UP has been busy preparing the campus for the safe return of students.

When students return to campus, they will notice quite a few changes:

• increased online learning to keep staff and students safe
• temperatures will be checked before entry is permitted on to campus
• hand sanitizer at gate entry, in classrooms and in the toilet areas
• the wearing of masks will be compulsory for everyone on campus
• health information is featured on dedicated signage in all classrooms, laboratories and around campus
• there are crosses on seats and along paving to ensure social distancing of at least two metres
• laboratories and classrooms have been rearranged to provide seating for fewer students in each classrooms, labs and other enclosed spaces at any one time
• our Dental Clinic continues to operate in compliance with Covid-19 clinic guidelines including thorough, careful cleaning, alongside students and staff wearing full Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in addition to screens being deployed between chairs.

UP has complied fully with the list of requirements provided by the Ministry of Education, Youth & Sport (MOEYS) and is ready to open to students once we receive permission to do so from the MOH.

We hope to bring students back to campus, especially to complete the lab sessions they have missed during Semester 2. Later, when Semester 1 of the new Academic Year begins, we will continue to limit numbers on campus to comply with all ministerial guidelines. Some classes will be on campus while others will continue online. New teaching resources are being purchased to enhance both in-person and online teaching and learning.

We continue to work hard to ensure that our campus continues to provide a safe environment for our students, staff and lecturers, and we are really looking forward to our return to campus.

UPs high quality Online Learning officially recognized by MOEYS

UP takes great pride in delivering excellent learning experiences for our students. UP’s students and staff are active and engaged members of our vibrant learning community. As part of our commitment to our values of Honor Self, Respect Others and Serve Society, UP enthusiastically responds to challenges and opportunities, most recently by the temporary closure of our campus due to COVID-19 pandemic.

We have accelerated and expanded the use of our very own University of Puthisastra Online Platform (UPOP) – based on Moodle. We also rapidly trained many of our staff and students to use Google Meet, Gmail, as well as UPOP, to support and continue students’ learning even though they cannot come to the campus. We remain absolutely committed to the development of the best Medical, Dentistry, Nursing, Midwifery, Counselling, Pharmacy and Information & Communication Technology professionals in Cambodia.

We are very proud to have continued online learning during COVID-19 close-down allowing students to minimize disruptions.

UPs revised Foundation Year approved by MOEYS

Foundation is called Foundation Year because it does just that. It provides a very strong Foundation for future learning – making sure that students “learn how to learn” as well as provide them with foundation sciences they need for their studies and future careers. To make UP students the Leaders of Tomorrow. UPs revisions which have been approved by MOEYS give much more emphasis to 21st Century skills of teamwork, critical thinking and research – which are so critical for success.

Foundation Year also includes 8hrs per week of English tuition – which is so critically important for todays health and IT professionals. English is the international language of success and UP provides this FREE OF CHARGE – no need to pay extra to study elsewhere. UP continues to excel in research which cultivates students to deepen their understanding of their career, and to critically evaluate the many changes of modern life.

Strengthening students’ learning ability and changing teaching methods through modern Teaching and Learning for the 21st Century remains a central part of the university’s core strategy.

UP Faculty Of Dentistry Holds Its First Online Thesis Defence

This week the Faculty of Dentistry held its first online thesis defence for three candidates – Pheach Ratanak, Sor Keam Ou and Heng Srey Touch. The topic of their thesis was “Comparison Of GIC Fissure Sealants With Different Finger Press Times” and involved 200 children from one Phnom Penh school which was enrolled in the Seal Cambodia project. The clinical trial was conducted over a three month period and sought to determine whether variations on one important step of the clinical procedure (fissure sealing) affected the outcome (retention of the sealants). The findings of their study were significant and have not been previously reported in the internal literature. They plan to publish the results in the future. The defence was chaired by the Head of the UP Research Committee, Dr Tineke Water, and other examiners were Assistant Professor Soeun Sopharith (Deputy Dean), Dr Chher Tepirou (Chief Dental Officer from MOH) and Dr Tort Borany (lecturer in preventive dentistry).

The defence was attended by over 50 staff and students. The three candidates presented well for 20 minutes, and then were asked questions from the examiners for another 30 minutes. The final score for their thesis was “Pass with Distinction” – the highest award so far given for a dentistry thesis.The whole process ran smoothly thanks to the excellent organization by thesis coordinator Dr Kong Sophannary. Congratulations to the three candidates who can now apply to get their graduation certificate.

Dental Students Enjoy Problemt Based Learning Online

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which complex real-world problems are used as the vehicle to promote student learning, as opposed to direct presentation of facts and concepts (e.g. traditional lectures). In PBL students solve problems collaboratively over a number of sessions, with guidance from facilitators. The process involves different students gathering information to answer questions related to the problem from textbooks, journals and other sources, and then sharing the findings in order to collaboratively solve the problems at hand.

At UP we have been using PBL in the classroom for many years. Students meet in small groups to work through a series of problems – mostly complex clinical cases – related to what they are studying that semester. When UP closed to students last semester, we had to adapt the PBL classes and do them online. In Dentistry, the two facilitators, Dr Chray Mengkheng and Dr Sao Soksan assisted by Dr Horn Rithvitou, conducted a survey at the end of the course to evaluate student perceptions and how online PBL compared with face-to-face PBL.

38 students participated in the survey. 95% agreed that overall PBL was a positive experience and a good way to learn, although many had intermittent problems with their internet connections. 100% said the topics were interesting. 87% said they learnt a lot from studying the PBL work. 85% said their group worked hard to solve the problems. 77% said that teamwork and communication between group members was good. 62% said they prefered online PBL to face-to-face PBL, and 75% said they would be happy to do it again. 83% said they preferred PBL over lectures. Reasons given for liking PBL included: interesting topics, a focus on clinic-based problems, and enjoyed meeting classmates. The main complaint was the sometimes erratic internet connection and difficulty in accessing full journal articles online.

Overall the online PBL has been a great success, and we will use it again in the future. We hope to present the results of the study at the Southeast Asian Association for Dental Education (SEAADE) online conference later this year and perhaps publish a paper in an international journal.

Visit By Our Chancellor And A Delegation Of Korean Consultants

This week UP was visited by our Chancellor, His Excellency Sok Puthyvuth, who is also Secretary of State for the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPTC), along with Professor Chhem Rethy (UP Board Member), and a delegation from the MPTC, which included several consultants from Korea. The MPTC currently runs a project on the Establishment and Operation of Communication Platforms based on ICT and Media, which is being supervised by H.E Sok Puthyvuth.

The purpose of the visit to UP was to learn about UP’s online platform and how UP has successfully implemented an enhanced online learning programme for students. During the visit our Coordinator for Teaching and Learning, Mr Boy Vibol made a presentation which demonstrated our UPOP platform and other Teaching and Learning software. This was followed by a presentation by Mr Kham Sokheng, the Director of the IT Department, who explained the mechanics of the system and demonstrated how UPOP is being used online by all of our students and academic staff.

The delegation toured the campus and saw our computer resources in the library, as well as our Server Room. We hope that the visit proved enjoyable and provided useful information for this important project, part of which will involve developing an online platform alongside educational content for MoEYS. We look forward to collaborating further in the future.