their expertise in the different aspects. When conducting the DYOM, the facilitator and the module coordinator synthesised their knowledge about different areas of the topic and found that this helped enhance students’ learning. This sharing prompted LC to think about:

1. What does it mean to facilitate DYOM?
2. What does it mean to teach DYOM? 

The importance of making the DYOM journey interest-based and experiential was also emphasised. For instance, field trips to a vintage camera shop were found to be useful for a photography DYOM in providing students with knowledge about the equipment and meeting the photography community. 

The presenter acknowledged that there are strong cultures at the backdrop of the respective DYOMs – for instance, the photography or business DYOMs received students who already had prior interest before taking DYOM. 

Effective Methods in Running DYOM

Each DYOM has varying degrees of ownership within its students. After rounds of discussion, the LC recognised the following methods as effective ways in making the students comfortable in taking charge of their own learning:

1. Peer-graded sessions
2. Students being involved in creating rubrics 
3. Seminars 
4. Conducting a pre-survey on why students take the particular DYOM 
5. Obtaining feedback on the experience interacting with professionals 
6. Obtaining feedback about DYOM after completion
7. Integrate Student-as-Partners Framework (more of this in Blogpost #3)

Lessons from Student Experiences 

Upon reviewing student feedback for various DYOM, the LC noted a similarity in student feedback over multiple DYOM – that many would comment about the unexpected workload. Students expressed their desire for the workload to accurately match the Module Credits. A 2 MC module should therefore have 2 MC worth of work in the module, as students often plan their other modules according to this guide. 

Another challenge was the diversity of students. For example, having students from different faculties or majors means having students who have differing prior knowledge. An entrepreneurship module, for instance, used many concepts and technical terms whom students from Business were well-versed in, but not students from other faculties. There was hence a stark difference in what the students experienced – some found the material too simple; others, too complicated.

Student feedback also indicated that some students preferred having the material curated for them, while other students felt that they were not involved enough in the gathering of material for classes. 

Conclusion and Follow-Up 

The discussion has shown that meeting the needs of various groups is one of the biggest challenges in DYOM, be it between students, staff and external speakers, or just within different groups of students. 

The LC also concluded that the way the DYOM is conducted is never set in stone. It is evolving even during the semester, not only after each DYOM has been completed. Improvements can be made as the DYOM progresses. Periodic surveys play a part in helping students and staff communicate and work together more effectively.