5DiscoverNEWSTeaching and Learning Centre hosts Associate Professor Todd Zakrajsek from University of North Carolina.On 19 and 20 May 2012, the Teaching and Learning Centre (TLC) of UBD hosted Associate Professor Todd Zakrajsek from the University of North Carolina (UNC), Chapel Hill. Dr. Zakrajsek is the Executive Director of the Centre for Faculty Excellence at UNC and was also previously the Director of the Faculty Centre for Innovative Teaching at Central Michigan University and the founding Director of the Centre for Teaching and Learning at Southern Oregon University, where he also taught in the psychology department as a tenured associate professor.In the United States of America, Dr. Zakrajsek is a distinguished trainer, consultant and advisor for teaching and learning departments/institutions. He was invited to UBD to provide a two-day seminar to Faculty Deans, Deputy Deans, Programme Leaders and TLC members of UBD. The intensive programme, which was hosted on the weekend, was a remarkable success. There were passionate cross-faculty discussions and brainstorming of current teaching and learning initiatives and a productive dialogue on how to mould the GenNext students that UBD envisions.Todd Zakrajsek also discussed the parameters and structural demands of a teaching and learning centre in UBD and directed the participants’ energies towards a focussed trajectory to help faculties achieve more creative teachers, productive students and classroom environments. By implementing the pedagogical strategies and practical measures developed in this seminar, UBD’s Teaching and Learning Centre is now poised more than ever to address the challenges involved in preparing students for their professional futures. In the coming months, TLC will provide workshops and training specifically for creative capacity building amongst faculty members, as well as team-based learning workshops and the creative use of online technology for innovative classroom teaching and learning (tentatively set for September 2012). UBD hosts 4th AUN-ACTSSteering Committee MeetingThe fourth AUN-ACTS Steering Committee Meeting took place at the Institute of Leadership, Innovation and Advancement (ILIA), UBD on 3 and 4 April 2012, which saw representatives from ASEAN Universities Network (AUN) gather to discuss the ASEAN Credit Transfer System (ACTS).ACTS allows the transfer of credits and grades within the ASEAN region among AUN member universities. It was initiated by the AUN Secretariat with the aim of promoting student exchanges and mobility within ASEAN, and has been implemented since last year. This was shared by the Executive Director of AUN, Associate Professor Dr. Nantana Gajaseni, who also told the media that the ACTS will hopefully by evaluated and standardised by 2013.Last year, UBD sent 55 per cent of its first cohort of GenNext students for the Discovery Year, either studying abroad or to participate in internships, incubation projects or community outreach programmes. Dr Joyce Teo Siew Yean in her welcoming remarks said that many of these students went for a semester of student exchange at AUN partner institutions.The meeting among others discussed challenges and concerns pertaining to ACTS, such as student workload, study hours, and hours obtained during community involvement.
< Page 4 | Page 6 >