As an environmental scientist and teacher, I have three main objectives for students’ learning experiences: i) To have an understanding of environmental issues and the social contexts in which they occur in, ii) To be equipped with the skills (e.g., socioeconomic assessment, spatial analysis techniques) that allow them to quantify, characterize and conduct applied research on environmental problems, iii) To be able to breakdown complex environmental problems to different scales, and approach them from the angle of different disciplines and from the perspective of various stakeholders. Students from my class will be trained to see how environmental problems are embedded in social, political, economic, and ecological systems, and will be challenged to move out of their comfort zone and be interdisciplinary in their approach towards addressing environmental problems.
Evaluating effectiveness of my teaching is important to me. I seek ways to identify areas for improvement, using two simple check-in questions with students at the end of each lecture: i) what was the most important thing you learned today? ii) what question remains in your mind? These questions elicit candid responses from the students and allow me to gauge their interest and understanding in the teaching material. I employ multiple pedagogical approaches to encourage critical thinking and cultivate professional competence, always highlighting to students about the relevance of the skillsets they pick up in the classroom and how these can be applied in their careers. I encourage student interactions through small group discussions and online discussion platforms where they share their questions and opinions with one another. I make use of external guest speakers to provide students with a different and new perspective on our teaching material, and advocate for field trips in my classes to allow students to experience field data collection and immersion experiences. I enjoy challenging students by encouraging them to read research papers in-depth and to be critical of the information they consume, encouraging them to identify weaknesses in articles that have been peer-reviewed and published. In my classes, students review each other’s assignments, providing them a chance to develop and receive critical and constructive feedback, a skillset that will come in handy in their working life
Evaluating effectiveness of my teaching is important to me. I seek ways to identify areas for improvement, using two simple check-in questions with students at the end of each lecture: i) what was the most important thing you learned today? ii) what question remains in your mind? These questions elicit candid responses from the students and allow me to gauge their interest and understanding in the teaching material. I employ multiple pedagogical approaches to encourage critical thinking and cultivate professional competence, always highlighting to students about the relevance of the skillsets they pick up in the classroom and how these can be applied in their careers. I encourage student interactions through small group discussions and online discussion platforms where they share their questions and opinions with one another. I make use of external guest speakers to provide students with a different and new perspective on our teaching material, and advocate for field trips in my classes to allow students to experience field data collection and immersion experiences. I enjoy challenging students by encouraging them to read research papers in-depth and to be critical of the information they consume, encouraging them to identify weaknesses in articles that have been peer-reviewed and published. In my classes, students review each other’s assignments, providing them a chance to develop and receive critical and constructive feedback, a skillset that will come in handy in their working life
Students learning more about sustainable palm practices in a plantation and restoration and conservation initiatives in a protected area, Riau, Sumatra, Indonesia.
I have been involved in the planning and development of a large sustainability massive open online course (MOOC) entitled Sustainability: Seeing through the Haze (2017-2020), a small upper-level course for undergraduates and graduate students entitled Coupled Human and Natural Systems (2017-present), a large undergraduate elective course entitled Environmental Sustainability (2018-2021, 2024), and an introductory field course Introductory Field Experience (Bali Field Course) (2017-2022). I am currently the programme coordinator for NTU's Second Major in Sustainability.
I thoroughly enjoy supervising and mentoring undergraduates either in the form of final-year projects or shorter-term research projects, typically over one semester. Altogether, I have supervised 9 final-year project (undergraduate final thesis) students, 3 URECA (undergraduate research) students, 8 CNYang (STEM focused undergraduate program) students. My mentoring philosophy when supervising undergraduates is to allow them to make decisions on their own especially in the planning phases of the research project. This experience may be uncomfortable for them as they are used to the more directed nature of education in the Singaporean context. However, I believe allowing students to experience the uncertainty and doubts during the research planning phase is invaluable for them to trust their own intuition and logic and build confidence and independence as a researcher. I offer to provide feedback and guidance during any phase of a student’s research project to ensure they do not stray too far from their research aims and questions and check in on them regularly to ensure they stay on track to meet their deadlines. Some of the undergraduate research projects have been developed into research papers. Of the 20 undergraduate projects I have supervised and co-supervised, two resulted in peer-reviewed publications (Neo et al., 2023; Sze et al., 2019), and one project is now a research paper under review.
My teaching impact goes beyond NTU. I have participated as a guest lecturer at universities locally and internationally. For example, I’ve been invited by Prof. Benjamin Cashore to speak on environmental policies for wicked problems at the NUS LKYSPP. I’ve given lectures to the Asia Compact Workshop organized by Prof. Judith Walls from St. Gallen University to teach Masters business degree students about sustainability issues of the palm oil sector in Southeast Asia.
I especially enjoy teaching students from Indonesian universities as it provides me a chance to share what I have learnt from their country, and I hope to inspire curiosity and interest from Indonesian students to learn more about palm oil sustainability and peatland management and restoration. I’ve given numerous lectures on palm oil and peatlands in Indonesian universities through online webinars, contributing especially to North Sumatra University’s Palm Oil Sustainable Supply Chain and Sustainable Landscape Workshops and the Universitas Seblat Maret workshops for the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education in Science and Geography. Giving guest lectures at Indonesian universities is a channel for me to share what I have learnt from Indonesia to Indonesian society and build capacity in the next generation of postgraduate and undergraduate students.
I thoroughly enjoy supervising and mentoring undergraduates either in the form of final-year projects or shorter-term research projects, typically over one semester. Altogether, I have supervised 9 final-year project (undergraduate final thesis) students, 3 URECA (undergraduate research) students, 8 CNYang (STEM focused undergraduate program) students. My mentoring philosophy when supervising undergraduates is to allow them to make decisions on their own especially in the planning phases of the research project. This experience may be uncomfortable for them as they are used to the more directed nature of education in the Singaporean context. However, I believe allowing students to experience the uncertainty and doubts during the research planning phase is invaluable for them to trust their own intuition and logic and build confidence and independence as a researcher. I offer to provide feedback and guidance during any phase of a student’s research project to ensure they do not stray too far from their research aims and questions and check in on them regularly to ensure they stay on track to meet their deadlines. Some of the undergraduate research projects have been developed into research papers. Of the 20 undergraduate projects I have supervised and co-supervised, two resulted in peer-reviewed publications (Neo et al., 2023; Sze et al., 2019), and one project is now a research paper under review.
My teaching impact goes beyond NTU. I have participated as a guest lecturer at universities locally and internationally. For example, I’ve been invited by Prof. Benjamin Cashore to speak on environmental policies for wicked problems at the NUS LKYSPP. I’ve given lectures to the Asia Compact Workshop organized by Prof. Judith Walls from St. Gallen University to teach Masters business degree students about sustainability issues of the palm oil sector in Southeast Asia.
I especially enjoy teaching students from Indonesian universities as it provides me a chance to share what I have learnt from their country, and I hope to inspire curiosity and interest from Indonesian students to learn more about palm oil sustainability and peatland management and restoration. I’ve given numerous lectures on palm oil and peatlands in Indonesian universities through online webinars, contributing especially to North Sumatra University’s Palm Oil Sustainable Supply Chain and Sustainable Landscape Workshops and the Universitas Seblat Maret workshops for the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education in Science and Geography. Giving guest lectures at Indonesian universities is a channel for me to share what I have learnt from Indonesia to Indonesian society and build capacity in the next generation of postgraduate and undergraduate students.
Students visiting sacred sites and understanding the role of belief systems used in water management in subak systems, Bali, Indonesia.
Student feedback on teaching
“I’m one of the students that took this course during the previous semester. Just wanted to say thank you, because the lessons were really engaging, with the constant reference to case studies and real-life examples, Also, I found the exams, even though multiple-choice, were very focused on application rather than simply regurgitation from memory. I really appreciated the amount of work put into them, as I strongly believe that is the way exams should be, so as to test for fundamental understanding of the concepts. This positive experience with this course has inspired me and I am considering taking more environmental studies modules, and perhaps even a minor. Thank you for the good experience!”
“Prof Janice was very clear in her teaching and made use of various real-life examples to explain the concepts taught which enhanced my learning experience. During lectures, she also encouraged discussion through thought-provoking questions, helping us to apply the concepts that we have learnt more effectively,”
“As my first mod with the school, Prof Janice truly was a great ambassador for the course and the school as a whole. Best use of Wooclap I’ve seen by any professor in NTU so far, and Prof Janice and the teaching team’s dedication to the course is unmatched. Great use of student feedback (looking at 2017 notes and comparing it to current ones is extremely telling of how the teaching team strives for improvement). A great move to bring in a guest lecturer for biodiversity. Quality feedback given (especially the group emails for the video assignment – amazing for a course with such a large cohort size).”
“I’m one of the students that took this course during the previous semester. Just wanted to say thank you, because the lessons were really engaging, with the constant reference to case studies and real-life examples, Also, I found the exams, even though multiple-choice, were very focused on application rather than simply regurgitation from memory. I really appreciated the amount of work put into them, as I strongly believe that is the way exams should be, so as to test for fundamental understanding of the concepts. This positive experience with this course has inspired me and I am considering taking more environmental studies modules, and perhaps even a minor. Thank you for the good experience!”
- Undergraduate, email correspondence, May 2018
“Prof Janice was very clear in her teaching and made use of various real-life examples to explain the concepts taught which enhanced my learning experience. During lectures, she also encouraged discussion through thought-provoking questions, helping us to apply the concepts that we have learnt more effectively,”
- Undergraduate, student evaluation comment, July 2024
“As my first mod with the school, Prof Janice truly was a great ambassador for the course and the school as a whole. Best use of Wooclap I’ve seen by any professor in NTU so far, and Prof Janice and the teaching team’s dedication to the course is unmatched. Great use of student feedback (looking at 2017 notes and comparing it to current ones is extremely telling of how the teaching team strives for improvement). A great move to bring in a guest lecturer for biodiversity. Quality feedback given (especially the group emails for the video assignment – amazing for a course with such a large cohort size).”
- Undergraduate, student evaluation comment, July 2024
