This paper is an attempt to capture the affective effects on the Primary Five students as a result of incorporating metalearning strategies in the teaching of Mathematics, Science and Social Studies. The introspection methodology was used whereby the students were interviewed and asked to make confidence, ease-of-learning and feeling-of-knowing judgements on their learning and performance in the three subjects after intervention. Their judgements were then matched with the gains in mean scores of their final over their mid-year examination results to determine students' metalearning experiences in monitoring their learning of academic subjects. Prior to intervention, observations were made of students' problem-solving behaviours to gain insight into students' metalearning functioning. This information subsequently served to guide the choice of appropriate intervention strategies. Results showed clearly that the academically weaker students were deficient in their monitoring system. They had a tendency to overestimate their abilities at performing academic tasks, yet at the same time, lacked the confidence when confronted with problem-solving tasks. It was observed that these students did encounter difficulty in organization, was not able to apportion their time appropriately to different types of problems and they tended to give up easily in the face of failure to solve the problems. After intervention however, the experimental students which included the weaker ones as well appeared to have improved in their confidence judgements and seemed more accurate in their predictions of their own performance at various academic tasks.

The present research attempts to discover the types of metacognitive strategies applied to reading in English by Singaporean students. Previous researchers (Garner & Reis, 1981; Baker & Brown, 1984; Palincsar & Ransom, 1988; Wray, 1994) have demonstrated that skilled readers are more adept at a number of reading strategies, while poor readers have difficulties taking charge of their own cognitive processes while reading. Whether the frequency of their usage of the English language bears effects on their application of metacognitive strategies in the reading of story passages will be revealed. Findings by Wong and Underwood (1996) have verified that Singaporean readers who speak the English language frequently are skilled readers, while those who use English language less frequently are poorer in reading the language. It would therefore be expected that the former group of readers would more actively monitor and have greater control of their reading of story passages in English, as opposed to the latter group of readers. Whether and how their application of metacognitive strategies enhance their reading comprehension would be examined. Instructional implications of metacognitive strategies would be discussed to determine how this may enhance reading comprehension.

Researchers have identified assessment as a very crucial influence on the learning strategies adopted by students. The present study carried out on Secondary 2, Secondary 4, and Junior College 2/Pre-University 3 students shows that the Singapore students did not favour the Surface Approach in their learning of English and Mathematics. The nature of the discipline and the cognitive demands of the examinations carried considerable importance for students in their choice of learning strategies. Despite the heavy emphasis on excelling in examinations, students did not rely solely on surface and achieving strategies to attain their goals.

Teachers are always trying to improve their teaching to enhance students’ learning. Recent studies in brain research provide educators with very useful insight into pupils’ learning. Findings such as the emotional brain, memory space, various types of memories and retrieval processes have implications for classroom practices. This paper discusses such classroom practices.

Musical production is one of the real joys in life, and students can benefit from a variety of activities. The sheer delight of children’s singing and playing, listening to fine music, dancing, playing a musical instrument, and enjoying music as a family is a reward in itself. Whichever role the students are involved in, be it main roles in the production or backstage crew members, the experience offers tremendous benefits - academically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually. The production of a musical provides so many varied activities that every student can be assured of succeeding in at least one – and often more than one, regardless of his or her mental ability. This paper attempts to understand: 1. How students felt about being part of this major production. 2. How it has effected their perception about themselves. 3. Whether the Normal Technical Students are just as reliable.

Based on a research study of multinational companies in some countries, Brown (2003) stated many CEOs are still in a "war for talents" because few people have "employability" - a quality reflecting one’s self-reliance, personal drive and interpersonal skills. According to Kathleen Cotton, there are 3 components in Employability Skills: Basic Skills, Higher Order Thinking Skills and Affective Skills.
When interviewed on the expectations of employers for the fourth public university, they expressed unanimously the need to develop soft skills in the graduates of the fourth university. SEL is currently taught to all students at all levels. Through the 5 components of SEL( Self Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, Relationship Management, Responsible Decision Making) which emphasize on self efficacy, perspective taking, appreciating diversity, respect for others, organization skills, cooperation, team work, problem solving and ethical responsibility, the communication, higher order thinking and affective skills required on employability can be fostered in students with relevant experiential learning.

There is a number of definitions to the term "global citizenship". To the young and trendy, it means international exposure through extensive travelling and having an overseas education. But a philosophical and sociological review of the term in a global and multiracial society like Singapore indicates that matters like knowledge of other cultures, races, religions, economic issues, health issues, unemployment, critical review of information from a wide range of media, justice and integrity should be of concern to a global citizen. Compassion, respect and social responsibility transcend beyond geographical borders, race, language , gender and religious barriers Developing Singaporean students into global citizens may not be easy as many aim single mindedly for good grades, a well-paid job and speedy promotion. Howard Gardner published Five Minds for the Future in 2006. In his book, he stresses that for people to move forward in the 21st Century, they need to have a: 1) Disciplined Mind for lifelong learning; 2) Synthesized Mind to critically select and integrate relevant information; 3) Creative Mind to develop new products and new approaches to problem solving; 4) Respectful Mind to appreciate diversity; and 5) Ethical Mind to ensure integrity and justice. Conscious attempts to develop the Five Minds in students may help to promote global citizenship.

According to Mr. Thaman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Education, in his address at the “ Innovation and Enterprise in our Schools” Workshop on 16 Feb 2004, the core of I&E is about developing intellectual curiosity, a willingness to think originally, a spirit of initiative, a willingness to do something differently and developing strength of character. Hence one of the key elements that underpin innovation and enterprise is getting our young to question as they learn, thus nurturing the spirit of enquiry. But how could teachers develop this spirit of enquiry in young primary children? Over a period from 1969 to 1986, Matthew Lipman developed a programme for primary and secondary students to foster the development of questioning and reasoning skills. Through the use of specially developed thinking stories as triggers, teachers engage students to discuss philosophical issues, such as friendship and beauty embedded in the stories. The students discover the importance of supporting the views they express by means of convincing reasons. They learn to appreciate the difference in perspectives within the same group through discussion. As they share the tasks of discerning problems and discovering meanings, they begin to build a community of inquiry. Lipman called his inquiry programme “Philosophy for Children” or P4C. He strongly recommends the P4C to be offered to all primary students. To promote the spirit of enquiry in young primary children, an intervention study is undertaken in a neighbourhood school. P4C lessons are implemented in two Primary Three classes. The duration of treatment is three semesters. The project classes are tested on their reasoning skills before and after the implementation of P4C. Video tapes on the philosophical lessons show encouraging progress in the development of enquiry and reasoning skills in the young children.

The present study examined the relationships between aspects of individual modernity among Chinese adolescents in Singapore aged fifteen years (N = 250, M = 122, F = 128). The Aspects chosen are those seen by Inkeles (1969), changes that occur in a country's modernization as being required in order to cope with the various need for achievement, efftcient time-management, future-planning and autonomous decision-making. While there is strong interdependence among achievement motivation, future-planning and time-management of both genders, autonomy emerges as a separate dimension.