In educational reform initiatives worldwide and in Singapore, educators are increasingly encouraged to take ownership of their work through involvement in practitioner inquiry and evaluation efforts to transform teaching and learning. Educators' epistemological beliefs -- their view of knowledge and knowing -- play a critical role as they learn to…

This paper attempts to discuss how the Singapore Education System is shifting towards student-centred designs and pedagogies, yet retaining a unique Singaporean orientation. It complements the McKinsey report by analysing directives and efforts to understand trade-offs, consequences, and insights for moving forward. The paper uses an ecological…

Background: Professional learning communities are increasingly recognized for their significance in building teachers' competencies for educational reform. However, the knowledge development cycle of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) through multiple professional learning communities is not well researched. Purpose: This…

This paper argues for innovation diffusion as a "becoming" process in the context of lateral and vertical moves. The context of these innovations involves technology-mediated innovations and their diffusion trajectories in the Singapore education system. Embedded in a centralized-decentralized dialectics, this paper traces particular…

In this project report, we describe the role that a 1:1 smartphone deployment played in transforming the education of P3 (primary 3/grade 3) students (350+) from a didactic/direction instruction pedagogy to an inquiry pedagogy. Based on the students' test scores--Not only did the students learn the prescribed content, but they also developed 21st…

In this project report, the authors describe the five transformations that a primary school in Singapore underwent as it adopted an inquiry pedagogy and curriculum along with a 1:1 deployment of smartphones. Based on the students' end-of-year test scores, not only did the students learn the prescribed content, but also they developed key 21st…

In a recent vote, members of the EDUCAUSE community selected the "Top Teaching and Learning Challenges" for 2009. The overlap among these challenges testifies to an emerging consensus in the thinking about learning environments in higher education. On the other hand, the fact that they remain "challenges" hints at a larger…

This collaborative inquiry project brought together 14 Chinese Language teachers, 4 researchers and 2 Ministry of Education (MOE) curriculum specialists to co-design the Chinese Language curricula with the integrated use of information and communication technology (ICT). Three qualitative data sources--one-to-one interviews, focus group…

Sociocultural theory is increasingly popular as a paradigm for research in education. A recent member in this family of theories is introduced--cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT)--that shows much promise to complement and invigorate the field of educational change, a large, multi-faceted, and persistent problematic. In particular,…

The importance of thinking skills in Singapore was seen in the launch of the "Thinking Schools, Learning Nation" (TSLN) vision in 1997. This vision aims to develop creative thinking skills, a lifelong passion for learning and nationalistic commitment in the young. In elucidating the concept of "thinking schools" the former…

This volume of the 30th annual proceedings of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education conference presents: plenary panel papers; research forum papers; short oral communication papers; and poster presentation papers from the meeting. Information relating to discussion groups and working sessions is also provided.…