Chang, Chew Hung

WebQuest is an approach which uses the Internet as an integral part of teaching any subject at any grade level. Developed by Bernie Dodge at San Diego State University in 1995, it has generated lots of interest. There are now numerous examples of WebQuests available on the World Wide Web. WebQuest has the potential in bringing about more critical thinking and student engagement. This article will (1) explain what WebQuest is all about and explore examples in primary social studies to show its applicability in achieving important instructional goals in social studies teaching and learning, (2) demonstrate how WebQuests were used in a pre-service course for primary social studies teachers at the National Institute of Education, Singapore; and (3) share the responses of pre-service teachers towards the use of WebQuests in learning primary social studies content.

How school geography should be taught has been a longstanding issue for geography educators. In some countries, state or national level curriculum predicates how the subject should be taught in schools. This paper examines these questions in relation to existing frameworks of conceptualizing school geography, such as the International Charter on Geographical Education. School geography in Singapore has evolved from regional geography to thematic geography to systematic geography. A review of the curriculum in 2007 resulted in a distinct form of school geography unprecedented in Singapore’s education history. Today, school geography in Singapore is learnt conceptually with national level assessment designed to that end. To what extent is this evolution in curriculum design in step with changes in our world? In response to the changes in school geography, pre-service and in-service teacher training has also responded by focusing on conceptual learning and inquiry. This paper will explore the state of school geography curricula in Singapore today, and the curriculum of teacher training, with the intent to critically discuss the state of geography education in Singapore. Although geography has remained a disciplinary subject whose place has yet been disputed, the big question of why study geography in the first place needs to be answered to ensure its continued survival. In particular, school geography will be examined for its relevance to a fast changing world. This critique ends by offering a reason to how geography plays an important role in education for sustainable development, and its relevance to Singaporeans or even any citizen of the world.

The statistical relationship between urban canyon height-to-width (H/W) ratios and nocturnal heat island intensities for public housing estates in Singapore has been examined. Although a number of similar studies have been conducted for temperate cities, this is a first attempt at correlating H/W to heat island intensities for a tropical city. Heat island intensities were examined specifically at 22:00 h because a previous study of Singapore's heat island determined that the heat islands were well developed by that time. A total of 17 Housing Development Board (HDB) estates were studied and at least two vehicle traverses were conducted for each estate on nights with a few days of antecedent dry weather conditions. H/W ratios for each estate were tabulated by proportion of building length. The statistical analysis demonstrates that there is a positive relationship between the heat island intensities and the median H/W, such that ΔTu−r(max)=0.952 (median H/W)−0.021, statistically significant at α=0.05 with a p-value of 0.001 and a correlation coefficient of 0.53. Copyright © 1999 Royal Meteorological Society

Climate change is an important theme in the investigation of human–environment interactions in geographic education. This study explored the nature of students’ understanding of concepts and processes related to climate change. Through semi-structured interviews, data was collected from 27 Secondary 3 (Grade 9) students from Singapore. The data was subjected to thematic analysis using Chi and Roscoe's conceptual change framework. The results showed that the students’ base knowledge of climate change is composed of incomplete and incorrect elements built within coherent and structurally sound mental models. Due to the consistency of the models in expanding the logic, albeit erroneous, of explaining the climate change conundrum, it is posited that students are unaware of mistakes inherent in their judgements. Transformation of these mental models through multiple and deliberate refutations should be foremost in a geography teacher's pedagogical approach.