COMPARING SDL IN SINGAPORE AND VIETNAM: APPROACHES AND STUDENT PERCEPTIONS

Self-directed learning (SDL) is becoming a critical and important skill in the labor markets of today's VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) world. With significant advances in technology, we are now faced with the challenges of making sense with big data and discerning fake news from genuine ones. SDL is, therefore, a necessary skill in the world we are preparing our students for. However, the classroom culture we have created and inherited is not designed around self-direction, which tends more towards the dissemination of information characterised by large lecture classes, students practicing standard tutorial questions, and for most of the time assessed through time-sensitive examination formats in which students regurgitate information absorbed to demonstrate comprehension. There are, however, many challenges in integrating SDL into an already-packed curriculum. This paper compares the approaches between two institutions in two countries – namely Singapore Polytechnic in Singapore and Duy Tan University in Vietnam – on their respective efforts to impart SDL skills among students. The aim is to learn from each other's practices that both can advance and improve students' learning on these important skills. We are interested in how each institution handles the teaching of SDL skills, faculty preparation, issues and challenges faced, the method used (whether using the CDIO Framework or others; choice of pedagogy, assessment), the measurement used to ascertain the effectiveness of any interventions used, as well as the students' own self-efficacy and perception of SDL in helping them learn better; and lastly plans for moving ahead. This paper firstly provides a brief summary of the vast literature available on these aspects and then shares our findings in the abovementioned areas. It concludes with a discussion on possible ways the 2 institutions can collaborate to further improve each's SDL implementation.