The annual Singapore Management University (SMU) Teaching Excellence Awards are given to recognise and value the importance of teaching as a complex and multi-faceted activity. The teaching awards are given to faculty for their contributions to promoting excellence in teaching and learning, to enhancing the quality of classroom experience.

Introduced in 2016, the Honour Roll recognises faculty members who have received at least three SMU Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Awards.

Following the Provost’s Annual Address on 22 September 2017 where she shared the priorities and initiatives for the year ahead, including new curricular developments at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, as well as our initiatives in Executive Development and SMU Academy, amongst others, Professor Lily Kong, Provost and Lee Kong Chian Chair Professor of Social Sciences, presented awards to recipients of the Teaching Excellence Awards 2017 at SMU’s Mochtar Riady Auditorium. Congratulating all the recipients and nominees, Professor Lily Kong commended them for the tremendous effort and innovation they have put into their teaching, to make a positive difference in the students’ learning journey.

Here are this year’s winners:

Excellent Teacher Award (Undergraduate)

The award goes to Seow Poh Sun, Associate Professor of Accounting, School of Accountancy (SOA), for using games, videos, e-learning objects, newspapers, experiences, and group projects to demonstrate the subject’s relevance to the real world. The “Accounting Challenge” app which he helped to co-develop has also won multiple prestigious international teaching awards. In addition, he instils the CIRCLE values in SOA students and raises their awareness on community engagement. He is also placed on the Honour Roll.

The other nominees were:

• GAN YOKE WAH, KAREN, Lecturer of Finance, Lee Kong Chian School of Business (LKCSB)
• SHYAMALA DEENATHAYALAN, Senior Lecturer of Corporate Communication, LKCSB
• MADHAV SHRIHARI ANEY, Assistant Professor of Economics, School of Economics (SOE)
• HADY WIRAWAN LAUW, Assistant Professor of Information Systems, School of Information Systems (SIS)
• PEARLIE KOH, Associate Professor of Law, School of Law (SOL)
• IVY LAU, Assistant Professor of Psychology, School of Social Sciences (SOSS)

Innovative Teacher Award (Undergraduate)

The award goes to Geng Xuesong (left), Assistant Professor of Strategic Management, LKCSB, and William Tov (right), Associate Professor of Psychology, SoSS.

Xuesong hones students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills through games, cases, debates and thought-provoking exercises. He also conceptualised “Co-Founders of the North” digital game, which has been adopted in VUCA and other Strategy courses.

On the other hand, William uses analogies, real-life examples and animations to simplify abstract technical concepts and engage students. He also conceptualised the “Stars Café” mobile game to improve students’ statistical literacy and critical thinking skills.

The other nominees were:

• FANG XIN, Assistant Professor of Operations Management, LKCSB
• WONG SUAY PENG, Senior Lecturer of Accounting, SOA
• SWAPNA GOTTIPATI, Assistant Professor of Information Systems, SIS
• RATHNA N. KOMAN, Associate Professor of Law, SOL

Most Promising Teacher Award (Undergraduate)

The award goes to both Sungjong Roh (left), Assistant Professor of Corporate Communications, LKCSB, and Wang Hai (right), Assistant Professor of Information Systems, SIS.

Sungjong goes the extra mile to motivate and help students learn by providing weekly lesson notes, detailed feedback, and additional consultation hours. He also encourages students to think critically about the content and engages in peer observations for continuous professional development.

Wang Hai on the other hand, develops Micro-lab cases for students to gain hands-on experience with real data and gathers weekly feedback from students and adjusts his teaching methods accordingly.

The other nominees were:

• BUKET AVCI, Assistant Professor of Operations Management, LKCSB
• LIN AN-PING, Assistant Professor of Accounting, School of Accountancy
• XUE JINGYI, Assistant Professor of Economics, SOE

Outstanding Teaching Consultant/ Adjunct Award (Undergraduate)

The award goes to Tan Boon Heng, Adjunct for Law, SOL, for using the socratic method to stimulate students’ interest and understanding of the subject matter as well as effectively engaging them through debates, mind-maps, games and crossword puzzles.

The Honour Roll goes to Francesca Benvenuti, Adjunct for Italian Language, SoSS. She effectively uses grounded linguistic approaches, online resources, and practical activities to reinforce learning outcomes and uses highly engaging teaching methods to ensure that no student is left behind.

The other nominees were:

• RAYMOND TEO, Adjunct for Marketing, LKCSB
• PATRICIA LUI, Adjunct for Marketing, LKCSB
• HUYNH BAO TAN, Adjunct for Economics, SOE
• CHONG YIN TENG, Teaching Consultant, Centre for English Communication

Teaching Excellence in Postgraduate Professional Programmes Award

The award goes to Tee Chyng Wen (left), Assistant Professor of Quantitative Finance and Academic Director, Master of Science in Quantitative Finance, LKCSB and Lee Wee Leong (right), Associate Professor of Information Systems and Director, Master of IT in Business (Analytics), SIS.

Chyng Wen has a knack for illustrating the course content in a very precise and intuitive manner. He also uses simulations beyond the syllabus to show students how actual markets function in real life and peppers his curriculum with practical industry insights.

Wee Leong strives to help his students build their confidence to solve real-world business issues more efficiently with his detailed explanations and simulation tools. He also uses humour and interactive teaching styles in order to engage them.

The other nominees were:

• SRINIVAS K. REDDY, Professor of Marketing, LKCSB
• SUM YEE LOONG, Professor of Accounting, SOA
• TAN KIM SONG, Associate Professor of Economics, SOE
• TANG HANG WU, Professor of Law, SOL

SMU Executive Development Teaching Excellence Award (Internal Faculty)

The award goes to Shantanu Bhattacharya (left), Professor of Operations Management, LKCSB and Ang Ser Keng (right), Senior Lecturer of Finance, LKCSB.

Shantanu uses a high level of interactivity for his programmes which includes games and simulation exercises for team building and to facilitate the understanding of supply chain.

Ser Keng is very energetic and interactive in his delivery style. He is also clear in explaining the content, which makes complex financials simple to understand and easy to apply.

The other nominees were:

• GREGOR HALFF, Professor of Corporate Communications, LKCSB
• BENEDICT KOH, Professor of Finance, LKCSB
• KAPIL TULI, Professor of Marketing, LKCSB

SMU Executive Development Teaching Excellence Award Recipients (External Faculty)

The award goes to Les Buckley (left), Affiliated Faculty of Strategic Management and Markus Keiper (right), Chief Customer & Digital Officer, and Disruptive Transformational Leader.

Les is an excellent speaker and excels in emphasising the importance of good leadership and the winning business performance. He also uses relevant real-world examples and provides extra learning materials to enhance understanding

Markus comes with a strong background in commercial experience and is an entertaining speaker who provides applicable examples with interesting topics that are useful in the daily job.

The other nominees were:

• JOANNA THUMIGER, Executive Coach and Facilitator
• SABREENA ANDRIESZ, Executive Coach and Facilitator
• JEANETTE NG, Business Advisor and Associate Faculty

You can find out more about the awards and the nominees from these links:

• Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Awards
• Teaching Excellence in Postgraduate Professional Programmes Award
• ExD Teaching Excellence Awards

Heartiest congratulations to all nominees and recipients for their exemplary contributions and achievements in their quest for teaching excellence!

[Featured photo: The recipients and nominees of the Teaching Excellence Awards 2017, together with SMU’s senior management team.]