In order to future-proof its graduates against the backdrop of a challenging economic landscape, Taylor’s University recently introduced its unique ecosystem termed Taylor’sphere that nurtures students in the three intelligences of intellect, practical wisdom and craft.
Aside from driving employability for graduates, the ecosystem ensures graduates are equipped with an entrepreneurial mindset that helps convert their passion projects and ideas into viable business models that could positively impact the community.
“It is evident that academic knowledge alone is not sufficient for a graduate to succeed in today’s world. Graduates need to have the life skills, the street smarts, the agility and creativity to be able to tackle complex problems that will need more than one solution.
“Our ecosystem allows students to develop the right life skills, and collaborate across disciplines to solve problems and create impact in their community, mimicking the way the industry operates. Providing students with the right environment, networks and resources at the university level is crucial to enable them to thrive in their future careers,” said Professor Dr Pradeep Nair, Deputy Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer of Taylor’s University.
During the virtual launch, Prof Pradeep said he believes interdisciplinary education is the way of the future. On top of allowing students to mix and match their degree modules to gain a greater breadth of knowledge, the university has revamped its Taylor’s Curriculum Framework to incorporate various elements such as work-based learning, hybrid degrees and compulsory interdisciplinary projects.
This also complements the life skills modules that every Taylor’s student undertakes and taught by specialised life skills moderators. Students’ soft skills are systematically assessed in every module too.
“I believe we’re the first university in Asia that assesses its students across all their modules on their communication, teamwork, critical thinking and leadership skills, among others – and our students graduate with a second transcript detailing the Taylor’s Graduate Capabilities they have achieved, alongside their academic certificate,” said Prof Pradeep. “They will also gain a SHINE Award to recognise their co-curricular involvement.”
How has the Taylor’sphere ecosystem benefited students?
In the Taylor’sphere ecosystem, students are encouraged to use any studio or lab in campus for their projects irrespective of their degree programme. According to Mike Choong Wai Keng, the co-director of the Taylor’s Me.reka Makerspace (TMM), this effectively makes the whole Taylors’ campus a giant Makerspace.
In other words, students get to experience the Craft side of things by working across faculties in their first year and final year projects, proposing and prototyping solutions to address a gap in the market or in society.
“TMM mentors and advises student groups in their projects, and we provide them the space and resources to build their prototypes. Those with viable business ideas also approach our university startup incubator BizPod who will guide students regarding funding opportunities and assist them in scaling up their business. BizPod also works closely with the Research Enterprise arm when it comes to commercialisation and patenting,” said Mike Choong.
“The beauty of this ecosystem is that students get to create, experiment, fail and start again in a safe environment, and the university supports them in their journey.”
One of the student projects which have created a societal impact is the DuckiePi project.
Founded by a Taylor’s student, Bernard Yap, and TMM, their invention helped make online learning accessible for children from B40 communities during the pandemic. Yap did tons of research and negotiations to make a device which only costs RM400 each and runs at a desktop-level performance.
Each DuckiePi set includes:
-> 2 USB 2.0
-> 2 USB 3.0
-> Ethernet port
-> 2 micro HDMI
-> 1 audio output port
-> 1 SD card slot
-> 4GB RAM
-> Wifi-5 (Wireless-AC)
-> Bluetooth
-> Broadcom BCM2711 processor (4 cores running at 1.5GHz)
-> Raspberry Heatsink and Raspberry fan
The cost-efficient DuckiePi devices are powered by the Raspberry Pi and have applications such as Zoom, Google Suites and camera functions to enable B40 children to access online classes and resources.
How you can contribute to the DuckiePi project?
To raise funds and drive public participation, the DuckiPi team has launched a donation campaign earlier this year.
Currently, DuckiePi have partnered with InstaCash on a trade-in campaign. RM10 will be donated towards the DuckiePi fund when app users trade-in used devices with the promo code DUCKIE30.
Other successful student projects
Under BizPod’s mentorship, several student projects have grown to be impactful businesses. These include parking app Arrivo that utilizes artificial intelligence to provide a hassle-free parking experience to users; the Cultiv8 platform that aims to sell innovative, healthy and sustainable food products; and Unravel Apparel that revives deadstock fabric into trendy outfits in an effort to reduce fast fashion waste.
“All these resources and initiatives serve to enhance the Taylor’s Graduate Capabilities of social emotional intelligence, creativity, critical thinking, problem solving, cultural adaptiveness, and entrepreneurship in order for students to be holistic and well-balanced individuals. It enables our graduates to become persons of influence and impact, be it in corporations or in their own enterprises in a post-pandemic world,” added Prof Pradeep.
For more information about Taylor’sphere, head over to the official website.
