Choy, Doris

This paper reports the preliminary qualitative findings of the first-year phase from a two-year study, in which we aimed to investigate: 1) the preservice teachers' knowledge, attitudes and use of Information Technology (ICT) for classroom teaching and learning, and 2) their learning from reflection upon their use of ICT throughout their two-year initial preparation program. The major first-year findings showed that all the 14 participants demonstrated a gain in ICT knowledge and skills and register positive changes in their beliefs in and attitudes toward using ICT for classroom teaching and learning. Their use of ICT, however, varied greatly from using ICT as a presentation tool to support their instruction to engaging their students in using ICT to work on the authentic tasks. The participants’ reflection reinforced their perceptions of using ICT for classroom teaching and learning. The recommendations for engaging preservice teachers in reflection are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions that student teachers hold of the level of their knowledge and skills in the areas of pedagogy and classroom management. A sample of 596 student teachers completed the survey on their perceptions at the beginning and at the end of their initial teacher preparation programme. The results of the study indicated that student teachers' perceptions of their knowledge and skills in the areas of facilitation, lesson preparation, classroom management, feedback and evaluation increased significantly upon completion of their teacher preparation programme. However, their perceived skill level in the area of care and concern remained unchanged by the end of the programme. The findings also showed that although the student teachers perceived their knowledge and skills at about the same level at the beginning of the programme, they perceived their knowledge level to be significantly higher than their skills level by the end of the programme.

This paper reports a part of a longitudinal study of 170 student teachers who were enrolled in the 2004 intake of the Postgraduate Diploma in Education – Primary (PGDE – Primary) initial teacher preparation (ITP) programme at the National Institute of Education (NIE), Singapore. It examined the changes, if any, in the student teachers' perceptions of their pedagogical knowledge and skills at the beginning and the end of their teacher preparation using a survey which was administered at these two data points. The survey instrument was found to be reliable for assessing these perceptions of knowledge and skills. The findings also indicated that the student teachers' perception of their pedagogical knowledge and skills in facilitating student learning, planning and preparing lessons, assessing students and accommodating student diversity increased significantly by the end of their teacher preparation programme. However, the level of their perceived knowledge in the area of non-teaching responsibilities remained unchanged while their perceived skills in this factor decreased significantly at the end of the programme. Implications of these findings on the PGDE (Primary) ITP programme will be discussed in this paper.

The purpose of the paper is to investigate the development of teachers’ perceptions towards engaging students in self-directed learning (SDL) and collaborative learning (CoL) activities, and with the support of information and communication technology (ICT) in classrooms. More than 4000 teachers’ perceptions towards engaging students in SDL and CoL activities were collected through an online survey from 2010 to 2013. The findings showed an upward trend in their perceptions in SDL, SDL with ICT and CoL with ICT. Further analysis of the 2013 data showed that there were some significant differences across different levels (i.e.: primary, secondary, and junior college levels). These findings suggest professional development areas that could further support teachers in integrating SDL and CoL activities in class.

This study investigated beginning teachers’ self-perceived pedagogical knowledge and skills in engaging and managing their students. More specifically, it discussed the development of positive pedagogic teacher-student relationships across three time points: at the exit of their pre-service program, at the end of the first year of teaching, and at the end of the third year of teaching. Four factors were extracted: (a) student learning; (b) accommodating diversity; (c) classroom management; and (d) showing care and concern. A sample of 358 beginning teachers participated in the study. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) results showed that there were significant increases in all four factors across the three time points. The results are useful in informing teacher education programs as well as teacher induction programs to facilitate support for beginning teachers during their beginning years of teaching.

The purpose of the study is to investigate preservice teachers' perspectives in technology integration in Singapore. The preservice teachers participated in three surveys: 1) before taking the technology course, 2) after completing the course, and 3) after completing the ten-week teaching practicum. The first two questionnaires collected data related to their thoughts of using technology in their future teaching. The third questionnaire asked about their actual integration of technology during their ten-week teaching practicum. Qualitative data was also collected from ten purposefully selected participants to gather more in-depth information about how they planned to integrate technology and how they actually used technology in their teaching practicum. The findings from the quantitative survey data and the qualitative information were consistent and complemented each other. The results of the study provided a better understanding of preservice teachers' thoughts and actual practices in integrating technology into their teaching.

The flipped classroom approach is an instructional approach that incorporates computer-based learning outside of classroom and collaborative learning in the classroom (Bishop & Verleger, 2013). In this approach, teachers prepared resources on specific concepts and content that they would like to teach the students by integrating the use of technology. Students, on the other hand, would be assigned to complete certain tasks such as viewing videos, PowerPoint slide and online assignment via the Learning Management System (LMS) portal before coming to class. In this way, students can learn at their own pace until they are able to grasp the content. Therefore, this research would firstly, find out how schools implemented the flipped classroom. Secondly, this research aims to find out the strengths of the flipped classroom in terms of students’ performance, students’ attitude and teachers’ attitude. Thirdly, this research also aims to find out the challenges of implementing the flipped classroom. For this research, 11 empirical studies that were published in reputable journals from different countries were selected for the meta-analysis.

As technology continues to influence many aspects of our social and work lives, it is important that school experiences equip students the skills and knowledge that will enable them to develop into effective independent, creative, and lifelong learners to cope with the influx of changes. Given that teachers play a key role in the effective use of technology in education, there is a need to ensure that teacher education programs prepare teachers for the effective integration of ICT in the classrooms. We believe that there is a need to adopt a student-centered learning framework to design our ICT based Student-Centred Learning (SCL) curriculum for all pre-service teachers. In this paper, we presents parts of the findings from a curriculum review which evaluated 483 pre-service teachers’ overall satisfaction level towards an ICT based SCL course. We also provide some recommendations to the ICT curriculum based on the results found.

This chapter discusses changes in perspectives about teaching and learning, as well as our state-of-the-art knowledge about ways to optimize learning in the 21st century. Researchers and educators suggested the need to change teaching and learning practices from those that cater to the Industrial Age to those that are aligned with the Knowledge Age. It involves changing roles, such as teachers acting as facilitators and co-learners and students taking more ownership in learning. This chapter will also discuss principles to optimise learning for 21st-century competencies using technologies.