Motivating students of mixed efficacy profiles in technology skills classes: A case study

Students usually enter technology skills courses with varying experience and self-efficacy with technology. Teaching classes with mixed-efficacy at the same pace and level of contents may not ensure that all students would be equally motivated. This qualitative study explored strategies for motivating mixed profile classes by comparing learning behaviors of high and low efficacy students in an undergraduate technology skills course. It was found that low-efficacy students could be motivated by providing them with opportunities to acclimatize to the use of technical vocabulary and a technical environment. On the other hand, high-efficacy students could be motivated with opportunities to learn new technical contents. The study identified three critical stages of motivation and the strategies that could be adopted by instructors.     

The complexities in fostering critical thinking through school-based curriculum innovation: research evidence from Singapore

Abstract

Singapore’s strong performance in international benchmarking studies – Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) – poses a conundrum to researchers who view Singapore’s pedagogy as characterized by the teaching of facts and procedures, and lacking in constructivist learning principles. In this paper, we examine the impact of different curriculum innovations on critical thinking as measured by the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Assessment – UK (WGCTA-UK). This includes two innovations that are subject-specific and short-term, one that strongly infuses the arts into the curriculum throughout the whole course of study, and the innovation of the Integrated Programme (IP) which allows academically stronger students to skip the GCE “O” Levels and enter directly into the next level of education, with the time previously allocated to exam preparation now spent on greater breadth in the academic and non-academic curriculum. This paper takes the sociocultural approach to investigate the contexts, process, and outcomes, reports the state of critical thinking, and sheds light on how critical thinking is being promoted. Through our analysis, we find support for the claim that only curriculum that is rigorously designed to foster critical thinking competencies will reap the intended student outcome.     

Students’ conceptions of and approaches to knowledge building and its relationship to learning outcomes

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships among students’ conceptions of knowledge building, approaches to knowledge building, knowledge-building behaviors and learning outcomes. A total of 48 primary school students (from grades 3 and 4) who had experienced knowledge-building activities participated in the present study. After analyzing the students’ interview responses using the phenomenographic method, qualitatively different and hierarchically related conceptions and approaches were revealed. The results indicated that the students with fragmented conceptions tended to use surface approaches to knowledge building while those with cohesive conceptions tended to adopt deep approaches. The findings also indicate that the students with cohesive conceptions or deep approaches were more likely to have better learning outcomes than those with fragmented conceptions or surface approaches.     

Goal orientations and metacognitive skills of normal technical and normal academic students on project work

In 2000, the Singapore Ministry of Education launched Project Work (PW) to encourage the application of knowledge across disciplines, and to develop thinking, communication, collaboration and metacognitive skills. This preliminary findings of a large scale study examines the role of goal orientations (achievement goals and social goals) in predicting metacognition and enjoyment in project work of Secondary Two Normal Technical (NT, less academically inclined students) and Normal Academic (NA) students. Both achievement goals and social goals are significant predictors of metacognition and enjoyment of PW. NA students adopt more mastery approach and performance avoidance goals than NT students whilst NT students tend to value more social approval from others. Implications of the findings will be discussed with practical suggestions to help teachers design successful PW for the less academically inclined students.     

Working against globalisation: the role of the media and national education in Singapore

This article discusses how the media and schools are used as disciplinary apparatuses to resist and work against globalisation in Singapore. Aihwa Ong calls the deployment of state ideological apparatuses, such as the media and schools, acts of ‘reassemblage’, when technocrats resort to assemble institutions, diverse Government practice and political values to engage in citizenship production. The National Education curriculum package introduced to Singapore schools is one example of ‘reassemblage’, which aims to reinvent subject‐citizens who are perceived as lacking cultural mooring and a national identity. I argue that in the context of globalisation, this cultural experimentation of constructing a national identity and creating a sense of belonging is fraught with ruptures, as ‘youthscapes’ and new communication technologies are potentially the liminal spaces where other sources of identities are up for grabs. These liminal spaces further allow youths to perform ‘elective belonging’ rather than a sense of belonging bound by the ‘national’ and ‘local’.     

The influence of students’ cognitive and motivational variables in respect of cognitive conflict and conceptual change

In this study, the relationships among students’ cognitive/motivational variables, cognitive conflict, and conceptual change were investigated. Subjects were 159 seventh graders in Korea. Tests regarding logical thinking ability, field dependence/independence (FDI), meaningful learning approach, failure tolerance, mastery goal orientation, and self‐efficacy were administered to examine students’ cognitive/motivational characteristics. A preconception test and a test of responses to discrepant event were also conducted to examine the degree of students’ cognitive conflict induced by a discrepant event. Computer‐assisted instruction, designed to change an undifferentiated weight‐density concept into a scientific density concept, was then provided to students as a conceptual change intervention. A conception test was administered as a post‐test. The results indicated that FDI was the only statistically significant variable correlated with the degree of cognitive conflict. A stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that logical thinking ability, FDI, and failure tolerance were statistically significant predictors of the conception test scores. Educational implications are discussed.     

Examining practicing teachers’ perceptions of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) pathways: a structural equation modeling approach

The seven constructs of the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) framework has been widely adopted as a theoretical basis for understanding the scope of teachers’ information and communication technology (ICT) expertise. Despite this, very little is understood about the inter-relationships between these constructs, especially how these relationships are related to teachers’ TPACK. As a result, the theory–practice nexus of this framework remains weak. In this study, a structural equation model based on Mishra and Koehler’s TPACK framework was developed to describe the TPACK perceptions of 455 practicing teachers in Singapore. The study shows that teachers, perceived TPACK to be formulated from the direct effects of technological knowledge and pedagogical knowledge. They also perceived these knowledge sources to contribute to the development of technological pedagogical knowledge and technological content knowledge, which also contributed to their TPACK. In these teachers’ conceptions of TPACK, however, the effects of content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge were not evident. The implications of these relationships to the design of teacher professional development in ICT are discussed.     

Student teachers' views on national education: the need for greater alignment between policy and praxis

This study examines student teachers' views on their country and on National Education (NE), with the aim of promoting teachers' understanding of the need for NE. A 40-item survey was administered to 1,650 student teachers, to assess their sense of belonging, protective attitude, perceived right, ethnic tolerance and community and political involvement, as well as their perceptions of the importance and learning outcomes of NE. Significant differences were observed between the genders and between the various programme groups in terms of the student teachers' responses, suggesting the need for a more comprehensive approach to NE in initial teacher education.     

TPACK design scaffolds for supporting teacher pedagogical change

Many empirical studies show that teachers have difficulty designing technology-integrated lessons for student-centered learning. Supporting teachers to change their pedagogical practice is a challenge faced in teacher professional development for technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK). This study describes how teachers’ conceptions of pedagogical change can be supported through the use of different kinds of TPACK design scaffolds—a meaningful learning rubric, lesson design heuristics and TPACK Activity Types. The impact of these design scaffolds on the TPACK confidence and lesson design confidence of 47 teachers and instructors who were attending a graduate course in educational technology were assessed through pre and post course surveys. Expert ratings of technology-integrated lesson plans designed at the beginning and end of the course were also used to determine the extent of pedagogical change enacted. It was found that these design scaffolds had positive effects on teachers’ TPACK confidence and were useful for helping the teachers to articulate pedagogical change in their lesson designs. Participants’ feedback for improving the TPACK design scaffolds as well as guidelines for using these to support pedagogical change through TPACK professional development programmes are discussed.