This year, the award was presented to the recipients by Mr Lawrence Wong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance of Singapore during the Singapore Economic Policy Forum held at Regent Singapore on 18 October 2022.
The winners were selected based on their contributions in the following four areas:
- Passion for and Mastery of Economics
- Pedagogy & Assessment
- Student Development
- Professional Development
The two recipients of this year’s OETA are Mr. Chong Woon Tien David (HCI) and Ms. Zeng Wenjie (TJC). The four finalists for this year’s OETA are Mdm Chee Poh Ling (MI), Ms Kuek Xiao Bin (ACJC), Mr Lee Soon Woon Derek (NYJC), Mdm Violet Soh Beng Mooi (SJI).
Here are the details of the two OETA winners:
Mr David Chong Woon Tien, Teacher of Economics, Hwa Chong Institution.
Age: 46. Years of teaching experience: 12.
Before becoming an Economics teacher in Hwa Chong Institution (HCI) in 2010, Mr Chong was a diplomat for eight years at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He taps on his experience to make Economics lessons come alive. For example, he would use personal anecdotes to demonstrate how economics and politics are intertwined when negotiating agreements at an international level. Mr Chong is also, skilled in the use of both physical and digital teaching tools. Mr Chong combines his artistic talent and passion for storytelling to create learning resources and activities (e.g. a boardgame, an escape room simulation, a mobile application, animated videos, etc.) and shares them with the Economics department in HCI to make the learning of Economics more engaging and effective for students. As a classroom teacher, Mr Chong uses various digital learning tools like Nearpod, Padlet, Kahoot, Google Forms and digital mind-maps to engage his students and assess their learning. Mr Chong is also very intentional in the way that he seeks to give all his students opportunities to participate in class and receive meaningful feedback on their progress. His students appreciate how patient, encouraging and inclusive he is in supporting their learning. Mr Chong’s contribution to the teaching fraternity is also note-worthy. He has shared his experiences, knowledge, and insights on the use of Gamified Flip Learning, Economics Escape Room and Inquiry Based Learning via Edpuzzle at various local platforms like the HCI-Nanyang Education Conference (from 2018 to 2022), the MOE Economics Teacher’s Learning Fest (from 2016 to 2022) and the W1 Cluster Humanities Blended Learning E-Conference (2022), as well as international platforms like the International Conference on Teaching and Learning with Technology (2018). In summary, Mr Chong’s belief in providing authentic and meaningful learning experiences has made the learning of Economics more engaging and effective.
Ms Zeng Wenjie, Senior Teacher of Economics, Temasek Junior College.
Age: 34. Years of teaching experience: 11.
Ms Zeng has taught the subject at H1, H2 and H3 levels, coordinated the teaching programme for H1 and H3, and has been a source of knowledge and inspiration for her colleagues with her mastery in content, pedagogy and assessment. As a curriculum leader, Ms Zeng ensured coherence and synergy across topics while having shared many engaging and effective learning resources (some of which she had developed) to scaffold students’ learning. Armed with extensive real-world examples as well as a wide repertoire of pedagogical skills and digital tools, Ms Zeng’s lessons often include a seamless blend of interactive and collaborative activities. With a calm and reassuring temperament, Wenjie’s classroom is a safe and welcoming place where students share their views freely and are assured of both constructive and encouraging feedback. Ms Zeng’s contributions to professional development extended to the wider Economics fraternity. From 2019 to 2022, Ms Zeng shared her expertise on assessment pitching, promotion of self-regulated learning, and development of evaluation skills at the annual Economics Teachers’ Learning Fest. Since 2019, she has led the H3 Economics Networked Learning Community, where teachers from different colleges collaborate to advance the fraternity’s understanding of the subject. Ms Zeng has been an active member of the Academy of Singapore Teacher’s Economics Chapter Core Team where she has contributed insights on assessment literacy and blended learning. In summary, Ms Zeng’s extensive experience and wide repertoire of pedagogical skills has allowed her to inspire and coach her colleagues and students.
Please click here for the Outstanding Economics Teacher Award 2022 video.
