Imelda S. Caleon

Development and Application of a Three‐Tier Diagnostic Test to Assess Secondary Students’ Understanding of Waves

This study focused on the development and application of a three‐tier multiple‐choice diagnostic test (or three‐tier test) on the nature and propagation of waves. A question in a three‐tier test comprises the content tier, which measures content knowledge; the reason tier, which measures explanatory knowledge; and the confidence tier, which measures the strength of conceptual understanding of the respondents. This paper presents results based on the responses of 243 Grade 10 students after they were formally instructed on the topic. The vast majority of the respondents showed an inadequate grasp of concepts about waves. Eleven alternative conceptions (ACs), which were expressed with confidence by more than 10% of the students, were identified; four of these ACs were expressed with high confidence.

The language attitudes of bilingual youth in multilingual Singapore

Abstract This paper is about the language attitudes that bilingual youth in Singapore have towards their Mother Tongue and English, and towards codeswitching between the two. The language attitudes of 443 primary school students were investigated using a variation of the matched-guise technique. Status and solidarity dimensions of attitudes, with ethnicity and socio-economic status as independent variables, were used in the analysis. The Chinese and Indian childrens attitudes towards English on both attitudinal dimensions were found to be lower than their attitudes towards their Mother Tongue and codeswitching, while the Malay children expressed no significant difference. Children from lower socio-economic groups were found to have generally more positive attitudes towards all three languages than did those from the middle and upper socio-economic groups. The findings are discussed in relation to language ideology and policy in government discourse, as well as the childrens own understanding of the meanings of language.

The impact of a cryogenics‐based enrichment programme on attitude towards science and the learning of science concepts

This study explores the impact of a cryogenics‐based enrichment programme, which involves demonstrations that use liquid nitrogen, on attitudes towards science and the learning of science concepts. The findings presented in this paper are based on a sample of 214 fifth‐grade students from two schools in Singapore who had their enrichment lesson in a subzero‐temperature science centre. Overall, the students viewed science as more enjoyable and acquired more interest in wanting to pursue science careers after experiencing the cryogenics‐based enrichment programme, but no remarkable and conclusive change was detected in their perceptions of the social implications of science. Significant knowledge gains were also detected among the participants. The programme did not have any differential impact on students of either gender and from two learning streams, both cognitively and affectively.

From Pythagoras to Sauveur: tracing the history of ideas about the nature of sound

This paper aims to supplement the scant literature on the history of ideas about the nature of sound. It presents how notions about the production and propagation of sound developed from antiquity up to the 17th century, i.e. from the time of Pythagoras to the time of Sauveur. It will highlight and examine the principles of sound that were formulated by Galileo and Newton, which are among the less well known work of these two giants in physics. The contributions of some familiar scientists, for example Hooke and Boyle, who are usually associated with scientific discoveries unrelated to sound, will also be covered. Some insights for the understanding of the nature of science and for the teaching and learning of physics will also be presented.

Exploring Students' Conceptualization of the Propagation of Periodic Waves

The Physics Teacher ◆ Vol. 48, January 2010 55 ceived formal instruction on the topic of waves as part of their physics subject. The interviewees were grouped into two. Each student in the first group (four students) was asked to describe and draw how he or she imagines a wave pulse and a wave train propagating through a rope at different time intervals. Each student in the second group (five students) was asked to give and explain the reason behind his or her answer in the first tier of each question, without seeing the reasons given during the written test. The agreement between the students’ own reason and their selected reason in the second tier is about 70%, which suggests that the students’ responses, by and large, represent their own reasoning, and were not merely results of “leading” by the given choices in the second tier.

Relationships of Cognitive and Metacognitive Learning Strategies to Mathematics Achievement in Four High-Performing East Asian Education Systems

ABSTRACT The authors examined the relationships of cognitive (i.e., memorization and elaboration) and metacognitive learning strategies (i.e., control strategies) to mathematics achievement among 15-year-old students in 4 high-performing East Asian education systems: Shanghai-China, Hong Kong-China, Korea, and Singapore. In all 4 East Asian education systems, memorization strategies were negatively associated with mathematics achievement, whereas control strategies were positively associated with mathematics achievement. However, the association between elaboration strategies and mathematics achievement was a mixed bag. In Shanghai-China and Korea, elaboration strategies were not associated with mathematics achievement. In Hong Kong-China and Singapore, on the other hand, elaboration strategies were negatively associated with mathematics achievement. Implications of these findings are briefly discussed.

Problem Finding in Professional Learning Communities: A Learning Study Approach

This study marries collaborative problem solving and learning study in understanding the onset of a cycle of teacher professional development process within school-based professional learning communities (PLCs). It aimed to explore how a PLC carried out collaborative problem finding—a key process involved in collaborative problem solving—that has received minimal attention in the extant literature. In line with this goal, we adopted the learning study approach, which highlights the application of a theory in research lessons. Multiple data sources were drawn upon to construct a narrative description of four consecutive meetings, detailing challenges and turning points that teachers experienced while engaged in collaborative problem finding, and how the process was facilitated by developing shared understandings of the complexity of possible curricular problems and establishing a common ground amongst teachers. Other modes of action and factors that can facilitate the process of collaborative problem finding are also presented.

Personal strengths and perceived teacher support as predictors of Singapore students’ academic risk status

Abstract This study explored the relative salience of students’ personal strengths and teacher support in predicting academic risk status. The participants were Secondary One (S1, Grade Seven) students from Singapore who scored below the cohort’s mean score in a national test administered at the end of primary education, and were identified as low risk (n = 309) or high risk (n = 396), based on their S1 achievement score in the English Language subject. Logistic regression analysis was conducted with academic risk status as criterion variable and the following potential predictors: students’ background variables (i.e. socio-economic status, cognitive ability and initial achievement), personal strengths, teacher–student relatedness, and teacher autonomy and competence support. After controlling for the effects of the students’ background variables, teacher trust emerged as the strongest (negative) and most stable predictor of high-risk status; teacher alienation and teacher–student communication were found as significant positive predictors of students’ placement in the high-risk group.

Nurturing grateful and connected twenty-first century learners: Development and evaluation of a socially oriented gratitude intervention

Abstract This study aimed to develop and examine the effects of a socially oriented gratitude intervention (SOGI) on secondary students’ gratitude level and interpersonal relationships. To these ends, we used a quasi-experimental research design: The experimental group (n=46) participated in the two-week intervention during a class subject focusing on character and citizenship education (CCE) while the wait-list control group (n=57) went on with regular CCE activities. All participants completed a questionnaire a week before and a month after the implementation of the SOGI and control activities. The changes in relatedness scores were statistically significant in relation to parents and peers, but not in relation to teachers. In particular, the experimental group generally maintained the quality of their relationship with their parents and peers while the control group reported a decline in these relationship domains. The change in gratitude levels did not differ significantly between the experimental group and control group, but the effect size associated with the mean gratitude change of the experimental group was found to be larger than that of the control group and comparable to what is commonly reported in other published gratitude intervention studies. The students’ feedback reveals the social, cognitive and affective benefits of the SOGI.

Academically At-risk Adolescents in Singapore: The Importance of Teacher Support in Promoting Academic Engagement

The purpose of this study was to examine the associations of teacher support and teacher–student relationship with the academic engagement of 1469 Secondary 1 (Grade 7) students in Singapore. The students were identified as academically at risk based on the results of a national test given at the end of Primary 6 (Grade 6). Teacher autonomy and competence support, along with trust accorded to teachers, were found as significant positive predictors of the students’ academic engagement. In general, alienation of students from teachers and quality of students’ communication with teachers did not emerge as significant predictors of academic engagement. It was also found that, compared to the students in the high-risk group, the students in the low-risk group tended to be more engaged in class and perceived higher levels of trust and competence support from their teachers. There was no significant difference in the degree of teacher autonomy support that was reported by low-risk and high-risk students. However, teacher autonomy support was found to be the strongest predictor of academic engagement for the entire sample of at-risk students, as well as in separate analyses focusing on high- and low-risk students. Implications for future research and school practice are discussed.