of National Volume N u m h 2004 ISSN

From

NIE the

outstanding

Master cou

NIE. fact NTU Institute

recognises

MEd

to Id

to tfi medal Manu Kapur

Manu.

grows NI

Singaporean traitted

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expamion N Master

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degree expect

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A publication the InstituteofEducation, an Institute of 4, 1 Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 0219-5763

the Editor

Welcome to the first issue of the Researcher for 2004. This issue

contains usual mixofarticlesthat focusonboth pedagogyandcontent.

In addition, it contains two specific items that Iwant to mention in this Editorial.

First, the initial award of the GoldMedal for the dissertation

in the Master of Education programme. This programme istheoldest of the degrees by rsework and dissertationprogrammes offered by In theprogrammestarted priorto theoldInstituteof Education becomingpart of and renamed the National of Education. The GoldMedal the excellence of a specific research project

undertakenas part of programme. Addingto the research available

on Singaporean education means that the educational community has more "local" research data on which make decisions. We wou like

to thank for Educational Research Associationof Singapore for donating

thefundsfor the Gold medal and we look forward awarding is

on an annual basis. A short abstractof the dissertationby i s

inside this issue. Congratulations

Second, thisissue contains aIistof thestudents whoreceived their Master

and Doctoral degrees at the last convocation. TheIist each year as

more and more students undertakepostgraduate work at E. Many of

these graduates are and add to the pool of highly Singaporeans who contribute to Nationsprogress,

Withthe of IE's Master degreeprogrammesto includea

of (Life Sciences) as well as a option within many of the otherMaster programmes we the number of students undertaking degree programmes will continue grow in the next few years.

Ihope that you findthis issueuseful andinformative; givingabrief picture of researchand graduate work.

An Instituteof

Concepts Through

P.

action

NIE

Rationale

classrmms

b u s e life

Id

talented

efforts

understand nai've

student$

teacher/researchers

Plants Mariam Ismail, ling

old

experiences.

pidure

teacherhesearchers Pok Chm'Magdalene

Schml), lqbal

School)

stereotypic

Schibeci

teacher/researchers

stereotypic

(finson,

Data

pr&edures (Finson,

r = -80 (Finson,

& Cramond, 1995).

Assessment of Primary Students*Science And Attitudes Drawings

Joseph Riley, Toh Kok Aun and Wan Yoke Kum

Introduction Experienced teachers, enrolled in the advanced diploma

primary science program, conducted classroom

researchprojectsin collaboration with faculty. Working

in teams and individually the teachers employed student

drawings in assessingbothconceptualandaffectivestudent

outcomes.

ScienceEducatorsare examiningyoungchildren's drawings

to learn more about how they view the world. The ability

to assess students' existing knowledge about science

concepts i s a critical component in the constructivist

approach to scienceteaching. It is theinitialstep in planning

science lesson that wi l l build on students existing

knowledge. Students' sciencedrawings can provideinsight

into the learner's "private universe."

Prior research confirms that youngchildrencometo science

with well established preconceivedideas about

science concepts. These preconceived ideas are firmly

entrenched they are oftenbasedon experiences.

These preconceptions allow children to construct

explanationsfor observedeverydayphenomena. Each chi

puts together shared and uniqueexplanationsthat together

make up their own private universe. The child's private view

of how the world works, built on common sense understandings oftenresistseven themost science

teachers to change them.

Advocatesofa constructivistapproachto science teaching feel that teachers need to their students'

or pre-constructedviews of sciencephenomenain order to

better design [earning experiences that will encourage

conceptual change. They believethat teachers must know

what the student is thinkingif instruction is to alter or build

on it. This researchhopestoassist teachersby documenting

science misconceptions and providing informed

starting points for instruction. Working in teams, and as

individuals, collectedstudent drawings

and analyzed them to get snapshots of students' concept

development as well as indicators of students' science

attitudes.

Students' Conceptions of bte a teacher in Shan Primary school

collected and analyzed 60 pictures of plants drawn by ten

year pupils. The researchdeveloped out of her concern

that because Singapore has such a highly urbanized

environment, childrenmight not havefirst-handlife science

Although Singapore i s regarded as a garden city with morethan half amillion trees lining its roads, many

children grow up in high rise building with little space for

plant cultivation. As part of an ongoingbroader research

study involving tests on plant classifications, naming of plants and student interviews, students were askedto draw

a of a plant.

Students' Perceptions of Scientists

Another team of comprised of Sat

Yoong(St. Hilda's School), SngSirn (West

Grove Primary and Suraya bte Mohammed

(Sembawang Primary were interested in students'

perceptionsof scientists. Prior researchindicates that many

primary school students hold generally negative

views of scientists often describingthem as, working alone,

having a limited social life, uninterested in other people

and having few interests. These perceptions can influence

student attitudes toward science (Schibeci, 1986;

& Riley, 1986). Singapore i s positioning itself to be at the

forefrontof science and technologyresearch and is actively

promoting science as a career path for students. Because

of this, the wanted to assess Singapore

students' perceptions of scientists. Prior research indicates

thatnot all cultural groups holdsimilar views of scientists 2003). The research also looked for

variations in perceptions among Singapore's three major

ethnic groups.

Collection

Both studiesmadeuseof studentdrawingsfor data collection

andanalysis. Draw-A-PlantandDraw-a-Scientisttestshave been used extensively in science education and have

published protocols and data analysis

2002). Published reliability scores for the Draw-a-Scientist

Test (DARST-C) are in the andhigher range

Beaver,

of student drawings

74%

smalI

(Tull, McNair

instruction.

same

real,

true

from

classmom

(Drawa Finson, J.B., & B.L.

aScientistTest. 95(4), 195-205.

Finson, K.D., (2002).

102,

from - Finson. K.D. (2003).Applicability ofthe

1,

(1999) do WhiIe

acrass .95,

McNair, S. (2001 )

Swenty http:www.ed.psu/CI/

Journals?20001 aetsl s6-07-mcnair_stein.rtf/

28% Schibeci, R. (1986).

all science 70(2), ' R.A., & II, J.P.

Iikelyto

picture

23(3),

22% % TulI,

&per

CA.

favourably-with

Results (draw a plant)

Preliminary analysis of results of participating subjects'

drawings indicate that Singapore students do have clear

conceptions plants. 100% of the

indicated Ieaves and sterns while 67% included roots.

Flowers on herbaceous plants were drawn by of the

pupils. Trees were drawn by 18% of the students. Follow up questions regarding plant drawings in a similar study involving American students found that a large percentage

of students tended to reserve the word plant for

herbaceous plants and consider trees in aclass of their own,

something other than plants 1992; & Stein,

2001). The same was true in Singapore but to a lesser

extent. Student drawing of plants without roots require

follow up questions to determine if the omission was

becausethey cannot be seen or if they arenot thought of as part of a plant. More than a third of the students consider

mushrooms and bracket fungus plants.

Results Scientist) Primary five students from four different schools in the Eastern, Central and Western regions of Singapore

participated in the study. Participantswere given a blank

piece of paper and asked to draw a scientist. This resulted

in a pool of over 500 student drawings. The drawings were

separatedbyethnic group and then 50 wererandomlydrawn

each group (Chinese, Malay and Indian). Prior

research in other countriespredicted that an overwhelming

amount of boys would draw the figure of a male scientist,

and results here confirmed this to be true in Singapore.

Ninety-six percent of theboys drew a malescientist.

there was someslight variation ethnicgroups for boys drawingmales, there were no significantdifferences among

them. percent of the primary five girls also drew

male scientists. Again there was variation across races but

no significant difference was detected, with a composition

comprising of32% Chinese, 29% Malay and Indian.

Preliminary results showed that not ethnic groups pictured scientists in the same way. Chinesestudents were

more draw scientistswithsome indicatorsof danger

in the (for example exploding test tubes). These

indicators of danger were included in 55% of Chinese

student drawings compared to for Malay and 9 for

Indian students.

Implications Both studies contribute new knowledge about Singapore

primary school students' understanding of basic science

knowledgeand attitudes. Sampledstudents' understandings

about plants compare results of the same

age students on similar tests in other countries. The

misconceptions about plants should help teachers in

planning their

Results of the Draw-A-Scientist indicate that primary five

students may view science as a male domain and hold

stereotyped viewsof scientists. A high percentage of primary

fivegirls hold these limiting views. The findingssuggest

that primary school students need more opportunities to

see either in primary science textbooks or in life

scientists especially women scientists. Without life role

models of men and women in science, the comic-book

caricaturesof scientists held by primary grade students may

deter them developingearly interest in a sciencecareer.

The research also validates the use of student drawings as a

viable instructional and research tool and teachers

as valuable contributors to educational research

References

K.D., Beaver, Cramond, (1995).

Development and field test of a checklist for the Draw-

School ScienceandMathematics,

Drawing a scientist: what we do and

do not know after fifty years of drawing. School Science

and Mathematics, 7.

DAST-C to the images

of scientists drawn by students of different racial groups,

Journalof Elementary ScienceEducation. 15, pp 15-26.

Huber, R., A., & Burton, C., M., What students

think scientists look like?

School Science and Mathematics. 7,371 -378.

& Stein, M., Drawing on their

understanding: Using illustrations to invoke deeper

thinking about plants.

A. Images of science and scientists and

education. ScienceEducation, 139-149.

Schibeci, Riley (1986). Influence of Students

Background and Perceptions on Science Attitudes and

Achievement. Journalof Research in ScienceTeaching,

177-187.

D. (1992 Social constructivism:Botanicalclassification

schemesof elementaryschoolchildren. presented at the annual meeting of the American- Educational

Research Association. San Francisco, April, 20-24.

practicum.

I Atputhasamy I

(Tistler, 1990).

(NIE)

NEE mentaring

(MOE)

deemed.necessary

& p- 200)

to

(CTs)

two him/

jointIy

CTs CTs mentored

mentoringskills CTs ta

CTs heIp

CTs

Proc.edu

Diploma

CTs

tabulated analysd.

2003.The

SPS.5: software. important

fair

(84.9%)

(82.2%). rnaterials/resources

(80.4%

are

best

Student teachers' expectation from cooperating teachers during

Lourdusamy

The Practicum i s viewed as the most useful component of the teacher education programmeby student teachers. They believe the practical experience of observing expert teachers, receiving feedback, and practicing strategies are the most important factors in their professional growth

To help in the process of translating what they have learned in the teacher education programmeinto practice, teacher education institutions are now involving practitioners in the schools who are at the ground level to help in teacher education throughutilization of cooperating teachers.

Until January1999 the National Instituteof Education used the 'integrative' model in its relation with the schools as partners in the teacher education. In this model the supervisors played the major role in and supervising the student teachers. With the introduction of a number of initiatives in schoolsby theMinistry of Education

it became necessary to promote a closer working relationship between NIE, MOE and the schools. Because it was that the initial teacher preparation was in step with the changes in the rest of the system. In 1999 the NIE-School Partnership model was developed-The concept of partnership in this model as explained by Wong

Goh (2002, "rests upon the understandingof the complementary strength of NIE (the provider of theoretical knowledge) and the schools (the provider of practical knowledge) and how these can be fruitfully joined for the benefitof the traineeteachers."The role of NIE in this model is to provide theoretical knowledge and principles underpinning practices to the student teachers, however learning teach and manage the classroom are to be learned under the guidance and tutelage of experienced teachers in the school.

With the implementation of this partnership model the schools had to accept a greater responsibility for teacher preparation. The cooperating teackers do most of the supervision and mentoring of student teachers during the Practicum. The student teachers rely now on their cooperatingteachers to guide them and help them develop the teaching and managing skills. Each student teacher is assigned or more cooperating teachers to help her. Generally, these teachers are experienced teacher in the subjects the student teacher is learning to teach. The university supervisors make only one or two lesson observations. The final grade for each student teacher i s

decided by the school and NIE.

In the study carried out by Wong and Goh (2002)aconcern that surfacedabout was the level of competencies with which the and assessed the student teachers. Trainingto upgrade the was recommended. It would be of great help to the and trainingproviders for the if they are aware of the areas in which student teachers expect of them. The knowledge can prepare

them with the necessary skills and strategies to mentor and guide the student teachers during the Practicum. This study explored the expectations of the student teachers from their

when they go out to schools for the Practicum.

Research re This study was carried out with a group of student teachers from the2002-2003 cohort of the Postgraduate in Education (PGDE) programme. The student teachers had completed the on-campus courses and were getting ready for the practicum. Through an open ended questionnairea group of student teachers (N= 72) were asked to list the areas in which that they would like to get help from when they go out for their Practicum. Their responses were

and The twenty most common areas of concerns were selected to develop a survey questionnaire to find out the importance of these selected areas.

The questionnaire was administeredto student teachers in four tutorial classes during the last tutorial beforethey went out for the Practicurn in February student teachers were required to indicate the degree of importance of each area to them on a three point scale. In the final count 107 usable sets of data were collected. The data was analysed usingthe PC Descriptivestatistics were used to identify the areas of help considered by the student teachers.

Results and Discussion Out of the twenty areas identified through the open survey the eight areas considered most important by more than 80% of the student teachers are:

Suggest ways to improve my teaching skills based on my performance in class (88.8%) Providing constructivecriticism and evaluation (87.9%) Provide guidance as to how I can effectively teach the content of the subject (85.0%) Teach me techniques to handle difficult students in the class

Provideopportunity for me to observeexperiencedteachers teaching (82.2%) Show me effective ways of managing different types of classrooms Share teaching that are related to the

teaching of the subjects (80.4%) Provide a profile of the classes I am going to teach

These are areas related to evaluation, teaching the subject and classroom management: The high value given to evaluation shows that the student teachers are concerned of their final grades as well a5 wanting to improve the skill in teaching and managingthe class. These in fact areas which are practical in nature and can be best experienced at the school setting.The practitionersat the ground level are the mentors and guides to provide help in these areas.

school

to (7 I .O"/O)

Oh)

teachen (70.1 "/a)

%)

information

importance by than

t ity

(65.4%)

issus

Cortclusion into

school feedback. CTs

(1

alm

behaviours d l feedback

clear

supervisoty CTs

help

Mclntyre, J., Byrd, D. Foxx, S . In ). Sikula

educat~on, (2"d. ppl71-193. MacmilIan.

Isher, half R.P. Tisher &

Wideen (Eds.), ional Falmer

(2002). practicum

30(2), 97-206.

mathematical performance memory, and home work

I Kerry Ng Swee Fong, Ng 1

pwrs thethird

d i f f icu l t i~ beiieved

Ceary, (e.g., & 1998) (e-g., &

(1 974), allows

central loop, visuespatial (Baddeley,

The next set of areas considered important by more than 70% of the student teachers is:

Introduceme to the general structure of the system and culture (78.5%) Give me independence try out new innovative teaching approaches Provide me information on the various types of resources available for teaching subjects (72.9%) Let me know the rules and procedures to function effective in the school (70.1 introduceme to teachingthe same subjects to get support and help Show ways to gain students attention and motivate them to Iearn (70.1

This group of 6 areas of help relates to getting information to function effective in the school system. These are also areas where the practitioners are the best source of

to the student teacher to integrate into the school culture and function effective in the school. Theareas listed below were considered less

70% of the student teachers.

Show me ways to make lessons interesting for different abi classes (64.5%) Show me how to determine the pace of the lesson for different ability classes Provide encouragement and support when lessons do not work out well (65.4%) Show me how to build rapport with the students so as to gain their trust and cooperation (66.4%) Help in the planning of the lessons in the initial stage of teaching practice (56.6%)

Threeof these refers to thetechniquesof teaching.Perhaps, lower level of importance is given to them because these issues have been covered in theon-campus courses where techniques of motivations, catering for individual differences, pacing of lesson, time management and other

relatedto teaching are discussed at length.

The help considered important may be categories four broad areas of concern: teaching the curriculum subjects, classroom management, information to function well in the

environment and evaluation of their teaching and as ground teacher educators need to be aware

of student teacher's expectation. Mclntyre, Byrd and Foxx 996) in reviewing the roles of cooperating teachers came

to the conclusion that cooperating teachers can greatly influence the student teacher's teaching context and their behaviour and beliefs in both a positive and negative term. Two important aspects stood out regarding the cooperating teacher's role: the they exhibit or

and the process and content of they provide to the student teachers. The most effective teachers provide

specific feedback to their student teachers, provide rationales for suggestionsgiven and exhibit self reflection.

The finding in this study may be of help to formulate discussion forums to develop mentoring and skills of and also make them aware of the types of information and the student teachers desire.

References D. M., M.(1996). Field and

laboratoryexperiences. (Ed.), Handbook of researchonteacher Edition), New York:

(1990). One and a decade of research on teacher education in Australia. In M.F.

Research in Teacher Education: lnternat Perspectives. London: Press

Wong, A. F.L. & Coh, K.C. The in teacher training: a preliminary and qualitative assessment of the improved National Institute of Education- School Partnership Model in Singapore. Asia-PacificJournalof Teacher Education, 1

Predicting with working language, intelligence, measures

Lee, and Ee Lynn

Singapore's primary and secondary students obtainedbetter results than did most of their international in international mathematics and science study. This is an enviable result and points to a positive educational and social environment- Despite this finding, asizeable number of students do experience with mathematics. Several variables are to be responsible for individual differences in mathematical abilities: biological (see 1993, for review), motivational Ashcraft, Kirk, Hopko, and cognitive Shalev, Manor, Gross-Tsur, 1997). In this study, we examinedthe degree to which mathematical abilities can be predicted from general cognitive abilities. Specifically, we examined the

relationship between working memory measures and mathematical performance.

Working memory, first described by Baddeley and Hitch is a vital part of our memorynetwork that for

the representation and manipulation of several pieces of informationat a time. It is responsible for short-termmemory storage, reasoning, problem solving, and other cognitive tasks that require a consideration of the past and present. The latest version of the working memory models consists of four components: executive, phonological

sketchpad, and an episodic buffer 2000). Of particular importance in this study are the first

Bull Scerif (2001), showed

visuo-spatial (Gathercole 2000; Geary, & Hamson,

Mclean &

introduction years.To

characterised

9 Although method

model

performance intel l igence,

hrticipan ts Primary5

All located

whole (74 -65). power will - -05, ?= . I 5,

lntercorretations

Gathercole, 20011, 1Q) subtests

subtests

Mathema

two 4 5

5 curricu[um.

from

-

(e-g., Sattier, Goldman, Osborne, MitcheII, Busch,

IQ Wechsler

composite rson's

performance 1).

- - -

Visuespatial

1 *p<.OS **p<.DI

three components. Recent findings on the relationship between the central executive and arithmetic performance suggest the two are closely linked. and for example, central executivemeasures predicted reliably to mathematical performance. Moreover, its contribution was independentof that attributableto reading and general intelligencemeasures. Other researchers have found that children with poor mathematics abilities also showed deficits in phonological or abilities

& Pickering, Hoard, 1999; Hitch, 1999).

Whereas previous studies had concentratedon fundamental mathematical skills such as counting, number knowledge, and basic arithmetic, we focused on problem solving requiring algebraic thinking in the present study. In Singapore, the of algebraic thinking occurs in the primary school overcome difficulties associated with the kind of logicat-deductive thinking by formal algebra, chiidren are taught to translate word problems into pictorial representations. Using this model method, even year olds can be taughttosolve challenging word problems. the seems to ameliorate children's difficulties with formal algebraic representation, anecdotal observations suggest considerable individual differences in children's ability to make use of the method. In this study, we examined whether proficiency in using the model method was predictedby performance on

-working memory tests. Furthermore, tests of language ability, and a homework survey were

administered as control measures to isolate the unique contribution of working memory to mathematical proficiency.

Method

One hundred and fifty-one children participated in this study. childrenwererecruited from schools in the western zone of Singapore and participated with parental consent. Because of school activities and unexpected absences, a number of children did not complete the battery of tests. The final sample contained 146 children boys,72 girls) with an average age of 10.7 years (SD = An a priori analysis showed that this sample yield approximately 95%

wer (statistical parameters: = medium effect size 6 predictors).

Table 1 Among the Study Variables

MaterialandProcedure Children were administered a number of tests: a mathematical word problem test devised by the authors, the Working Memory Test Battery (Pickering &

vocabulary and block design (performance from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children,

reading from the Wechsler Objective Reading and Language Dimensions (Singapore), and a homework measure. Because of the length of each test, they were administered over several days.

tical ability The mathematical test contained ten word problems. Question selection was guided by school curriculum. Because testing was conducted at the middle of the academic year, weselected questions from theprimary

curriculum, six questions from the primary curriculum, and 2, more difficult items, from the late primary to early primary 6

Homework To obtain a measureof the amountof homeworkperformed by children, they were asked tocompletea diary. Each page of the diary contained questions on the number of homework questions attempted, amount of time spent on home work, assistance received caregivers, and similar questions regarding extra-curriculumtuition. Children were asked to fill out the diary for 18 days.

Other instruments were standardized measures. Descriptions of them can be found elsewhere 2001; Saunders, & 1995).

Results and Discussion Preliminary data screening showed that the verbal measurewas highly correlated with the Language measure-Toavoid problems of multicollinearity, a principal components analysis was conducted to derivea language factor score. Pea correlations showed that the central executive, performance IQ, and language measures were all strongly and positively correlated with mathematical (see Table Of interest was that the homework measure was negatively correlated with mathematics performance. Becausethe homework measure was also negatively correlated with all other predictors, it i s likely that the measure captured an aspect of problem

Variable 2 3 4 5 6 7

1. Phonological component 2. component 3. Central executive component 4. Block Design 5. Language ability 6. Amount of homework 7. Mathematics ability

Note.

all predictor ryliable aryount

.40. .38), F(6,I 38) unique .01.

diagrams the working memoly measures, performance I&

apld pevor~nance.

.43

.5 1

Central .2 1

I m p

.5 1

+"

.2

3 7

Nure. *not statisticdly

correlation

m w ) .

solving speed. The slower an individual, the more likely he of each variable, a standard regression analysis including variables was conducted. The predictorsor she is to perform poorly.

accounted for a of variation in the = =The correlationanalysis also showedthat the predictorswere mathematics test (R = R

Inspection of the regression coefficients highly inter-correlated. To examine the contribution 15.58, p <

Figure 1

Path of relationships between language,

mathematical

Phonological loop

A Language

.39

3 0 Mathematics

Executive .20

Block Design

Panel A

Phonological

1 Central Executive

Visuo-spatial

Panel B

reliable. Path coefficientsare in bold. Figures in standard font denote

either variance (when placed above a variable name) or ratio (when placed next to a

double-headed

IQ,

3%, 66%,

of

& kpagno, be

(e-g.,

hypothesised

(CFI) .95.

-14 irnprovd. l

IQ Ranel 1).These

CFI -99, .O5, .40.

IQ

IQ.

IQ sti but

conceptualised

cenrral

Ashcraft, M. 0.

C.Donlan Mathematical Skills

(20001,The e p i d i c

7-423. & Papagno, (1998).The

158-1 & C. In

G.A.Bower (pp.

& J.

Neuropsychology, 15 (3), 1-442. & G. (2001).

(3)) 273-293. & S. J. (2000).

low

(2), C , ( I

(2), Coldman, 8. Osborne, W.

J. & (7995). experimental

M. D. C., & Hamson, (1999).

(1 ), McLean, J. F. G. j. (1999).

tdren ChiId

Psychology, (31,240-260. j. GahercoIe, ).

Sattler, 1. M. San Diego: J.M. Sartler.

V. (1997).

Dyscalculia. (2),

EdRF

showed that only the central executive, performance and language measures predicted reliably to mathematics performance. The semi-partial correlations showed that these three predictors uniquely and respectively accounted for

and 7% of variation in performance variation on the mathematics test.

To further examine the relationship between working memory, language, intelligence, and mathematical performance, a series path analyses were conducted. Previous studies suggested that the phonological loop contributed to language development (Baddeley, Gathercole, 1998). Furthermore, language ability has previously been shown to closely related to mathematical abilities Bull, Johnston, & Roy, 1999). These relationships were captured in two path models in which working memory measures were postulated to have both direct and indirect linkages with mathematical performance.The two models differed in that, in the simpler model, the visuo-spatial and phonological components of working memory were hypothesized to have no direct effect on mathematical performance. Variables connected by double headed arrows were tobesimply inter-correlated. The lack ofa connecting line between variables signified no hypothesised relationships-The modified model is presented in Panel A of Figure 1.

Fit indices from AMOS showed that the modified model provided a good fit, comparative fit index =

Nevertheless, the root mean squareerror of approximation (RMSEA) index of indicated that the model could be further nspection of the modification indexes suggested addition of paths from the visuo-spatial component and performance scores to the language factor score (see B of Figure additions resulted in an improvement in the fit indexes, = RMSEA =

p = Consistent across all models were the findings that both language and performance contributed directly tomathematical abilities. Also consistent across all models was the finding that the central executive contributed both directly and indirectly to mathematical abilities. Both the phonological and visuo-spatial components did not contribute directly to mathematical performance, but did so indirectly via language and performance

Conclusions From a purely applied perspective, if onewereto administer just oneset of tests, the language ability tests accounted for more variance in mathematical performance than did other tests administered in this study. However, the data also showed that even when the effects of language and performance were controlled, the working memory measures IIprovideda moderate reliable improvement to the prediction ofmathematical performance. From a more theoretical viewpoint, findings from the path analyses suggest that working memory abilities are important for both mathematical and linguistic performance. The central executive measure, in particular, was shown to contribute to performance IQ, as well as linguistic and mathematical performance. Thesefindings suggest that one way to improve children's overall performance in these three domains is to target central executive ability- One problem is that central

executive ability i s usually as being fairly multi-faceted. In a follow-up study, we are examining sub-divisions within the executive to see whether different aspects of it contribute to different domains of skill and knowledge.

References H., Kirk, E. P., & Hopko, (1998). On the

cognitive consequences of mathematics anxiety. In (Ed.),TheDevelopmentof

(pp. 175-196). Hove, England: The Psychology Press. Baddeley, A. buffer: a new component

of working memory?Trends in Cognitive Sciences., 4, 41

Baddeley, A., Cathercole, S. E., C phonological loop as a language learning device. Psychological Review, 105, 73.

Baddeley, A. Hitch, J. (1974). Working memory. (Ed.), Recent advances in learning and

motivation 47-90). New York: Academic Press. Bull, R., Johnston, R. S., Roy, A. (1999). Exploring the

roles of the visual-spatial sketch pad and central executive in children's arithmetical skills: Views from cognition and developmental neuropsychology. Developmental 42

Bull, R. Scerif, Executive functioning as a predictor of children's mathematics ability: Inhibition, switching, and working memory; Developmental Neuropsychology, 19

Gathercole, S. E. Pickering, Workingmemory deficits in children with achievements in the national curriculum at 7 years of age. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 70 177-194.

Ceary, D. 993). Mathematical Disabilities: Cognitive, Neuropsychological, and Genetic Components. Psychoiogical Bulletin, 114 345-362.

A., L., Mitchell, D. F., Saunders, L., Busch, J. C. Directory of unpublished

mental measures. Washington: American Psychological Association.

Hoard, K., Ceary, C. 0. Numerical andArithmetical Cognition: Performance of Low- and Average-IQ Children. Mathematical ' Cognition, 5 65-91.

& Hitch, Working memory impairments in chi with specific arithmetic learning difficulties. Journal of Experimental

74 Pickering, S. & S. E. (2001 WorkingMemory

Test Battery for Children. Kent: The Psychological Corporation.

(2001). Assessment of children cognitive applications. (4th ed ed.)

Shalev, R. S., Manor, O., & Gross-Tsur, Neuropsychological Aspects of Developmental

Mathematical Cognition, 3 7 05-120.

This study is supported by an grant.

Collaboration Environment:

short Loong foong

outftanding

coIlaborated

computersupported

problem scenario.

t

on1 computersupported

1

1. computer-

solving

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principle

Problem-based in an Online Computer Supported

A Case Study

Note: This is a abstract of Mr Kapur's Master of Education dissertation under the supervisionof Bavid HungWei andAngelaWong Lin. It receivedtheEducational Research Association of Singapore Gold Medal for the Master of Education dissertation for 2003.

The central focus of this study concerned the nature of processes through which a group in an online

collaborative environrnen t to solve an

authentic real-life By analysing and

understanding these processes described the waysin which

such an ine environment supported

and facilitated the collaborative processes of problem

solving. In addition, derived implications for the

pedagogical design consideration of activities for online

computer-supported collaborative environments based on

the findings. As such, the major contributions of this study

are:

Themicro-processes of online collaborative

supported problem solving, and

2. The CRAMSS (Constructive, Reflective, Authentic,

Manipulative, Social, and Stable) Model: a set of

guidelines for the design of activities for online

computer-supported collaborative problem-solving

environments.

The present study focussed on the problem efforts

of three students from a junior college in Singapore who

volunteered to participate in this project. With the specially

designed ine computer-supported collaborative

environment as the only means of problem solving, the

group engaged in solvingan authentic real life problem.

Activity Theory was used as a broad framework for such a

team engaged in an activity, together with Problem-Based

Learning as a pedagogical strategy for small-group

collaboration. Building on these frameworks, mapped out

the problem solving process in an online collaborative

settingthatdepartedfrom thesequential and simplistic view

of the problem solving process offered by Problem-Based

Learning in a faceto-facesettingas reported in the iterature,

I described the various phases of online collaborative

problem solving and detailed the intricate relationship

between them; a description that is instrumental in our

of the complexity resident in. exactly 'howt

an online collaborative problem solving process transpires.

In doing so, I reaffirmed and validated Activity Theory as a

broad framework for small group collaboration in an online

computer-supported environment.

By drawing on the findings of our case study to:

understand the ways in which an online computer-

supported environment supported and facilitated the

collaborative processes of problem solving;

derive implications for the pedagogical design

considerations of online computer-supported

collaborative environments.

argued a case for an online computer-supported

collaborative environment facilitating problem solving to

subscribetoourCRAMSS model. as is evident, is

an acronym that lists the essential guidelines I that

an online computer-supported collaborative environment

facilitating authentic problem solving should follow.

As a result of this case study, saw some preliminary

evidence that students are able to collaborate via an online

environmentas the only means of communication to solve

an authentic real life problem; the process of problem

solving being very chaotic and complex. was also able to

sieve ways in which such environments support the

problem solving process. By derivinga set of guidelines for

the pedagogical design considerations of activities for such

environments, I hope to have taken the first steps towards

addressinga pressing need for online computer-supported

collaborative problem solving environments based an sound

pedagogical and supportedby research.

21 state privatisation?

Tai-Chee I

1960s, cityscape

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both stabiliser

local investment

Plan

analyses 1990s,

pub1

poIitical 1 9 9 0 ~ ~ followingthe measurestaken

In privatisation

appeared

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pawscontinued

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political its

'privatised'

important good

local increase

farms

been 'Les lndes -

joint Institut de I'Asie du (ITCASEC)

*

Singapore housing policies in the century: from monopoly to

Wong and Xavier Cuillot

Among the newly independent nations in Southeast Asia in the post-war era, Singapore's housing development experience has been unique. Since the its land space has been radically transformed into a modern comparable to any advanced western city. Modern urban public and private housing has and replaced the central city slums, and outlying rurality with a comprehensive provision of infrastructure and services. Initially, public housing was introduced to tackle severe housing shortage as a political response to universal "right to housing", and in support of the export-led industrialisation. It has thus served as a key mechanism of "nation-building", and as a social attracting international and capital that has generated high rates of economic growth.

Through thewelfare-oriented Central Provident Fundsaving system, and concerted efforts of the government, more than 80 percent of Singaporeans are now owners of HDB high-rise apartments distributed extensively in self-containednew towns. Within the "captive market" of HDB estates, a new communal life has been streamlined between residence and work, in a well established and organised network of planned land use, guided by the 1970 Concept Plan. This

has since been regularly and systematically reviewed to incorporate new housing demands and the notion of upgrading. This study the evolution of public housingdesign and services fromthe1960s to the a period that saw the transition from quantitative to qualitative emphasis. Concomirantly, the corporate management approach of theHDB has madepublic housinga contributor to the national growth, and a provider for jobs.

With the middle class rising in numbers and greater affluence, the mass-produced ic housing has become less appealing to consumers who perceive private housing a representation of greater comfort, status, and better quality of life. Private housing hence turns itself into a central mechanism of a social upgrading process that the developmental government has used to meet demand of expatriates and as an incentive in exchange for support. In the various by the government to facilitate access to private housing, the heated pursuit had however led to spectacular price surge that made access more difficult to many.

the midst ofcurrent worldwide efforts aimed at raising corporate efficiency and productivity to meet

global challenges of competition, privatising HDB public housing has not to be a real necessity. Several factors explain this interpretation. Firstly, the HDB has been known since the 1970s for its highly style of management and operation. Secondly, it is important that

housing continues to serve as a quasi-welfare mechanism to the sheer numbers of lower income groups who need to be supporteddue to their low purchase power. Thirdly, Singapore's state capitalism model has built up a strong system of state enterprises, whose survival and servicesare closely linked with the ruling search for mandate and governance. Quality housing investment indeed has been selected key area of overseasventuresof state theircontrol may lead to the rise of a challenging private-led socio-

institution, which may seek own legitimate representation.

Consequently, the official response i s likely to further intensify the character of public enterprises to enhance efficiency while maintaining a firm control. In housing, more quality housing including waterfront housing will be placed on the pipeline to satisfy popular demand. Waterfront housing may beseen as an consumer

that serves the objective of enhancing Singapore's competitive edge in the global economy and satisfying the demandof the upper-end users, both and international in origin. It i s therefore in the context ofa general of household income, the emergence of a middle class society, and the growing presence of highincome foreigners, combined with the rising global economy and culture, that privatizationhas becomepart of the housing policy agenda of Singapore. This the key approach of the study.

The revised version is now completed after review and has accepted for publication by a French publisher -Savants' for 2004 a forthcomingbook.

Research Project Sponsored by Recherche sur Sud-Est Contemporaine

(Research Centre of Contemporary Southeast Asian Studies at Bangkok*) andThe French Embassy in Singapore

An overseas research institution under the jurisdiction of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Representations problem solving textbooks in Singapore mathematics

comparative

Introduction the

In textbooks factor

revealed

(e.g., & Kaeley, Graybeat, & Pimm,

textbooks attention

mathematics Uhow

solving

to textbooks the

three

problem

study that

textbook

problems;

Singlestep data data

form, verbal form,

P61ya1s

it to j

the study, two the

States,

.A @J?#&g'-q#@@tiff*&# B+ #& B-m& ( n, K*, 93 =&,A% g-fl ,~~.&f t T h e compuIsory education

(Vol. Vol. 2), I13 People's

DMafhematics (4th ed.), Pte

UCSMP ed.), Scott Foresman.

research method thestudy. the textbooks the were

were

1 All textbooks

three the

the 4%. the textbooks were contextualized

situations.

both not series

not problems textbooks were

of in mathematics China, and US textbooks:

A study

Over the last two decades, role of textbooks in the teaching and learning of mathematics has received increasing attention from the international mathematics education community, particular, researchers have considered as a key to explain the reasons for students' different performance in cross-national comparisons. However, compared to other research areas in mathematics education, studies focusing on textbooks are still inadequate. Many researchers have called for more studies on textbooks Fan 2000; 1988; Love 1996; Sosniak & Stodolsky, 1993;

This study analyzed mathematics in China, Singapore, and the United States, with particular to problem solving, which has occupied a central place in

teaching and learning since the 1980s. The general research question of the study is problem

is represented in three series of mathematics textbooks at the lower secondary level in China, Singapore, and the United States?"Mare specifically, the study investigated how problem types and problem solving strategies were represented in the mathematics textbooks. By doing so, the study is intended provide a relatively comprehensive picture about how represent ideas of problem solving in mathematics across the educational systems and therefore explore possible ways to improve the representation of mathematics textbooks.

solving in

Methods This defined a problemas "a situation requires a decision and/or answer"; it was believed that such a definition was more meaningful as well as operational for

analysis study. Based on this definition, a general conceptual framework was established, including seven main classifications of problem types

Routine problems versus Non-routine problems; Traditional problems versus Non-traditional Open-ended problems versus Close-ended problems; Application problems versus Non-application problems;

problems versus Multiple-step problems; Sufficient problems, Extraneous problems, and Insufficient data problems; and Problems in pure mathematical Problems in

Problems in visual form, and Problems in combined form.

and two levels of problem solving strategies: general strategies, which were analyzed using four-stage problem solvingmodel, and specific heuristics, including "acting out", "lookingfor apattern", "workingbackwards",

just name a few.

A total of nine textbooks were examined in from China, from Singapore, and two from

listed as follows:

five United

China:

three-year junior secondary school textbooks - Algebra I

1, Algebra 11, Geometry I, Geometry published by Education Press;

Singapore: New Syllabus 7,2 publishedbyShingLeePublishers Ltd.;

United States: Algebra, Geometry (2nd published by

Content analysis wasthe main of All problems in and all solutions to solved text problems examined and coded based on the established framework. After that, the coding results analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative methods.

Results and Discussions The study found that the US textbooks provided many more problems than the Asian books in terms of the total number (China: 4850, Singapore: 9914, US: 3286). the

presented problems in a variety of ways. Routine problems and traditional problems comprised the majority of problems in all the series. In particular, percentages of non-routine problems and non-traditional problemsin books were lower than Moreover, most of problems in the not in real world

It was found that the US textbooks provided more types of non-traditional problems. In contrast, Asian series did

have journal writing tasks and the Chinese further did have project problems. However, the in the US less challenging than those in the Asian books, in terms of the number of steps involved in problem solutions.

More than 90%of problems in all the examined textbooks were close-ended problems. The result appears to be

ie-g., 995).

all

solving

(e-g., Corbitt, 1980a).

back"

o i

two

the

most

problems

(e.g., ).

a[l

1980b).

992),

1 . (1

Reston,

T. P., M. jr., (1 980a).

28(1), 2. Carpenter,T. P., M. K., Jr.,

& R. 980b). MathematicsTeacher, 73(6),

C . (1

Paper

& C.

13(4),

mathematics

(UMI: AAT Pimm, 996).

J. C. I. (Eds.),

(pp. Kluwer.

(1 metacognition,

[n iEds.1, (pp. 334-3701.

D.,Virgona, (2001). numeracy

RMlT http:/ / w w w . s o f w e b . v i c . e d u . a u / m y s / p d f / MYNumResearchFullReport.pdf

S. (1993).

93(3), S. 5. 989). realIy P.

W. S . I

Socrates

IL:

Lianghuo. rhank

consistent with those revealed on students' performance on open-ended problems, as researchers found when solving open-ended problems, the majority of students only provided one answer Cai, 1

In addition, almost the problems in the textbooks were supplied with just enough information. Consistently, research on students' performance in problem has showed that many students attempted to use all the information presented in problems in their solutions no matter the information was necessary or not for the solutions

Carpenter, Kepner, Lindquist, & Reys,

On the representation of general strategies, the study found that the problem solutions presented in the two Asian series in most cases only covered "carrying out the plan", whereas two-thirds of the solutions to the text problems in the US books modeled at least two problem solving stages. With respect to the particular solving stages, the study showed that the Singapore series modeled the stageof "looking less frequently than the other two series.

The study also found that all the series introduced a considerable number specific problem solving heuristics (China: 1 1, Singapore: 16, US: 1 4). Nine of the heuristics were in common across the three series and were only introduced in the Singapore series. However, after the introduction af the heuristics, all series did not illustrate frequently the use of the heuristics in solving problems.

Implications and Recommendations The study showed that there were considerable gaps between syllabus and textbooks, Therefore, it is important for policy makers, curriculum developers, textbook authors, and importantly, teachers to realize the existing gaps and take necessary actions to overcome the gaps.

It i s believed that more non-routine and non-traditional problems of various types could be added into the textbooks, as some researchers claimed such types of might contribute more to students' understanding than traditional, rule-based problems Daniel, 1999; Siemon, Virgona. & Cornielle, 2001

US textbook developers could consider including more multiple-step problems to provide more challenges to students. In fact, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) found that many US students actually tended to use one single operation to solve types of problems (Carpenter, Corbitt, Kepner, Linquist, & Reys,

In addition, more application problems need to be added into students' textbooks. According to Schoenfeld (1 "The mathematics learned in school has little or nothing to do with the real world is a typical student understanding about the nature of math". Moreover, adding more application problems could also be one way to increase the variety of problems.

Reference Cai, 995). A cognitive analysis of U.S. and Chinese

students' mathematical performance on tasks involving computation, simple problem solving, and complex problem solving. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education (Monograph series 7). VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

Carpenter, Corbitt, K., Kepner, H. S., Lindquist, M. M., & Reys, R. E. Solving verbal problems: Results and implications from national assessment. Arithmetic Teacher, 8-1

Corbitt, Kepner, H. S., Lindquist, M. M., Reys, E. (1 NAEP note: Problem solving- 427-433.

Daniel, 999, November). Creating realistic environments for the development of mathematical thinking among students with different abilities and aptitudes. presented at theMathematics Education into the 21st Century Conference, Cario.

Fan, L., Kaeley, S. (2000). The influence of textbook on teaching strategies: An empirical study. Mid-Western Educational Researcher, 2-9.

Graybeal, S. S. (1988). A study of instructional suggestions in fifth-grade and social studies teachers' guides and textbooks. Doctoral dissertation, University of Chicago. T-30763)

Love, E., & D. (1 'This is so': A text on texts. In A. Bishop, K. Clements, Keitel, Kilpartick, & C. Laborde International handbook of mathematics education 371-410). Dordrecht, Netherlands:

Ministry of Education (2000).Mathematics syllabus (lower secondary). Singapore: Curriculum Planning Division.

Schoenfeld, A. H. 992). Learning to think mathematically: Problme solving, and sense making in mathematics. D. A. Grouws Handbook on mathematics teaching and learning New York: Macrnillan.

Siemon, J., & Cornielle, K. The middle year research projects: 5-9. Bundoora, VA:

University. Retrieved August 19,2003, from

Sosniak, L. A., & Stodolsky, S. Teachers and textbooks: Materials use in four fourth-grade classrooms. The Elementary School journal, 249-275.

Stodolsky, (1 I s teaching by the book? In Jackson & Haroutunian-Gorden (Eds.), From

to software: The teacher as text and the text as teacher: Eighty-eighth yearbookof the National Society for the Study of Education (Part I, pp. 159-184).Chicago,

National Society for the Study of Education.

Acknowledgement- This article is based on the author's doctoral dissertation under the supervision of Dr. Fan

The author wishes to Dr. Fan for his guidance through the dissertation study

candidates

Psychology)

Angeline Behavlours

Hoon Karn Singapore

Skrlls Davtd Addictton

In

Kok

Lim

Llrn

Relationship

Hall

Guek Hawkins

- -- - -

Yeo Attttude People /AIDS

The staff of NIE extend their congratulations to the following who were

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Chan Yew Heng Edwin Effects of Home and School Environment on At-Risk

Khoo,

Cheng Chi Yin Marital Satisfaction and Personality . --

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