List of Approved Projects

S/N	Project Title	Principal Investigator	Host Institute	Project Number	Abstract
1	Identifying and assessing integrative STEM competencies for secondary school students in Singapore	Dr Kah Loong CHUE	National Institute of Education (NIE)	ERFP 09/24 CKL	STEM is commonly used to describe educational practices in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Integrative STEM education thus refers to approaches that intentionally integrate the concepts and practices of science and/or mathematics education with the concept practices of technology and engineering education. There is a broad agreement that this approach provides an excellent platform to develop STEM competencies, namely a set of skills and knowledge that are necessary for success in a STEM environment. Accordingly, STEM competencies need to be identified, assessed and monitored systematically. However, the constituents of the set of essential integrative STEM competencies are debatable. This lack of focus do not serve the education system well. Thus, there is a need to identify a set of key STEM competencies that students need to develop. Subsequently, assessment of STEM competencies would require a comprehensive approach. Finally, its implementation within the school’s curriculum would need to be explored. Hence, there are three main objectives in this exploratory research project, 1) to identify key integrative STEM competencies for secondary school students, 2) to develop and validate the learning progression of an essential integrative STEM competency, 3) to explore how the learning progression can be integrated within the school curriculum. The research will be conducted in 3 phases. Phase 1 will address the first objective. A systematic review of international literature on competencies, capabilities and skills in the STEM and integrated STEM education literature will first be conducted. Next, the Delphi method will be used. 40 subject experts in various STEM fields will be identified for a structured group communication process. There will be a few rounds of brainstorming, refinement and synthesis before a consensus will be made on what constitutes key STEM competencies. Phase 2 will use a mixed methods research design. Using a top-ranked STEM competency from Phase 1, a learning progression will be developed and validated through the following cycle of (1) Theory development, (2) Assessment development, (3) Empirical data analysis, and (4) Evaluation of instructional efficacy (Graf, 2021). A developmental pathway and relevant assessment tasks will be constructed based on literature, logical analysis and consultations with subject matter experts. One school (N = 480 to 600 students, 8 to 12 teachers) will be identified for empirical data recovery of the learning progression. The items/tasks will be administered to students and item response theory methods will be used to analyse the validity of progression. Interviews with teachers will also be conducted on the usefulness of the learning progression. Phase 3 will use interviews to collect qualitative data from subject teachers (N = 8 to 12), relevant key personnel (N = 2 to 4) and the school leaders (N = 1 to 3). The interviews will emphasize on ways in which the learning progression can be aligned with and integrated within the school’s curriculum. Factors that promote or impede curriculum integration can be systematically identified and the manner in which the progression is integrated within the school curriculum can function as a case study for other schools. The research is timely as the future workforce is increasingly reliant on STEM achievements and advancement (Teo & Choy, 2021). Singapore needs to ensure that its STEM education effectively delivers on its student outcomes. First, schools would have identified key integrative STEM competencies that secondary students should focus on. Second, teachers would have a tool to guide their instruction and assessment. Third, schools would have a clear picture on how the learning progression can be implemented within the curriculum.
2	Investigating the Association Between Pedagogies and Cognitive Flexibility	Dr Chew Lee TEO	National Institute of Education (NIE)	ERFP 08/24 TCL	A central premise of this proposal involves unpacking some of the established 21st-century innovative pedagogical practices into its underlying mechanism to investigate the effectiveness of each approach in multi-tiered outcomes when compared to traditional instruction methods. Instead of identifying students across different achieving levels, we will be testing the association of cognitive flexibility (one of the three executive functions) to the outcomes of these approaches. The results will provide an in-depth understanding of the neuro-cognitive capacities evident in these pedagogies. Such understanding allows for differentiated instructions based on alternate profiles of students beyond just their academic achievement. In this study, we selected three pedagogical approaches that have gained traction in Singapore schools by teachers and students. The pedagogies selected are often labelled as teaching methods that bring about deep learning and are identified based on common characteristics of “shifting” or “switching”. These teaching methods include: i. Contrasting Cases (Schwartz, Chase & Chin, 2011; Loibl et al., 2020) focuses on students learning through shifting between two different cases (concepts). The approach posits that students start to understand the characteristics of a thing when they start to contrast it with other things that are just slightly different (Gentner, 1999; Schwartz, 2016). Cognitively speaking, contrasting similar things activates and helps add to your mind’s map (i.e.schema) of those things, which helps to recall more details, make more connections, and develop more general rules about what something is or how it works. ii. Knowledge Building (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 2014; Scardamalia & Bereiter, 2010) is an idea-centric approach in which students are scaffolded through a series of moves to improve ideas. Idea Diversity, one of the key Knowledge-Building principles, conceives deep learning through creative work with ideas. A big part of this creative work with ideas includes students working with conflicting ideas, shifting strategies when they hit a roadblock, and advancing through trial and error. iii. Tinkering is the process of hands-on experimentation or problem-solving to create, modify, or improve an artefact (Bevan et al., 2015). It involves making small adjustments iteratively, trying different approaches, and using whatever materials and tools, to achieve a desired outcome. The iterative process of tinkering with materials enables students to explore different ideas, test them and switch to alternative ideas if needed. This cyclical approach can engage students actively in science concepts through experimentation, transforming abstract theories into tangible and interactive experiences. A systematic quantitative investigation and comparison of the underlying mechanisms across the three selected teaching methods, along with traditional practice as a control, would potentially develop an evidence-based practice beyond observable classroom changes.
3	Understanding Adolescents’ Perspectives of factors influencing their Health and Well-being: an exploratory study of Contemporary Health Risk Behaviours among Secondary school students	Assoc Prof Foong-Fong, Mary CHONG	National University of Singapore (NUS)	ERFP 07/24 MCFF	Addressing the health and well-being of adolescents can influence their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours that impact their health outcomes in the short and long term. Health risk behaviours such as dieting, physical inactivity, tobacco use, etc are initiated during adolescence and often continue into late adolescence and young adulthood. This can influence the risk of chronic noncommunicable diseases and morbidity later in life, thus affecting health throughout the life course. Data on emerging risk behaviours, particularly those stemming from technological advances such as vaping and cyber-bullying are sparse. There is a need to gain insights on contemporary negative health risk behaviours if they are to be addressed appropriately. In parallel, positive health risk behaviours such as trying out a new sport, giving a presentation to a large audience, etc involve positive outcomes that can theoretically fulfil adolescents’ developmental needs and motivations in culturally acceptable and relatively safe ways. Yet, the perspectives and motivations of adolescents engaging in negative and positive health risk behaviours have largely been unsought and unexplored. A deeper understanding of adolescents’ perspectives may help us create opportunities for adolescents to take risks in healthy and adaptive ways. Growing evidence also suggests that obtaining youths’ insights and involvement in educational or health promotion program development and implementation is more efficacious due to the designed program better meeting their needs and interests. Adaptive risk-taking can vary greatly from person to person and be influenced by factors such as individual characteristics, physical and social environment including social media, and culture and social norms. Yet, how these factors play out and interact to influence health risk behaviours in adolescents in the Singapore context, where risk and norms are defined differently from the Western setting, is unknown. Through in-depth interviews with adolescents (aged 15 to 16 years of age) from four government secondary schools in Singapore, including two co-education schools, one all-girls school and one all-boys schools, this research aims to understand adolescents’ perspectives of contemporary health risk behaviours (negative and positive) that are relevant, of interest and of concern to them, and their corresponding motivations and barriers. Besides gaining insights into factors influencing these behaviours, participants’ views on where, what and how they learnt best about health risk behaviours will be sought. They will also be asked to provide suggestions or solutions to developing and enhancing current education and health promotion program and strategies on health risk behaviours. Additionally, focus group discussions will be conducted with teachers-in-charge of Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) lessons and school counsellors from the four schools to understand their current challenges and needs in educating students about health risk behaviours, and seek their feedback on suggestions provided by adolescents. This can help educators and researchers prioritize the practical ideas that are feasible for translation to actual programs in the future. This proposed study will form part of the formative research required to provide the evidence base to develop tailored and effective intervention strategies to mitigate current negative health risk behaviours and encourage positive health risk behaviours in adolescents.
4	Examining the adaptability of Singapore Physical Education teachers: A case for the future of teaching	Assoc Prof Jia Yi CHOW	National Institute of Education (NIE)	ERFP 06/24 CJY	Adaptability is the capacity to effectively react and respond in constructive ways to situations that can be characterized by change, novelty and uncertainty. In this programme of work, the tripartite model of adaptability (Martin et el., 2012) will be used to examine Singapore Physical Education (PE) Teachers’ level of adaptability. The model involves cognitive, behavioural and emotional adaptability and refers to how an individual’s thinking, behaviour and emotions can be modified. In the current dynamic education context (and particularly in the context of Singapore), it is critical that teachers possess this important trait of adaptability to respond to inherent challenges that teaching and learning present. Critically, Perceived Autonomy Support (PAS), which is the extent to which teachers feel supported by principals (i.e., school leaders) can play a significant role in assisting positive workplace experiences and promote teachers’ adaptability. In the context of PE teachers, the subject of PE is underpinned by a high level of variability and dynamism of the teaching environment as well as interaction among students and the PE teacher (e.g., physical classroom, CCA, outdoor education, values-based education). Unlike other subjects, the teaching and learning situation can transit quite quickly and there is greater uncertainty on the emergence of students’ learning behaviours as they interact with the learning task and environment. In this programme of work, the research team would build on their previous research experiences and track records (OER 16/21 CJY) to i) examine how adaptable Singapore PE teachers are (Phase 1), ii) the factors that could impact the level of adaptability (e.g., perceived autonomy support, socio-demographic variables, resilience, and creativity) (Phase 1) and iii) if PE teachers with higher adaptability levels are more inclined to adopt innovative pedagogical practices, where innovative behaviour involves a planned process with a central aim of improving performance (Phase 2). For Phase 1 of the work, 400 PE teachers (200 Primary and 200 Secondary) would be recruited for this programme of work to complete online questionnaires and surveys about their sense of Adaptability (9-item Adaptability Scale), Perceived Autonomy Support (15-item Work Climate Questionnaire), Resilience (25-item Resilience Scale) and socio-demographic factors. A smaller group of participants from Phase 1 (n=60) will be further invited for interviews (Focus Group Discussion) to determine deeper insights for research questions 1 and 2. Open-ended questions will be included in the interviews to examine the extent of innovative behaviours demonstrated by the teachers in the classroom environment such as innovation in designing interactive learning tasks, openness to change, social engagement, teamwork, creativity and leadership development. For Phase 2, lesson observation (examining Teaching Complexity Index), interviews and self-assessment of their own adaptability will be conducted for a selected number of teachers (n=60) who are less adaptable (n=30) and more adaptable participants (n=30) based on Phase 1 survey results) to ascertain the extent to how PE teachers with higher adaptability levels are more inclined to adopt innovative pedagogical practices. All data collected will be used to address the above 3 research objectives highlighted for this programme of work. From the potential findings, important insights can be acquired to propose strategies and implications on how teachers can be encouraged to be more adaptable and exploratory in enacting pedagogical practices that focus on innovative teaching and learning. The emphasis of this programme of work aligns to what MOE aspires for educators as described in the revamped Teacher Growth Model (TGM) and importantly, the positive traits of 21st Century educators developing the next generation of Singaporean students.
5	Shaping learning spaces with acoustical systems to facilitate emerging pedagogical approaches in Singapore’s multilingual education context	Dr Siu-Kit Lau	National University of Singapore (NUS)	ERFP 05/24 LSK	This ERFP application’s purpose is to conduct research on how a room’s acoustic environment affects and facilitates learner-centered teaching pedagogy. The focus will be on optimizing absorptive ceiling profiles to improve speech intelligibility within discussion groups and reduce speech disturbance between discussion groups in open or semi-open interactive classroom designs. The study will also investigate sound reinforcement systems to enhance the speech intelligibility of tonal (Mandarin) and non-tonal (English) languages. Singapore is known to be one of the most noise-polluted cities in the world, with an average noise level of 69.4 dBA measured on building facades in 2017. Indoor background noise levels in Singaporean classrooms significantly exceed WHO guidelines of 35 dBA. In a survey of 105 schools in Singapore, only 6.7% (7 schools) had a noise level of less than 50 dBA, while 33% of the schools had a noise level between 51 and 55 dBA. A staggering 60% (63 schools) had a background noise level exceeding 56 dBA, with more than one-quarter of the schools exposed to noise levels that exceeded 65 dBA. This presents a challenge to speech intelligibility in classrooms and can hinder the teaching and learning process of students. While online learning offers great flexibility, it can also create obstacles to interaction between peers and instructors. In-person classroom settings become more important for cognitive engagement with interactive activities. The success of interactive activities depends on the quality of interactions between group members. Interactive open or semi-open classroom designs facilitate such activities, but many designs have failed due to acoustics, including babble noise, cross-talks, and disturbance. Sound reinforcement systems can be useful in improving speech clarity in different settings. Additionally, absorptive ceilings can minimize disturbances between groups in open or semi-open classroom environments. However, most acoustic signal processing algorithms and speech intelligibility assessments are developed in the West for non-tonal languages such as English and German. For tonal languages, like Mandarin and Cantonese, the time-frequency signal characteristics are unique and have not been utilized by existing signal processing technologies to differentiate speech from background noise. The objectives of this proposal’s research are to: 1. Collect data in existing classrooms in Singapore to establish a baseline and modeling for the indoor acoustics conditions based on building system design inputs. 2. Improve speech intelligibility and privacy in open or semi-open plan classrooms using absorptive ceiling profiles. 3. Test and demonstrate loudspeaker-array signal-processing algorithms and placements that enhance teaching and learning in open or semi-open classroom designs, using tonal and non-tonal languages. The proposed investigation builds on the notion of “presence and future pedagogy,” which will enhance our understanding of students’ learning and lead to better understanding of the auditory stimuli in supporting students’ learning in interactive classroom settings. Classroom environment design is currently limited to one-way teaching, neglecting a large part of speech communication in interactive learning. This project aims to address this challenge by offering improved spatial decay of the sound between discussion groups and enhancing the speed intelligibility within discussion groups through absorptive ceiling profiles and sound reinforcement systems. The project features a robust research plan that will foster sustainable design in classrooms and curricula, promote integrated technologies, and nurture future leaders in Singapore.
6	Designing for the use of wearables to investigate the role that school microclimate has on student engagement and thermal comfort	Dr Yang Teck Kenneth LIM	National Institute of Education (NIE)	ERFP 04/24 LYTK	In the course of a typical school day, members of the school community – staff and students alike – traverse the campus several times a day, sometimes being exposed directly to the elements, while at other times in the shade. The paths we take as we traverse our campus reflect our tacit responses to such exposure. Through our own bodily experience, we therefore develop over time a textured map of our respective school campuses which – in turn – influences our decision-making in subconscious ways. The mark of the skilful teacher is cognizance of the value of these tacit, textured, maps as resources for learning – and as resources to influence learning. When opportunities are designed for such tacit knowledge to be made more explicit, students are afforded the wherewithal to connect their everyday embodied lived experiences in authentic ways with the formal codified domain knowledge of the classroom. Records from the Meteorological Service show that climatic trends of Singapore since 1948 mean that the island has warmed, notably in the mid-1970s when rapid urbanisation took place. For the first time, the Service’s Annual Climate Assessment Report for 2023 included a special focus section on heat stress. In fact, high heat stress was recorded in Choa Chu Kang and Kallang on 30 March 2024. 2023 was the fourth warmest year on record for Singapore, with 2019 and 2016 tied for the warmest, with an annual mean temperature of 28.4 degrees Celsius. Anthropogenic climate change is a fact, and according to the National Climate Change Study, updated projections predict that annual mean temperatures are going to rise by between 0.6 degrees and 5 degrees by the end of the century. For students, who spend almost all hours of their days in naturally ventilated classrooms, the increased temperatures and high humidity could potentially create uncomfortable environments which could adversely affect their learning. Crafting studies of microclimate within the school campus is therefore both authentic to the entire school community, as well as speaks towards education for sustainable development. This proposal makes the case for the use of low-cost wearables incorporating physiological sensors within a study framed from the perspective of neuroergonomics, alongside engaging in dialogue with school teachers to build teacher spatial competency (Leighton, 2021). The wearables have been validated against research grade devices (Lim et al., 2024). Students will use the wearables according to a study protocol developed in consultation with faculty of the Science of Learning in Education Centre at the National Institute of Education. Data will be used to train machine learning models, which will then be applied to interpret the relationships between the environment, health and stress, with a view to supporting wider policy goals of the Ministry of Education.
7	Teachers’ understanding and enactment of Assessment for Learning in Singapore’s primary school Malay language classrooms	Dr Roszalina RAWI	National Institute of Education (NIE)	ERFP 03/24 RBR	This project investigates the extent to which primary school Malay Language (ML) teachers in Singapore practice Assessment for Learning (AfL) within their classrooms, integrating the Learning-Oriented Assessment (LOA) framework to enrich the investigation. Introduced into the ML (Primary) syllabus in 2008, AfL’s effectiveness in ML education is examined through the lens of four LOA dimensions: Contextual, Instructional, Elicitation, and Affective. This research is motivated by a concern for identifying effective learning in ML classrooms, understanding supportive teaching practices, and assisting ML teachers in mastering these practices for sustained AfL benefits. Additionally, this study explores the potential of three research-generated AfL principles—making learning explicit, promoting learner autonomy, and focusing on learning rather than grades—to develop AfL understanding among ML teachers in primary schools, initially formulated by a multi-university team in England. Adopting a sociocultural perspective, the research unfolds in two phases. The first phase utilizes an online survey targeting approximately 75 ML teachers across 15 primary schools to establish a foundation on the AfL principles and to identify AfL Values-Practice gaps. The second phase involves in-depth interviews and classroom observations to explore the impact of teachers’ early assessment experiences on current practices and their internalization of AfL principles, alongside their thoughts and beliefs about assessment expressed through metaphors. This phase also examines the Contextual, Instructional, Elicitation, and Affective dimensions within the LOA framework, revealing the sociocultural contexts influencing teachers’ AfL profiles through focal case studies. The study aims to uncover potential cultural disconnects in AfL practices within Asian classroom settings, the impact of teachers’ early assessment experiences, the role of moral responsibility in educational reform, and the deviation of Singaporean educators from central initiatives in a performance-oriented learning environment. This research has implications for enhancing and sustaining primary ML teachers’ AfL knowledge capacity through a principled approach and increasing awareness among teachers, policymakers, and school leaders of the assessment habitus concept and its influence on current classroom practices. By incorporating the LOA framework, this study lays the groundwork for future research into AfL in primary school ML education, marking a novel exploration into primary school ML teachers’ AfL practices with abundant opportunities for meaningful insights. KEYWORDS
8	Enhancing Science Education in Primary Schools through Tinkering: A Constructive Play Approach	Dr Sen Kee Peter SEOW	National Institute of Education (NIE)	ERFP 02/24 SSKP	This research proposal investigates the integration of tinkering—defined as a form of constructive play involving hands-on experimentation and problem-solving—into the primary science curriculum. Recognizing the limited research on how constructive play can be effectively incorporated across different educational settings, this study utilises a Design-Based Research (DBR) approach to design, implement, and evaluate tinkering activities within Primary 4 and 5 science classes. The study will involve approximately 240 students across three diverse Singapore primary schools, ensuring a broad spectrum of teaching environments and pedagogical practices are represented. For each school, 2 teachers and 1 Science Head of Department (HOD) or Subject Head (SH) will participate in the study. We are partnering with Science Centre Singapore to conduct workshops for teachers to design and enact tinkering activities integrated into the primary school science curriculum. The objective of this study is to empower teachers to implement tinkering activities, evaluate the impact of these activities on student academic self-efficacy and self-concept, and document effective strategies for curriculum integration. The research aims to answer key questions concerning the effectiveness of tinkering in enhancing student engagement and learning outcomes, the evolution of teachers’ pedagogical strategies, and the dynamics of classroom interaction. We will be using mixed methods in our study, employing instruments to measure academic self-efficacy and self-confidence when they participate in the study, and qualitative data such as classroom observations, interviews, and document analysis of lesson plans. We will triangulate by comparing quantitative and qualitative findings, confirming different data sources, and using methods to converge on similar conclusions. Expected outcomes include improved student attitudes and confidence towards science, enhanced teacher skills, and evidence-based recommendations for integrating tinkering into educational practices and policies. This study aims to provide significant insights into the pedagogical benefits of incorporating playful, creative problem-solving activities into the science curriculum, potentially informing future educational reforms and enhancing both teaching and learning experiences in primary education.
9	Design-centric Interdisciplinary Creative Problem Solving (ICPS-D): Developing Critical and Creative Skills in Teachers	Prof Lay Kee, Ricky ANG	Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD)	ERFP 21/23 RA	This development project seeks to build teacher capacities in Singapore schools by developing and delivering a bespoke Design-centric Interdisciplinary Creative Problem-Solving program (ICPS-D) as a pilot run for MOE teachers (IPW and STEM) in secondary schools and junior colleges. The program will promote interdisciplinary design-based problem-solving skills in teachers enabling teachers to develop innovative approaches to effectively tackle complex challenges in educational environments. After the training, the teachers will have Design knowledge (Design process, design methods, skills, dispositions and mindsets) as well as design skills (Facilitation, curriculum development, STEAM integration, evaluation and assessment). By integrating these design knowledge and skills, the teachers can be more effective in using design project-based learning to promote interests in STEAM (STEM + Arts) education, interdisciplinary innovative learning and the 21st century lifeskills encouraged by MOE. Thus, this proposal is to co-develop three inter-related pillars of critical, creative, and ethical thinking that support innovation. These pillars are already separately developed in some school disciplines, and a meaningful integration can take the form of design project considered as a generic method for creative problem solving. The value proposition of this proposal is the sensitivity to the design based curriculum to the needs of MOE, meaningfully connecting the diverse programs in existence with a forward-looking agenda for the context of schools in Singapore. To achieve this, we propose the following components: Component I consists of a stakeholder consultation, to investigate Singapore-specific needs for economically essential skills of creative problem solving; Components II and III develops and iterates an interdisciplinary curriculum and associated pedagogies with MOE teachers, who will also provide data for how novice and experienced teachers implement ICPS-D in authentic school environments; Component IV will develop & validate an ICPS-D skill inventory that can provide reliable measures of teacher competence in leading ICPS-D lessons, and students’ abilities to perform ICPS-D. Component V will study the short- and medium-term changes to school and classroom culture, specifically of the forms contributory to innovative behaviours. The Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) recognized as the top emerging university in engineering education (from a report commissioned by MIY in 2018) with a strong focus on combining technology + human-centric design in their pedagogy. Thus SUTD is uniquely placed to contribute a meaningful design training curriculum that can be recontextualised for MOE teachers. It is complemented with the rigor of the National Institute of Education (NIE) in teacher education and pedagogical research. The key objectives of this proposal will be 1. To develop and trial a bespoke ICPS-D program customised for MOE based school teachers in Singapore 2. To develop training materials and resources for the ICPS-D program to equip teachers with interdisciplinary creative problem-solving skills, unique for local context and MOE schools 3. To train a group of selected MOE teachers who can be the design leaders in their schools involving IPW and STEM teaching 4. To test an educator’s ICPS-D teaching skill inventory for evaluating teacher readiness to lead ICPS-D (and related) classrooms. 5. To test an ICPS-D student skill inventory that can provide reliable measures of changes in student skills in ICPS-D. 6 To develop methods evaluating design thinking skills and mindsets, especially tailored to MOE teachers with different background. 7. To recommend possible implementation and guiding principles for non-participating schools using the materials developed.
10	Leave No Child Indoors: Impact of Play Environments on the Physical and Socio-Emotional Development of Preschool Children and Children from Families with Less-abundant Resources in Singapore	Prof Yong Hwa Michael CHIA	National Institute of Education (NIE)	ERFP 20/23 CYHM	The National Institute of Education’s research reveals that children under 7 years old often engage in high levels of sedentary behavior, lack sufficient physical activity, and spend excessive time watching screens. Their sleep patterns also fall short of recommended guidelines, indicating that modern lifestyles for 6-year-olds tend to promote obesity and sedentary habits. In this context, parents and caregivers play a vital role in shaping children’s physical activity habits. The life course model of health emphasizes the importance of physical activity during early childhood, particularly structured and unstructured play, for physical and socio-emotional (PSE) development. Deficiencies in these skills can lead to sedentary lifestyles, obesity, poor motor skills, and emotional and social issues. Previous research shows that caregivers and children tend to engage in more indoor play than outdoor activities. However, spending time outdoors, especially in natural settings, offers numerous benefits, including the development of PSE skills. On the contrary, an indoor-centric childhood may result in a disconnection from nature. Preschools typically provide play environments for PSE skill development, which can be categorized as indoor, outdoor, or nature-inspired play spaces. While these categories exist, the similarities and differences in what these play spaces can offer for PSE skills in 5-to 6-year-old children remain unclear. Thus, the research objective is to document the PSE opportunities offered by these play environments. Six-year-olds are in their final preschool year, making a smooth transition to primary school crucial, particularly for low- to middle-income families. The study will recruit participants from anchor operator preschools and KidSTART, a program for families with less-abundant resources. Part 1, children from anchor operator preschools, will participate in a 12-week program involving indoor, outdoor, or nature-inspired play environments. Naturalistic observations, filming, wrist-worn accelerometry data, and the Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD-3) test will assess physical activity and motor competence. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) will evaluate socio-emotional skills, with one follow-up 1-month into primary school. Teachers involved in the program will form part of a focus group to discuss their perceptions of playground environments using a modified ethnographic approach. Part 2, children from families with less-abundant resources, will engage in a 12-session weekend program in nature-inspired play spaces. Similar assessments will be conducted, including TGMD-3, SDQ, and follow-ups. Additionally, a child connectedness to nature questionnaire will measure the child’s affinity for nature. Parents will participate in interviews to gather their perspectives on nature-inspired play environments. In summary, part 1 of the proposed research seeks to examine the impact of different play environments on the PSE development of 5- to 6-year-old children and aims to provide insights for supporting children’s healthy development. Part 2 of the proposed research seeks to examine the impact of nature-inspired play spaces on the physical and social-emotional development of children from families with less-abundant resources. Relevant qualitative and quantitative statistical analysis will be applied to the variables of interest where appropriate. Levels of statistical significance will be accepted at p< .05.
11	Enhancing guiding inquiry-based learning through teacher-chatbot collaboration	Asst Prof Joonhyeong PARK	National Institute of Education (NIE)	ERFP 19/23 PJ	Chatbot technology has expanded beyond commercial and governmental sectors, with recent advances in generative AI encouraging its adoption in educational settings. Although the benefits of using chatbots in education, such as personalised learning and learner behaviour analysis, have been studied, the focus has primarily been on the interactions between learners and chatbots. There is still a lack of understanding of how educators can effectively collaborate with chatbots to create optimal classroom learning environments. By mapping a partnership between teachers and chatbots, this project aims to improve how to guide scientific inquiry, where student-driven activities with more open tasks, can benefit from personalised guidance provided by chatbot technology. The proposed research will be carried out in several stages, including the design, implementation, evaluation and reflection of the chatbot-integrated instructional model for guiding scientific inquiry. The chatbot-integrated packages, including student protocol, will be developed according to the persona design approach which is a systematic method to understand the target users. Teacher guidelines for teaching and planning other inquiry activities will be also formulated to increase its practicality and extensionality. Through iterative feedback loops, continuous improvements will be made to enhance the efficacy of chatbot integration in classrooms. The anticipated results of this project include increased student engagement and motivation, expanded opportunities for student agency and optimised teacher-chatbot collaboration, ultimately leading to more effective guidance in inquiry-based learning. Furthermore, the findings may serve as a foundation for future research on applying chatbots and AI literacy in other educational contexts.
12	The Mental Health and Academic Competence of Singapore Students in High-Achieving Girls’ Schools: A Multi-Informant, Longitudinal Study	Asst Prof Mann Hua Jacqueline LEE	National Institute of Education (NIE)	ERFP 18/23 JLT	The Mental Health and Academic Competence of Singapore Students in High-Achieving Girls’ Schools: A Multi-Informant, Longitudinal Study Asst Prof Mann Hua Jacqueline LEE ERFP 18/23 JLT The pervasive pressure to achieve has been identified by the Ministry of Education (Ministry of Education Singapore, 2021) and the OECD (Davie, 2017) as one of the key drivers of stress influencing youth mental health in Singapore. This is consistent with a growing body of research in Western settings that shows that, despite significant educational – and often financial – advantages, youth who grow up in high-achieving contexts tend to report higher rates of internalizing and externalizing problems compared to national norms, with females being identified as being at greatest risk for such problem behaviors (Luthar et al., 2013; Luthar et al., 2020). These empirical findings have led developmentalists and policy researchers to identify high-achieving schools as one of the top high-risk environments for youth (Geisz & Nakashian, 2018; National Academies of Science Engineering and Medicine, 2019). However, empirical research on this group of “at risk” youth is limited. Most of what we know about how the high-achieving environment impacts youth mental health has focused on individualistic-oriented, Western societies, such as the United States (Luthar et al., 2020). Thus, it is unclear if existing theoretical models can be generalized to collectivistic-oriented, non-Western settings, such as Singapore. The proposed project is a 3-year multi-informant, multi-method longitudinal research study that addresses this gap in the literature by enhancing our understanding of (1) how the socio-contextual factors embedded in the lives of adolescent students in high-achieving girls’ schools contribute to the pressures they experience, (2) whom these pressures impact the most; and (3) how we can optimize the mental health of these students in the Singapore context. Using qualitative and quantitative methodologies, the study will (1) describe the concurrent and longitudinal associations among the problem behaviors, academic competence, and the socio-contextual risks experienced by students attending high-achieving girls’ schools in Singapore; (2) examine the extent to which these associations between socio-contextual risk factors and the students’ problem behaviors are moderated by the students’ individual attributes and the quality of parent-child relationships; (3) explore the extent to which current school policies and programs support the well-being of students and teachers in high-achieving girls’ schools, and how they can be enhanced to optimize the unique mental health and related learning needs of these students. Findings from the proposed project will critically contribute to our theoretical understanding of risk and resilience for this unique group of students, and provide a first step towards translational research that informs the development of interventions, programs, and policies that target the specific socioemotional and educational needs of these students.
13	Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Test Anxiety Survivors’ Education-Revised (TASE-R) Program on Test Anxiety, Perceived Academic Stress, Test-Taking Coping Skills, and Well-Being among Secondary and Junior College (JC) Students in Singapore	Asst Prof Anuradha Salil Kumar DUTT	National Institute of Education (NIE)	ERFP 17/23 DASK	This study will evaluate the effectiveness of a universal classroom-based test anxiety intervention program for secondary and Junior College students. This prevention package known as the Test Anxiety Survivors Education – Revised (TASE-R) program adopts a multimodal approach that combines evidenced based cognitive-behavioral techniques together with study/test-taking skills training and aspects of positive psychology to enhance wellbeing. Program effectiveness outcomes will be extended beyond reduction in levels of test anxiety to include students’ overall psychological wellbeing and test-taking coping skills. Participants will be randomly assigned at the class level (across sec and JC classes) to the experimental or waitlist control group following a quantitative randomized control trials (at cluster level) design to evaluate program effectiveness. Outcomes in terms of this study’s research findings will provide preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of a universal, tier 1 classroom-based prevention program incorporating multimodal approaches in reducing students’ test anxiety and enhancing their overall psychological wellbeing and test-taking coping skills among mixed ability secondary and JC students in the school systems of Singapore.
14	Assessment as learning in writing classrooms supported by technology and AI	Prof Kit Bing Icy LEE	National Institute of Education (NIE)	ERFP 16/23 IL	Classroom assessment and feedback are pivotal for improving student writing achievement. However, traditional classroom writing dominated by summative assessment is not conducive to student learning. To enhance student success, a shift to “assessment as learning” (AaL) is essential. In AaL, students actively manage their learning by setting goals, monitoring, and reflecting on their writing. With the advent of technology and artificial intelligence (AI), these innovative resources offer valuable opportunities for AaL. Yet, teachers need assessment and digital literacy to undertake AaL in technology- and AI-supported writing classrooms. Research on AaL in writing, particularly in technology and AI contexts, is scarce. There is also a lack of understanding of how teachers develop their assessment literacy to implement AaL in writing classrooms supported by technology and AI. To address these critical gaps, this multi-methods study explores teachers’ collaborative professional learning in AaL for technology- and AI-enhanced English writing classrooms. Specifically, it investigates how teachers implement AaL assisted by technology and AI in writing classrooms, and how such AaL practices impact student learning and writing. The study also examines factors that facilitate or hinder teachers’ professional learning and AaL practices in technology- and AI-supported writing classrooms. Notably, these research focuses align with the objectives of the Skills Future for Educators initiative, which prioritizes teachers’ professional development in the realms of assessment literacy and e-pedagogy, as well as with the goals of the EdTech Masterplan 2030, which strives to leverage technology to enhance and tailor student learning. The study comprises three phases. Phase 1 will commence with a teacher survey that ascertains Singapore primary and secondary teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding classroom writing assessment, establishing the context for the study. Phase 2 and Phase 3A will provide teachers with support, in the form of teacher workshops (Phase 2) and school-based professional learning communities (Phase 3A), to equip them with knowledge and skills for implementing AaL in writing classrooms that leverage technology and AI. Data will be collected primarily from teachers’ reflections and focus groups. Phase 3B, which takes place concurrently with Phase 3A, is a multiple case study that takes place in four focal classrooms in two upper primary and two secondary schools, where the focal teachers undertake AaL in technology- and AI-supported writing classrooms. Multiple data will be gathered from both teachers and students, including teacher interviews, classroom observations, stimulated recall interviews, students’ writing, and documents such as assessment rubrics, feedback sheets, and students’ chat histories with AI. The study has both theoretical and pedagogical significance. An emergent theory of AaL for writing grounded in the findings of the study will be proposed, on which pedagogical principles that guide classroom practice supported by technology and AI will be advanced. The study will also provide a highly contextualized picture of how school-based collaborative professional learning can be initiated and developed through teachers’ efforts at assessment innovation in the writing classroom supported by technology and AI. shedding light on the strategies that teachers can use to promote AaL in writing, the factors that support (or hinder) its successful implementation, as well as how AaL may promote student learning and writing for students at primary and secondary level. technology and AI. A long-term impact will be enhanced teacher classroom writing assessment literacy, augmented by technology and AI, alongside improved student learning and writing empowered by the acquisition of digital literacy in AaL-focused classrooms.
15	A Critical and Ethical Framework for Artificial Intelligence in Education	Dr Andrew Joseph Pereira	National Institute of Education (NIE)	ERFP 15/23 PAJ	This research proposes to tackle the phenomenon of Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED). The project seeks to derive a critical and ethical framework to inform teacher professionalism in AIED. Evaluating AIED tools, and interviewing teachers for AIED readiness and working with them to refine the framework correspond to both a baseline exploration and intervention. Given the moral ambiguities involved with AI, the project argues that it is fundamental to consider the ethical and moral dimensions of AIED for safe, practical, and effective deployment in the classroom. Thus, the project seeks to advance human leadership in AIED, as well as to balance AI’s usefulness and concerns. While the proposed framework is envisioned to serve as a guide and ethical compass through the ever-changing landscape of technology and education, the findings are also expected to provide educators with AI pedagogy for enhanced teaching. Syncretized from moral, bioethical, and techno-ethical principles, the framework aims to enculturate AIED educators and researchers with self-awareness, ethics, and decision-making skills to optimize AIED usage in the classroom. Adhering to the safe recommendation of proceeding but not over-pivoting, the framework considers the complementary roles of teachers and AI that guard against inaction whilst harnessing innovation through a proactive set of foundational guidance that situates educators as catalysts in sequencing and orchestrating AI-based teaching and learning. The expected benefits include i) a critical-ethical evaluative framework for AIED that can be used by researchers, educators, and even students, as well as a collating suitable AIED tools for the classroom; ii) a critical understanding of teachers’ readiness for AIED tools.The research design also serves to strengthen the critical-ethical framework after the exploratory and intervention iteration. To investigate the phenomenon of AIED, an appropriate approach lies in observations and case studies based on phenomenology defined as a rigorous descriptive research method to examine phenomena through participants’ perceptions to understand how every day and the inter-subjective world in relation to AIED is constituted (Schwandt, 2000). The critical-ethical AIED project is thus envisioned to accommodate the General Education Research Agenda by strengthening the core of education especially within the futures strand relating to critical problems of policy and practice in AIED. Besides scaling up to multiple centers of AIED research practice, communities of AIED practices are envisioned to form a collective evaluative governance and stewardship structure to maintain human oversight. Reiterating that AI proficiency or expertise does not equate to AI critical literacy, this project is thus an important step in ensuring the AIED is not only optimized for the classroom but is done in a critical and ethical manner.
16	Environmental Sustainability Education in the Singapore school curriculum	Prof Chew Hung CHANG	National Institute of Education (NIE)	ERFP 14/23 CCH	Over the last decade, the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has been promoting Education for Sustainability initiatives to countries at all levels of education, including engaging learners with innovative content and pedagogy around themes of sustainable development (Wals, 2014, UNESCO 2012). The growing interest in sustainability has led to an increase in the movement of sustainability education (Lozano, Lukman, Lozano, Huisingh, & Lambrechts, 2013) around the world. Singapore is no exception. The Ministry of Education (MOE) announced the Eco Stewardship Programme (ESP) in March 2021, consolidated the existing environmental efforts in schools to holistically nurture Eco Stewards for Singapore’s future. This is done through the curriculum, culture, community and campus from primary to pre-university levels. Under the ESP, schools will revamp infrastructure to become more environmental friendly, and leverage on green campus features to enhance teaching and develop a culture of sustainability. In addition, syllabuses have been revised and schools are encouraged to form partnerships with organizations and agencies that promote environmental education and sustainability initiatives. It is important to evaluate the success of the ESP, in particular if the national curriculum is making a difference in the knowledge, skills and dispositions of learners across different tracks of study with respect to environmental sustainability. Such research would be useful in identifying where in the school system learners are developing competencies to become Eco Stewards. The findings would in turn inform policy decisions and guide refinements to address areas for improvement where they may occur. This is because sound environmental science knowledge and skills, as well as positive dispositions towards the environment are necessary, but not sufficient, conditions in the development of an engaged and motivated Eco Steward. While sustainability education covers social, economic and environmental dimensions, this proposed study will focus solely on environmental sustainability to align with the intent of ESP.
17	Teaching Fundamental Movement Skills in Primary School: Technology Enhanced Pedagogy for Improving Throwing in Children	Assoc Prof Pui Wah KONG	National Institute of Education (NIE)	ERFP 13/23 KPW	Background: Fundamental Movement Skills (FMS) is an important component in the Physical Education (PE) curriculum. Unfortunately, deficiency of FMS in children is apparent globally and in Singapore over the years. The lack of appropriate resources in teaching, assessing and training for PE teachers might have negatively impact on the teaching. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop meaningful educational resources to support the teaching and learning of FMS. The use of emerging technology may be a promising solution to enhance pedagogical practices which may, in turn, improve the FMS proficiency in children. Aim and Objectives: The over-arching aim of this project is to examine how the teaching and learning of FMS in primary school children can be improved through technology-enhanced pedagogy. To address this aim, three objectives are proposed. Objective 1: To create evidence-informed educational resources incorporating technology. Objective 2: To develop a movement assessment methods using videos coupled with computer vision and machine learning techniques. Objective 3: To evaluate the effectiveness of using a technology-enhanced pedagogical intervention for enhancing throwing proficiency in children in a primary school setting. Methods: This study, using throwing technique as a focal point, will adopt a quasi-experimental approach to conduct interventions during PE lessons in a primary school. In the experimental group (n = 35), children will be taught how to throw using a technology enhanced pedagogical approach developed by the research team. Children allocated in the control group (n = 35) will learn throwing techniques using conventional teaching methodologies typically employed by PE teachers in Singapore. Before and after the interventions, children’s throwing performance will be assessed using technology-enhanced FMS assessment tool using videos coupled with computer vision and machine learning techniques. To holistically evaluate the impact of the intervention, secondary outcome measures on student-perceived well-being and parent-perceived motor coordination will also be measured via questionnaires. Expected Outcomes and Impact: It is hypothesized that 1) Following a school-based intervention, primary school children will exhibit improvement in throwing performance compared with baseline; and 2) Technology-enhanced pedagogy and assessment tools will induce greater improvement in throwing performance compared with conventional instructional methods typically employed by PE teachers. Findings from this project can contribute to knowledge building and pedagogical advancement for enhancing motor skills acquisition among primary school children.
18	RaDiX: Building flexibility and creativity to support lifelong learning through Physical Education	Asst Prof John KOMAR	National Institute of Education (NIE)	ERFP 12/23 KJ	This research programme intends to validate the benefits (both at the behavioural and at the neural levels) of focusing on the development of motor flexibility and motor creativity through teaching Fundamental Movement Skills (FMS) in Physical Education. Indeed, recent theoretical advancements in motor learning emphasises the functional aspect of movement flexibility and creativity as key to support effective skill learning and skill transfer. An early focus on the development of motor flexibility can lead to the transfer of the learned skills into similar but different situation, it can also enhance adaptability for the learner. On the other hand, motor creativity facilitates the learning of new skills as it can encourage the learner to explore new movement possibilities when being stuck in a rut. Importantly, instead of focusing on the replication of an “ideal” movement pattern or criterion (which is still the commonly accepted view of teaching and learning in FMS), fundamental movement skill education could focus on the development of diverse and creative movement solutions with an emphasis on being divergent rather than convergent (i.e., to explore more than to stick to a few). Therefore, in this research programme, we propose to examine whether flexibility (i.e., the number of movement solutions that a performer can exhibit to perform a task) and creativity (i.e., the presence of original movement solutions exhibited to meet a task goal) should form the baseline of any learning outcome in the teaching of FMS rather than focusing on the form of the movement to be executed. Using Science of Learning as well as advanced data analytics to observe the dynamics of brain networks, the research team aims to : i) to identify movement flexibility and creativity as critical factors for skill learning that can act as anchors for lifelong learning, and ii) to develop individualized intervention to maximize the effect of movement flexibility and creativity to support learning and transfer. If such anchors of learning can be identified, there is a potential to improve the disposition of an individual for skill acquisition across the lifespan, and therefore to better manage and adapt to changes in their life journey (e.g., change of job, loss of individual capacity with aging, injury or illnesses). This is where school Physical Education, as the research context, can play a paramount role in preparing our students to become adaptable individuals in the 21st century through building motor flexibility and creativity.
19	Reading Futures Study: A Longitudinal Cross-Case Comparison of Adolescents’ Print and Digital Reading Practices	Assoc Prof Chin Ee LOH	National Institute of Education (NIE)	ERFP 11/23 LCE	Context: Large-scale changes in the educational context such as the Personal Learning Device (PLD) initiative in Singapore since 2021, the implementation of Full-Subject-Based Banding in all schools by 2024, and the widespread use of machine learning technologies have led to seismic changes in the educational system, with impact on the everyday practices of teaching and learning. Reading is a basic literacy skill for information-gathering, higher-order thinking and independent learning across an individual’s lifetime. Understanding how students learn to read and use reading to learn, whether in print or digitally, is crucial for designing learning environments and curriculum, to support students’ lifelong learning. Furthermore, in light of the role of education as a social leveler, a pressing issue that policymakers, researchers and educators must engage with is: How can schools ensure students’ equitable access to resources and opportunities for the development of their reading proficiencies, vital for 21st century competencies such as critical and ethical thinking and collaborative inquiry? Methods: This study makes use of an innovative mobile ethnography method alongside traditional ethnographic research to capture the just-in-time reading habits and practices of adolescence across print, smartphone, PLD and other devices, both in school and out-of-school across chronological time (from Secondary 1 to Secondary 4). In Phase 1 of the study, a nationwide reading survey will be undertaken to establish the reading habits of adolescents. Replicating earlier studies conducted in 2017 and 2021, 12 schools will be invited to participate in the survey and the follow-up focus group discussions. In Phase 2 of the study, a longitudinal comparative case study of two contrasting schools will allow the team to gather in-depth understanding of adolescents’ use of print and digital resources for reading between Secondary 1 to 4. Mobile ethnography methods and classroom observations will be utilised to gather data about students’ reading in and out-of-school. Broadly, the key research questions for the study are: (1) What are the print and digital reading habits of Singapore adolescents in 2025? (2) How are their reading habits related to their reading proficiency? (3) What are the print-digital reading cultures in two contrasting case study schools (2025-2028)? (4) What are the changing print and digital reading habits and practices of 60 FAS/non-FAS students of varying English language proficiencies between Secondary 1 to 4 (2025-2028)? (5) What implications do their reading habits/ proficiencies have on their reading and other forms of literacy practices? Significance: As a longitudinal study, this study will be unique in the context of Singapore and internationally. Its multimodal ethnographic approach is designed to gather in-depth insights into the developmental aspects of adolescent print and digital reading habits and practices over chronological time in school and out-of-school contexts. The mobile ethnography method offers a novel way of gathering large datasets. The large-scale national survey and classroom observations will complement the mobile ethnography approach by providing broader trends for contextualisation and classroom observations for pedagogical improvements. The study contributes to international research on adolescent print and digital reading habits and practices by providing nuanced and complex understandings of adolescents’ use of and adaptation of print and digital reading resources for leisure, functional purposes and learning across four years. Just-in-time insights generated on an annual basis will inform policy and practice decisions. Findings from the study have implications for other areas such as digital literacies and design of physical and online learning environments.
20	Cultivating Resilience In Everyday Context By Promoting Strength-Focused Mindsets In Secondary Schools.	Asst Prof Hae Yeon LEE	National University of Singapore (NUS)	ERFP 08/23 LYH	Adolescents face numerous stressful events from their everyday learning context, ranging from academic pressures to perform, peer conflicts and rejection, or emotional disturbance arising from multiple layers of demands and personal setbacks. Importantly, these events (that are often perceived to be “stressful”) can be a critical learning opportunity for adolescents to cultivate a sense of resilience and personal strength as an important social-emotional capital. When young students are better equipped with resilience and adaptive mindsets, it can help buffer them against the risk of developing stress-induced mental health symptoms (e.g., depression and anxiety) and psychosocial problems (e.g., social withdrawal, burnout). How can we then effectively support Singaporean adolescents to cultivate a sense of resilience from their everyday lives in order to better equip them to cope with social and academic challenges more adaptively? The present study focuses on understanding adolescents’ day-to-day experiences of stress and resilience, by combining ecologically-valid event sampling methods (EMA) with a randomised active control trial (RCT) of a novel social-emotional intervention program (tentatively titled as “a strength-focused mindset intervention”) with a large, diverse group of secondary school students. First, the present study seeks to capture day-to-day moments of stressful events and perceived resilience in response to the reported adverse stressors using an EMA approach (e.g., daily and evening diary surveys over multiple measurement occasions; Aim 1). This step is crucial to identify developmentally salient sources of stress from their day-to-day experiences that can elicit negative distress and maladaptive self-appraisals to adolescent students. Simultaneously, we seek to understand individual differences in perceiving and cultivating a sense of resilience in the face of socially adverse stress events, by focusing on students’ strength-focused, growth-oriented, challenge-seeking mindsets and related behaviours. Second, the present study seeks to develop and test a novel social-emotional learning program aimed at cultivating resilience by promoting strength-focused appraisals and growth-oriented mindset in response to socially adverse stress events (Aim 2). Drawing on the wise psychological intervention framework and methods (Walton & Crum, 2020; Yeager & Lee, 2020), we will design age-appropriate intervention programme materials that first lay the foundation of a growth-oriented mindset (the belief that people’s traits are malleable and have strong potential for change and improvement; Yeager, Lee, & Jamieson, 2016). Subsequently, the intervention will guide students to appraise socially adverse, stress events through a strength-focused mindset, rather than a deficit-focused mindset by reflecting on the personal strength they have harnessed out of the adverse events. To test the effectiveness of such intervention, the present study seeks to evaluate its short-term effects in terms of (1) enhancing students’ self-reported resilience, (2) resilient academic and social behaviours (e.g., challenge seeking), and (3) more positive, strength-focused self-appraisals. Finally, the present study will further explore whether the strength-focused mindset intervention program can yield stronger enduring treatment effects in subgroups of students who come from resource-deprived, adverse family environments who may benefit more from strength-focused mindsets to navigate their adverse life circumstances more adaptively, as one promising avenue to reduce the gaps across groups of students (Aim 3). In conclusion, the proposed study has the strong potential to strengthen the current strategic missions of the Ministry of Education in promoting resilience and human thriving from everyday learning and socialization contexts, as a crucial pedagogical pillar for the future of learning.
21	Teacher Reflection as Situated Professional Learning	Dr Shu Shing LEE	National Institute of Education (NIE)	ERFP 07/23 LSS	Teaching is a complex endeavour that is situated in an even more complex context, particularly classrooms and schools. Teacher reflection – sometimes seen as a situated form of professional learning allows teachers to learn from experience. As an important part of professional practice, teacher reflection enables teachers to develop agency by requiring them to inquire about their concerns, gather evidence from classrooms, and bridge gaps between theory and practice. Inquiry allows teachers to reflect deeply and understand their professional work as teachers, in terms of the “why”, “what”, and “how” of their practice. Teacher reflection is a critical part of developing reflective practice among Singapore teachers. For pre-service teachers, the Reflective Teacher Model is a critical part of teacher education. For in-service teachers, reflection and inquiry are undergirded in many professional learning initiatives, such as Learning Circles, Singapore Continuum of Quality Teaching for Quality Learning (SCQTL), Skilful Teaching and Enhancing Mentoring (STEM) Programme, professional learning communities, Singapore Teaching Practice (STP), SkillsFuture for Educators (SFEd) and critical inquiry courses. The pervasive nature of teacher reflection can be further encouraged and sustained in schools by getting teachers to take ownership and situating their professional learning. This study builds on the existing Reflective Practice Model used in schools with research findings from a completed Education Research Funding Programme (ERFP) research project, AFR 03/17 TLS – Examining Teachers’ Conceptions and Use of Reflection to Understand Their Practice. The previous project examines teachers’ state of reflective practice over their daily work experiences, over different career phases as well as individual and contextual enablers and barriers of reflective practice. The proposed study is a follow-up to the completed study (AFR 03/17 TLS) and translates findings to inform teacher reflection. The study will be co-developed with teacher mentors and teachers in schools to investigate these research questions: (1) how do teacher mentors (school staff developer and / or heads of department) design, (2) what are teachers’ experiences, and (3) how do contextual and individual factors shape teacher reflection in schools? The co-development process will involve sharing findings from the completed project with teacher mentors and teachers. Researchers work closely with teacher mentors to make sense of the research findings to inform the design of teacher reflection by building on schools’ existing structures and processes. Teacher mentors are encouraged to reflect and inform the design and implementation of teacher reflection. Teachers, working with teacher mentors, will reflect on their classroom experiences and use teacher reflection as a way of professional learning. Teacher mentors and teachers go through cycles of reflecting, dialoguing and refining practice throughout the study. Reflection journals and interviews are used as primary forms of data collection. Findings and outcomes from the study are, namely, (1) a model of teacher reflection in schools, (2) insights of teachers’ experiences, and (3) individual and contextual factors that shape teacher reflection. The study contributes by describing the contextualising and implementation of a situated form of professional learning that stresses teacher reflection and describes the processes, success stories, and challenges that teachers face.
22	A Study on ICT Initiatives for Blended Learning in the New Chinese Mother Tongue Curriculum for Secondary Three Students: Implementation and Effectiveness	Dr Hock Huan GOH	National Institute of Education (NIE)	ERFP 06/23 GHH	Singapore language policy requires all ethnic Chinese students to learn Chinese (CL) as their mother tongue subject at school and become effective bilinguals at their best proficiency. (Ministry of Education, 2021) However, with the shift of the home language towards English in many households, the teaching and learning of CL have faced greater challenges over the years. Many students find it challenging when learning CL due to their lack of foundation, and their less engaged learning experience has diminished their interest in the subject. As such, MOE announced plans to revamp the Chinese curriculum, starting at the primary school level in 2015, followed by the secondary school level in 2021. (Mother Tongue Language Review Committee, 2010) A key highlight of the new CL curriculum for secondary school is the infusion of blended learning with a series of ICT initiatives, including the practise of e-pedagogy by teachers, the use of personal learning devices by students, and the engagement of e-resources (such as electronic textbooks, news databases, etc.) by both teachers and students. (Curriculum Planning and Development Division, 2020) This proposed study aims to review the changes brought about by these ICT initiatives in the new secondary CL curriculum by gathering data on teachers, students, and classroom enactment by using interviews, surveys, and classroom observation, leveraging on the respective instruments developed by the CORE Research Programme of NIE. This study holds significance in supplementing the CORE Research Programme by focusing on students at the Secondary 3 level, which allows comparison with baseline data from the CORE 3 Mother Tongue Project to illustrate the classroom enactment and evaluate the effectiveness of the ICT initiatives set in the new Secondary Chinese syllabus. Upon analysis, this study will conclude the implementation of the ICT initiatives and identify areas for improvement to better implement the ICT initiatives set in the curriculum.
23	AI-Scaffolded Seamless Chinese Character and Vocabulary Learning for Young Learners: The Design and Implementation of ARCHe 2.0	Asst Prof Yun WEN	National Institute of Education (NIE)	ERFP 05/23 WY	This project aims to design and develop an AI-scaffolded seamless Chinese character and vocabulary learning system to promote learning motivation and performance for Singapore local lower primary school students. The motivation for the project is derived from three aspects: 1) The challenges of Chinese character learning for learners whose first language is English, and the critical role of Chinese character and vocabulary learning for beginning learners; (2) the diversity of students’ Chinese language backgrounds in local Chinese language classrooms and the need of personalized support by considering the diversity; (3) the increasing availability and great potential of using AI techniques, particularly generative AI, for promoting language learning. The project is proposed based on ARCHe which is a self-developed system for supporting seamless Chinese character and vocabulary learning developed in the PI’s current project. The findings of the project have acknowledged the effectiveness of seamless Chinese character and vocabulary learning approach for young learners while emphasizing the critical role of parental support. Meanwhile, some areas for improvement have been identified during the implementation of the ARCHe system in classrooms. Given the rapid advancements in AI technologies, particularly generative AI, over the past year, we propose upgrading ARCHe 1.0 to ARCHe 2.0. Though AI features have been embedded in ARCHe 1.0 to provide instant feedback to students’ handwriting, pronunciation as well as automatic sentence scoring, ARCHe 2.0 will achieve a comprehensive upgrade for both AI-enabled pedagogy and effective feedback. The main upgrades will include: (1) updating the system activities to be in line with the new curriculum of Chinese language for primary school; (2) integrating text to image AI to enhance students’ engagement in collaborative learning in classrooms; (3) developing and embedding the ChatGPT fine-turning API to replace the existing third-party language API, to provide more accurate and contextually relevant feedback on student performance. Following a design-based research approach, this three-year project consists of two cycles. During the first cycle, ARCHe 2.0 will be designed and implemented in two local primary schools. Two classes of 2nd-grade primary school students and their teachers from each school participate in the study. One class will serve as the experimental group, using ARCHe 2.0, while the other class will be the control group without using it. The system will then be upgraded with a fine-tuned AI model to provide more accurate and effective feedback to students as they create sentences. In the second cycle of the study, the upgraded ARCHe 2.0 will be implemented in the partner schools for another year. At this stage, 3-4 classes of 2nd-grade primary school students and their teachers from each school will be invited to participate. All the classes involved in the second cycle of the study will use ARCHe 2.0 for system evaluation. The proposed study seeks to provide insights into the future of learning, by emphasizing the development of young learners’ collaborative learning and harnessing technology for language learning. Furthermore, it aligns with national AI strategies by exemplifying the building and testing of AI-augmented pedagogies and educational support. The proposed study will contribute to research literature and educational policy regarding understanding the potential of generative AI in language learning and its implementation in local schools.
24	Enhancing the epistemic power of multimodal explanations by incorporating quantitative data collected by sensor technologies	Asst Prof Joonhyeong PARK	National Institute of Education (NIE)	ERFP 04/23 PJ	Advancements in technologies have allowed the use of sensor technologies that are readily available in items such as smartphones, which contain various sensors that can collect quantitative data. In lower secondary schools, this has allowed the concretisation of abstract concepts such as temperature, mass, volume and length in scientific inquiry. These easy and instant measurements can encourage students to involve numerical representations in their constructions of multimodal explanations, including verbal and visual modes of representation. Students need to develop their ideas conceptually in relation to the mechanism of the observed phenomena (conceptual understanding) and make appropriate links to how they know the mechanism from their observation (epistemic understanding). Considering that arguments with evidence from data have better validity than those consisting only of claims, students’ explanations that involve quantitative data can enhance the epistemic power of their explanations for sensemaking themselves as well as to persuade others. This is because students may face difficulties in capturing phenomena accurately based on their observations with the naked eye. In this regard, this project aims to identify how students develop their ideas and empower their multimodal explanations by collecting quantitative data using sensor technologies and how to facilitate the construction of multimodal explanations by students. The findings of this research will contribute to improving understanding of how to utilize sensor technologies in scientific guided inquiry in the construction of explanations and features of students’ activities which will be designed by the approach.
25	Translating the use of inquiry-based approaches to investigating real-world phenomena using the Internet of Things and Data Science	Dr Yang Teck Kenneth LIM	National Institute of Education (NIE)	ERFP 03/23 LYTK	This project seeks to scale and translate the emerging findings from OER 28/19 LYT Designing for greater authenticity in Geographical Investigations (GI) through local microclimate studies with the Internet of Things (IoT) and open-source environmental sensors to the Natural Sciences and to A-Level curricula. This project was conceptualised because of requests from teachers from schools who have learned about the trajectory of teacher-designed enactments from OER 28/19 LYT and have – of their own accord – envisaged opportunities for such translation in to their respective curricula. Specifically, in 2019, a team from the NIE collaborated with officers from the Ministry of Education (MOE) (one from the Curriculum Planning and Development Division, and another from the Educational Technology Division) to enact a small-scale study through the Ministry’s Senior Specialist Track Research Fund in four secondary schools. This SSTRF study was the basis of OER 28/19 LYT, which – in turn – forms the foundation of the present application. Through OER 28/19 LYT, meshes of sensor networks using the Internet of Things have been up and running in a number of local school campuses; these meshes generate data about each school’s local microclimate, which is being used by teachers in geography lessons. As the datasets have grown over time, the research team has leveraged Data Science to help teachers and students analyse and interpret them. These developments in leveraging Data Science and AI have been carried out in parallel with a Data Science and IoT general elective which the research team has been conducting during each semester at NTU since 2018, to very positive feedback from students. Through this trajectory of growth and scale, OER 28/19 LYT meant that the team was able to host the Professional Development Leave work attachment of a Senior Teacher at a local independent school, who is now among the members of the present applicants. In terms of the GERA problems of policy and practice, our project specifically addresses Area 1: Disciplinary and Integrative STEM Learning Approaches and Area 2: Learning at the Intersection of different Mathematics and Science disciplines. To ensure tight coherence with the preceding: we count as a member of our team a Curriculum Resource Development Officer from the Sciences Branch of the MOE. Through the use of an always-on ‘big data’ infrastructure comprising low-cost, handheld environmental sensors, teachers participating in OER 28/19 LYT have expressed enthusiasm when they see for themselves how their more ‘hands-on’ oriented students respond to engaging in decision-making activities around what have been termed as Problems with Real-World Contexts. Teachers have reported that their students find inquiry-based lessons more authentic when they are able not only to interrogate real-time data from within their everyday local environments (such as the school campus), but also to actually be responsible for the coding of the sensors. In this way, learner agency and ownership of learning has been greatly increased. As they engage in computational thinking, account for anomalies in the data, and take responsibility for trouble-shooting the coding, learning has greater context for this cohort of students, and the initiative is also aligned with Singapore’s strategic thrust of becoming a Smart Nation. The curricular approach has been recognised by UNESCO and was invited to be featured in the organisation’s 2016 publication ‘ICT in education’, and – more recently – in UNESCO’s first online interactive learning webinar, for the benefit of its global network of education stakeholders: ESD-Net 2030, which took place in March 2023.
26	Parent Matters: Exploring Singaporean Parents’ Engagement and Beliefs in Educational Assessments in the Context of Educational Assessment Reform	Dr Qianqian PAN	National Institute of Education (NIE)	ERFP 02/23 PQ	Over the past two decades, the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Singapore has implemented various assessment-related policies to change the long-standing exam-oriented assessment culture. Despite the crucial role of parents in assessment reforms, local empirical studies on their beliefs, understanding and attitudes towards the ongoing assessment reforms are limited. To address this gap, this project will use the parental engagement framework to explore the extent of parental engagement in educational assessment activities and the factors that drive parental engagement in specific assessment activities (e.g. parental beliefs, parental stress, and assessment literacy), and the relationships between these factors and their engagement levels. The project will use a mixed methods approach, collecting data from both parents and teachers to gain a comprehensive understanding of parental involvement in educational assessment. The study will be conducted in two phases. Phase 1 will use a qualitative approach to develop a localised conceptual framework of parental engagement, parental beliefs about educational assessment and parental assessment literacy through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. This phase aims to identify the key factors that drive parental engagement in educational assessment activities and to develop a theoretical framework that reflects the unique context of Singapore. In Phase 2, a quantitative survey study will be conducted to collect baseline data on parental engagement, parental beliefs about educational assessment, and parental stress levels related to their children’s educational assessment. The study will use advanced statistical methods, including latent class analysis and structural equation modelling, to explore the relationships between these potential influencing factors and parental engagement levels. Overall, the mixed methods approach adopted in this project will provide a comprehensive understanding of parental engagement with educational assessment, with Phase 1 developing a theoretical framework and Phase 2 collecting empirical data to test the theoretical framework. The findings from this study will contribute to the academic literature on parental engagement and assessment literacy and provide insights into how the family-school partnership can be strengthened to promote better student learning outcomes. This project is closely linked to the MOE’s ongoing assessment reforms, the OER/NIE’s research agenda to promote assessment for learning,and aims to contribute to the academic literature on parental engagement and assessment literacy. The research findings will also have practical implications for strengthening the family-school partnership to effectively engage parents in educational assessment-related activities and ultimately promote better student learning outcomes.
27	Developing Collective Free Music Improvisation Pedagogy to Engage Diverse Learners in the 21st Century	Dr Hoon Hong NG	National Institute of Education (NIE)	ERFP 01/23 NHH	The aim of this project is to develop collective free music improvisation (CFMI) pedagogy to engage diverse music learners in Singapore music classrooms in ways that may enhance 21st Century Competencies (21st CC). The project is premised on the multi-racial/cultural/social diversities in a typical Singapore school music classroom, where students come from diverse music backgrounds and possess varied musical preferences and competencies. Consequently, music teachers are challenged to manoeuvre within these differences to engage students in the classroom. CFMI pedagogy may address this issue by engaging students who are diverse in aforementioned aspects. This is because it allows them to perform with a diverse hybrid of musical styles and idioms crafted with whatever tools, skills, and experiences they have to communicate and interact with each other, as it is primarily a socio-communicative endeavour (Bailey, 1992; Burnard, 2002; Ng, 2019; Sansom, 2007). Its socio-communicative and collaborative nature affords the development of 21st CC as well. Despite its potential value to music learning, CFMI is little practiced and incorporated in school curriculums in Singapore and beyond, which can be attributed to teachers’ lack of understanding of its methodology and potential outcomes (Hickey, 2015), and a lack of research and texts that provide them practical ways to design and facilitate CFMI lessons. This proposed research project seeks to address these gaps by developing CFMI pedagogical strategies through teacher training and classroom implementation to engage diverse students in music learning in Singapore schools. In the two-phase study, MOE music teacher participants will first learn CFMI skills and pedagogies in a CFMI workshop, and then, based on acquired learnings, create and implement CFMI programmes for their respective school music classes to explore how CFMI may be effectively delivered. The research questions are: 1. How do teachers design and conduct the CFMI programme to engage students and meet the Primary and Lower Secondary Music Syllabus outcomes and the 21st CC? 2. How do students learn to improvise in the CFMI programme designed by the teachers? 3. What are the learnings gained from the CFMI programme from the teachers’ and students’ perspectives? 4. What are the responses of the teachers and students to the CFMI programme? 5. How do teachers’ experiences implementing the CFMI programme inform the professional development needed to support the implementation? The study will adopt the case study method (Stake, 1995) to examine how the teacher participants learn in the CFMI workshop and subsequently implement CFMI programmes in their respective classrooms. Ethnographic research techniques (Hammersley & Atkinson, 2007) will be used in the observations, and constant comparative method of analysis (Creswell, 2007; Glaser, 1965) will be adopted to analyse the data collected. A study into ways to incorporate CFMI in Singapore’s school music programmes by collaborating directly with schools and teachers will have great relevance and value to Singapore’s educational policy and thrust, as the findings could improve music curriculum in the participating schools, build teacher capacities, as well as inform other schools keen to implement CFMI pedagogy to enrich their existing music curriculum.