Hong Wei, a third-year Electrical and Electronics Engineering student at Republic Polytechnic, shares his experience of transitioning from an Institute of Technical Education (ITE) to a Polytechnic. He graduated with a National ITE Certificate (Nitec) in Automotive Technology and Higher Nitec in Mechanical Engineering at the ITE College West.
When I first entered Republic Polytechnic (RP), I felt very lost because everything was so foreign to me. The culture, the way class was conducted and curriculum were all vastly different compared to how it was in ITE.
It was a struggle to make friends while adapting to the new environment at the same time. In the course of one semester, the class size shrank from 40 students to just 25 students. What impacted me the most was that I used to have classes on two to three different modules in a day, and all of a sudden, our lessons were only fixed on one module a day.
Here are the differences I noticed between ITE and Poly.
#1 Theoretical vs Practical
The first problem that I faced when I came to RP was the amount of theoretical knowledge we had to learn compared to ITE. In ITE, the majority of our lessons required us to gain practical knowledge (knowledge that is acquired by day-to-day hands-on experiences). On the other hand, my Polytechnic education was filled mostly with memorising theories and calculations.
In Nitec, most of my lessons were practical. For example, we would learn about the different components of a car, its functions, how to perform maintenance or repair works, and how to troubleshoot or solve problems.
However, my education in Higher Nitec helped me to adjust better as the curriculum was more theoretical compared to Nitec. In Nitec, the theory to practical ratio was about 20:80 compared to a 40:60 ratio in Higher Nitec. In Higher Nitec we learned about material selection, Computer-Aided Design (CAD) via Solidworks, Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) Programming & Computerised Numerical Control (CNC) Programming.
In Poly the amount of theoretical lessons I had was a lot more compared to Higher Nitec. The theory to practical ratio became about 80:20, the complete opposite of what I experienced in Nitec! In RP, we learned about the Kirchoff Voltage Law, Kirchoff Current Law, Voltage divider rule, how to design an IRL circuit, C programming, VBA programming, engineering design, etc.
This was a struggle for me and I found the sheer amount of theoretical knowledge overwhelming. I was not used to having to do so many calculations. In addition to that, my mathematical foundations were not as good as most of my classmates who either came from the Normal (Academic) or Express streams in Secondary School.
I overcame this by brushing up on my mathematical foundations and trying to take down as many notes as I could in class, to keep up with my peers and to help myself better understand the lessons.
#2 Teaching Method
The second problem I faced was adapting to the different methods of teaching used. In ITE, most of the lessons were taught through lectures, meaning a lecturer would give us all the information while we just listened and took notes.
RP on the other hand, used a teaching method called Problem-Based Learning (PBL), which means that all your lessons would be related to the same module the whole day. The first half of the day would start with a lecture while the second half of the day would be spent on solving a problem we were given, using the knowledge that was acquired in the first half of the lesson.
This was a struggle for me because it meant that I only had a few hours to digest and understand the lesson, and then troubleshoot or resolve the problem on the spot.
Thankfully, I managed to overcome this obstacle by working closely with my classmates and teammates to understand the lesson together, creating the PowerPoint slides during breaks and discussing with them what was taught earlier in the first part of the lesson.
By doing this, it helped us to build on one another’s understanding and gave us the opportunity to clarify any doubts or questions with one another. This method especially helps a lot when it comes to modules based on mathematics.
#3 Making Friends
The third problem I faced was making new friends. In ITE, students would remain in the same class and have the same classmates throughout the duration of their course. However, in Polytechnic, classes change every semester and on some occasions my classmates were not the same across different modules. This meant that I had to make new friends every 6 months.
I overcame this final hurdle by making an effort to interact with every single one of my classmates and establish a genuine connection with each of them. This was possible as the number of students in each class was significantly smaller compared to ITE. I could talk to more people and manage my friendships better as we had a smaller and more inclusive community.
In Conclusion…
Now that I am in Year 3 of Poly, I would say that in the past two years I learned to be more independent and have adapted well to the PBL method compared to when I was in Year 1.
I have also learned the importance of working closely with my classmates and project teammates in the sense that we struggle together, we play hard together and we work hard together.
In addition, a lot has changed since my first year in Polytechnic due to Covid-19—Classes have been shifted online and exams were cancelled and more assignments were given to us by our lecturer. I used to have deeper connections with my classmates when we could meet physically, but now I only get to see them occasionally when there are onsite lab sessions.
In terms of academia, I would say that I did better compared to Year 1 and the first half of Year 2 as we are now given more graded assignments, and less exams. In my opinion, I prefer physical lessons over online lessons. However I prefer graded assignments which you can take more time to complete, over written exams which are usually over in two hours.
Tips for ITE graduates who want to enter a Polytechnic
Lastly, I would like to leave some tips for students who are looking to enter Poly in the coming years.
- Be open-minded and willing to adapt to the new environment and teaching methods. Just a heads up for those entering RP, you will be doing a presentation every Project Based Learning lesson. Hence you should expect to have a lot more public speaking compared to ITE.
- Stay curious; be ready to have your mind blown as Poly will bring you through concepts and theories that were either never taught in ITE, or taught but barely scratching the surface (in ITE you are just seeing and learning the tip of the iceberg).
- Ask questions when in doubt. When you don’t understand a concept, don’t be afraid to ask your friends and lecturers as they will be more than willing to teach you or clarify your doubts.
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