National Institute of Education
Nanyang Technological University
Singapore
Title. Exploring and Fostering Metacognition for Learning and Transfer to Pave the Way for towards Lifelong and Lifewide Learning
Abstract. Recognising the strong link between metacognitive ability and the acquisition of new skills and competencies that are crucial for lifewide and lifelong learning necessary for learning in the 21st Century, a team of NIE researchers conceptualised this programmatic research to advance the understanding and enhancing Singapore secondary students’ metacognition. Supported by officers and Master Teachers from the Ministry of Education and international researchers, this multi-disciplinary research programme builds a database on students’ metacognitive processes and teachers’ metacognitive practice and put forth intervention programmes through five sub-studies. Quantitative and qualitative insights into students’ metacognition and teachers’ metacognitive practices in Mathematics and English contexts were examined in the first two studies, while the third study offers an alternative, objective examination of students’ metacognition via neural imaging techniques. Insights drawn from the first three studies are utilized in the fourth and fifth studies, with the former developing a metacognition intervention programme for students, and the latter, a metacognition professional development programme for teachers to foster students’ metacognition. Research is still ongoing, but preliminary results reveal positive relationships between student metacognition and achievement, metacognition’s influence on transfer and the the potential influence of teacher’s metacognition on students’ metacognition, particularly in the English context.
School of Science and Technology
Singapore
Title. Developing and Fostering Computational Thinking: A Progressive Curriculum Approach
Abstract.
This session delves into the development of a progressive curriculum aimed at fostering computational thinking skills in students from Secondary 1 to 4. We will present a series of activities that gradually enhance students' algorithmic thinking abilities, starting with checklists and flowcharts in Secondary 1, advancing to Google Sheets in Secondary 2, and culminating in Python programming in Secondary 3 and 4. These activities are designed to deepen conceptual understanding of various topics, such as mensuration, simultaneous inequalities, indices, surds, coordinate geometry, and matrices. Additionally, we will highlight exercises that refine skills in abstraction and decomposition, thereby facilitating effective problem-solving.
Participants will gain valuable insights into designing a curriculum that progressively nurtures computational thinking skills. Furthermore, we will challenge the misconception that students must possess immediate coding proficiency or solely rely on coding to showcase their computational thinking abilities.
National Institute of Education
Nanyang Technological University
Singapore
Title. Assessing Big Ideas in School Mathematics
Abstract. In this presentation, we present our research on assessing Big Ideas in School Mathematics (BISM). In particular, we present the progress of our research project, the items that we designed for assessing Big Ideas and the theory guiding the design.
National Institute of Education
Nanyang Technological University
Singapore
Title. Teaching Mathematics Through Problem Solving for Low-Readiness Learners
Abstract. Despite the consensus on the importance of problem solving in school mathematics, it is not always clear whether problem solving should be the “end result” or “means through which mathematical concepts, processes, and procedures are learnt” (Lester, 2013, p. 246). Common approaches, or what Lester (2013) referred to as an “ends approach” (p. 246), to feature problem solving in classrooms include creating a series of specialized lessons to teach problem solving (Toh et al., 2016) and using problems positioned at the end of each chapter in textbooks as opportunities for students to apply their newly learned concepts to more novel problems (Jäder et al., 2019). One important merit of this approach is the explicit emphasis of the four-phase problem-solving model of George Pólya—understanding the problem, devising a solution plan, carrying out the plan, and looking back at the solution (Pólya, 1945). Such an approach provides a clearer guideline for students to follow instead of leaving it for them to grapple with the problem. However, providing students with clearly articulated steps to follow may hinder students’ development of problem solving skills and dispositions (Goulet-Lyle et al., 2019). For instance, in Singapore, teachers often demonstrate a step-by-step approach to solving problems for their students, especially for those who are struggling with mathematics or low readiness students (Kaur et al., 2019). Moreover, textbooks often present problem solving as following a solution template, which is not helpful (Jäder et al., 2019). Therefore, while providing students a step-by-step approach to problem solving may reduce the complexity of the problem-solving tasks and hence offer them more access to these problems; students are consequently denied of the opportunity to make sense of the mathematics and less likely to persist in problem solving when they encounter new problems. In this session, I will share the initial ideas of a new project, aimed at teaching mathematics through problem solving, and invite feedback from participants on the type of problems and they are used in the classrooms to teach mathematics.
Saint Joseph's Institution
Singapore
Title. Enhancing Mathematical Thinking and Understanding Through Technology
Abstract. This is a hands-on workshop where participants will get to experience how technology can be employed to help students learn and develop conceptual understanding in selected topics in the areas of Algebra, Geometry and Trigonometry, Calculus and Statistics. Participants will be provided with handheld graphing calculators to use in the workshop.
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