“Asking Questions”

GEQ1000
What is
 What is Q? Who needs it?

• All NUS undergraduates in modular faculties have to fulfil 20MCs from the General
Education (GE) curriculum as part of their undergraduate study.
• The Q module on “Asking Questions” (GEQ1000) is the fifth module requirement in the
NUS General Education curriculum.
Depending on your faculty curricular needs, GEQ1000 is pre-allocated to you either in your
first or second year of study.

What is the “Asking Questions” module about?

NUS Provost’s blog https://blog.nus.edu.sg/provost/2017/04/06/the-lost-art-of-asking-
questions/
 GEQ1000: Asking Questions

• In today’s world, what distinguishes one graduate from another is not so much about how
much subject content one has retained. Instead, what the global economy values is
graduates who are able to negotiate a VUCA world – a world that is volatile, uncertain,
complex and ambiguous.
• A competent graduate has the qualities that are evident in a critical/analytical thinker,
an articulate communicator, a global citizen with a sense of curiosity, a person who
possesses a questioning mind and a growth mind-set.
The Q module strives to provide the first steps in cultivating a questioning mind, by
engaging all students in a process of questioning from specific perspectives.

For more details, please access the course description in the module’s LumiNUS site.
 Why is “asking questions” important?

• Have you ever been to a talk, enjoyed it, but during the Q & A segment, you found that
you have no questions for the speaker?
Have you found yourself in a situation where you really would have liked to ask some
questions, but you found that you don’t know what to ask, or how to ask your questions?
• Are you a student who would say, “I think this is a silly question, but I wish to know…”?
Have you been in a situation where you wanted to know something but you are at a loss
about how to ask the question?

Asking questions is a critical skill – one can only find the answers we seek if
we know what questions to ask in the first place.
 Scope of this module
• It is not possible to cultivate a
questioning mind within one short
semester. But it is useful to make a
start.
• We have assembled 6 perspectives to
trigger the process of thinking and
questioning, using a general
approach to specific disciplines, to
get the discussion going.
The 6 perspectives are:
• Humanities – how philosophers question; what they
question about
• Science – how scientists investigate natural
phenomena; what questions do they raise?
• Computing – what is computational thinking; how to
approach a problem in computing?
• Engineering – what are engineers are concerned
about; how do they approach their concerns?
• Social Sciences – what is a social science issue;
what methods are used to answer questions in
Social Sciences?
• Design – what is design thinking; what questions do
designers ask?
 Caveat

Note:

These six perspectives only provide a starting point to understand the different types of
questions different disciplines ask; and the methods they use to seek answers to their
questions.

Other disciplines will have their own questions, concerns, and methods – we encourage you
to actively think about how your own discipline ask questions, what questions are asked,
and how decisions are made with regard to specific solutions.
 Mode of Teaching for Q – Blended Pedagogy

• Blended learning mode – video lecture segments (in place of physical lectures), online
forum participation + face-to-face tutorials + written assignments.
• A blended pedagogical approach requires you to learn from a mixture of online resources
(i.e. video lecture segments and online activities) and physical class
discussions/activities.
• There may be some amount of online exercises and discussion forum activity needed.

Active online engagement (i.e. reviewing lecture videos, participating in the online
forum discussions) constitutes 14% of the overall course grade.
 Video-lectures

• There are 6 segments in this module (Philosophy, Physics, Computational

Thinking, Engineering, Economics, and Design), with 2 sets of videos devoted to
each segment.

• Always access the videoed content as early as possible – videos for each of the
six segments will be accessible before the start of each tutorial set. You will be
alerted through a class announcement email.

IMPT: Visit the course LumiNUS site regularly for course updates at least
once or twice a week; and check your NUS email regularly.
 Tutorials

• Tutorials operate on a fortnightly basis. Each segment will begin with one week of lecture
videos, followed by 1 week (Odd and Even sessions) of tutorials for that segment.

•  Please check if you have been assigned the Odd week or Even week tutorial group.

Tutorial participation is graded (36%).

 Readings

• There are six sets of short required readings for this course.

• You are advised to read all of them, before a tutorial activity so that you are
better equipped to participate in the tutorial.

• There will be a series of assignments relating to these readings

This component commands 36% of the overall course grade.

 Forum Postings

• Having gone through the videos and the readings, we are sure that you will have
questions and doubts or your own thoughts and reflections about the topic at hand;
the Forum is a platform for you to express them.

• You are expected to participate actively in the LumiNUS Forum by discussing or

answering topics posted by the tutors/fellow students. You are also encouraged to
start topics of your own that pertain to the contents in this Q module.

This component commands 14% of the overall course grade.

 Final Reflection Paper

• The final assignment for this course may require you to expand/develop/rewrite some
contribution you have made to the Forum.

• You will need to submit a draft (worth 4%), two weeks prior to the deadline of the Final
Reflection Paper.

• Please go Files > 01 About Asking Questions to download the Final Reflection Paper
instructions.

This assignment will constitute 14% (Draft 4% + Final Paper 10%) of the overall course
grade.

NOTE: This is a 100% CA, CS/CU module – there are no written exams for this module.
 What are the learning outcomes for Q?

By the end of this module, you should be able to do some, if not all, of the following:
• identify and formulate relevant questions;
• characterise the purpose of good questioning;
• describe different methods of questioning in a variety of different disciplines;
differentiate between the different cognitive processes that take place in the
questioning process in different disciplines;
• develop your own ability to come up with good questions;
• integrate questioning skills into your own disciplinary context; and,
• demonstrate intellectual curiosity and courage to ask even more and better questions
 Assessment Summary

* % Marks

Tutorials and active participation 36%

Assignments in each of the Segments 36%

(related to Video contents and Short Readings)

LumiNUS Forum Postings and Discussions 14%

Final Reflection Paper & Draft 14%

Total 100%

Final Grade Pass or Fail

*Assessment weightages may be subject to minor changes
 Meet the Multidisciplinary ‘Q’ team
A/P John Holbo- phihjc@nus.edu.sg
Department of Philosophy, Course chair
A/P Phil Chan- phycahp@nus.edu.sg
Department of Physics, Co-course chair
Dr. Chan Kok Hoe- kokhoe@nus.edu.sg
Department of Economics
A/P Leong Hon Wai- leonghw@comp.nus.edu.sg
Department of Computer Science
Prof Seah Kar Heng- mpeskh@nus.edu.sg
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Asst./P Hans Tan- hans@nus.edu.sg
Division of Industrial Design
Dr. Anne Chong Suet Lin - pvoacsl@nus.edu.sg
Mr. Ashton Teh Jun Ying - pvoatjy@nus.edu.sg
Mr. Kenneth Chong - pvocbsk@nus.edu.sg
Ms. Koh Hui Li - kohhuili@nus.edu.sg
Ms. Kuah Ting Ting - pvokJ@nus.edu.sg
Mr. Lim Lit San - pvolls@nus.edu.sg
Mr. Lucas Ho - lucasho@nus.edu.sg
Ms. Melissa Fann - pvofhjm@nus.edu.sg
Mr. Nicholas Cai - nicholas.cai@nus.edu.sg
Ms. Pamela Yeh Qi Ming- pvopyqm@nus.edu.sg
Ms. Raiza Rifaaie - pvofrar@nus.edu.sg
Mr. Will Zhang - pvozcw@nus.edu.sg
Ms. Yvette Seow - pvosyy@nus.edu.sg
 Where you can find more information

• Course Information and materials: see LumiNUS site

• General course inquiries and administrative assistance: askq@nus.edu.sg
• Or contact your tutor once you have been assigned one. Your tutor will also
email your group by end of Week 1.
• We look forward to having you join us on this new and exciting learning
journey!