Liu Woon Chia

This study examined the relationships between the approach-avoidance dimension, as well as the mastery-performance dimension of achievement goals, implicit theory of intelligence, and behavioral regulations among engineering students in a polytechnic in the academic domain. Polytechnic students (n = 1359) from Singapore participated in the survey. They were assessed on achievement goal orientations, implicit beliefs, behavioral regulations, values, effort and enjoyment towards their course of study using questionnaires. Cluster analysis was conducted and the results showed that five distinct clusters could differentiate the students in terms of their achievement goals profiles. Follow-up tests between the clusters showed that the five clusters had differing psychological characteristics, and differing values, effort, and enjoyment towards their course of study. Taken together, the present study offers some insights into intraindividual‟s differences in achievement goals and its impact and offers some useful implications for interventions.

In Nov 2002, a research team in the National Institute of Education, NTU, launched a cross-discipline quasi-experimental study on “Positive Social Climate for Enhancing Students’ Math Self-concept”. Its main objective was to find the attributes (variables) in the social climate which are accountable for the increase of self-concept of Secondary Two students in the Math remedial classes in Singapore neighbourhood schools. Phase I of this study ( in 2003) was Instrumentation: validating the scales used in the measurement of treatment effect. H.W. Marsh’s Self-Description Questionnaire (SDQ-II, 1990), and B. Fraser’s “What Is Happening In This Class?” questionnaire (WIHIC) were validated together with the Motivational Orientation scale and Intellectual Achievement Responsibility (IAR) questionnaire. More than 700 Secondary Two students from four neighbourhood schools took part in this validating exercise. Phase II was Intervention`(in 2004): the teachers’ interactions with students, the enhancement of students’ capabilities and confidence. A training workshop for teachers in the experimental groups was conducted before the intervention. Two schools had the experimental groups and another two neighbourhood schools’ samples were held as the control groups of this study. Based on the results in Phase I, only two instruments: SDQII and WIHIC were selected to measure the effect of intervention. The total sample in this phase was close to 1000 Sec 2 students.

Our students today face a knowledge-based economy, which requires the ability to learn independently, to be innovative in using and synthesizing knowledge, and to adapt fast to the changing world. Project Work (PW) is introduced as one of the instructional models for a more student-centered approach of learning in Singapore. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of project work (PW) and study the motivational processes of PW using a self-determination theory (SDT) framework. A total of 435 students from Normal Academic stream (NA) and Normal Technical stream (NT) were recruited from four secondary schools in Singapore. Students‟ perceptions of the values of PW, basic psychological needs, relative autonomy, enjoyment, and grades were measured across three time points. Results showed that students valued the PW experience. However, their enjoyment, needs, and relative autonomy decreased significantly in the 10 to 12 weeks of PW experience. Multiple regression analyses revealed that post-PW enjoyment negatively predicted PW grades, while psychological needs, relative autonomy and pre-PW enjoyment positively predicted post-PW enjoyment. After 6-month PW, post-PW enjoyment emerged as a stronger predictor than grades in predicting the perceived skills learned from PW. The study applies self-determination theory to the PW context and highlights the importance of facilitating the three psychological needs in the PW context to enhance students‟ motivation and achievement in PW.

This study, undertaken in Singapore, investigates aspects of students' motivation in undertaking Project Work (PW), and explores the link between motivation and the quality of students' discourse during group discussions. It uses a Self-Determination framework to answer questions on students' perceived satisfaction ofbasic psychological needs, motivation and performance outcomes. Analysis of students' discourse during PW helped to substantiate survey findings, which showed that the participating students perceived satisfaction in the need for competence and relatedness, but less in autonomy support. Furthermore, many students were extrinsically motivated in PW, appreciating its value but not necessarily finding enjoyment in the process. Students' talk during PW group discussions tended to be of the practical (problem-solving) mode and cumulative (collaborative, non-critical) type. The findings suggest that, in order to enhance motivation and task engagement, students should be encouraged to share knowledge explicitly and to make their thinking visible through discourse.

The present study examined the psychometric properties of the Life Effectiveness Questionnaire - Version H (LEQ-H), an instrument for the assessment of life skills in project work (PW) context with Singaporean students. Specifically, we examined the internal consistency, as well as discriminant and convergent validity of the subscales in LEQ-H. Second, I've tested the proposed measurement model against four other alternative models and confirmed with a second sample. In addition, I've examined the invariance of the measurement tool across gender. A total of 1,264 secondary school students were recruited from nine typical government funded co-educational secondary schools in Singapore. All the subscales had adequate internal consistency but two subscales lacked convergent validity. Five competing models were compared using confirmatory factor analyses. The results provide evidence of a seven first-order measurement model of the LEQ-H. Multi-group analysis demonstrated invariance of the factor forms, factor loadings, factor variances, and factor covariances, error variances and disturbances across gender. In summa!)', the findings affirm that the LEQ-H, with the seven first-order measurement model, can be an appropriate measurement tool to assess the effects of PW on students' life skills such as time management, social competence, achievement motivation, task leadership, emotional control, active initiative and self-confidence.

In Singapore schools, Project Work (PW) is implemented in grades 3 - 5, 7 - 9 and 11. The purpose is to help students develop thinking skills, communication, collaborative learning, self-directed inquiry and life-long learning skills. When PW was first implemented, teachers were provided detailed guidelines and resource packages to help them get started. After that period, teachers were expected to design authentic project tasks independently. They would therefore have to schedule and hold numerous face-toface discussions with their colleagues to discuss the requirement, scope and depth of each project task. This was still manageable if all of them are in the same school. However, with an increasing number of inter-school collaborations, such face-to-face meetings became more difficult to schedule. This is where technology could be deployed to help teachers hold such discussions more effectively. This paper reports how a group of high school teachers from different disciplines and schools used the Knowledge Community (KC) e-learning platform to collaboratively design project tasks for their students. The activities they engaged in and the feedback obtained from focused group discussions will be shared. Suggestions and the feasibility of adopting such an online learning approach for PW in schools will also be discussed.

The 3-year longitudinal study of a single cohort (N = 495, average age 13) in Singapore used cluster analytic approach to identify trajectories of adolescents’ academic self concept and their perceptions of home environment and classroom climate. Four trajectories were identified. They were (1) steeply decreasing, (2) consistently low, (3) moderate and maintaining, and (4) consistently high. Higher-ability stream students were more likely than lower-ability stream students to be in the steeply decreasing group, while adolescents with better Secondary 1 and 2 class positions were more likely to be in the consistently high group. The results suggest that there are unique groups of adolescents in Singapore secondary schools. Some adolescents may have difficulties in adjusting to changes in adolescence; others may have struggled to cope long before they reach adolescence. Some adolescents may face minor ‘hiccups’ during adjustments while others may cope adequately on their own. As such, the notion of a single theory of adolescence may be too simplistic. Presumably, competing or conflicting theories of adolescence such as Hall’s (1904) ‘storm and stress’ theory and Rutter’s (1987) resiliency model may in fact all be relevant, albeit for different subgroups of youth.