These awards recognise excellence in teaching among Tembusu, CAPT, Residential College 4 and RVRC faculty.
Since 2013, these Colleges have been part of the University-wide teaching awards process that applies to all faculties, schools and programmes at NUS. The Residential Colleges Teaching Excellence Awards (RCTEA) focus on Junior Seminar, Senior Seminar and Ideas & Exposition teaching within the University Town College Programme.
Nominations for these awards are judged annually by the Residential Colleges Teaching Excellence Committee (RCTEC), and results are announced in October-November. The dossiers of the strongest candidates are submitted to be considered for the Annual Teaching Excellence Awards (ATEA) and Outstanding Educator Awards (OEA) at the university level.
Dr Eric Kerr seeks to find synergies between his classroom teaching and his role as Director of Residential Life in the College. He believes that it is vital that students, whether they go on to be developers, users, or governors of such technologies, to learn about the ethics of AI and the skills required to think through the relationship between machines and people. Through the creation of inclusive learning environments and the use of innovative pedagogies for teaching ethics, he empowers students to cross-disciplinary boundaries and acquire interdisciplinary ethos and core competencies in soft skills.
He has successfully combined reflective interdisciplinary teaching, careful iteration based on feedback and contemplation, and rigorous deployment of well-established principles of teaching reasoning, writing, and creative expression from his educational background in Law and Philosophy to create a vibrant interdisciplinary classroom. He worked on his challenges, like his soft voice, aversion to the use of technological aids, and reaching out of his disciplinary comfort zone to be a more effective educator.
This educator’s teaching statement stands out for his ongoing deep reflection on how teaching and research interact to promote student learning, both in his individual and team teaching, as well as in his educational leadership at Tembusu College. In his most recent intervention in instructional design, assessment and feedback, he tasks students with an impressively broad array of endeavours, including independent inquiry, experimental design, college-wide events, and reports which may have a wide range of styles including quantitative elements and national policy recommendations. Common themes in student feedback reference this educator’s “insightful feedback”, “support”, “helpful consultations,” and “care for student learning.”
This educator believes that the challenges students face today require an interdisciplinary ethos, core competencies in soft skills, and digital literacy, culture, and ethics. In his teaching, he empowers students to cross disciplines confidently, with the rigour, clarity, and versatility of thought to take on new skills, methods, concepts, tools, and insights from other approaches. His strengths lie in his passion for knowledge and learning, which he models for his students, and the patient and methodical process that he brings to thinking through complex issues. In his class on knowledge and expertise, this educator fosters deep and creative intellectual interactions among his students. He does so by skilfully setting the conceptual framework, conveying the important aspects of the reading in question, guiding and moderating the class discussion, and responding and providing feedback to students. He supports critical thinking through a careful scaffolding of knowledge conducted in a progressive and inclusive manner. These lively discussions occur outdoors and in the context of learning gained from field trips, as well as in classrooms prepped up with prompts, props, and technologies such as Slack, Yellowdig, Wikis and Telegram.
Although comparatively early in her career, Dr Hah has already demonstrated that she is a passionate and dedicated educator. The committee praised her responsiveness to students, in terms of providing them with feedback, tailoring material to their needs, and her implementation of peer-support strategies in scaffolding students’ reading assignments.
Her current course is on its fourth iteration, and she has taken steps during each run to modify and improve the course to support student learning.
Dr Kuan Yee Han is an educator well-known to many. He is a three-time winner of the Residential Colleges Teaching Excellence Award. His approach to teaching incorporates, among other innovative interventions, experiential learning to achieve a learner-centred pedagogy in and out-of-classroom contexts, engaging students at his Residential College and impacting the broader community in Singapore.
This educator has engaged regularly with the NUS community through workshops for colleagues and masterclasses for graduate students. He has been a passionate and caring educator who is now pursuing his teaching aspirations further as Master of UTown Residences.
Dr Kuan Yee Han deploys the core teaching philosophies of experiential and authentic learning to achieve learner-centred teaching both in classroom and out-of-classroom contexts. His engagement with pedagogical literature creates authentic context for authentic learning activities, supporting student collaborative construction of knowledge. Of particular note is his provision of multiple points of scaffolded feedback via formative consultation to ensure his assessments meet learning goals. His students think deeply, critically and collaboratively. He generously engages the broader NUS community through workshops for peers and masterclasses for graduate student societies and the Office of Student Affairs. He continues to commit to developing himself and others through an ongoing engagement in a formal NUS Learning Community. For his commitment to his own personal growth as an educator, student development and community learning, Yee Han is a deserving award winner.
Dr Céline Coderey’s facilitation of student self-discovery, self- analysis and validation along their journey to growth is highly distinctive.Céline provides critical companionship for students through careful and appropriate mentoring and critique. She also shows the capacity to thoughtfully design instruction and uses teaching methods that support deep learner reflection. These methods are grounded in her own discipline while engaging other domains of expertise. Her use of highly original and personal assessments that support individual growth allow students to engage affect and feeling as well as the intellect as they obtain greater meaning through her teaching. Her commitment to student discovery and growth generates appreciation, respect, and admiration. Her meticulous and caring method, and her support for diverse student interests, learning journeys and identities, makes Céline a deserving award winner.
Dr Kuan Yee Han’s use of authentic and experiential learning approaches through carefully designed interventions has successfully engaged the broader community in Singapore and galvanised students learning, supporting their personal growth. Students’ feedback and the quality of the work they produce show his novel interventions utilising simulation, collaborative writing and walk-based learning have created a stimulating, supportive and caring learning environment for students. This educator has also continued to contribute to and serve the development of others’ teaching within the NUS community. His impactful engagement of the broader community in Singapore through innovative and sophisticated teaching interventions and his ongoing contributions to supporting colleagues’ development at NUS make him a deserving award winner.
I was continuously given new perspectives into the ageing issue and to consider the various factors that affect this subject. I think that one of the biggest skills that I picked up during the module is to have an elderly-centered approach when approaching issues regarding them.
In the course of the module, Dr Céline...managed to engage the students effectively in the subject of “Time and Life” through meditating on the everyday phenomena of time’ and our shared lived experiences. This has created many opportunities for meaningful reflection and deeper engagement in the module for students, by creatively marrying and harnessing both academic discussions and personal reflections.
Dr Connor is an extremely good facilitator of seminar discussions. He listens to every single individual or small group and gives additional input, enabling us to share a more coherent answer with the class. He draws on different individuals’ sharings to help us feel included in the discussion. Apart from that, all seminars are well-planned and well-paced, with expectations of how the seminar should go decided together as a class from the start.
Yee Han is a really approachable and dedicated teacher. He puts a lot of effort into planning his lessons and his objectives for each class. His seminars go the extra mile to include various forms of class activities (e.g. role–plays, book discussions, lego building) rather than just relying on slides. During class, he also ensures everyone gets an opportunity to participate.
She is very encouraging and open when helping develop my ideas, even if I think that they are not feasible or too difficult to implement. As a result, I had to leave my comfort zone to interview a Palestinian living overseas and developed valuable communication skills in the process.
Tay Yong Chiang is deeply appreciated by his students for being supportive, open-minded, interesting, inspirational and his ability to draw connections between many disciplines. Where possible, he also employs a student-driven curriculum to have deeper student engagement. This award is for being a thought-provoking teacher and one who relentlessly challenges students’ perspectives.
I see and appreciate the enormous effort that Prof Tay put to teaching this Junior Seminar. Prof Tay encouraged us to be critical about truth and proof in different disciplines. This made me better appreciate the efforts people outside of my major. I think Prof Tay had done a good job in simplifying the mathematical concepts, like with the chessboard problem, so that we can understand (well, at least I personally did understand the gist of it). Overall, I think Prof Tay had made this Junior Seminar a very challenging and rewarding class.
Kuan Yee Han is constantly cited by students for being engaging, super approachable and as someone who inspires thinking. Offering authentic learning experiences to students is a key objective of his work as an educator – thus, he employs field-trips, role plays and LEGO based learning to create back and forth learning journeys between the real-world and the classroom. In addition, he works with Tembusu College students on Negotiation and Leadership skills.
One of the kindest and most approachable professors I have had. He spends so much time giving consultations to his students even when he is not feeling well. He puts in so much effort in his lessons, such as bringing in items that are related to the cases, organising field trips so that we can see first hand the issues that are brought up during classes. He is always open to ideas in class, and even when the ideas his students give are irrelevant at times, he always seems to link it back to the topics mentioned in the module. His classes are engaging and well thought out- I really learnt a lot and had a lot of fun!
Dr Connor is an excellent mentor -- nurturing and well-equipped as an educator. Through the module I read under him, I learnt more than I could have ever hoped to, and he has helped me achieve and realize things about myself, and my writing calibre that have and will continue to prove useful in my academic endeavours, and otherwise.
Kelvin Pang is a passionate educator best known for his ability to motivate and empower students through innovative and impactful practices in teaching and learning. He consistently engages students through signature pedagogies that include student case writing and “table-top” teaching. His excellent use of the residential college environment to help students improve their negotiation skills and develop mental resilience aligns strongly with NUS’ vision of producing well-rounded, future-ready graduates. This award is for his unceasing outstanding contributions in and outside the classroom.
Kelvin goes above and beyond to help my classmates and I throughout our cases. During consultations, scheduled or impromptu, he challenges us to push our cases to new heights instead of taking the easy way out by removing the nuances, and prompts us to find new angles of approaching the material. Classes every week take on a different format and I really did enjoy the different modes of learning. The email summaries were also very useful for understanding key take away points and introduce related readings beyond our discussion which I do thoroughly enjoy.
Dr Catelijne Coopmans has enabled students to have the courage and character to question assumptions and conclusions. Besides great teaching skills, she has the ability to promptly adapt to student needs and give enlightening feedback on their work. For many years, she has created impact among Tembusu faculty by spreading good educational practices and has enthusiastically shared first-hand experiences of teaching in a residential college.
Dr Catelijne is very dedicated towards her students as shown by her commitment to each of us. She provides very timely feedback on our progress and remains very open minded about our ideas and opinions throughout the course.
Dr Adam Groves creates “thinking classes” where there is free sharing of ideas amidst fun and excitement. His creative teaching methods have made it possible to introduce unorthodox ideas to students and help them develop a deep love for the subject. His assessments are highly streamlined and build from the start towards a final goal aided by feedback comments. Overall he supports the intellectual development of students and cares about their overall well-being.
Dr. Groves displays true concern for the holistic development of each of his students, and this can really be seen from the work he does, the way he conducts his class, the way discussions, consultations are facilitated. Apart from focusing on the student's progress in a specific module, his concern extends to the student's overall well-being, as students find him approachable and eaasy to talk to. In addition, he facilitates discussions well by being open to creativity and encouraging individual thought and development of thought.
Margaret Tan provides a well-structured learning experience for her students. Her pedagogical strengths include conducting very informative seminar sessions and augmenting the learning process of students by being approachable and caring. Margaret’s other contributions have been in integrating the arts into the Tembusu curriculum, as well as organizing several out-of-class initiatives at the College. This award is for her excellent work in nurturing students in both formal and informal settings.
A great teacher who puts forth concepts in an interesting and easy to understand manner. Also provides useful and thought-provoking feedback and suggestions, especially for our intervention project - it was fun and extremely fulfilling.
Tay Yong Chiang has an ability to intellectually challenge students and prepare them to critically question the assumptions and claims made by others. Students find him inspiring and engaging, as he enables them to look beyond their current mental boundaries and establish links into their majors. He is a well-regarded educator, with a high percentage of students nominating him for teaching awards.
Prof Tay is very proficient in the subject that he teaches. He encourages his students to read beyond what is discussed in class, and always provides genuine feedback in a timely manner. Prof Tay is also very open-minded about what the students have to say in class and what the students write in the essay. I truly appreciate this because he lets us explore and be creative with our thoughts while still guiding us on how to create a powerful argument.
Whether it was for the Level 1000 Junior Seminars or the Level 2000 Senior Seminars, Dr Connor Graham had received numerous compliments from his students for stretching their thinking skills, for encouraging them to develop their own ideas, for providing prompt feedback, and for skilfully facilitating classroom discussions, amongst other positive comments on his teaching and classroom experience. The compliments coincide with Connor’s teaching goals on helping his students to see things in new ways, in ways that are relevant to their lives, and to nurture their own intellectual interests. For his ability to effectively practise what he plans and to deliver on his teaching philosophy, RCTEC is pleased to recognise Connor with this award.
Whether it was for the Level 1000 Junior Seminars or the Level 2000 Senior Seminars, Dr Connor Graham had received numerous compliments from his students for stretching their thinking skills, for encouraging them to develop their own ideas, for providing prompt feedback, and for skilfully facilitating classroom discussions, amongst other positive comments on his teaching and classroom experience. The compliments coincide with Connor’s teaching goals on helping his students to see things in new ways, in ways that are relevant to their lives, and to nurture their own intellectual interests. For his ability to effectively practise what he plans and to deliver on his teaching philosophy, RCTEC is pleased to recognise Connor with this award.
Dr Adam Groves credits his teachers across three countries who conveyed on him a wealth of experiences and memories. As he was inspired, so too does he seek to inspire his students. He champions the general education achieved though seminar-style learning at Tembusu College with a philosophy which combines the individual “student-centred” development with growth through “peer learning” facilitation amidst a diversity of undergraduates. In the classroom, Dr Groves weaves between student responses, allowing each a space and time to contribute and respond, whilst shepherding the discussion in the main learning direction. One reviewer regards this as part artistry. For the exploration he facilitates, the intellectual nurturing he provides and the encouragement to shrug off boundaries of students’ outlook, RCTEC is pleased to recognise Adam with this award.
Dr. Adam Groves credits his teachers across three countries who conveyed on him a wealth of experiences and memories. As he was inspired, so too does he seek to inspire his students. He champions the general education achieved through seminar-style learning at Tembusu College with a philosophy which combines the individual "student-centred" development with growth through "peer learning" facilitation amidst a diversity of undergraduates. In the classroom, Dr Groves weaves between student responses, allowing each a space and time to contribute and respond, whilst shepherding the discussion in the main learning direction. One reviewer regards this as part artistry. For the exploration he facilitates, the intellectual nurturing he provides and the encouragement to shrug off boundaries of students' outlook, RCTEC is pleased to recognise Adam with the RCTEA for 2015-2016.
Dr Kelvin Pang’s work as an educator at Tembusu College makes a compelling case for RCTEA based on his innovative approaches in teaching senior seminars. Practices such as student case writing, “table-top” teaching and classroom discussions have made a deep impact on students’ intellectual growth. Outside the classroom, he has helped students gain a variety of life skills including negotiation skills (through “Heart of Negotiation” workshop series put together with senior students and faculty at Tembusu) and be future-ready (through the “The Third Year Experience” platform). Kelvin’s work neatly fits into NUS’s vision of producing well-rounded, resilient graduates. Innovation in the classroom, creation of conducive learning environment and continuous improvement based on reflective practices set apart Kelvin to be a recipent of this award.
Dr Kelvin Pang’s work as an educator at Tembusu College makes a compelling case for RCTEA based on his innovative approaches in teaching senior seminars. Practices such as student case writing, “table-top” teaching and classroom discussions have made a deep impact on students’ intellectual growth. Outside the classroom, he has helped students gain a variety of life skills including negotiation skills (through “Heart of Negotiation” workshop series put together with senior students and faculty at Tembusu) and be future-ready (through the “The Third Year Experience” platform). Kelvin’s work neatly fits into NUS’s vision of producing well-rounded, resilient graduates. Innovation in the classroom, creation of conducive learning environment and continuous improvement based on reflective practices set apart Kelvin to be a recipent of this award.
Dr Connor Graham is a reflective practitioner who shows outstanding preparation and profound care in his junior and senior seminar teaching. He shows students that their voices matter and challenges them to hone their thinking and expression. Beyond the classroom he has cultivated student leaders through his fourth-year mentoring, advising of the Tembusu Debate Society and the online student journal Treehouse – as well as acquainting students with important works of fiction through semesterly ‘reading pods’.
He is a very knowledgeable and dedicated teacher who encourages students to think deeply and push our analysis further. From him we learnt how to understand deeply into the meaning and interpretation of facts provided and to make connections between different isolated ideas.
He doesn't restrict us or our thinking in anyway and gives us the full freedom to pursue whatever we are interested in which makes learning so much more fun and easy. He also has a unique perspective and gives us more insight to whatever issues that we are researching on, opening our eyes to different perspectives and ideas that we had never considered before.
In his formal teaching and out-of-classroom engagement, Dr Kelvin Pang has effectively instigated a cycle of learning, which allows students to discover intrinsic motivation, embrace critique and failure as they learn and engage a topic, and eventually step up as mentors for their juniors. In the past year, his new module “Negotiating in a Complex World” impressed with its innovative design, rigour and glowing student reception. He has also made an impact as a fourth-year mentor, and as a designer-facilitator of regular workshops on negotiation and on personal development.
In my opinion, teaching at the university level ought to be creative and engaging and Dr Kelvin had shown how to achieve that in his own innovative ways. ... I felt motivated to put in effort and explored more in the module. He was very flexible and gave room for his students to develop our own interest and connect it to the module. The close relationship that he forged with his students also enabled students to come to him for assistance more comfortably and at ease.
Dr Connor Graham’s approach to teaching and learning makes excellent use of the residential college environment of University Town. The boundaries of his classroom are made permeable through fieldtrips, the involvement of guests, and assignments that prompt students to engage external audiences. Beyond his well-regarded teaching of junior and senior seminars, Dr Graham has made a deep contribution to Tembusu through his mentorship of student projects under the Third Year Experience, and by nurturing the debate, and writing, culture at the college.
An excellent educator who is genuine and sincerely interested in the learning process of his students. Goes out of his way to give detailed and personalised feedback and also organising field trips during class periods to better allow students to apply what they’ve learnt in class to the real world. A great teacher whose efforts need to be recognised.
Dr John van Wyhe’s student feedback shows him to be an engaging and inspiring educator. An expert on the life and work of Darwin and Wallace who is known to be a strong public speaker and lecturer, Dr van Wyhe has successfully adapted his teaching style to the UTCP seminar format. He emphasizes skills as well as knowledge, and allows students to pursue their own interests within the boundaries of the module. Being jointly appointed, he has nevertheless found time to contribute to Tembusu’s teaching mission more broadly by hosting soirees and work-in-progress seminars.
Dr John van Wyhe's classes are truly a delight to attend. His knowledge of the subject is truly deserving of its global renown, and it has been an honour to learn under him. Yet despite his qualifications and unrivalled competency, he has never caused students to feel inferior, in fact he genuinely encourages the input of each and every student and actually makes the student feel it is of value.
Associate Professor Kelvin Pang
Dr Kelvin Pang is a highly effective teacher, with a talent for making students feel at ease in the classroom. He is very good at building trust, which allows him to push and challenge his students while always remaining supportive. His module, ‘Social Innovation’, is highly regarded by students for its innovative assignments, its real-world relevance and the passion Kelvin brings to it.
He is very receptive to feedback and is constantly improving himself to better address our needs and concerns. He is a humble teacher who listens and gives constructive feedback. [...] He is always prepared for lessons and ever ready to tell us more about what he had found over the weekends. He is energetic and lively in class, and makes me really want to attend his lessons, because I always end up feeling so inspired and enlightened afterwards.
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