NIE Data Repository (National Institute of Education)
Not a member yet
317 research outputs found
Sort by
Related Data for: Shaping the leadership configuration of principals and vice-principals: The principal socialising agent
No full textThis article examines how principals socially construct the leadership configuration of principals and vice-principals in Singapore and what factors influenced the principal's shaping of this configuration. The qualitative study, involving the interview of 10 principals, sought to understand how principals made sense of their vice-principals roles vis-a-vis their own roles, as well as what influenced their perspectives. Coding involved a mix of codes from the literature and grounded from the interviews. Findings revealed that principals perceived themselves as the main and final decision maker, guarding certain responsibilities, and needing to be in the know. They perceived the vice-principal's role to be mainly a supporting role, while simultaneously expecting the latter to challenge the principal's thinking. Principals varied in how they include vice-principals in work perceived as more the principal's responsibility. A high-power distance culture and the principals’ own induction and experiences as vice-principals shaped the principals’ crafting of the leadership configuration. The study highlights the principals’ role as a community in reproducing the type of vice-principals that the system values, raising a concern that bounded empowerment limits the leadership and growth of vice-principals. However, there is some evidence that principals’ agency can counter predominant socialising forces
Related Data for: Impacts of reduced nitrate supply on nitrogen metabolism, photosynthetic light-use efficiency, and nutritional values of edible mesembryanthemum crystallinum
No full textMesembryanthemum crystallinum (common ice plant), as a nutritious ready-to-eat salad in Singapore, has become popular in recent years. However, basic data about the impacts of NO₃⁻ supply on its NO₃⁻ accumulation and nutritional quality are lacking. In this study, all plants were first grown indoor hydroponically in 10% artificial seawater (ASW) with modified full-strength Netherlands Standard Composition nutrient solution for 11 days, before transferring them to different reduced NO₃⁻ solutions. All plants grew well and healthy after 7 days of treatment. However, plants grown with 3/4 N and 1/2 N were bigger with higher shoot and root fresh weight (FW), greater leaf number, and total leaf area (TLA) than those grown with full nitrogen (N), 1/4 N, and 0 N. Mesembryanthemum crystallinum grown with full N, 3/4 N, and 1/4 N had similar specific leaf area (SLA), while 0 N plants had significantly lower SLA. All plants had similar leaf succulence (LS). However, leaf water content (LWC) was lower, while leaf dry matter accumulation (LDMC) was higher in 0 N plants after 7 days of treatment. Compared with plants grown with full N, shoot NO₃⁻ concentrations in 3/4 N, 1/2 N, and 1/4 N plants were constant or slightly increased during the treatments. For 0 N plants, shoot NO₃⁻ concentration decreased significantly during the treatment compared with other plants. Shoot NO₃⁻ accumulation was associated with nitrate reductase activity (NRA). For instance, after 7 days of treatment, shoot NO₃⁻ concentration and NRA on a FW basis in 0 N plants were, respectively, 45 and 31% of full N plants. After transferring full N to 0 N for 7 days, all M. crystallinum had higher chlorophyll (Chl) content coupled with higher electron transport rate (ETR) and higher effective quantum yield of PSII, while full N plants had higher non-photochemical quenching (NPQ). The 0N plants had much higher concentrations of proline, total soluble sugar (TSS), and total ascorbic acid (ASC) than other plants. In conclusion, totally withdrawing NO₃⁻ from the growth media prior to harvest could be one of the strategies to reduce shoot NO₃⁻ concentration. Reduced NO₃⁻ supply further enhanced nutritional values as concentrations of proline, TSS, and ASC were enhanced markedly in M. crystallinum plants after transferring them from full N to 0 N
Related Data for: Argumentative knowledge construction and certainty navigation: A comparison between individual and group work
No full textLevel of certainty in word usage has been linked to the extent to which one commits to his or her social process of argumentative knowledge construction. Nonetheless, certainty reflected in linguistic elements used does not promptly translate from individual work to group work in social problem-solving contexts. This study investigated (1) the extent to which the level of certainty impacted the argumentative knowledge construction in individual work and group work and (2) the extent to which the level of person impacted the argumentative knowledge construction in individual work and group work. Argumentative knowledge construction has been characterized into simple claims, grounds, qualifiers, counterarguments, and integrated replies to illustrate the components of argumentation and nature of resolving conflicts in argumentation as well as occurrences of pronouns used whereas certainty levels have been divided into uncertain, neutral, and certain. Findings showed that individual and group work differed significantly in terms of levels of certainty and person. Further, findings revealed significant differences in individual work’s integrated replies and counterarguments when comparing between levels of certainty. Study implications were discussed
Related Data for: How do teacher affective and cognitive self-concepts predict their willingness to teach challenging students?
No full textBuilding on and extending earlier research on student self-concepts and studies investigating teachers working with students with social, emotional, or behavioural difficulties, disorders, or disturbance, this longitudinal study examined teacher self-concepts in relation to their willingness to teach challenging students in mainstream classrooms. In the current study, “challenging students” refer to those who may pose a challenge to the teacher, either behaviourally or academically. Statistical measures included analysis of variance, correlation analysis, path analysis, and commonality analysis. Survey data collected from 108 participants at three different time points consistently showed that affective self-concept was a stronger predictor than cognitive self-concept of teachers’ willingness to teach challenging students. This study affirms and extends self-concept research by showing that the affective dimension of teacher self-concept is a better predictor of choice indicators than the cognitive dimension. The study also highlights the importance of developing and sustaining a strong sense of professional enjoyment for teachers in facing challenging teaching environments
Related Data for Thesis/Dissertation: The effect of diagnostic labels on preschool teachers' perception towards strengths and difficulties in students with autism spectrum disorder
No full textThis study aims to investigate the effects of diagnostic labels on preschool teachers’ attitudes towards the strengths and difficulties of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the mainstream preschool setting in Singapore. Secondarily, it aims to explore whether preschool teachers’ attitudes would differ depending on the disclosure of a specific or a generic label, and to investigate the factors affecting preschool teachers’ attitudes towards students with ASD. The sample consisted of 106 mainstream preschool teachers (seven male and 99 female; age range = 21 – 58 years) from Singapore. Using a mixed-method design, a total of 15 vignettes depicting characteristics of students with ASD as strengths, difficulties, and neutral behaviors were developed for this study and presented via an online survey in a randomized order. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three experimental groups: ASD Label, Special Needs Label, No Label. Respectively, participants in each group were told that the students in the vignettes were identified as having an ASD diagnosis, a special needs diagnosis, or were not informed that the student in the vignette has any diagnoses. Participants were asked to rate their openness towards the featured student and complete a measure of their ASD knowledge. Findings suggest that the disclosure of a student’s special needs label improved teachers’ attitudes (i.e., greater openness) towards the difficulties faced by students with ASD compared to when no label was disclosed. The disclosure of an ASD label did not result in similar improvements in teachers’ attitudes. There were no significant differences in teachers’ attitudes towards the strengths of students with ASD when a diagnostic label was disclosed, but qualitative feedback from participants indicated that they would perceive the student with ASD most positively if the student’s difficulties were also perceived as his/her source of strengths. No significant individual predictors were found regarding teachers’ attitudes towards students with ASD
Related Data for: Vice-principals as leaders: Role ambiguity and role conflicts faced by vice-principals in Singapore
No full textThis article examines what vice-principals in Singapore experience as constraints to their leadership practice, and how they deal with these constraints, cognisant that role misalignment for vice-principals presents barriers to schools achieving optimal effectiveness. This qualitative study seeks to hear the voices of vice-principals, to uncover the contextual richness of their experiences through interviews with 28 vice-principals. Coding involved a mix of codes from the literature and from the interviews, with member checking of the findings. Vice-principals in Singapore face two main constraints: role ambiguity and role conflicts. These are mainly a structural issue, given the dual expectations of vice-principals to support their principals and to lead. The problems are heightened when there are clashes of values, with vice-principals conflicted between two sources of authority: administrative and professional. Framing the constraints faced by vice-principals under role ambiguity and role conflicts raises these constraints to a theoretical and organisational level. The study proposes a link between the concepts of role ambiguity and role boundaries and illustrates how role ambiguity and conflicts can be disempowering. However, the study also shows that ambiguity need not always be a constraint but can be positive under some conditions
Related Data for: Compulsory volunteers’ nostalgia and its relationships with positive memories, age, past experiences, and volunteer intention
No full textWhile nostalgia has been explored in various contexts, no research has so far investigated how individuals’ nostalgia can be generated by volunteer experiences in compulsory settings and how nostalgic feelings extend their future behavior. To fill this research gap, this study explored how nostalgia regarding compulsory volunteering is related to positive memories, age, and past experiences and how such nostalgia translates to volunteer intention. A total of 605 responses were collected from university students who had completed compulsory volunteering at sporting events and analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results showed that positive memories contributed to all five factors of volunteer nostalgia, while past experiences only predicted volunteer environment, volunteer socialization, and volunteer personal identity. Age was not a significant antecedent to any of the volunteer nostalgia factors. Nostalgia regarding volunteer experience and volunteer personal identity mediated the relationship between positive memories and volunteer intention. This study confirmed previous claims concerning the relationships among nostalgia, positive memories, age, and past experiences in the context of compulsory volunteering. Specifically, individuals can develop nostalgia for coerced experiences if they have fond memories of them. Also, past experiences are more essential to nostalgia than age but not as much as positive memories, and nostalgia can turn compulsory volunteers into continued volunteers
Related Data for: Investigating pupils’ cognitive engagement in Augmented reality-supported second language learning classrooms
No full textAugmented Reality (AR) is one of the promising technologies that has been used in the educational field. It helps to increase learners’ motivation, establish links with real-life experiences, and create contextual awareness. Yet current research in AR for education is still in its infancy and there are few studies regarding the integration of AR in language learning classroom. This study is part of an on-going pedagogical innovation project on AR-enhanced creating and sharing activities for pupils’ Chinese character learning. The study concentrates on examining the effectiveness of the designed AR activities by focusing on students’ cognitive engagement, in terms of the ICAP framework which helps to assess cognitive engagement with behavioural metric. A total of 53 grade two students from a government primary school in Singapore participated in this study. The findings of the study provide insights into designing and assessing AR-enabled activities in language classrooms
Related Data for: Symbiotic dinoflagellates of the giant clam, Tridacna squamosa, express ammonium transporter 2 at the plasma membrane and increase its expression levels during illumination
No full textGiant clams harbor dinoflagellates generally of the three genera (Symbiodinium, Cladocopium, and Durusdinium) of phototrophic Symbiodiniaceae. Coccoid dinoflagellates (alias zooxanthellae) are found mainly inside zooxanthellal tubules located in the colorful outer mantle. The symbionts need to obtain carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus from the host for growth and metabolism. The host can absorb exogenous ammonia through the ctenidium and assimilate it into glutamine. Although the host does not normally excrete ammonia, its hemolymph contains only low concentrations of ammonia, indicating that the symbionts can absorb and recycle the ammonia produced metabolically by the host. In this study, we had obtained from the outer mantle of the giant clam, Tridacna squamosa, three major ammonium transporter 2 (AMT2) sequences, one each for Symbiodinium spp. (Symb-AMT2), Cladocopium spp. (Clad-AMT2), and Durusdinium spp. (Duru-AMT2), which comprised 1341 bp, 1308 bp, and 1296 bp, respectively. The respective deduced amino acid sequences contained 447 (~ 46.5 kDa), 436 (~ 45.5 kDa), and 432 (~ 45.0 kDa) residues. Phenogramic and sequence similarity analyses confirmed that these sequences were derived from dinoflagellates. Zooxanthellae-AMT2 (Zoox-AMT2), which represented comprehensively AMT2 of Symbiodinium spp., Cladocopium spp., and Durusdinium spp. was localized at the dinoflagellates’ plasma membranes, indicating that it could partake in the absorption of ammonia from the luminal fluid of the zooxanthellal tubules. Zoox-AMT2 expression was detected in the outer mantle, inner mantle, foot muscle, hepatopancreas and ctenidium of T. squamosa, indicating that the coccoid dinoflagellates residing in all five organs had the potential of ammonia absorption. The outer mantle had the highest transcript level of Zoox-AMT2, and illumination upregulated the protein abundance of Zoox-AMT2 therein. Therefore, it can be deduced that the coccoid dinoflagellates residing in the outer mantle could augment the potential of ammonia absorption in alignment with photosynthesis as the assimilation of ammonia required an increased supply of carbon chains
Related Data for: An overview of conceptualizations of effective pedagogy at NIE
No full textThis study examined the conceptualization of pedagogical effectiveness in Singapore, specifically from the perspectives of curriculum studies tutors at NIE. The research examined how pedagogical effectiveness is conceived by NIE faculty teaching curriculum studies courses. Key findings showed that there were variations in pedagogy tied to disciplines and that faculty favoured disciplinary specific rather than generic pedagogic frameworks. They also preferred pedagogies that supported dialogue, collaboration and reflective learning