Ahead of the game
ASSOC Prof Dr Victor Chuang, the new head of Monash University Malaysia’s School of Pharmacy, sheds light on initiatives taken by the faculty in helping students learn better. With more than 25 years of experience, he is under no illusion as to the challenges that he faces.
“At Monash, we endeavour to equip students with knowledge, necessary professional skills to excel, qualities such as integrity and empathy, and the ability to work with people,” says Assoc Prof Chuang.
A new teaching method, which is being rolled out at the local campus and Monash’s Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science in Australia simultaneously, is aimed at empowering students to drive their own learning processes.
Where teaching was once governed by lecturers, students are now required to read up and understand a given topic before they pose questions in an online forum, on which the lecturers post their responses.
The students then attempt a series of questions to evaluate their understanding of the topic.
In life, change is something that humans struggle to grapple with. It is no different for students who may have been brought up in a system that encourages rote learning. Assoc Prof Chuang acknowledges this and elaborates on methods that are in place to address these challenges, easing concerns that students may drown under the weight of expectations.
“The entire process has been moved forward from a passive teaching method to active personalised coaching. This is a flipped classroom approach. We guide students to teach themselves, obtain information and solve problems.
“Lectures will be conducted in an interactive manner where lecturers provide further clarification on concepts that cannot be easily explained on the online forum, in addition to answering students’ questions.
“There exists a mentor-mentee partnership in this approach. After two weeks, students will reflect on their learning progress to identify learning issues they may have and how they plan to resolve the problem.
“We treat our students as athletes, and we are the coaches. We find out what their strengths are and which areas they are lacking in. Then, we provide them with the guidance and tools to overcome their weaknesses,” says Assoc Prof Chuang.
He adds that students will then post their plans on the online forum for their mentors to provide feedback. This way, mentees receive one-on-one attention that can help them improve their learning.
Assoc Prof Chuang was a benefactor of the Monbusho Scholarship from Japan’s Ministry of Education, where he completed his postgraduate studies. He focused on studying the ligand-binding properties of plasma proteins – aiming to understand the function of proteins – and modifying protein molecules using recombinant DNA technology for drug delivery and therapeutic purposes.
Having spent more than six years in Japan and over 10 years in Western Australia, Assoc Prof Chuang is well placed to relate to the challenges that students may face in a foreign country.
From the Brain Research Institute Monash Sunway to its animal housing centre, Monash University Malaysia is ahead of its competitors in terms of research facilities. Assoc Prof Chuang waxes lyrical about the superb amenities in place.
“I am impressed by how Monash as a private university can successfully maintain animal facilities.
“Animal studies are conducted to investigate the efficacy of certain medications or effect of certain compounds on living beings. This is a costly endeavour to maintain, as the animals must be kept in controlled environments,” he says.
For more information on programmes offered by Monash University Malaysia’s School of Pharmacy, visit www.monash.edu. my/pharmacy