Learning Goals,Creativity and Personality

In this article, I examine the meaningful relationships which exist between learning goals, creativity and personality. Two hundred and fifty respondents from two local universities in Singapore responded to a survey which contained various psychological scales which measured specific psychological constructs. They included task orientation, ego‐approach orientation, ego‐avoidance orientation, creativity, conformity, autonomous causality orientation, controlled causality orientation, openness to experience, agreeable‐ness and neuroticism. Task orientation was found to be positively associated with creativity, autonomous causality orientation and openness to experience, and negatively associated with conformity. Both ego‐approach and ego‐avoidance orientations were found to be positively associated with conformity, controlled causality orientation and neuroticism, and negatively associated with creativity and openness to experience. In addition, ego‐approach orientation was found to be negatively associated with agreeableness. In the discussion, it was stressed that if educators wished to nurture creative, compassionate and vivacious students who enjoyed the learning process, rather than competitive, conforming and wary students who feared the learning process, then it was necessary to cultivate a learning environment which encouraged students to be task‐involved rather than ego‐involved.     

Educational reform in Singapore: from quantity to quality

In 2004, Prime Minister Lee called teachers to “teach less” so that students might “learn more”. In 2005, the Ministry of Education clarified this philosophical statement to mean transforming learning from quantity to quality—“more quality and less quantity” in education. This is in line with the national vision of ‘Thinking Schools, Learning Nation’. This policy initiative, which began in 2004, is set to change the fundamental nature of education in Singapore. This article discusses this initiative, its major implications for schools in Singapore and the challenges to be addressed in the implementation of the policy. In particular, the article discusses the issues of understanding an engaged learning paradigm, establishing signposts for the shift from quantity to quality and the difficulties of system-wide transformation. The challenge for schools is to go beyond the form of the initiative to bring real, substantial and sustainable educational change through this movement.     

Discontinuum analyses of openings constructed with side drift and limited rock cover

The design of rock support for a typical horseshoe shaped tunnel with considerations of it being excavated into a twin arch tunnel was studied using the distinct element method (DEM). Two different competent rock covers, i.e. 4 m and 7.5 m above the tunnel crown, were analysed. The results are relevant to the granitic geological unit in Singapore which has a weathering profile with rockhead found at some locations to be only 20–35 m below ground level and undulating, leaving limited rock cover for some sections along tunnels of similar depth. The verification of the adequacy of competent rock cover is important to ensure that the choice of ground support is suitable, particularly when the tunnel is excavated using the drill-and-blast method. In the opening geometry analysed in this study, a side drift is excavated adjacent to the first tunnel to create a twin arch opening. This creates a pillar between the openings during the intermediate construction stage. The influence of excavating the side drift on the support of the first opening was studied. We found that the bolt forces in the pillar approximately doubled during the excavation of the side drift, which may have been due to the rock joint inclinations and adopted strength parameters. This paper shows how DEM analyses may be used to complement conventional empirical rock mass classifications to design rock supports. Limitations of the pressure relaxation approach to model 3D effects in 2D are acknowledged.     

Choice of Holland's Social Type College Majors for U.S. Racial/Ethnic Groups

We used national data to study the longitudinal effects of several variables on choice of Holland (1997) social type college majors versus other majors. We examined these effects for four of the five major U.S. racial/ethnic groups, Asian/Pacific Islanders, Hispanics, Blacks, and Whites. Effects of mathematics scores and gender on choice of social majors were fairly consistent across racial/ethnic groups, whereas effects of reading scores and SES differed across racial/ethnic groups. Results for Whites were most consistent with Holland's theoretical formulations regarding the effects of variables on choice of social-type educational/occupational environments.     

Microfluidic on-chip fluorescence-activated interface control system

A microfluidic dynamic fluorescence-activated interface control system was developed for lab-on-a-chip applications. The system consists of a straight rectangular microchannel, a fluorescence excitation source, a detection sensor, a signal conversion circuit, and a high-voltage feedback system. Aqueous NaCl as conducting fluid and aqueous glycerol as nonconducting fluid were introduced to flow side by side into the straight rectangular microchannel. Fluorescent dye was added to the aqueous NaCl to work as a signal representing the interface position. Automatic control of the liquid interface was achieved by controlling the electroosmotic effect that exists only in the conducting fluid using a high-voltage feedback system. A LABVIEW program was developed to control the output of high-voltage power supply according the actual interface position, and then the interface position is modified as the output of high-voltage power supply. At last, the interface can be moved to the desired position automatically using this feedback system. The results show that the system presented in this paper can control an arbitrary interface location in real time. The effects of viscosity ratio, flow rates, and polarity of electric field were discussed. This technique can be extended to switch the sample flow and droplets automatically.     

Experimental verification of Faradaic charging in ac electrokinetics

This paper investigates the phenomenon of Faradaic charging in ac electrokinetics. Faradaic reactions were suggested as a key effect responsible for the reversal of pumping direction in ac micropumps. However, this hypothesis has yet to be proven convincingly and directly. Here we present an ion detection strategy to determine the production of ions through Faradaic hydrolytic reactions originating from direct application of voltage to electrolytic solutions during ac electrokinetics. Experiments were performed with symmetrical planar electrodes aligned along a microfluidic channel. Fluorescein, a pH-dependent dye, was employed as the pH indicator for the detection of ion production. Images were captured for analysis at various voltage levels. From analyzing the fluorescence intensity and its distribution, it can be concluded that the production of ions from hydrolytic reactions takes place and increases with the ac voltage. The coefficient of deviation indicates a significant enhancement at ac voltage above 11 V_pp. Lastly, we demonstrate a strategy using dc-biased ac electrokinetics to achieve controllability in direction and magnitude of the net fluid flow in pumping application.     

BEYOND BIBLE STORIES: THE ROLE OF CULTURE-SPECIFIC MYTHS/STORIES IN THE IDENTITY FORMATION OF NONDOMINANT IMMIGRANT CHILDREN

The full identity of Asian heritage children growing up in Canada and the U.S. includes the Judaeo-Christian biblical tradition, the Euro-Anglo tradition of the dominant culture, and the traditions of their heritage culture. This article makes a case for including culture-specific stories from learners' own heritage for more holistic identity formation for younger members of immigrant Christian faith communities. The author examines obstacles that stand in the way, and discusses strategies to carry out this religious education endeavor. While examples are drawn mainly from East Asian culture (particularly Chinese), the discussion is intended to apply to most non-Euro-Anglo Christian faith communities of the North America diaspora.