Sunway College Johor Bahru’s ProRev Prepares for 21st Century Teaching and Beyond

The Pre-University Department at Sunway College JB’s Project Revolution (ProRev) has been spearheading the transformation of teaching approach to meet the challenges of learners who are digital natives since the inception of their pioneer initiative almost a decade ago. Aimed at transforming education, ProRev’s objectives are to support the use of differentiated teaching pedagogies and to drive the use or application of technologies in the classroom. This initiative seeks to equip both teachers and students with the skills needed to thrive in the 21st century and beyond. Led by the dynamic Head of Pre-U Ms How Pei Lin, the core team consists of Mr Sathissan Ragavan, Deputy Head of Pre-U Programmes and senior lecturers, Ms Wong Shae Lynn, Ms Shereen Kularajasingam and Mr Ng Kien Heng.

ProRev was formed to pilot the iPad Project in 2015, gradually evolving into the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiative the following year. Following the encouraging responses from these early initiatives, the team embarked on a yearly thematic approach to revolutionise teaching, one initiative at a time. Over the years, ProRev has explored areas such as mobile learning and gamification, encouraging the integration of technology in pedagogical practices. When the Covid19 pandemic prompted a swift transition to online teaching, ProRev played an integral role in this shift by introducing operating standards for MOODLE, facilitating e-examinations with online invigilation protocol and proctoring system as well as facilitating knowledge sharing sessions and workshops on adapting to hybrid classes for academics.

The team’s initiatives were acknowledged by the greater community and leading agencies in academia when their paper on Maintaining Academic Integrity in the Conduct of Online Examinations won the best paper award at the Seminar on Internal-External Quality Assurance (SieQA) in 2021. The seminar which brought together expert panelists, speakers and participants from academia and the various quality assurance authorities in the region including Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA), ASEAN QA Association, National Accreditation Quality Assurance Committee of Myanmar and the ASEAN University Network (AUN). The recognition of the paper presented was a great encouragement and testament to the excellent results of the ProRev initiative.

Post-pandemic, ProRev is taking their reach beyond our shores to the EDUTech Asia conference held annually in Singapore. It is one of Asia’s largest conferences and exhibitions for educators and EdTech providers, offering a wealth of knowledge and insights. This year, sixteen members of the Sunway College JB academic staff attended, where Mr Sathissan Ragavan, Deputy Head of Pre-University Programmes, presented ProRev’s efforts and achievements at the ‘Show and Tell’ session.

ProRev’s journey is marked by continuous innovations, aligning with its vision of revolutionising teaching and learning, making an impact to nurture a future-ready generation. Looking ahead, ProRev promises more groundbreaking initiatives for innovative teaching by the Pre-U team and the extended academic community.

Lecturers who participated in the Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning (ITL) Poster Competition 2023 organised by ProRev