Congratulations! Winners from My Research in 3 Minutes Competition

Masters Level Category

First Prize: Mr Philip K.S. Siow - University of Sheffield What makes an effective lecturer in a tertiary environment?”

My MEd thesis explored if there are common characteristics found among effectiveinstructors at the tertiary level.

A qualitative approach using focus groups and in-depth interviews with students andteachers/lecturers, was used to gather information.

This limited research does appear to indicate that there are indeed certain common attributes whichconstitute effective teaching at the post-secondary level.

Literature reviews also substantiate so.

Clustered broadly, effective teachers/lecturers have the ability to (1) engineer "learning enthusiasm"and, (2) foster "interpersonal rapport and a positive learning environment" with students.More specifically, my paper calls it teacher/lecturer "expertise", "enthusiasm", "empathy" and"engaging connectivity".

Masters Level Category

Third Prize: Ms Maniar Urvi Dilip– Nanyang Technological University

A novel approach to drug authentication

The pharmaceutical supply chains around the world are vulnerable to counterfeitdrugs. Counterfeit drugs can enter the supply chain through multiple ways whichmay have adverse effects on patients.A myriad of anti-counterfeiting measures are employed today. One way is to make useof RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) enabled e-Pedigree standards for drugauthentication along the pharmaceutical supply chain. The drug is authenticated anddigital signatures are encapsulated at each step of ownership transfer to ensure a

secured pharmaceutical supply chain. Open source ePedigree standards enable an automated system which canbe interoperated by all the supply chain partners.

Second Prize: Mr Chen Khin Wee – NIE, Nanyang Technological UniversityUnderstanding the uniquely Singapore Wordplay Humour

The dearth of scholarly attention to humour in Singapore led to this exploratory study whichattempts to set a baseline of humour appreciation of Singapore youth. This was achieved by1) collecting authentic jokes from students for analysis and comparing them with a body ofjokes from Asianjokes.com, and 2) presenting 65 word-play texts to a convenience sampleof Singapore students online to be rated for their funniness. The results indicate no strongpreference for either Verbal or Referential humour, but showed a strong affinity for racist

jokes. Many respondents also rated humour-neutral texts as funny.

Doctoral Level Category

Second Prize : Mr. Jeffrey Tzu Kwan Valino Koh – National University of SingaporeLiquid Interface:A Malleable, Three-Dimensional,Organic User Interface

InterfWe present an Organic User Interface (OUI) that combines sensing through a Hall effect sensor, with actuation through electromagnetically manipulated ferrofluid. The movement of rare-earth magnets, worn on the fingertips, over a surface embedded with a Hall Effect sensor array and electromagnets, gives the user the ability to interact with the ferrofluid. This system provides a three –dimensional,physically animated response, as well as three dimensional, spatial sensing inputs. The vibration of the magnets worn on the fingertips,

produced by the repulsing polarity of the electromagnets, provides the user with haptic feedback without the need of physical contact with the ferrofluid. Liquid Interface is a multi-modal interface providing a visual, audio and hapticexperience.

First Prize: Mr Lim Heng Leong Paul – Grenoble Ecole de Management

‘Baby, don’t go…please?’

Supervisors belonging to the Baby Boomers and Generation X age groups oftendescribe Generation Y employees as ‘challenging to manage’. Generation Y employees are perceived to be impatient and uncomfortable with menial tasks. Supervisors note that immediate access to information online gives them confidence that belittles experience acquired over many years. It is without surprise that most Singaporean businesses expect the highest turnover rate among Generation Y employees1. Employee retention research shows promising links between mentorship and lower turnover intentions. This paper tests whether the

mentoring of Generation Y employees results in lower turnover intentions.

Doctoral Level Category

Third Prize: Mr Bhati Abhishek Singh - James Cook University

Tourist Vandalism: Flip Side of Tourism

Tourism is one of the largest and fastest growing economic sectors globally. Thecontributions of tourism has expanded from economic considerations in past to

developmental and socio-cultural regeneration in host economics in recent times.The inflow of visitors (tourist) increases consumption of local produce as well asfuels development of supporting infrastructure such as Tourist attractions, food and

beverage outlets, accommodation and recreation facilities and so forth. Nonetheless, the advent of touristalso has negative implications on host economy and environment. For instance, a tourist having little stakein host environment may not consider long term implications of their behaviour on local community andenvironment. Such acts of vandalism are detrimental to long term interest of host economies andsustainability of tourism sector. Since vandalism is serious threat to sustainable tourism, understandingmotivation for such acts provides a good starting point in studying this phenomenon.

The act of vandalism, deliberate or subconscious, fuelled by motivational factors mentioned in precedingsection, has undesirable effects on the host environment and community. Most of these damages arerepairable provided there are sufficient resources and corrective mechanisms. A small but considerableproportion of vandalistic acts have long-term impact or permanent damaging effect on the environment.Such as, destruction of historic and heritage property or erosion of cultural values of host communities.Vandalism is responsible for destroying the elements that are instrumental in generating tourism interest ina community. Absence of these elements will erode tourism value of affected community and potentialstreams of tourists, thus, is detrimental to Sustainable Tourism.

Early Career Researchers Level Category

Second Prize and People’s Choice Award: Ms Senthu Jeyaraj –

University of Southern Queensland

Organisational Cognisance: Introducing a Cognitive Dimension to the Concept of Organisational Alignment

The doctoral study explored the concept of organisational alignment from acognitive perspective as a review of literature on educational improvement andcapacity building revealed that the concept is predominantly conceptualised in terms

of strategic or structural forms. Using grounded theory, the study investigated the impact of organisationalchange on processes of group cognition. Data from individual interviews and focus group sessions withprofessional staff of Singapore schools were obtained and analysed that resulted in the phenomenon of‘organisational cognisance’. The concept of organisational cognisance contributes insight into both individualprocesses and collective processes underpinning group cognition and illuminates the impact of the concept’semergence on enhancing organisational capacity.

First Prize: Dr Paul Alexander Fisher – University of Plymouth (Bristol)Patients’ perceptions of the process of consenting to electroconvulsive therapy

The concept of valid consent has become important for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). However many patients feel that they do not have enough information before consenting and a minority feel coerced before consenting. Little is known about what factors account for these views.