Singapore University of Social Sciences

SINGAPORE UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

SUSS is a university with a rich heritage in providing lifelong, learner-centric and industry-relevant education. Our mission is to champion lifelong education to develop future thinkers and leaders to their fullest potential through our 3H’s education philosophy – ‘Head’ for professional competency with applied knowledge, ‘Heart’ for social awareness of the needs of the society, and ‘Habit’ for passion towards lifelong learning.

We offer more than 70 undergraduate and graduate programmes, available in full- and part-time study modes which are flexible, modular and multi-faceted in learning experience to cater to both fresh school leavers and adult learners. We also launched a broad range of continuing education and training modular courses for the professional skills and knowledge upgrading of our workforce.

Our programmes and courses are made available through our five schools:

  • School of Business,
  • School of Humanities and Behavioural Sciences,
  • School of Law,
  • School of Science and Technology, and
  • S R Nathan School of Human Development.

To date, over 30,000 graduates have chosen SUSS as their university of choice. Each year, about 15,000 students are pursuing their full- and part-time studies with us.

For more information on SUSS, please visit suss.edu.sg.

Integrating Technology and Learning

The impetus to engage and to provide the best learning opportunities and experience to our diverse student populations drives learning at all levels at SUSS. Most SUSS student cohorts are working adults doing part-time degree programmes with an average age profile of 26 years old. Owing to the lack of an extended period of time for revision, adult learners are practical-minded and goal-oriented at studying as they juggle work, studies and family obligations. SUSS continually leverages new and innovative technologies to deliver the best learning experience for our students.

To cater to a range of learning needs, about 50% of our courses are blended with a growing number of fully online courses. This ensures that all students will have the opportunity to experience learning enabled by technology. Virtual lessons, be it synchronous or asynchronous, provide the flexibility needed by our students.

Technological tools are actively used to support our students’ learning and the provision is two-fold: large-scale support provided by the institution (e.g., Canvas), and bespoke to individual lessons curated and designed by lecturers themselves using technological tools (e.g., Kahoot!, Perusall).

Ultimately, SUSS’s goal is to provide a pervasive, seamless tech-enabled learning ecosystem to students to facilitate interaction with content, peers, lecturers for engaged learning.

Our Institutional Provision

The Learning Service cluster adopts the core strategies of “Digital and Mobile First” whereby the technologies implemented are always accessible on multiple devices (i.e. desktop, laptop, tablet and smartphone) and across various operating systems (i.e. iOS, Android, Windows and Mac).

1. Interactive Study Guide (iStudyGuide)
The Interactive Study Guide (iStudyGuide) provides students with a convenient single point-of-access to all critical learning resources. These learning activities and references are sequenced according to the course structure. As a downloadable resource, it enables students to learn anytime, anywhere even when there is no network connectivity.

iStudyGuide is digital, mobile-ready and interactive. It is a personal e-book that comes with every course in SUSS. Rich in content, embedded with video lessons, activities and quizzes, the iStudyGuide is an invaluable learning resource that helps our students prepare for lessons and assignments. Currently there are more than 700 iStudyGuides which have been produced, covering all disciples of study offered by the university.

URL: http://learningservices.suss.edu.sg/istudyguide.html

2. eTextbook
The eTextbook is not just a digital version of a printed textbook for students and instructors. It is also a platform that fosters collaborative learning through shared annotation features.

As a downloadable resource, it enables students to learn anytime, anywhere even when there is no network connectivity. In addition, the eTextbook is developed with interactive features that allow students to search for content using keywords, create highlights, take notes and share them with peers.

With the prevalent use of smartphones and the increasing number of users reading from their mobile devices, the eTextbook is one of the many initiatives that SUSS has adopted to make learning more flexible and engaging.

URL: http://learningservices.suss.edu.sg/etextbook.html Video: http://learningservices.suss.edu.sg/assets/videos/eTextbook/eTextbook_promo_video.mp4

3. iBookStore
The iBookstore is SUSS’ online repository to search, browse and download the digital iStudyGuide and eTextbook.

Students and faculty can download the iStudyGuide in PDF and ePUB formats for the courses they are enrolled in or assigned to teach. Print-on-demand and delivery services for the iStudyGuide and eTextbook are also available for all students via the iBookStore.

4. SUSS BackPack Mobile App
SUSS Backpack is a mobile app that enables students and faculty quick access to their class timetable, iStudyGuides, recorded lectures, narrated presentation materials and past year exam papers. It comes installed with useful student resources such as academic writing and essential learning skills to help our students enhance their learning experience in SUSS.

This mobile app lets students check their Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) scores and records in-class attendance using iBeacon Bluetooth technology. It also broadcasts important notifications from the university instantaneously to their mobile devices.

URL: http://learningservices.suss.edu.sg/backpack.html