If you go there to just talk cock sing song, then it's bad.
Anyway, RP sucks in a way because their PBL is heavily modified.
In a full PBL situation, one will spend months and months on a
topic. RP? One day one topic. The result? You fail to learn.
RP's PBL is also very dependent on the eyes of the facilitators
and your team mates. If your team mates sabo you, that's it. Your
grades gone case. The grades will take a further dipping if your
facilitator is blind.
The good points - learn team work. Ultimately, reality hurts. Go
out to work, it's not individual work (if you want a decent job,
and not some dish/plate washer job).
Learn politics - that's how reality works isn't it? He arrow
you, she back stab you.
Gain knowledge - besides the above 2 crap points, if you really
do want to learn something, you will really learn something,
especially if your team mates are great and you've got a dedicated
facilitator. 3 years in RP, I've got to say I'm lucky. I've got
great team mates and facilitators who are willing to teach and
guide. Even for those foreign facilitators whose ang moh sucks, as
long as you've got the patience, you will learn a lot from
them.
There's are also activities in RP which will aid you in gaining
more knowledge, either in the field you are in or any other fields
you are in interested in. They are known as Creative Engagement
activities in RP. Those going for points, bear in mind, you learn
nothing. Because CE points are just like CCA points in secondary
schools. Some students do something just for the sake of it. Except
that CE points in RP won't help in your entrance to
universities.
Also, in RP, you also have a mentor. I only say I'm unlucky in
that. All my mentors are bo chup one. If your mentor cares, he/she
will call up on you, help you, guide you, besides the regular
facilitators. Some of my friends got them and their grades and
moods improved significantly.
Fourth, it teaches independence. Despite team work playing a
huge role in RP, it's basically independent research on your side.
Not just Google, Yahoo or any other search engine results, but you
have to borrow books and read up. RP library may have a small
collection now, but the books are definitely one of the newest. Or
you can go Bishan or National Library to grab the latest books.
Fifth, it opens your eyes to the world. Besides the back
stabbing and politics, you will find the different kinds of people
in your class and team. Through their eyes and experience, you
learn to understand their views. Through research, you learn the
different researchers' opinions and views of an issue.
With the exception of Science and Engineering, getting an answer
is not really needed in RP. What's needed is your learning process.
If you demostrate an understanding of the topic really well, even
without knowing the answer is fine.
That's my 3 years of experience there. Overall, fair enough if
you are open minded and lucky. The things that need improving is
the whole PBL system and some facilitators need to be sacked.
