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STEM education to what ends? The risks of an education worth having
No full textThis reflective essay examines the purposes and risks of STEM education through the lens of Derek Hodson’s call for a science–technology–society (STS) orientation. Drawing on classroom observations in Singapore and other Asian contexts, the paper critiques the contemporary makerspace movement and its embrace of design thinking as a vehicle for interdisciplinary learning. While makerspaces can motivate students and be potential sites for STS, they often succumb to “keychain syndrome,” superficial fabrication tasks, and technological determinism that reinforce neoliberal and techno-solutionist ideologies. Engaging R. S. Peters’ and Hannah Arendt’s philosophical concerns, the essay argues that educators must grapple with enduring questions of educational purpose. Rather than treating STEM as neutral or purely instrumental, teachers and researchers are urged to cultivate critical inquiry, intellectual humility, and moral imagination while maintaining rigorous attention to scientific and mathematical understanding. Education, understood as preparation for a life worth living, remains a venture marked by uncertainty and risk; it demands that educators model the wisdom and long-term vision they hope to inspire in students.Accepted versio
University teachers’ engagement and sensemaking in knowledge building professional development
No full textPrevious research highlights the challenges of fostering teacher change in professional development (PD). This study aimed to address this issue by delving into the role of sensemaking in teacher change within a Knowledge Building professional development (KBPD) context. Using a case study approach, we examined four university teachers’ engagement and sensemaking in KBPD at a Singaporean University–two with significant changes and two with minimal changes in their teaching conceptions. We found that High- and Low-change teachers showed comparable levels of engagement in knowledge building (except in explanations), but their sensemaking approaches differed. High-change teachers showed a stronger inclination toward assimilation and accommodation, while Low-change teachers leaned more toward tolerance and distantiation, with one experiencing notably greater uncertainties. This study provides insights into how varying levels of teacher change during PD can be understood through the lens of sensemaking, offering important implications for ways of supporting teacher learning in PD.Accepted versio
NIE-NTU Best Foot Forward 2025 (21 Feb 2025)
No full textA section of the participants at the Best Foot Forward 2025
On practice: A collective case study of experienced piano teachers and their students
No full textResearch on music practice has examined practice behaviours and the teaching of practice strategies. However, researchers have found disconnects between: (1) teachers’ practice approaches and their teaching of practice; (2) teachers’ instructions on practice and students’ approaches to practice; and (3) students’ knowledge of practice and their application of practice strategies. As far as can be determined, no research has systematically examined these disconnects through an extensive qualitative approach.The purpose of this collective case study was to examine practice in the context of private piano lessons, focusing in particular, on the relationships between what experienced piano teachers did and taught, and how their students actually practised on their own. The specific research questions that guided this study were: (1) How did experienced piano teachers describe their practice approaches? (2) How did experienced piano teachers teach their students to practise? and (3) How did experienced piano teachers’ students practise on their own?Three experienced piano teachers were recruited through purposeful sampling; the teachers then recommended three of their students to participate in this study. Each teacher and her or his students comprised one distinct case that would be compared with the other two and meta-analysed. Data were collected through video/audio recordings, interviews, observations, and material artefacts (photographs of music scores). All forms of data collection, including consent form administration, were conducted face-to-face and/or online. Data were transcribed and then coded; while possible codes were guided by the literature, new codes were also allowed to emerge from the data. The codes were then further grouped, resulting in overarching themes.My analyses revealed that all three experienced piano teachers possessed rich knowledge of practice; they also devised specific goals while practising and applied practice strategies to best address their needs. Commonalities observed from the three teachers’ teaching approaches included: (1) the teaching of “formal” practice; and (2) catering to the differing needs of their students. Factors they considered while catering the strategies to their students included students’ age, mood, time, character, and objectives in learning the piano.While some students practised with the strategies that were taught by their teachers, they did not fully follow through. In addition, some students merely played through their pieces without specific goals. Five factors that contributed to the differences between what were taught by the teachers and how students actually practised were identified: feelings, habits, knowledge, communication, and time. Synthesising my key findings, a Conceptual Model of Practice (CMP) was proposed and implications for theory and practice were offered.This study aims to contribute to the thin literature on practice using qualitative methodology and also to generate a better understanding of the teaching and application of practice approaches. More importantly, it connects the disconnected in music practice through thick and rich descriptions of experienced teachers and their students
Professional development of Chinese language teachers in Singapore: Pathways and transformations
No full textSingapore, a multilingual and multicultural city-state, has a bilingual policy that mandates that all ethnic Chinese students learn the Chinese language (CL) as their mother tongue. However, with the shift in the home language amongst Singaporean Chinese and the increase in foreign students, teaching CL has become more challenging. Teachers must now equip themselves with knowledge and skills for teaching Chinese as a second language, along with generic skillsets for all practitioners, including assessment literacy, e-pedagogy or differentiated learning. This study presents the background of CL education in Singapore and a summary of the training pathways for CL teachers. Subsequently, survey and interview data from a large-scale empirical classroom-based multimethod study at the National Institute of Education in Singapore were used to investigate the source, time and frequency of professional development amongst in-service CL teachers. This study also explores the factors affecting these teachers’ teaching and practices to discuss future training directions in light of other findings
Partial bleaching and survival responses in the outer mantle of the giant clam Tridacna squamosa exposed to temperature stress
No full textRising ocean temperatures trigger bleaching in dinoflagellate-bearing reef animals, including giant clams. In this study, giant clams (Tridacna squamosa) were kept at 26 °C (control) or exposed to 31 °C for a maximum of 57 days to evaluate whether symbionts and host cells in the colorful outer mantle could acclimate to temperature stress in accordance with the oxidative stress theory of bleaching. Elevated temperature led to partial bleaching of the outer mantle, leaving behind ∼ 36% of the symbiont population that appeared acclimated. Such partial loss of symbionts could be a survival strategy to limit excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation by reducing the total symbiont population. The surviving symbionts had a reduced carbon-fixing capacity with substantially less form II ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase protein. However, chlorophyll and peridinin contents increased ∼ twofold in these symbionts, presumably forming more peridinin–chlorophyll-a–protein that could act as an antioxidant inside the plastids. Notably, temperature stress altered the spatial organization of iridocytes in relation to the residual symbionts in the outer mantle. This unique host response could minimize the irradiance received by the residual symbionts, thereby suppressing ROS production during illumination. Furthermore, the host upregulated transiently the protein expression of copper-zinc superoxide dismutase in the outer mantle to combat oxidative stress. Overall, our results provide new insights into the resilience of giant clams to temperature-induced bleaching and denote the importance of coordinated antioxidant strategies of both host and symbionts in promoting holobiont survival.Accepted versio
Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) (Physical Education) Programme handbook: July 2025 intake
No full textTransfer of computer-based assessment to in-situ performance in novice field hockey goalkeepers
No full textField hockey goalkeeping requires a combination of decision-making and physical skills to perform well under pressure. While computer-based tasks have been used as a decision-making testing tool, such relevance to actual goalkeeping performance remains unclear in novice goalkeepers. This study examined whether performance in computer-based decision-making tasks could be transferred to in-situ field hockey goalkeeping, and whether reaction tests and physical attributes could predict successful goalkeeping performance. A total of 17 participants completed a series of computer-based and actual goalkeeping tasks, as well as seated and physical reaction tests. Results suggested that while response accuracy did not significantly differ between computer-based and in-situ tasks (p = 0.901), some individuals performed better in the computer-based task while others performed better in the actual goalkeeping task. Seated reaction task accuracy was a significant predictor of computer-based response accuracy (p = 0.012). However, in-situ performance could not be predicted from computer-based results, reaction tests or physical attributes. The study indicated no transferability of decision-making performance from computer-based to in-situ field hockey goalkeeping tasks in novice goalkeepers. Physical and anthropometrical variables also did not contribute to predicting successful goalkeeping performances. These findings caution against solely using computer tests to assess an individual’s potential to perform as a field hockey goalkeeper.Accepted versio