Snippets from TODAY article
05 January 2015
By Ang Swee Hoon
Albert Einstein once said: “Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.” How apt this is, in light of Singapore’s employment landscape, where savvy employers are beginning to differentiate between degrees that “carry their full worth” in knowledge and skills, as Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin described, and those that are mere paper qualifications.
Progressive universities are going one step further by engaging beyond knowledge enhancement and towards critical thinking.
In business schools, this means that besides bringing the business world into the classroom through anecdotes and in-class cases, the class should also be brought into the business world.
The latter includes, among others, getting students to relate to the business community through solving real-world cases in competitions. As an extension of in-class case studies, universities are sending students to international business case competitions, where they analyse and strategise actual challenges faced by real firms.
Some universities are known for students who have the courage to speak up and challenge. Behind this form requires substance. Anyone can deliver a smooth presentation with enough rehearsals; however, the true test is to think on one’s feet.
Mindful critique involves asking pertinent questions, not just any question. Mindful response is responding in a succinct, end-all manner that silences further questions and earns the respect of the questioner. Both call for quick thinking.
See more here: http://www.todayonline.com/commentary/train-students-think-fast-rather-merely-learn-facts?singlepage=true