An optofluidic volume refractometer using Fabry–Pérot resonator with tunable liquid microlenses

This letter reports the development of an optofluidic Fabry–Pérot (FP) resonator, which consists of a microcavity and a pair of liquid microlenses. The microcavity forms part of the microchannel to facilitate sample injection. The liquid microlenses are used for efficient light coupling from the optical fiber to the microcavity. The liquid microlens collimates the diverging light from the optical fiber into the FP cavity, which provides real-time tuning to obtain the highest possible finesse up to 18.79. In volume refractive index measurement, a sensitivity of 960 nm per refractive index unit (RIU) and a detection range of 0.043 RIU are achieved.     

Ethnic diversity and the nation state: from centralization in the age of nationalism to decentralization amidst globalization

The cause of conflict in multiethnic and multi-religious societies is not diversity in and of itself. Rather, it is one’s attitude towards diversity. Do we share political power and economic development with the regions and minority communities? Do we recognize the cultural identities of the minorities? This requires that the nation-state building process be imagined in more inclusive civic territorial lines rather than exclusive ethnic-genealogical lines. With the above as a backdrop, the article explores nation-state building and the related pursuit of economic growth in Malaysia and some parts of Southeast Asia. The article ends with a call for decentralizing power and resources, and for more research on local level governance and democracy.     

School choice in the stratilingual city of Vancouver

This paper examines the links between language, social difference and political domination in the practices of parental school choice at the heart of a global city, Vancouver. Vancouver is a highly diverse city, especially in terms of language. Its inner city is replete with multiple languages whose exchange values are not equal. In this context, our case study of two elementary schools observes that white middle‐class parents choose a predominantly white school – whose students are non‐ESL and have a second language choice of French – in a socially and ethnically mixed inner city neighbourhood, creating a stark imbalance in the student population of local neighbourhood schools. This paper examines parents' accounts of their choices, which they rationalise on the basis of linguistic competency and differentiation from multilingual others. We draw from Pierre Bourdieu's theory of language and symbolic power and Ghassan Hage's spatial theory of nationalist practice to understand the linguistic dimension of school choice rationalisation made by white middle‐class parents. In the context of these insights, we argue that the way anglophone white middle‐class parents choose their children's schools is intricately linked to active processes of reproducing a stratilingual society in Canada.     

Does the gender of the teacher matter in the teaching of reading literacy? Teacher gender and pupil attainment in reading literacy in Hong Kong

A study of 148 primary school teachers and 4867 Grade 4 pupils in Hong Kong found no support for the proposal that boys learn to read better when taught by men teachers. In fact, it was found that both boys and girls learnt better when taught by women. Responses to a teacher questionnaire indicate significant differences in the preferred patterns of teaching favoured by male and female teachers. Responses from men teachers suggest they are more authoritarian, prefer to control pupils' learning, engage pupils in whole-class reading and like to read passages aloud while pupils follow the text. Responses from women teachers suggest they prefer to teach reading in groups, to group pupils according to reading ability, set tasks that suit pupils' stage of learning, allocate more time for pupils to read books and use the school library and encourage pupils to discover for themselves the meaning of new vocabulary encountered in text. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

A self-determination approach to understanding students' motivation in project work

The use of project work (PW) or project-based learning has escalated in Singapore since its inception by the Ministry of Education in the year 2000. There is however little information on students' motivation, and their experience of PW over time. This study sought to identify homogeneous groups of students with distinct perceived locus of causality (PLOC) profiles using a cluster analytic approach, and to examine group differences in their perceived psychological needs, emotions, metacognition, and perceived skills learned in PW over time. Four distinct clusters of students were identified. The “high self-determined/low controlled” group was the most adaptive cluster, and the “low self-determined/high controlled” group was the least adaptive cluster. The study affirms that the self-determination theory (SDT) can provide important insights into the motivational processes in PW. It establishes that students' motivational regulations and their perceived needs satisfaction at the start of PW are related to their experience of and learning in PW.     

The (bio)politics of engagement: shifts in Singapore's policy and public discourse on civics education

This article provides a historical overview of civic educational policy and political discourse in Singapore from 1959 to 2011, focusing on changes in the role attributed to students in the education process. A review of educational programmes and analysis of political speeches reveals that an earlier transmissionist approach that focused on value inculcation and factual knowledge has been supplemented recently by policy and discourse emphasizing student engagement. The authors link their analysis to larger political changes that have been taking place in Singapore. They argue that the push for more participatory forms of civics education parallels an ongoing shift in the ruling party's political ideology from economic pragmatism to a communitarian ideology that emphasizes citizens' responsibility. From the point of view of political rationality, promoting active student engagement in civics education can be seen as governmental efforts to build a strong civil society through early socialization into civic responsibility and voluntarism. Viewed as a technology of power, engagement is also seen as a new biopolitical intervention aimed at regulating political participation.     

Taiwanese Students in Malaysia and Interculturality: When National Identities Take Primacy over Individualities

Abstract Using a liquid approach, the authors analyze the intercultural discourse of Taiwanese students who had taken part in a short term exchange program with a Malaysian university. The four participants were graduating in Mandarin Chinese in their home institution and were following a Chinese program in multilingual Malaysia. Data were collected through focus groups held in Mandarin Chinese and focused on their experience in the host country. The authors analyze how participants talk about themselves, Malaysians, and their adaptation to the host country. The processes of essentialization and othering that occur and put in contrast the host and the home contexts are similar to those held in Asia-to-Europe mobility and very far from an “interculturality without culture” (Dervin, 2010). If we focus on the construction of discourses, this Asia-to-Asia mobility forces us to relativize the opposition of cultures as an explanation for difficulties encountered by mobile students.     

Online Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment with Ordered Multiple-Choice Items for Word Problems involving ‘Time’

Education and Information Technologies - Solving word problems involving 'Time' is an important skill but poor mastery of the skill among elementary students has often been reported in the...     

The understanding and development of cycling aerodynamics

In elite cycling the resistive force is dominated by aerodynamics. Be it on the roads or in the velodrome, the sport has many examples where aerodynamics has won and lost races. Since the invention of the bicycle, engineers have strived to improve performance, often by reducing aerodynamic drag. Over the last 50 years a number of authors have presented their efforts in journals, books and magazines. This review summarises the publications that show the continued development in the aerodynamics of cycling. The review concludes by examining the shortcomings of the current understanding and making suggestions for future research and development.     

Pre-service teachers' reasons for choosing teaching as a career in Singapore

As the national teacher education institute in Singapore, the National Institute of Education (NIE) prepares all teachers seeking to be employed within the education service in Singapore. In the last decade, NIE's enrolment for initial teacher preparation programmes has grown significantly, with peaks in numbers during the recession years. There is also some evidence of attrition when beginning teachers complete their 3-year bond with the Ministry of Education, which sponsors their teacher education programme. It is thus important to determine empirically the reasons why pre-service teachers join the teaching profession, to see whether this can inform us about measures that can be taken to ensure they stay on in the profession. As part of a longitudinal study on beginning teachers' attitudes towards teaching and professional development, a research survey, the first of three data collections, was administered to whole cohorts of pre-service teachers entering NIE's three main teacher preparation programmes in July 2004. This paper presents the survey findings on pre-service teachers' reasons for choosing teaching as a career and discusses the differences between cohorts of different programmes. The implications of the study are discussed in terms of informing future policy and practice in the areas of teacher recruitment, retention and professional development.