Summarized from ST
02 March 2015

National University of Singapore (NUS) students are already being taught how to use words to forward an argument through thinking and expression courses.

From this year, they will also be taught how to use numbers or statistical data to analyse and argue a point, through a new module in quantitative reasoning. It will be one of the general education requirements for all freshmen from this year.

Besides learning to analyse, interpret and use data to produce reliable results, students will also be exposed to how data is gathered and used in various contexts, such as in health and population. In medical research, for example, they will learn the difference in using data to prove correlation and causation.

Currently, students must take Singapore studies and two other general education modules in subjects such as logic, global environmental issues and globalisation and the media. These modules, which fall outside of students’ chosen specialisations, were introduced to broaden their intellectual base.

From August, students have to take four general education modules, one each from the “pillars” of thinking and expression, quantitative reasoning, human cultures, and Singapore studies.