Project: Surveying migrant workers on remittance needs

Students interacted with more than 50 migrant workers in Singapore to find out about their culture and the issues they face in Singapore. They completed about 180 surveys with the migrant workers to understand their remittance needs. The survey results were shared with partners, DBS Bank and Migrant Worker Centre, to provide inputs for designing more relevant remittance services for migrant workers.

Project: Personal financial budgeting for migrant workers

Within three sessions, students tapped into personal financial budgeting knowledge, skills, and tools to work with migrant workers on how they could go about achieving their financial goals. This included mutual sharing of personal hopes and dreams, financial goal setting, tracking of expenditure using a mobile app, developing personal and family budgets, as well as identifying additional sources of income and savings on current expenditure.

Project: Business & marketing strategies for foreign domestic workers

Students worked with foreign domestic workers (FDW) to formulate business plans and marketing strategies. This required them to apply course materials from IBE, Entrepreneurship and Marketing in the context of the FDW.

Project: Planning & executing a fundraising event

Students put their business skills into practice to plan and execute a fundraising event for REACH Youth Powerhouse. They applied knowledge from Year 1 modules (Accounting & Finance, Information Design in Business) and Year 2 modules (Principles of Marketing, Enterprise Creation & Development, and Services Operations Management). During the event, they also promoted the REACH flag day and helped to seek volunteers.

Project: Organising events to promote community bonding

Students worked with HDB and the Federation of Merchants' Associations of 3 neighbourhoods (Tanjong Pagar, Yuhua and Hong Kah) to organise a community event in each, to promote community bonding. They developed each event's theme, programme and activities in consultation with the respective Merchants' Association, sourced for supplies and planned the logistics.

Project: Financial Literacy Skills for Migrant Workers

They play the role of "financial literacy facilitators", complementing the financial literacy workshops that community partner, HOME, regularly runs for migrant workers via WhatsApp due to the Covid-19 restrictions.

Project: Mental Health Advocacy Campaigns

Targeted at youth, the campaigns raised awareness campaigns on social media for depression, anxiety and eating disorders. It also encouraged Instagram followers to make a stand or take action to upkeep mental health.

Project: Producing news features on drug abuse

Using their knowledge from 2 modules: Fundamentals of Reporting and Digital Media Fundamentals – students produced news features for CNB on drug abuse in young people aged 30 and below. This involved interviewing a CNB officer, running a poll, submitting photographs relevant to their topic, and animating one of the sidebars as a digital feature.

Project: Developing a social media campaign proposal to promote kindness towards migrant workers

Students developed a social media campaign proposal for Singapore Kindness Movement to promote kindness towards migrant workers in Singapore. In partnership with the Migrant Workers' Centre, the students interacted with migrant workers who were at the MOM Services Centre for renewal or collection of their work permits.

Project: Developing a social media campaign proposal to promote soap cycling

Students conducted a social media audit and their own research on the issue of soap wastage, after an introduction to Soap Cycling Singapore (SCSG) and a briefing on the project. They also participated in a soap scraping session to learn how SCSG recycles soap. They then developed four social media campaign proposals which SCSG could choose to implement, if deemed suitable.

Project: Developing sound bites on values

Students recorded a sound bite about a value which they chose from 25 options. The sound bite covered what the value means to them, how they recognise it in others, and how they use it in their daily lives. The sound bites will be used by Chrysalists to start conversations among youth about what these values mean to young people.

Project: Developing an integrated marketing proposal to raise awareness and visitorship

After going through an educational workshop and Lunch in the Dark at DiDsg, students were tasked to deliver an Integrated Marketing proposal to raise awareness of DiDsg and to drive visitorship. They ran an online survey, developed a report, and presented their findings and corresponding campaign ideas to DiDsg.

Project: Developing an integrated marketing proposal to raise awareness

Students developed an Integrated Marketing Proposal for Books Beyond Borders, to further enhance its advocacy and outreach efforts.

Project: Developing awareness videos

Students developed videos for SG Accident Help Centre (SGAHC), to be used on their website and at their events. They produced 4 videos profiling migrant workers, 1 video profiling the work of SGAHC's volunteers and 1 video profiling the centre.

Project: Anti-drug abuse social media campaign

A virtual campaign, #YouUseYouLoseSG, was held where messages promoting a drug-free lifestyle were conveyed via a retro-gaming theme and interactive content on Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok, along with attractive giveaways.

Project: Surveying migrant workers

Students conducted different surveys with migrant workers (MWs) to collect data for the four community partners. Two of the surveys focused on the MWs' financial and insurance needs. Another survey studied how many of the MWs have bank accounts and their comfort level of going cashless. The last survey sought to find out if there were financial risks posed to MWs given unrestricted access to casinos. The data collected resulted in the launch of an insurance product targeted at protecting MWs’ remittance stream to their families. It also helped to convince remittance companies to collaborate with AXA to come up with a remittance service-linked insurance. Data was also presented to policy makers to help towards tightening safeguards for low-income MWs so that they may receive the same protection as citizens from potential negative influences of casinos. Through the interactions with the MWs, students learnt about issues that they faced working in Singapore.

Projects: Conducting eye education and screening

A series of projects were designed with the partner, involving three levels of students. Year 1 students engaged with seniors over 3 sessions; they taught the seniors mobile applications such as Youtube and Whatsapp. They also got to better understand them. Year 2 students conducted an eye talk and held simple eye-related activities and games for children while Year 3 students planned and organised an eye screening exercise for the elderly.

Project: Conducting an eye screening exercise for the elderly

Students applied what they learnt in class in an eye screening programme. This enabled them to interact with, identify eye conditions in elderly participants, and provide one-on-one explanations which gave them insights into how they might better manage elderly patients. 20 seniors were referred for further assessment either at Ngee Ann Optometry Centre (NPOC) or with an Ophthalmologist.

Project: Survey on migrant workers

With Covid-19 shedding light on migrant worker issues, students were asked to carry out an online survey with family and friends, to ascertain attitudes towards this marginalized community. This survey would help SGAHC find out if there were any prejudices or stereotypes that might need to be addressed.

Project: Producing educational animated videos for underprivileged children

Students produced educational animated videos for distribution on community partner, Knowledge Channel’s, various platforms on-air, online, and offline. These videos are to be used as part of the BASA BILANG Project, as learning resources for Grade 1-3 Filipino students, many of whom live below the poverty line. To develop the videos, students communicated with Knowledge Channel via Skype and also had the opportunity to virtually visit one of the local schools and interact with some of the underprivileged children there.

Project: Developing & conducting a video/photo montage creation & editing

Students developed and conducted a workshop on video/photo montage creation and video editing for DSS beneficiaries. They interacted with DSS beneficiaries prior to the workshop, to better understand their needs and competency levels so as to customise materials that would be suitable.

Project: Conducting a mobile phone and application workshop for seniors

Students developed and conducted a workshop for elderly participants at Radin Mas CC to teach them how to set up a new handphone and use mobile applications for social networking, communication & entertainment (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, emailing, WhatsApp, online music/videos). This required them to better understand the target audience in order to customise workshop materials to suit the competency level.

Project: Conducting a workshop on internet security and mobile apps for seniors

Students developed and conducted a workshop for elderly residents at Redhill to raise awareness on internet security and the use of mobile applications for social networking and cashless payments (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Paylah, Paynow). This required them to better understand the target audience in order to customise workshop materials to suit the competency level.

Project: Conducting a workshop on internet security and mobile apps for seniors

Students developed and conducted a workshop for North West CDC elderly residents at Chong Pang CC and at Nee Soon Central CC, to raise awareness on the use of mobile apps for social networking, messaging and cashless payments (e.g. Facebook, WhatsApp, Paylah, Netspay). This required them to better understand the target audience in order to customise workshop materials to suit the competency level.

Project: Teaching seniors to go digital

Students held online programmes to teach the seniors digital skills such as how to use social media apps, make cashless payments and be cyber safe. This included developing videos in English and Mandarin on how to use various apps. To develop useful content, a pre Service-Learning activity was conducted where students interviewed their grandparents and senior neighbours to find out more about the issues and challenges the elderly faces using the apps.

Project: Performing water quality analysis

Students assisted NParks by performing water quality analysis at East Coast Park and Labrador Park. They also did beach cleaning at East Coast Park. This gave them a better understanding of the wastes that are impacting our coastal areas whilst serving the community. They were also given a problem statement by NParks and proposed their own solutions to address this.

Project: Collecting & analysing data on recycled items

Students assisted in NW CDC’s recycling project at 2 collection centres where they sorted and packed residents’ recyclable items. They collected data on the recycled items and applied what they had learnt in the module to analyse this data. They then submitted group reports to NW CDC which comprised hypothesis writing, data analysis, interpretation and conclusions/recommendations.

Project: Maintaining a community garden with elderly volunteers

Students helped out with general maintenance of a community garden where they worked with mainly elderly volunteers, utilising general horticultural practices learnt in their module. They made observations of the working conditions in the garden and reflected upon how to help the gardeners. They also brainstormed a solution to a problem faced by the gardeners and presented their solution to the rest of the class.

Project: Healthy living and diabetes prevention

This project targeted the elderly residents living in studio apartments. It involved students from two diplomas and focused on healthy living and diabetes prevention. Pharmaceutical Science students conducted an event that included talks on prevention and management of diabetes, blood pressure and blood glucose level measurements, an exercise session and quiz. Landscape Design & Horticulture students carried out hands-on plant propagation activities involving healthy herbs and air-purifying plants. Students went door-to-door to publicise the event using posters and flyers. They interacted with some of the residents and gained an understanding of their background, communication style and health concerns.

Project: Raising awareness of wetlands conservation

Students developed proposals on how to reach out to the community to raise awareness on the conservation of wetlands and the World Wetlands Day 2019 Theme: Wetlands & Climate Change. Their proposals included a Wetland Carnival, Treasure Hunts and Outings. They then conducted surveys with the community to get responses on their proposals before submitting the final proposals for NParks’ consideration.

Project: Health information for the blind

In teams, students developed video and audio podcasts on topics like diabetes, cardiovascular health, immunity and joint health. They included tips on diet and exercise, with one team even incorporating an audio yoga stretching session. 

Project: Teaching seniors how to tap into government apps

The project, developed in partnership with Smart Nation & Digital Government Office and several senior activity centres, involved the entire cohort of 1,070 Year 1 engineering students. They were tasked to teach seniors how to use up to 8 government apps and enhance their digital literacy. This could in turn help narrow the digital divide between the tech savvy and non-tech savvy individuals.

Project: Raising awareness of information security among seniors

Under IMDA’s Silver Infocomm Initiative, students developed a customised training programme that infused content on information security. This aimed to promote greater infocomm awareness among senior citizens who may be less tech savvy. Students conducted interviews with seniors to assess their general understanding of cybersecurity, then developed and delivered the training content. They also conducted post programme interviews to assess seniors’ understanding of cybersecurity, and to enable content refinement.

Project: Conducting safety talks and drone operation

Students conducted a safety talk on rules and regulations of CAAS on drone operation, and demonstrated key features of an actual drone (without flying) before engaging the elderly from various eldercare centres in simulated drone flight circuits via projectors. This aimed to provide an understanding on drone rules, regulations and safety, for elderly with an interest in drone flying as a leisure activity. In addition, the drone operation activity also helped the elderly in improving hand-brain coordination.

Project: Repairing faulty electronic items

After observing how waste is treated at an NEA incineration plant, and visiting Salvation Army where they were briefed on the repair and reuse of donated items, students helped to sort through donated electronic items and repair some of the faulty ones that could be salvaged. The experience enabled them to appreciate the harmfulness that can be caused by e-wastes and also contribute towards recycling.

Project: Ideating improvements to mobility devices

After doing background research on issues faced by the elderly and interacting with the elderly at various Seniors Activities Centers, students learnt more about mobility issues and the need for special personal mobility devices (PMDs) such as battery powered wheelchairs, special battery powered walkers etc. They then brainstormed and ideated improvements to the designs of such devices.

Project: Developing interactive activities to engage the elderly

Students first visited and prepared activities to engage the elderly at All Saints Home. This experience helped them to gain an understanding of and empathy towards the various stakeholders. It also set the stage for them to tap into the design thinking process to develop suitable interactive activities to engage the clients of the home.

Project: Developing educational and interactive activities

Students conducted a physics workshop to engage and interact with the clients of Beyond Social Services (BSS). This enhanced their understanding of and empathy towards the various stakeholders at BSS. It also set the stage for them to tap into the design thinking process to develop suitable educational and interactive activities for BSS’ clients.

Project: Ideating scaled-down prototypes for use against water pollution

Students did background research and attended a talk by Waterways Watch Society (WWS) to gain insights into water pollution and conservation in Singapore, along with the challenges of keeping the waterways and beaches clean. They then tapped into the design thinking process to propose ideas and develop scaled-down prototypes that may be used in the fight against water pollution.

Project: Proposing solutions to address volunteers' pain points

Students explored the surrounding of GUI, its farm lands and carpentry area to discover volunteers’ pain points during farming and carpentry work. They then proposed solutions and built prototypes of these to alleviate the challenges faced by the volunteers.

Project: Engineering design proposals to address challenges of the disabled and elderly

Student undergo empathy challenge activities to understand the issues of disabilities and ageing. They then came up with engineering design proposals to address some of the challenges of the disabled and elderly.