Keeping PaCE with disruption

Helping working adults remain relevant in a time of uncertainty.

In the past, a bachelor’s degree was a ticket to a relatively stable career. Working adults today cannot assume that what they learnt in university will support their entire career. Like the Red Queen in Lewis Carroll’s Alice Through the Looking Glass who has to keep running just to avoid falling behind, working adults must continuously update their professional proficiencies to remain relevant in society.

Recognising the value of lifelong learning, the Singapore government has placed significant emphasis on advancing adult education and professional development among working adults. In line with this national agenda, NTU's Centre for Professional and Continuing Education (PaCE@NTU) was officially launched in May 2016 to upgrade and renew the skillset of Singapore’s workforce.

“The core mission of PaCE@NTU is to enable advanced skills acquisition for lifelong learning,” says Prof Ting Seng Kiong, the Centre's founding Dean. “By offering continuing education programmes to equip Singaporean professionals, managers and executives with updated knowledge and skills, we allow them to keep pace with the rapid technological changes rippling through today’s increasingly competitive economy and industrial landscape.”

As an incentive for NTU graduates to keep abreast of new developments in their fields, from November 2017, each NTU alumnus will receive S$1,600 (about US$1,180) worth of course credits to update their skills and get an edge in their careers.

Matching demand and supply
Drawing on NTU’s deep technical know-how in established and emerging technologies, PaCE@NTU offers 55 undergraduate-level courses, eight graduate-level courses and 63 short courses, in addition to in-house training and part-time degree programmes. The majority of these courses revolve around the engineering and computer sciences, like data analytics and cloud computing, reflecting the current and future needs of Singapore’s economy, though courses on finance, leadership skills and graphic design are also available.

“There is a great demand for power engineers, civil engineers and specialised information technology personnel,” says Prof Ting. “From the employer’s point of view, they want to hire someone with the right skills. PaCE plays the role of facilitator; we find out what skills or courses are in demand and make them accessible to working adults.”

To take the pulse of Singapore’s job market, the Centre has successfully created a market-sensing feedback loop by keeping channels of communication open with government agencies, industry partners and even alumni employers. With this insider knowledge into job market trends, PaCE can then identify skills shortages that cause certain job positions to be particularly hard to fill, and adjust its curriculum accordingly.

A paradigm shift in mindset
The adage goes that you can “lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink”. Even with the smorgasbord of courses available at PaCE@NTU, adult learners may still be hesitant to go back to school. According to Prof Ting, it all boils down to the way Singaporean society currently views lifelong learning.

“The major challenge to lifelong learning is that it is still lacking in our present culture—most working adults do not see the need to acquire additional skills to prepare themselves for future changes,” he says. “We have to make learning a way of life, and to achieve this, learning must be made enjoyable instead of intimidating.”

To orchestrate this change in mentality, researchers at NTU’s Centre for Research and Development in Learning (CRADLE) are delving into the behaviours and psyches of adult learners to complement the efforts of PaCE in promoting lifelong learning.

“Working adult learners need a combination of flexibility and structure,” notes Dr Peter Looker, who heads the Teaching, Learning and Pedagogy Division of CRADLE. “Flexibility is particularly needed in terms of time constraints, but structure is also needed to keep people engaged and on track.”

To provide both the flexibility and structure to entice professionals to make upskilling a priority, PaCE@NTU is wielding the very tool that warranted its existence—technology.

The evolved classroom
With the advent of the internet, the four walls of a physical classroom have been broken down. Information is simply a click away, and learning can take place even in the absence of a teacher.

“Technology has reduced the need for conventional lectures, increased student networking, emphasised the need to learn about how to discriminate in terms of accessing knowledge, and improved the possibilities of peer-to-peer learning,” says Dr Looker. “These approaches provide students with more opportunities to develop habits of learning that they can carry with them through life.”

When applied to the perennially busy adult learner, remote learning—or e-learning—seems an ideal solution. Indeed, PaCE@NTU, like other centres and colleges in NTU, makes use of the Learning Activities Management System (LAMS) to provide videos, reading material and quizzes in a sequenced form online so that working professionals can access their coursework from the convenience of their homes or offices.

“PaCE@NTU’s technology-enhanced learning courses are conducted with a mix of online and face-to-face sessions,” explains Prof Ting. “It is a form of blended learning.”

Dr Looker has observed that adult learners are often very highly motivated in a way that undergraduates may not be. Hence, using technology to overcome inertia, working professionals may come to embrace the concept of lifelong learning and benefit from the abundant opportunities it brings.

“Nobody can predict upcoming trends, so we should be prepared to learn something different whenever necessary,” says Prof Ting. “Learning should be a part of life—do not wait until you have no choice but to learn a new skill.”

The article appeared first in NTU’s research & innovation magazine Pushing Frontiers (issue #12, December 2017).