Lee, Yew-Jin

The theoretical framework that informs this study is drawn from the New London Group’s (1996) multiliteracies, which was developed with the goal of preparing students for the diverse nature of literacies in a globalised world. Based on the multiliteracies framework of situated practice, overt instruction, critical framing and transformed practice, a curricular intervention was designed to get students to select and examine an out-of-school media artifact related to physics.

Inquiry science has always been a focus of our research as science educators although over the years, we have slowly expanded our initial understanding of “inquiry as means” towards better appreciating “inquiry as ends.” Our confidence in and respect of this more comprehensive view manifested itself in my [LYJ] teaching when I mounted an undergraduate course based on Ready, Set, SCIENCE! (RSS) (Michaels, Shouse, & Schweingruber, 2008). Summarizing an earlier reference called Taking Science to School (TSTS), these two books spoke about the erroneous fixation on content mastery in much of science education though this is still a favoured priority everywhere. While some degree of memorization of science facts and concepts is inevitable, science as a robust way of knowing the natural world is badly compromised if learning is left as these levels. As well, simply having more hands-on laboratory activities or practical work in the hope of mimicking the work of scientists does not serve the aims of inculcating student interest or higher -order thinking in science: Students might be able to manage procedural scientific knowledge, manipulate physical objects during practical work or be able to control some variables but utterly disappoint with respect to creating, revising or applying abstract scientific ideas, models, or theories.
In all likelihood, any form of inquiry pedagogy can achieve most of the desired endpoints in science education (i.e. the cognitive, epistemic & social) in the hands of a skilful teacher although Design-based Inquiry (DBI) appears most apposite given our adoption of the Microbial fuel Cell (MFC) engineering model. Basically, DBI involves the iterative and problem-solving journey of researching, designing, building, and improvement of objects that pulls along knowledge and application of science—constructing a "successful” artifact is the overarching goal of that activity with just-in-time learning of science as both its condition and byproduct. Its benefits are none other than the entire gamut of doing and learning science authentically and it should come as no surprise to hear that engineering/technological design shares a positive inter-dependence with the development of scientific literacy. Engineering design is the analog of scientific inquiry but whether it be in science or design, success and deep learning is often found, paradoxically, through productive failure—in both disciplines “knowing what is wrong matters as much as knowing what is right”.
The MFC, our vehicle for student inquiry, has been used since 2005 in NIE to teach principles of biochemistry among in-service teachers. In essence, the MFC is a class of fuelcells that employ various microbes and membranes to generate electricity and it shows potential in areas such as the self-powered treatment of wastewater. The biochemical workings of the MFC are not completely known to science thereby offering opportunities to learn science content, process skills, Nature of Science, and other important skills. With this setup that is unfamiliar to most teachers and students, a wide range of scientific variables can be tested to increase the current that can be obtained—the main goal of the inquiry design challenge for students.

Purpose
The purpose of this exploratory study was to develop Global Lesson Study (GLS) defined as an international collaborative lesson study through international exchange of teachers using ICT. Its purpose is to nurture teachers from different countries with intercultural competence to conduct lesson study.

Design/methodology/approach
We developed an initial program for GLS in the subject of mathematics education between elementary school teachers in Japan and Singapore. The qualitative analysis of activities at each stage of the Pilot GLS was conducted from two perspectives: (1) intercultural competence for lesson study and (2) teacher's competency for subject instruction.

Findings
Through GLS, a new lesson was created that was only possible with discussions from teachers from different locations. It was clarified that GLS was not only useful for training teachers with intercultural competence for lesson study but also has led to the improvement of teacher's competency for subject instruction in mathematics.

Originality/value
The GLS is a new attempt in the sense of developing a high-quality lesson study method for creating new lessons as well as improving qualities and abilities of teachers through international exchange.

Purpose The authors aim to determine the effects of Global Lesson Study (GLS) – a two-year, one-cycle program defined as “international cooperative lesson study through international exchange among teachers using ICT” – on intercultural competence for lesson study based on pre- and post-survey conducted for Japanese teachers.

Design/methodology/approach In accordance with the GLS program, mathematics lesson studies on mathematics between Japanese and Singaporean elementary school teachers were conducted over a two-year period. Questionnaire surveys on intercultural competence for lesson study was conducted using 7-point Likert scale and descriptive questions with Japanese teachers (N = 5). Analysis of Wilcoxon's signed rank test and correlation analysis were conducted.

Findings Followings are identified as the effects of GLS for Japanese teachers: (1) Japanese participants felt improvement of their competence in areas of attitude, internal outcomes and outward impact. (2) Participating in a GLS led to the improvement of Japanese teachers' qualities and abilities for subject teaching related to mathematics education. (3) Improvement of intercultural competence for lesson study was related to each other, and GLS led to improvement of these competences. (4) It was meaningful to have a two-year period to assimilate and adjust to independent experience of the host and guest.

Originality/value The GLS led to teacher empowerment among this sample, not only as cooperative research, but also at the individual level of teachers where participants continued to develop lessons based on the GLS learning after study completion. This has important implications for the implementation and dissemination of the GLS.

The purpose of this research project is to study the development of literacy in learning Science from a Vygotskian perspective. The concept of literacy in this research project is theorized by considering the real act of communicating Science. We studied the following research questions. First, what is the role of everyday language in learning scientific language? And how does collaborative communication develop in Science class in the course of developing scientific understanding? Second, how do scientific artefacts interface with (non-) verbal communication and conceptual understanding? Third, what are the forms of literacy that increase the possibility for people to learn Science and experience their Self differently?