Master of Arts (Social Studies)

Since Social Studies (SS) was implemented as part of the Combined Humanities subject at the Upper Secondary level in 2001, it has generated much debate among educators and policy makers. One key issue that is still concerning educators is the way SS is being taught and learnt in classrooms. Classroom instructions crafted by SS teachers are crucial to students’ learning. Moreover, effective teaching and learning of SS can only take place with well-crafted SS classroom tasks.

This research seeks to examine and compare students’ perception towards direct instructional and inquiry tasks. Initially, the SS teacher used direct classroom teaching and students were then tested with structured-essay questions. Subsequently, the SS teacher switched to an inquiry approach and students were tasked to complete an inquiry task instead as a way to learn about the content of the topic. The SS teacher facilitated the learning by structuring the tasks. Students worked in groups and they were given time to research and prepare their presentations. They were then assessed based on their presentation and research materials. Finally, the students completed a survey, which reflected their perception of both classroom tasks.

The classroom study has been set up within a local neighbourhood secondary school with 97 Secondary Three students. This survey investigated students’ perception in learning SS and how this perception affected students’ motivation and academic performances. The survey results examined the correlation between students’ perception towards both classroom tasks and how the extent of their perception impacted their motivational level in learning SS.

This research also analyzed SS teachers’ perception of classroom instruction, the SS curriculum, as well as assessment. This is important as teachers are instrumental in executing the entire SS curriculum within classrooms. 20 SS teachers participated in the survey to investigate teachers’ perception of teaching SS based on their personal experiences.

The analysis tools used for this research are descriptive statistics and correlation. Survey responses from SS teachers and students were analyzed with mean scores and skewness.

This paper examines students’ preferences on two different types of classroom tasks and how each classroom instruction task affected students’ self-efficacy and performance mastery in content knowledge and skills, as this would in turn reflect their level of motivation in learning SS.

One major finding from this research revealed that students were not confident in undertaking inquiry tasks due to their low performance mastery which consequently affected students’ motivation in learning SS. Students are extrinsically motivated to work on directed instructional task that are associated with their expectations to do well in examinations. Another major finding is, although the SS teachers are aware of the benefits of teaching SS using inquiry tasks, they faced the constraints of limited curriculum time and assessment. Therefore, direct instruction tasks were most frequently adopted. It was interesting to note the contrasting perceptions between students and SS teachers towards both instructional tasks. While students do not like to do inquiry tasks and feel that it is not helpful in the examinations, SS teachers would like students to be engaged in inquiry tasks as they feel that it is helpful for students to develop critical thinking skills.

Based on the findings, this research highlights the importance of scaffolding when designing inquiry tasks. It is important for curriculum specialists and SS teachers to take note of the difference in perception between students and SS teachers and take proactive steps in closing this gap as this will contribute towards the success of SS education in the long run. With the findings of students’ perception towards both classroom tasks, SS educators will be able to enhance students’ performance mastery when designing tasks by targeting what students perceive to be useful in achieving self-efficacy and high performance mastery, thus motivating them in learning SS.

The internet offers many opportunities for the youth of today to seek information, interact, and create content. These online opportunities or online spaces hence present much potential for youth civic engagement and empowerment which citizenship educators should tap upon.

Many studies have been conducted in the United States and the United Kingdom on youth online civic engagement and the use of online spaces. However, relatively fewer studies have been conducted for the Singapore context. This study focusing on the perspectives of 14- to 15-year old youths of different academic abilities and academic tracks from three secondary schools in Singapore aimed to address this gap.

This study aimed to examine youth perceptions towards online spaces, including websites designed for civic engagement, in particular three local civic online spaces: (1) media-related STOMP, (2) state-initiated Youth.Sg and (3) youth-initiated The Kent Ridge Common.

The findings of this study revealed that social networking was the most popular online activity due to its ability to build extensive relationships and deepen interaction with friends. Next in popularity was the watching of online videos which suggested that it had become the new television for youths due to its accessibility and variety.

Although popular, these online activities should be seen as platforms to host youth interests instead of actual youth interests. It is also interesting to note that youth interests are diverse and it is not always possible to stereotype them as one generic group. In terms of Singapore youth perceptions towards online spaces designed for civic engagement, more than half were not interested in news, current affairs, politics and the government. This mirrored findings from similar studies in the United States and the United Kingdom. This disinterest was largely due to the youth perception that these issues were irrelevant and meant only for adults. Youth responses towards the three civic online spaces revealed common elements required if the online space is to be a success. Of the three, STOMP was the most popular due to its coverage of everyday life in Singapore with many articles contributed by the local readers. Youth.Sg was unappealing due to its limited and uninteresting topics and under-populated forums. The Kent Ridge Common was the least popular as the language and topics covered were perceived to be too difficult for comprehension. When comparing youths across academic abilities, it was observed that the higher ability Integrated Programme track reported the highest online usage levels, internet literacy, interest towards news and civic matters and language command. Youths from the Express and Normal Academic tracks tended to lie in between the Integrated Programme and Normal Technical tracks in all aspects except interest towards news and civic matters. In terms of gender differences, it was noted that boys and girls posted different reactions to the use of racy images in civic sites and that boys appeared more inclined towards political issues while the girls towards civil issues.

Based on my findings, I have provided a set of recommendations on the use of online spaces for citizenship education.

National Education (NE) is citizenship education in Singapore. NE emphasises responsibilities and duties of her citizens. What students perceive as the responsibilities of citizens is therefore of utmost importance. In addition, due to the unique multi-ethnic multi-religious nature of the society, national identity and social cohesion are also important components of NE. The study investigated the perceptions and attitudes of students towards the three components.

Literature on NE and Social Studies (SS - a subject designed to teach NE), is abundant but there has been few studies of such from the perspective of students. It is pertinent that students' perceptions and attitudes towards the three components be considered to find out whether the implementation of NE has achieved its intended outcomes on the whole and whether the teaching of SS has achieved its aims.

The study also attempted to find out perceived reasons behind how students identify themselves, how they interact with members of other ethnic groups, and what they perceived as the responsibilities of citizens. Their perceptions and attitudes will determine how they are going to contribute to Singapore.

This study used a survey research. 169 Secondary Four Express students in my school were requested to answer questions of a survey questionnaire. Complementing the survey was telephone interviews of seven students. They answered questions of an interview schedule.

The main findings of the study are:
A large proportion of students did identify with Singapore but not because of a shared sense of nationhood. The students derived their attachment to Singapore in terms of what the country could offer such as good leaders, good policies, security, services and facilities.
A large proportion of students accept people of other ethnic and religious groups as schoolmates, workmates and neighbours. As for a closer knit level of family relations by marriage, fewer would accept people of other ethnic or religious groups.
The students' general attitude towards citizenship is positive but the perception of their responsibilities as citizens is narrowly confined to a ‘personally responsible‘ level. The small scale and exploratory nature of the research cannot claim to be representative in any way. However, the insights revealed are significant in three areas.
The interview data reveal the students' perceptions: there is fear of competition from foreign talents and a challenging future. The finding about students wanting to live overseas is alarming as this may lead to a drain on our manpower resource.
Recommendations for better social cohesion have been centred on providing opportunities for students' interaction. This research revealed that a common group goal can possibly become the leverage point for creating deeper understanding among the different ethnic groups.
Supporting what a researcher has found about the narrow conception of citizenship, this research suggests a future worrying situation of passive Singaporeans because Singapore’s future depends on what the younger generation is able to actively contribute to the country.

In this age of globalization, the media being highly accessible plays an important role in shaping perceptions and internalizing beliefs. Chief among the tools of media is the motion picture. Any discussion of motion pictures is invariably tied to Hollywood, the world’s largest film production line. Far from being just a form of entertainment, the motion picture is often linked to a view of the world that generates ideological inclinations. It carries with it embedded messages and perpetuates certain beliefs.

Indeed Hollywood has long understood the power of the motion picture to convey, convert and hence influence the minds of people. However far from being an individual institution, Hollywood creates and acts not on its own. In fact it is very much an active agent in the perpetuation of American hegemony.

It is the intention of this thesis to outline the power of Hollywood in this active process of perpetuating and justifying America’s hegemonic role on the global stage; how Hollywood productions tend to echo and convey ideas relevant to America’s role in the world, and how it shapes its productions according to the climate of the day.

To quote Tony Kashani, The classic war film rationalizes the necessity of war, the postmodern revisionist film questions war, and the 21st century version manufactures a sense of patriotism…Hollywood war film is but another tool to use for what Noam Chomsky calls “manufacturing consent" and to contextualize a new false consciousness as it helps the world’s only military superpower with its corporate godfathers.¹

Very often, Hollywood’s productions provide a means of justification of American’s role. The war film, for example stirs the audience with emotive scenes that didactically indoctrinates the audience with various implicit messages. Through careful manipulation and lensing, Hollywood shows us their killing, no matter how barbaric, is necessary in order to uphold American version of freedom and democracy in the world. As in the words of Kashani, Whether it's Rambo of Reaganism, or Black Hawk Down of the neoconservative era, Hollywood is an instrumental piece of the apparatus that is fixed on global domination and, in Nixonian spirit, looking to seize the moment²

It is the main aim of this thesis to prove that Hollywood is very much a central part of this superstructure in delivering and perpetuating myths of American supremacy.

¹ Tony Kashani, Hollywood An Agent of Hegemony : The War Film. Source : http://dissidentvoice.org/Aug04/Kashani0807.htm ² Ibid.

For the government to nurture informed and responsible citizens, the process begins in the individual’s early years and more so in schools where teachers are the main medium of instruction. The Social Studies syllabus is one in which nation-building initiatives could be incorporated easily. Yet, for the nurturing process to be successful, its recipients must take interest before they can effectively receive the knowledge to act on them. The problem, however, lies in the disengagement of pupils in class which could cyclically bring about negative experiences and which further distances them from the government’s expectations.

This study aims to analyse the correlation between Secondary One Normal Technical pupils’ learning experiences in both Primary and Secondary School Social Studies lessons and their past and current attitude towards the subject, in order to understand how the expectations of both learners and educators can be met. Hence, information on what contributes to a positive learning experience, such as the use of Information Technology (IT) and other educational resources, is gathered through the pupils’ feedback.

The following are the research questions to the study:

1. Does positive learning experiences improve Secondary One Normal Technical pupils’ attitude towards Social Studies?
2. Do pupils find Social Studies relevant in their lives?
3. Does the use of educational games and IT resources increase pupils’ interest in Social Studies?

The understanding of the young learners’ attitude towards Social Studies is pertinent as it is a key variable which may impede or facilitate the pupils’ future learning experiences and also determine whether the expectations of government, as stated in the Ministry of Education’s Desired Outcomes of Education for school graduates listing, can realistically be met. Findings from this study would give educators an insight into the mentality of a knowledge-based IT-age pupil and how they can create positive learning experiences to nurture and engage learners in their classes. Curriculum planners and teachers would find this study relevant when developing pedagogies.