Students take learning out of the classroom as field trips resume

Urban Singapore class photo at the HDB building. Photo provided by Assoc Prof Ho Kong Chong.

The recent easing of COVID-19 restrictions in Singapore has allowed our faculty to incorporate field trips into course modules to help deepen students’ engagement with learning material. Professors are taking the opportunity to organise learning trips – ranging from studying plant biology at the Singapore Botanical Gardens, to learning about the art market ecosystem at art fairs.

Earlier this semester, the Religion, Ritual and Magic class embarked on a journey to experience and visualise the religious landscape in Singapore. Led by Assistant Professor of Social Sciences (Anthropology) Stuart Earle Strange, the class examines forms of religious thought originating from various cultures around the world and how the practice of religions is shaped by the societies they are practised in.

Class field trip around the Clementi and West Coast neighbourhoods for the module Religion, Ritual and Magic. Image provided by Glenda Wee.

Wong Wan Qi (Class of 2025) described how Asst Prof Strange took the class for a walk around the Clementi and West Coast neighbourhoods, which are residential areas that are near the College campus. Students found that the neighbourhoods were “brimming with places of worship or signs of worship across different religions…  from little leaves on the doors of HDB apartments…to massive temples with gigantic statues of deities”.

An interesting learning point Wan Qi took from the trip was how religion was intertwined with everyday life in Singapore. “We passed by shops with altars dedicated to deities”, she described. “[Some were] located on the corner of the store floor, or even at the back of the coffeeshop”.

Tang Jia Wen (Class of 2025) also found the field trip immensely useful, as it created an opportunity for students to link seminar discussions to their own experiences. Having grown up in Singapore, she felt that she often overlooks the various ways different religions intersect within her daily life. She remarked, “[The field trip] got me to notice joss sticks at HDBs and in turn think about how the state has taken a secular approach to ritualised spaces,” something she had not considered before.

These opportunities for experiential learning also help students zoom out from their readings and see the bigger picture. In the Urban Singapore module led by Associate Professor of Social Sciences (Urban Studies, Sociology) Ho Kong Chong, students visited the relevant local government agencies in Singapore’s urban planning. This included the Housing and Development Board (HDB) and the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). 

Woo Hoi Yuet (Class of 2025) shared that a key insight for her from these visits was learning about how the physical form of the city is so intimately intertwined with the everyday lives of residents, and how “creating a residential town isn’t just about building a few residential blocks.”

“There are so many considerations, from the walking distance to bus stops to maintaining access to schools in the neighbourhood,” she explained. “What makes [these] field trips special are how I’m no longer just a passive spectator [of urban planning], but rather in a position to be much more critical about what I see from the perspective of Singapore’s urban planners.”

An Urban Singapore field trip to HDB’s visitor gallery, which showcases the latest housing initiatives and planning ideas. Image provided by Justin Tan.

Jeremy Xiao (Class of 2025) agreed. “To understand and learn about any city, I believe experiencing it in person is crucial.”

“For me, the most interesting part of the field trips were the opportunities to speak to policy officers at the URA and HDB,” he added. “It’s not often you get to hear about the people working ‘behind-the-scenes’ on policy considerations, and [to learn about] how policies shaping the city are designed and implemented.”

Pictured: Director of Rental Housing, HDB (Ms Zing Lim Tse Yin) (front-right), Assoc Prof Ho Kong Chong (right) with the Urban Singapore class. Image provided by Justin Tan. 

These field trips also complement the learning process by providing an alternative perspective for one to approach seminar readings. “Assoc Prof Ho often emphasises using a critical lens to view the city, to constantly question the narratives being portrayed and to look for alternative angles or viewpoints,” said Jeremy. “I think field trips are an amazing channel to fulfil this experiential aspect of learning, particularly in a class like Urban Singapore.”

Leveraging on the small and intimate classes at Yale-NUS, which are conducive for fostering in-depth discussions with peers and professors, the real-world exposure provided during the faculty led trips prompt students to tap on their interdisciplinary knowledge to seek out unexpected connections to solve real world challenges.