Young Researcher Programme: An Inquiry-based Learning to Cultivate Innovation and Research Mindset

‘Students as researchers’ is an active pedagogy emphasizing the process of student research and inquiry. When students practice inquiry, it helps them develop all the critical skills needed for the 21st century which include problem identification, problem-solving, critical thinking, team working, data analysis, scientific reasoning, decision making, etc. Similarly, a programme known as the Young Researcher Programme (YRP) has been implemented in the School of Engineering at Nanyang Polytechnic, Singapore since 2017 to nurture students’ innovative spirit and develop capabilities in conducting research. In the YRP, students are to form their own teams that consist of members who are from different years of study and engineering disciplines. The purpose is to train students to find ways to collaborate, learn and share knowledge and skillsets with a diverse group of members in the team. The team is then required to conduct independent research, integrate ideas from different resources, support their ideas with evidence, conceptualise and apply relevant principles in designing the experiments or products, implement them under staff supervision, and evaluate the validity and reliability of their conclusions. As the YRP is conducted beyond the formal curriculum hours, students are not bounded by the requirement of the curriculum and are free to work on research projects that are of interest to them. Students in the YRP are also given ample opportunities to attend training and seminars, as well as participate in industry visits. This paper describes how the YRP exposes students to a culture of inquiry-based learning starting from as early as their first year of study at the Polytechnic. This paper also discusses the effectiveness of the YRP in inculcating a research mindset among the students and the usefulness in tracking their individual progress in YRP until their final year of study in the polytechnic. Finally, this paper highlights the challenges faced and provides recommendations for future enhancement of the YRP.