Ng, Betsy Ling Ling

The 21st century is characterised by an explosion of knowledge as well as time of ambiguity and uncertainty. So, there is an increasing need for workers to be able to learn independently and take charge of their own learning to do well in this knowledge-based economy. Rather than merely focus on student academic achievement; schools must focus on nurturing students so that they are motivated and self-regulated towards learning. This can be achieved to a large extent by promoting an autonomy-supportive learning climate.

In this thesis, the influence of teacher autonomy support on students’ motivation and learning was examined in the academic contexts of Singapore. The subjects were secondary 2 and 3 students (a mean age of 14.7) taking mathematics and science in the local secondary schools. The research was conducted in four studies, primarily with the use of self-reported measures. The measures included the motivated strategies for learning (Pintrich & De Groot, 1990), learning climate (Williams & Deci, 1996), self-regulation (Ryan & Connell, 1989) and needs satisfaction (Deci & Ryan, 2000) questionnaires, as well as enjoyment and effort (McAuley, Duncan, & Tammen, 1989) subscales. Additionally, interview transcripts and academic achievement comprising of students’ grades were included.

The first study was to establish the construct validity of the motivated strategies for learning questionnaire (MSLQ) in the local academic domains (i.e. mathematics and science). Preliminary to the subsequent three studies, the results revealed the parsimony confirmatory factor structure of the revised MSLQ via a congeneric strategy.

The second study was a cross-sectional research, examining the associations of teacher autonomy support, needs satisfaction, relative autonomy and academic achievement with the MSLQ constructs. The findings showed that teacher autonomy support influenced students’ intrinsic value, self-efficacy, test anxiety and learning strategies. Moreover, students seemed to perceive competence as the prevalent need in their learning of mathematics and science. Subsequently, the cluster-analytic results revealed four distinct MSLQ learner profiles in association with psychological needs and motivational regulation, suggesting that motivational-cognitive constructs were significantly associated with psychological variables important for self-determined behaviour and successful learning.

The third study investigated the effects of autonomy-supportive classroom intervention on students’ motivation and learning towards mathematics and science. The findings showed that the intervention had significant effects on students’ perceived autonomy support, self-efficacy, introjected regulation and academic achievement. The importance of teacher autonomy support was further evaluated using person-centred analyses and cluster movement over time. The cluster movement demonstrated the intraindividual changes in motivational beliefs and cognitive strategies across two time points, providing a snapshot of the dynamics in student learning. The cluster-analytic results revealed that students with the most adaptive MSLQ profile displayed the most self-determined behaviours and performed academically well.

Finally, the fourth study was a follow-up to the intervention whereby semi-structured interviews were conducted on students and teachers. Emerging themes including relatedness and expectations from students and teachers corroborated the main findings in Study 3. The qualitative data also provided relevant and practical insights into the classroom intervention, suggesting that teachers should be aware of their instructional behaviours in class as such acts might have ramification on students’ perception, motivation and learning. To sum, the present study demonstrated the importance of teacher autonomy support in fostering students’ intrinsic motivation and nurturing their learning in academic contexts.

In this era of rapid evolution, education in the twenty-first century must strive to develop students to be lifelong learners. Students should possess goals and life-ready competencies for continuous learning during formal, non-formal, and informal education. Within a globalizing world, lifelong learning skills enable students to manage difficulties and challenges. Lifelong learning for K-12 education may shape our students’ values and behavior, as well as build resilience in the face of challenges ahead. To date, educational research related to lifelong learning across varied contexts of K-12 education is still in its infancy. The present paper contributes to the conceptualization of lifelong learning for K-12 education and provides a deeper understanding of future directions for research in this area. It explains various perspectives of lifelong learning and its operationalized definition for the K-12 educational contexts. Subsequently, it proposes a whole school approach to cultivate continuous learning in students and an assessment for lifelong learning. Finally, implications and recommendations for the K-12 education of lifelong learning are also included.

This research study investigated the effects of three differential fertilser treatments on the growth of bermudagrass Tifdwarf (Cynodon dactylon and Cynodon transvaalensis) over a period of ten weeks. Parameters of the study include field capacity, root count, shoot density, hot-water extractable carbon (HWC), microbial DNA concentrations and DNA fragments analysis. They were examined for their usefulness as indicators for soil quality and turf growth. Indicators responding to environmental changes provide invaluable information on the sustainability of a turf. Weekly applications of the organic fertiliser, inorganic fertiliser and Azospirillum biofertiliser (Vital N^TM, Philippines) were given to three individual troughs planted with Tifdwarf. The nitrogen contents in all fertiliser treatments were adjusted to the same level. The effects of the application of organic and inorganic fertilisers were compared and organic treatment notably enhanced the turf density and growth, but not the turf colour. The effects of the application of Azospirillum biofertiliser were compared to the inorganic fertiliser treatment and it was proven that Azospirillum biofertiliser has superior effects on the turf colour, density and growth. These beneficial effects seen were probably due to the nitrogen fixation property of Azospirillum as well as its auxin effect on root growth, thereby increasing the root surface area and uptake of nutrients. HWC is a sensitive measurement for determining impacts of fertilisation and detecting changes in soil organic matter. Organic fertiliser and Azospirillum biofertiliser treatments showed trends of increasing HWC levels. Increased HWC levels would indicate high microbial turnover and high accumulation rate of organic matter. Fluctuations in the microbial DNA concentrations of all treatments revealed the dynamic microbial changes in the soil-plant ecosystem. Microbial shift in soil was greatly influenced by the environmental changes and nutrient resources. The bioavailability of HWC, nutrients, water and other environmental factors impose stress to the ecosystem which can affect the size of microbial pool and diversity, as well as the plant growth. Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of the extracted microbial DNA was amplified as ITS sequence length varies among microbial species. The microbial DNA profiling through fragment analysis of the microbial ITS sequence among these three treatments showed a dynamic microbial community. The DNA profiling method through the use of fragment analysis reveals the diversity pattern in soil microbial communities. This method has the potential to be used for monitoring soil microbial diversity, which can be correlated to plant growth.

This paper aimed to elucidate teachers' perceptions of using autonomy support in Singapore's classrooms. Science and mathematics teachers (N = 10) were gathered for semi-structured interviews after a 10-week autonomy support intervention. Interview transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis with emerging themes pre-conceived from the literature. The qualitative data provides meaningful insights into the teachers' understanding of what autonomy support entails, to which relevant examples of what teachers said and did to be autonomy-supportive were illuminated. The findings present an in-depth description of teachers' experiences of autonomy support, suggesting the interconnected nature of the autonomy-supportive features. Teachers should practice the features of autonomy support in a meaningful and simultaneous manner to support the students effectively. Despite the limitations, the concrete examples of autonomy-supportive practices delineated in this paper can be used as a springboard for teacher education programs and autonomy-support training workshops.

There has been a decrease in the motivation levels of primary school students towards learning their native language. In Singapore, the native language is also known as the Mother Tongue Language (MTL). There is also a need for more research on Experiential Learning in primary schools worldwide and MTL classrooms in Singapore. Using the basic psychological needs of Self-Determination Theory (SDT), namely autonomy, competence, and relatedness, this research explores the potential of experiential learning as an effective pedagogical tool to foster motivation and learning. Using specific study selection and systematic review methods, 11 empirical papers were selected to study the potential of experiential learning strategies in fostering motivation and learning in primary and secondary school students, focusing mainly on primary school students. The experiential learning strategies in the research papers are categorized into game-based learning using ICT (Information and Communications Technology), imaginative activities, media, perspective-taking, and collaborative learning. While experiential learning strategies in schools fulfill lesser relatedness levels, the findings show that experiential learning can foster motivation in MTL classrooms, as experiential learning strategies could support autonomy and competence satisfaction in students.

In this study, we qualitatively explore how teachers perceive the usefulness of teacher autonomy support in fostering student motivation and engagement. Seven science and mathematics teachers from Singapore secondary schools were gathered for semi-structured interviews after implementing teacher autonomy support in their respective classrooms. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the interview data using the concepts pre-conceived from literature. The findings herein suggest that teachers perceived the usefulness of teacher autonomy support on student psychological needs satisfaction, and ultimately motivation and engagement (behavioural, emotional, cognitive). The findings have two implications: (1) teachers internalise the value of autonomy support in student motivation and engagement and (2) teachers perceive each autonomy-supportive strategy in a distinct manner, in terms of its contribution to dimensions of student engagement. It is then recommended for future teacher autonomy support workshop not only to teach the strategies, but also to highlight each strategy’s usefulness in different student and classroom situations.

Teachers’ motivational strategies can be categorised into two types of motivating styles—autonomy-supportive style versus controlling style (Reeve in Educ Psychol 44:159–175, 2009). Several factors can affect the teachers’ use of motivational strategies, and student-related factors are some influential reasons. In this study, we focussed on identifying the student-related reasons that could affect the teachers’ motivating styles through 56 teacher interviews from 17 secondary schools across Singapore. From the teachers’ accounts, we identified “student profiles”, “students’ behaviours”, “students’ engagements”, and “students’ feedback” as the student-related factors that could affect the teachers’ motivating styles. By identifying these factors, we hope to raise awareness amongst the teachers (at the personal level) and their social environments (at the contextual level) on what can facilitate or thwart the expression of autonomy-supportive teaching. We also hope to provide useful information on what the social environments can do to support teachers in autonomy-supportive teaching.