Course Manager Teo Miow Ting pushes new frontiers with a just-in-time teaching model through the Oracle Cloud to enhance students’ learning experience.

Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) in Singapore launched a new teaching model focused on real-world industry competencies. The goal is to better equip students with skillsets that meet the rapidly-changing demands of the workplace. Under the school's Professional Competency Model (or NYP-PCM), learners take Competency Units that, in close collaboration with leading industry players, employ multiple disciplines to develop skills.

Co-created with leading IT companies, the NYP-PCM kicks off in April 2021 with the NYP diploma in Business Intelligence & Analytics. The three-year diploma course will use Oracle Academy content, with a dedicated laboratory for hands-on practice. Two of the diploma’s main Competency Units – Data Modelling and Data Storage Administration – also have been designed closer to industry requirements and will be delivered through the Oracle Cloud.

Oracle Academy Cloud Program will deliver revamped curriculum

“We will be using the Oracle Academy Cloud Program as the learning environment for our students,” says Teo Miow Ting, Deputy Manager, School of Information Technology. “Students will be able to access courseware anytime and anywhere. They will use Oracle Autonomous Database for writing SQL statements, retrieving data, and structuring it in a relational data store.”

Miow Ting says that the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure has arrived at the perfect time. “A cloud environment is a necessity today. Moving to the Oracle Cloud will be effortless and will give students a richer learning space. It also allows us to be more agile in curriculum planning,” she states.

Miow Ting and four other faculty are being trained to deliver Oracle Academy’s teaching curriculum using the Oracle Cloud package of databases, virtual machines and cloud storage. The Academy curriculum mapped with the diploma are Database Foundations and Database Design and Programming with SQL.

Just-in-time learning for greater agility

One feature of the new Competency Units is to teach learners on a “just-in-time” basis. Students will learn specific topics as, and when, needed. No longer will they be taught a whole math or communications studies module in Year 1, only to be applied in Year 3 projects.

“Students shared that they were not seeing the immediate practical application of math when taught upfront as a discrete module,” explains Miow Ting. “The just-in-time delivery approach adds new competencies when needed, in line with daily workplace tasks.”

As an example, Set Theory, a math topic, will be introduced only when required for better understanding of inner and outer joins in the Oracle Database. And instead of a full Communication Studies class, students will be taught how to write emails to articulate stakeholder requirements for data storage.

Nanyang Polytechnic’s new model for teaching exemplifies its vision of making courses as relevant to workplaces as possible. Partnering with industry leaders means teaching knowledge and skills that match fast technology evolution.

“As an industry-focused institution, this collaboration will enable Business Intelligence & Analytics students to gain a better understanding of the needs of the IT sector from the onset, and to be agile in responding to the rapidly evolving pace of change,” said Daniel Wee, Director of the School of Information Technology at NYP. “Our graduates will have the inside track and be ahead of the curve.”

The next course to adopt the new teaching model will be the Diploma in Game Development & Technology followed over time by the rest of NYP’s 40 diploma programs.

Getting students job-ready for the boom in data analysis

NYP selected its Business Intelligence & Analytics diploma for the pilot because of the huge demand in Singapore for data analytics skills. The diploma has accreditation to universities for degree programs in business analytics, data analytics, information technology, computer science, computer engineering, information systems and cybersecurity.

“The data analyst role is in high demand, regardless of the industry,” says Miow Ting. “In Singapore, a large analytics company offers scholarships to our students, and companies everywhere are quick to take on our students in internships, often hiring them full time after graduation.”

Teo Miow Ting has a Master’s degree in Software Engineering from the National University of Singapore and is an Oracle Database 11g Administrator Certified Associate. She began teaching after eight years in project management because of a passion for sharing knowledge.

“I love learning about and getting immersed in new technology, then passing on the knowledge to the next generation,” she says.

Currently she is encouraging students to work towards obtaining Oracle Certification, just as she did. Meanwhile students completing the Business Intelligence & Analytics course will receive a certificate in Database Design & Administration, jointly signed by Oracle Academy and Nanyang Polytechnic.

“On top of the Oracle Cloud skills obtained during their studies, the diploma and joint certification will be very good for students’ resumés. They will be a testament to the kind of industry-relevant skills that they will have learned,” says Miow Ting.

Thank you, Teo Miow Ting, for your passion for Oracle Academy and for preparing your students to make a positive impact.