Now more than ever, universities are expected to produce graduates who leave university with independent, creative and analytical thinking skills.

On Friday 16 June 2017, the ACU and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) held a seminar to debate and discuss how these critical thinking skills can be developed among students at every stage of education.

The first session, chaired by ACU Secretary General, Dr Joanna Newman, focused on pre-university and undergraduate level. The panel discussed how independent thinking can be encouraged within the curriculum and through citizen science, and the importance of developing lifelong learning skills at undergraduate level.

Dr Joanna Newman MBE (left), with Professor Kam Chan Him, Professor Lisa Ng, and Professor John Wood 

While session two saw ACU Council members, Professor Paul Boyle (University of Leicester) and Professor Idris Rai (State University of Tanzania), debate how these skills develop at postgraduate and postdoctoral level with three current Commonwealth Doctoral Scholars.

Dr John Kirkland - Deputy Secretary General (centre), with (from left to right) William Arlidge, Professor Paul Boyle, Himadri Das, and Professor Idris Rai

The seminar brought together ACU Council members (who are vice-chancellors from across the Commonwealth), with NTU staff and students, and delegates from other universities.

NTU is an ACU member, based in Singapore, who kindly organised and hosted this seminar at the Nanyang Executive Centre on their campus. To find out more about NTU, visit their website.

To see more photos from the event, including the NTU campus, take a look at the ACU Flickr account.