Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
  • Publication
    Open Access
    An investigation of the use of history of science to teach a biological concept
    (2006)
    Toh, Leslie Pee Li
    ;
    The teaching of science, with its emphasis on the understanding of its fundamental concepts and principles, may prevent learners from acquiring a complete picture of how science functions. To complete this picture, there can be better utilization of history of science (HOS) in science instruction as students will have a humanized perspective to science as well as an enhanced understanding of its content and its nature. This is possible as HOS will develop an individual’s understanding in the conceptual, procedural and contextual facets of science. With this pedagogical approach in mind, an investigation, involving 26 junior college level students, was done and this investigation sought to ascertain the impact of using historical elements in the teaching of a biological concept, i.e. the structure of DNA. The following inferences were made from the findings of the investigation. Firstly, HOS neither lowered the interests of the students nor affected them from successful acquisition of the content knowledge. Secondly, HOS led students through the processes of thinking, investigating and drawing conclusions and henceforth, reinforced their understanding about the procedural facet of science. Thirdly, the glimpses into the world of the scientists might provide learners with a more complete picture of the human element of science and these scientists might even serve as role models to these students. In this way, the infusion of HOS into science instruction may prove to be a useful alternative pedagogical approach that one may adopt in science classroom as students will have a more holistic perspective to the understanding of science.
      85  93
  • Publication
    Metadata only
    Applications of artificial intelligence in life sciences
    (University of California Press, 2025)
    Artificial intelligence (AI) encompasses the science and engineering behind creating intelligent machines capable of tasks that typically rely on human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, decision-making, and problem-solving. By analyzing vast amounts of data, identifying patterns, and making predictions that were once impossible, AI has rapidly advanced in recent years. This progress owes much to the availability of extensive data, powerful computing devices, and innovative algorithms. Life sciences explore the study of living organisms and their interactions with the environment. These disciplines seek to unravel the mechanisms of life, enhance human health, and address global challenges such as food security. In this review we investigate the contributions of AI to various domains within life sciences, including drug discovery, genomics, marine biology, and education. Additionally, we address the challenges related to integrating AI into life sciences applications. Furthermore, we reflect on the ethical and social implications of AI deployment, emphasizing the need for responsible and transparent utilization of this powerful technology.
      19
  • Publication
    Open Access
    High school teachers’ conceptions of engineers and engineering
    This paper describes a workshop activity the author has carried out with 80 high school science teachers to enable them to overcome their stereotypical perceptions of engineers and engineering. The activity introduced them to the biographies of prominent women in engineering, and raised their awareness of these female engineers’ contributions to engineering and society. The results showed that the activity was effective in dispelling the participants’ perceptions of engineers as men. For example, the percentage of participants who depicted engineers as men decreased from 96.3% before the intervention to 48.8% after the intervention (p < 0.01). The results also showed that the activity was effective in countering the participants’ perceptions of the nature of engineering jobs. For example, the percentage of participants who portrayed engineers engaged in building or repairing decreased from 70.0% before the intervention to 3.8% after the intervention (p < 0.01). The female engineers featured in this activity cited the role of their parents or teachers in encouraging their pursuit of an engineering career. They held senior positions in academia, government or industry. They acknowledged that they had encouraged difficulties at their workplaces but they also mentioned progress made towards acceptance and equality.
      105  253
  • Publication
    Metadata only
    An instant update on stem cell therapy
    (University of California Press, 2025)
    Stem cell therapy, a cutting-edge technology, aims to replace damaged cells with healthy ones. Stem cells possess the remarkable ability to multiply and differentiate into various cell types, making them ideal candidates for regenerative medicine. This therapy holds promise for treating a wide range of conditions and injuries. In this review, I will delve into the historical context of stem cell research and therapy, provide updates on clinical trials for different conditions, address the challenges faced in stem cell therapy, and explore strategies to overcome these obstacles. Additionally, I will discuss the ethical and legal implications associated with stem cell therapy. A lesson plan for teaching the challenges and ethical issues of stem cell therapy is found at the end of the review.
      18
  • Publication
    Open Access
    The first three decades of gene therapy: An instant update
    (University of California Press, 2023)
    Gene therapy has fascinated clinicians, scientists, and patients since decades ago because of its potential to treat a disease at the genetic level. This can be achieved in many ways, including replacing a disease-causing gene with a healthy copy. Gene therapy must overcome complex tissue and cellular barriers to introduce genetic modifications into the nucleus of the target cells to drive a high level of gene expression. Moreover, the genetically corrected cells must be present in significantly large numbers in the body to reverse the diseased condition and yet able to escape immunological recognition and survive in the long term to sustain the benefit. This paper reviews the early work as well as recent developments in gene therapy, including improvements to viral vectors and novel treatment strategies, diseases targeted, approved gene therapies, and current challenges and prospects for future progress.
    WOS© Citations 1Scopus© Citations 1  71  5
  • Publication
    Open Access
    Using knowledge building technology in promoting SDL/Col in the teaching of science
    (2014)
    Lim, Lang Ing
    ;
    The study investigated the effects of using students' ideas on self-directed learning (SOL) and collaborative learning (CoL). Since the announcement by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in 2009 of a new framework to achieve the desired outcomes of education for 21st century learners, schools have made concerted effort to align their teaching and learning to the new initiative. The intervention used in this study was based on the two principles of Knowledge Building (KB); 1) Diversity of Ideas and 2) Improvable Ideas, proposed by Scardamalia (2002). Students' ideas formed the basis for student interaction. The ideas generated by students were captured using an ICT tool, Knowledge Forum (KF). Three cycles of KB lessons were carried out with a primary 5 class of mixed-abilities students. The results showed that my classroom practice in using KB as an approach to teaching Science enhanced students' engagement, and increased their motivation to learn. The use of KF promoted self-directed learning and collaboration among students. Analysis of two science topics, 'Heart Organ' and 'Human Reproductive System', showed that the number of notes posted by students on the KF platform increased from 44 to 216, network density on reading (these notes) increased from 8.53% to 45.97% and network density on building onto others' notes increased from 1.99o/o to 12.07o/o. Experimental class' academic performance improved more compared to control class from CA 1 (Term) to SA 1 (Term 2) to CA2 (Term 3) with standard mean deviation increasing from 0.09 to 0.45 to 0.55.
      227  303
  • Publication
    Metadata only
    Informal science education in Singapore
    (Springer, 2021)
    Subramaniam, R. (Ramanathan)
    ;
    Informal science education has become a key area of emphasis for providing students with learning experiences that complement or extend what is covered in the science classroom as well as in enthusing them about science in general. In Singapore, informal science education is recognized by schools to be an important aspect of enhancing especially the affective dimension of the learning process. A range of informal science destinations in Singapore are available to cater to the educational needs of students – for example, science center, zoo, bird park, natural history museum, and botanic gardens. Others include destinations where science and technology are used to come up with products for the marketplace – for example, semiconductor industries, soft drinks factories, etc. The wide availability of such destinations for informal science education within the small city-state is one reason why schools have been able to leverage on a diversity of such platforms to organize field trips for their students. This chapter explores the informal science education scene in Singapore. Some points of interest emerging from the establishment of key destinations for informal science learning are also presented.
      63
  • Publication
    Open Access
    Dispelling the stereotypical myths of a scientist through an integrated literature approach
    (2009)
    Yam, Francis Jude
    ;
    It has been seen that few young people are interested in Science. In fact, very few actually pursue science as a career and from this pool; boys are usually more likely to take the science route as compared to girls (Lee, 1998). In addition, comments about Scientists and the nature of their work show narrow-minded perceptions. In a survey commissioned by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, it has been found that college and high school students share a common preconceived stereotype of scientists. The typical stereotype is mostly a queer, eccentric male (with “mad scientists” looks and “Einstein hairdos”) wearing a white coat. Consequently, students having negative images of scientists can discourage them from pursuing careers in the sciences (Gardner, 1986; Mason, 1986). Hence, an authentic and engaging worldview of scientists is critical for motivating students‟ interests toward pursuing careers in science, mathematics, and engineering where there is a critical shortage of trained professionals (Jones and Bangert, 2006). Over the last 10 years, numerous articles on strategies that can be used to help dispel the various misconceptions that children in particular have about Scientists have been published. These include highlighting the achievements of women in Science with special mention of the various female Nobel Prize winners (Hoh and Boo, 2003), Scientists-Student partnerships (Flick, 1990; Kesselheim, 1998) and the use of literature (Melber, 2003). In particular, the use of literature about Scientists for children seems to be a rather unique way to introduce Science to children (Melber, 2003). In this paper, the “Draw a Scientist-Checklist (DAST-C)” (Chambers, 1983) was used to elicit children‟s perceptions of Scientists. A literature programme was then used as an intervention to help dispel the various myths of Scientists. These literature sources included autobiographies, information texts and Internet websites.
      204  292
  • Publication
    Open Access
    A comparison of trained and untrained science teachers' views about certain aspects of the nature of science
    (2006)
    Boo, Hong Kwen
    ;
    This tutorial-style paper aims to give a quick beginner’s introduction to the theory of continuous valuations – a domain-theoretic variant of measure theory tailored for topological spaces and ordered structures. Central to the theory of continuous valuations is the famous theorem of Claire Jones that asserts that the probabilistic powerdomain (i.e., the space of continuous valuations arising from the Scott topology of domains) ordered by the stochastic ordering is again a domain. Most existing proofs of Jones’ theorem are fairly technical and involved, and thus this paper aims to present an intuitive and self-contained proof that allows reader quick access to it with minimum mathematical overhead. Sifting through all the concepts and theorems leading up to Jones’ theorem, we make a judicious choice of a core essence – constituting those results that are featured prominently in the theory of continuous valuations – and expound on their proofs, focusing on the key techniques and reasoning methods while contracting on, or even omitting, other peripheral or burdensome intricacies.
      125  123