Provision of early field experiences for teacher candidates in Singapore and how it can contribute to teacher resilience and retention

While teacher retention is a pressing issue for many jurisdictions, Singapore has a relatively low teacher attrition rate. Drawing on the experiences of student teachers from the sole institute for pre-service teacher education in Singapore, this article argues that it is important to expose teacher candidates to a substantial period of school experience as part of the teacher recruitment process. Before they are officially enrolled into pre-service teacher education, the Ministry of Education in Singapore requires all teacher candidates in the Postgraduate Diploma of Education program to go through a compulsory school stint. The authors' research findings show that this exposure to the realities and complexities of teaching can be an important contributor to teacher retention in terms of assessing and promoting teacher candidates’ resilient qualities, such as passion for teaching, self-efficacy beliefs, and positive emotion. In other words, early field experiences can help teacher candidates understand themselves as teachers and assess their own suitability for a teaching career. This study sheds new light on the policies and practices of teacher retention and teacher recruitment strategies.     

The Project on Innovative Teaching Methods — An Overview

Over the past several years, the education system in Singapore has undergone very significant and far-reaching changes, especially in terms of the programmes and resources available to teachers and pupils. New textbooks and teaching materials have been introduced into the schools by the Curriculum Development Institute of Singapore (CDIS). Within the Institute of Education (IE), teacher education programmes for pre-service trainees and in-service teachers have also undergone review and change to meet new needs and expectations.     

Simplification and improvement of prediction model for elastic modulus of particulate reinforced metal matrix composite

1 Introduction a Elastic modulus is an important index to reflect the resistance of a composite against deformation under an applied force. Elastic modulus measurement of a composite is restricted by some factors, for instance, test samples need to confor…     

Courseware development with animated pedagogical agents in learning system to improve learning motivation

The addition of animated pedagogical agents (APAs) in computer-assisted learning (CAL) systems could successfully enhance students' learning motivation and engagement in learning activities. Conventionally, the APA incorporated multimedia materials are constructed through the cooperation of teachers and software programmers. However, the thinking and technical gap between two roles, a concept/content provider (teacher) and an implementer (software programmer), may lead to the concept distortion and loss in the final teaching material implementations. This often results in preventing a teacher from preparing his or her own APA-based multimedia learning systems. This study aims to develop a courseware to facilitate the CAL through the combination of the two roles into a single one and then teachers can use it freely by themselves. The courseware can help teachers to develop appropriate multimedia instructional materials incorporating APAs, which attracts students' attention and enhances their interest in learning. Furthermore, in this study two separate trial experiments were conducted to measure the teachers' satisfaction with the courseware and students' learning motivation after using APA-based multimedia learning systems. The results show that the participating teachers were satisfied with the courseware and would like to apply it in their instruction. Moreover, the participating students were strongly motivated by the customized APA-based multimedia learning systems. Therefore, the proposed courseware could give teachers a good opportunity to add pedagogical value to the curriculum, so that students' learning interest and motivation could be enhanced.     

Creating a Business Strategy Evaluation Model for National Museums Based on the Views of Curators

The aim of this study is to find the critical factors that influence Taiwan's national museum business performance based on its curators’ views. The study explored the causal relationships among the criteria that emerged in the study and of each sub‐criteria. Since developing a business strategy is a multiple‐criteria decision‐making (MCDM) problem, this study adopted the causal‐effect model of decision‐making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) technique. The DEMATEL technique simplifies and visualizes the interrelationships among decision‐making criteria. The study identified four core criteria – benefits, opportunity, costs, and risks, as key influencers in the national museum business performance. Each key criteria was supported by a set of sub‐criteria which, when considered together, produced an influential network relations map. The results of this study provided Taiwan's national museum curators with an idea‐based understanding of how to create business and marketing strategies that could enhance exhibition features, experience activities, and facilities that could be linked to satisfaction of visitors’ desires and offer a potentials strategy for assessing likelihood of return visits.     

Dynamic processes of conceptual change: Analysis of constructing mental models of chemical equilibrium

The purpose of this study was to investigate students' mental models of chemical equilibrium using dynamic science assessments. Research in chemical education has shown that students at various levels have misconceptions about chemical equilibrium. According to Chi's theory of conceptual change, the concept of chemical equilibrium has constraint‐based features (e.g., random, simultaneous, uniform activities) that might prevent students from deeply understanding the nature of the concept of chemical equilibrium. In this study, we examined how students learned and constructed their mental models of chemical equilibrium in a cognitive apprenticeship context. Thirty 10th‐grade students participated in the study: 10 in a control group and 20 in a treatment group. Both groups were presented with a series of hands‐on chemical experiments. The students in the treatment group were instructed based on the main features of cognitive apprenticeship (CA), such as coaching, modeling, scaffolding, articulation, reflection, and exploration. However, the students in the control group (non‐CA group) learned from the tutor without explicit CA support. The results revealed that the CA group significantly outperformed the non‐CA group. The students in the CA group were capable of constructing the mental models of chemical equilibrium—including dynamic, random activities of molecules and interactions between molecules in the microworld—whereas the students in the non‐CA group failed to construct similar correct mental models of chemical equilibrium. The study focuses on the process of constructing mental models, on dynamic changes, and on the actions of students (such as self‐monitoring/self‐correction) who are learning the concept of chemical equilibrium. Also, we discuss the implications for science education. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 39: 688–712, 2002     

Terminus Amnesia: Cherokee Freedmen,Citizenship, and Education

In 2007, the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma amended its constitution to limit membership to only those who can trace lineal descent to an individual listed as Cherokee by Blood on the final Dawes Rolls. This exercise of sovereignty paradoxically ties the Dawes Rolls, the colonial instruments used to divide the lands and peoples of the Cherokee Nation, and self-determination. In the process, it effectively disenrolls Cherokee Freedmen, the descendants of Blacks enslaved by the Cherokee Nation. In this article, we explore the implications of this history in the context of self-determination and sovereignty, particularly looking at the influence of colorism on the Dawes Rolls and its ongoing effects. Our goal is to share a piece of history that is often obscured or unknown; to explore how and to what extent the exercise of self-determination and sovereignty in Indigenous nations is impacted by colorism; and finally to consider implications for practice created by the disenfranchisement of peoples from Indigenous nations.     

The prevalence and severity of injuries in field hockey drag flickers: a retrospective cross-sectional study

The drag flick is the preferred method of scoring during a penalty corner in field hockey. Performing the drag flick requires a combination of strength, coordination and timing, which may increase susceptibility to injuries. However, injury prevalence in drag flickers has not previously been investigated. Therefore, this study compared the injury prevalence and severity of lower limb and lower back injuries between drag flickers and non-drag flickers in field hockey. A total of 432 local, national and international adult field hockey players (242 males, 188 females) completed an online questionnaire to retrospectively determine the 3-month prevalence and severity of ankle, knee, hip and lower back injuries. Of this group, 140 self-identified as drag flickers and 292 as non-drag flickers. The results showed that drag flickers had significantly higher prevalence of hip (OR: 1.541; 95% CI: 1.014, 2.343) and lower back injury (OR: 1.564; 95% CI: 1.034, 2.365) compared to non-drag flickers. No significant differences were observed between drag flickers and non-drag flickers in injury prevalence at the ankle and knee. There were no significant between-group differences in injury severity scores. Overall, the prevalence of hip and lower back injuries was significantly higher in drag flickers compared to non-drag flickers.     

One for Nine Ten: Cataloging for Consortia Collections,a UC model

ABSTRACT

In January 2000, the University of California created the Shared Cataloging Program (SCP). Based at the University of California, San Diego, the SCP is a “centralized cataloging model” for the California Digital Library consortium collections. This article will take an evolutionary look at the perpetual challenges of sustaining a consortial cataloging model and highlight the efforts of the SCP in the ongoing quest to eliminate the redundancy of efforts by centralizing the optimization of cataloging efficiency.