The 3-year Diploma in Chemical Engineering (DCHE) curriculum had undergone a major redesign to transition to a spiral curriculum so as to better meet the learning outcomes mandated by SkillsFuture, the Singapore Government’s national initiative. One of the outcomes is the development of a lifelong learning culture. In response, Singapore Polytechnic came up with several initiatives to enhance the competencies of its students, one of which is self-directed learning (SDL). This is achieved via the progressive nature of learning afforded by the spiral curriculum course structure by explicitly teaching a SDL model to students. This will be done over 4 semesters through 4 practical modules, beginning in Semester 1 of Year 1 when students first joined the polytechnic. There will be 1 practical module per semester where various learning tasks are designed to engage students to develop their knowledge, skills and attitudes as process technicians or future chemical engineers (with further studies). Using the spiral curriculum design, each concept is revisited again and again in later modules with increasing level of difficulty. It is notable that all learning tasks are designed to anchor to a typical chemical plant found in the oil and refining industry, to provide context and continuity required in a spiral curriculum. The 4 practical modules are also supported by other core chemical engineering modules within the same semester and across different semesters as part of the spiral curriculum. Using constructive alignment, students are assessed appropriately using a combination of formative and summative assessment over the 4 semesters. Preliminary findings showed that majority of students in general are receptive to the use of SDL model, but more research is needed to address the effectiveness of the SDL workshop, and improve the students’ learning experience. This paper concludes with a discussion of our plans to move forward.
