College enhance students’ skill through the mentorship program

Friday, 07 Oct 2022

By TRAN PHAM ANH THY

Mentor guiding students during her project - Source: I Stock

SUBANG JAYA: A mentorship program as a project under the module Design Thinking by INTI College Subang takes place regularly to enhance students' 21st-century skills.

Mentorship is a program that connects mentees (students) with mentors who are experts in a particular field to propose and develop a solution to a design challenge by applying design thinking processes and tools.

In order to get ready for the project, students will be taught design thinking theories, and how these theories can be applied to practical situations relevant to various academic disciplines and businesses. Therefore, students can apply what they have learned in their mentorship project.

Nurasfalina Binti Dahlan, a professional instructor for the course Design Thinking for a couple of years in INTI College Subang believed that the mentorship program indirectly could polish or sharpen as well as learn most of the 21st-century skills, such as critical/creative thinking, collaborative, adaptability, media, leadership skills and so forth.

"Through the mentorship program, students work closely with mentors which requires them to well-communicate and be flexible in a discussion. There are rooms for students to discover their true potential and exercise what they are excel in.

"At the same time, students will also comprehend the power of design thinking to create value for the business, organization, and society," she said.

The students will receive enthusiastic support in terms of giving out necessary related materials or ideas/feedback during their journey.

"The lecturer plays the role of a moderator between students and mentors. This is to ensure the learning outcome is achieved and benefits both parties," she added.

Ashvinii A/P Yelomalay, 22 years old, a student who takes the module Design Thinking in the current semester, considers this module more unique than other courses.

"I think it is useful and practical thinking to prepare ourselves for the real workforce. I might face difficulties in further process, however, I am ready to challenge myself.

“At the moment, the biggest challenge for me and our group is coming up with an innovative and interesting idea when there are a ton of existing solutions for our issues. However, it was fun to explore new things to overcome the obstacles. I hope we can go till the final pitch," she said.

Farida Ng, 22 years old, had taken this module the last few semesters and shared that it was a good experience.

"I have had an interesting time with my group mates and a great mentor as well. It was an extraordinary experience to try to share my idea via design thinking class," she said.

Farida also added she used to be afraid when connecting with the mentors because she was worried that her idea got rejected or unacceptable. Nevertheless, she learned how to cope with failure and improve her weakness.

In addition, Nurasfalina mentioned that the previous students' performance was out of her expectation. Most of the students were cooperative and worked well with their respective mentors during the mentorship, and were able to blend the ideas and apply them to their own projects.

"I’m feeling so delighted to see when students completed their mentorship journey successfully. It could be a priceless experience for students.

'’At the same time, it has boosted my motivation as a lecturer/teacher in exploring new things to enhance students' learning experiences", she said.

Thus, Nurasfalina also expects the student groups this semester will be able to achieve good results and bring more innovative products as well.