Berinderjeet Kaur

This study, drawing on data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007, examined the influences of self-perceived competence in mathematics and positive affect toward mathematics on mathematics achievement of adolescents in Singapore. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analyses revealed the positive influences of selfperceived competence in mathematics and positive affect toward mathematics on mathematics achievement of adolescents in Singapore. Implications of the findings for policy and practice are discussed.

This study, drawing on data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2011, examined whether mathematics teachers’ perceptions of students’ mathematical competence were related to mathematics achievement, affect toward mathematics, and engagement in mathematics lessons among Grade 8 students in Singapore and Australia. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses revealed that mathematics teachers’ perceptions of their students’ mathematical competence were positively linked to eighth-graders’ mathematics achievement, affect toward mathematics and engagement in mathematics lessons in both Singapore and Australia. Implications of the findings are briefly discussed.

This article is concerning the performance of Singapore students in Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Singapore students' performance on Geometry and Measurement, Estimation and Number Sense show some clear trends. They are: (1) Primary four students outperform primary three students; (2) On most items Singapore students outperform their corresponding International cohort; (3) Girls outperform boys on Geometry but the results are mixed for Measurement, Estimation and Number Sense; and (4) Boys tend to leave questions blank more often than girls. Finally, the analysis of the data also shows that while students perform well in routine situations, they have difficulty using information in non-familiar contexts and making the transition from the enactive mode to the ikonic mode. This implies that there needs to be a focus on activities involving both familiar and non-familiar contexts as well as a specific emphasis on linking enactive and iconic situations.

The primary school mathematics curriculum in Singapore places emphasis on quantitative relationships when students learn the concepts of number and the four operations. The Model Method, an innovation in the teaching and learning of primary school mathematics, was developed by the primary school mathematics project team at the Curriculum Development Institute of Singapore in the 1980s. The method, a tool for representing and visualising relationships, is a key heuristic students' use for solving whole number arithmetic (WNA) word problems. When students make representations, using the Part-Whole and Comparison models, the problem structure emerges and students are able to visualise the relationship between the known and unknown and determine what operation to use and solve the problem. The model method has proved to be effective for making number sense and solving arithmetic word problems in Singapore schools.

There has been a long held perception that the field of mathematics is more appropriate for males than for females. The construct, mathematics as a male domain, has been considered a critical variable in explanations for females' under-representation in the most demanding mathematics subjects offered at school and higher education, and in related careers. The widely used Fennema-Sherman Mathematics attitude scales [MAS] consist of nine subscales including Mathematics as a male domain [MD]. It has recently been argued that the content of some of the MD items is anachronistic and that responses to others can no longer be reliably interpreted. Two versions of a new scale, loosely based on the MD, have been developed and trialed in Australia and Singapore with students in grades 7 to 10. In this paper, we present general findings which indicate changes in perceptions about some aspects of the gendering of mathematics, discuss the similarities and differences in the perceptions of students in the two countries, and the implications of the results obtained for equity in mathematics education . The overall findings contribute an important dimension to the debate in contemporary society on concerns about the educational disadvantage of boys.

In Singapore, three grade eight classes from three schools participated in the LPS. As part of the study 59 students were interviewed during the post lesson video stimulated interview. Drawing on the interview data of students, in particular responses to two of the prompts used for the interviews:
i) What has to happen for you to feel that a lesson was a “good” lesson? ii) What are the important things you should learn in a mathematics lesson?
This paper provides insight into students’ perspectives of pedagogical actions that facilitate the learning of mathematics. The paper also juxtaposes students’ perspectives against the instructional actions of the teachers and explores pedagogical actions of mathematics teachers valued by their students.

In Singapore research and development projects concerning minimizing of investment and maximising of achievement in mathematics education have been mooted and are on-going in two main areas: * computer-based learning (CBL) since 1984 * primary pupil profiling (PPP) since 1991

The most widespread use of graphs is to illustrate the variation of some aspect of a real situation, be it in medical sciences, economic forecasts, environmental studies or elsewhere and numerate adults ought to comprehend such representations and draw inferences from the data represented. Yet many, if not all, approaches to the teaching of graphs in our schools focus mainly on technical issues - for example, algebraic manipulation, point plotting and reading, filling in entries in tables - at the expense of the meaning which is to be conveyed. 160 secondary three girls were each given an exercise to do on the interpretation of graphs of real life situations to assess their ability to communicate the language of graphs. The worksheets used for the study were taken from the teaching package 'The Language of Graphs' produced by the Shell Centre for Mathematical Education at the University of Nottingham, UK. The findings of the study show that many of the subjects are unable to interpret given graphs of real life situations. The implication that pupils are unable to relate the graphical knowledge that they are taught in school for communication purposes calls for re-examination of the approaches adopted in the teaching of graphs in most if not all schools.

Enhancing the Pedagogy of Mathematics Teachers (EPMT) project is a hybrid model of Professional Development (PD) that reflects a gradual shift in the centre of gravity away from the University-based, "supply-side", "off-line" forms of knowledge production conducted by university scholars for teachers towards an emergent school-based, demand-side, on-line, in situ forms of knowledge production conducted by teachers with support from university scholars. The aims of the EPMT project were three fold: to provide teachers with training, to facilitate teachers' work (practice and feedback) at the school level and to enthuse and support teachers to contribute towards the development of fellow teachers. This paper presents one aspect of the project namely, teachers' work at the school level that advanced reasoning and communication in mathematics lessons.