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Yan, Yaw Kai
- PublicationMetadata onlyContent and pedagogical learning in the preparation and continuing professional development of science teachers in SingaporeOver the years, the emphasis of the Singapore School Science Curriculum has evolved from attainment of subject-specific knowledge to knowledge integration and the development of future-ready learning habits and skills. To help teachers deliver a science curriculum that inspires students to be responsibly curious, creative and innovative, and that develops critical thinkers through problem-solving and inquiry-based learning, a range of courses and programmes are offered to Pre- and In-service science teachers at all levels by the Ministry of Education and the National Institute of Education. This chapter shares the Singapore experience in delivering the Initial Teacher Preparation and In-service Teacher Continual Professional Development programmes, which are central to the effectiveness of the teaching profession in preparing school graduates to serve the needs of the industry, market and community in Singapore.
77 - PublicationMetadata onlyAffordances of purposeful play
According to the Singapore Ministry of Education Kindergarten Curriculum Framework (Ministry of Education, Singapore, Nurturing early learners: a curriculum framework for kindergartens in Singapore. Retrieved on January 15, 2016 from http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/preschool/files/kindergarten-curriculum-framework.pdf, 2012), purposeful play is a pedagogical approach to actively engage children in exploring, developing, and applying knowledge and skills in an enjoyable manner. To achieve this broad objective, lessons have to be purposefully planned by taking into consideration children’s interests and abilities. This chapter describes a group of Singaporean preschool children (aged 6) learning about ways to categorize different types of leaves through purposeful play at the Singapore Botanic Gardens. We discuss the affordances of purposeful play in this naturalistic learning context as illuminated through the teacher-student and student-student social interactions. Through this work, we want to demonstrate how purposeful play, when properly planned and capitalized on, could contribute to children’s science experiential learning and understanding. Preschool teachers may be interested to learn how they can purposefully plan their lessons to create diverse affordances for children. This study also contributes to the early childhood literature, which has limited empirical studies about Singaporean preschool science education.
39 - PublicationOpen AccessCurriculum redesign: Perspectives from two chemistry courses of contrasting nature at the National Institute of Education(1996-11)
; Xu, YanThis paper concerns curriculum redesign for active learning in two chemistry courses at the National Institute of Education. The redesign involves mainly the re-structuring of content to emphasise the essential knowledge. Teaching strategies, learner activities, and instructional media that facilitate student engagement with the course material and encourage the adoption of scientific reasoning and problem-solving approaches are also suggested. In addition, changes in the mode of assessment of the courses that reflect the new foci of the curricula are proposed.109 163 - PublicationOpen AccessCopper (II) complexes of substituted salicylaldehyde dibenzyl semicarbazones: Synthesis, cytotoxicity and interaction with quadruplex DNA(Royal Society of Chemistry, 2009)
;Siti Munira Haidad Ali; ; ;Khong, Kenny Zhi Xiang ;Mahasin Alam Sk ;Lim, Kok Hwa ;Klejevskaja, BeataVilar, RamonA series of substituted salicylaldehyde dibenzyl semicarbazones [RC6H3(OH)CH=NNHCON(CH2Ph)2] and their copper(II) complexes were synthesized and characterized. The chloridocopper(II) complexes of the 4- OH and 5-OH substituted ligands (complexes 9 and 7) show modest affinity and good selectivity (over duplex DNA) for the quadruplex formed from the 22AG human telomeric (HTelo) DNA sequence. Substitution of the chlorido ligands of these two complexes with pyridine yielded derivatives (7-py and 9-py) with increased affinity for HTelo. These derivatives also show good selectivity for HTelo over calf-thymus DNA (170- and 211-fold, respectively). The X-ray crystal structures of 9 and 9-py were determined. Molecular docking studies based on these structures show that the complexes stack on the 5′-end of the HTelo quadruplex, with the hydroxyl group forming a hydrogen bond with a guanine residue. Complexes 7, 9, 7-py and 9-py display significant cytotoxicity against MOLT-4 human leukaemia cells. Interestingly, they have low to negligible cytotoxicity against the non- cancerous IMR-90 human fibroblasts.WOS© Citations 36 352 474 - PublicationOpen AccessDiagnostic appraisal of grade 12 students’ understanding of reaction kineticsThe study explored grade 12 students’ understanding of reaction kinetics, a topic which has not been extensively explored in the chemistry education literature at this level. A 3-tier diagnostic instrument with 11 questions was developed – this format is of very recent origin and has been the subject of only a handful of studies. The findings reveal that reaction kinetics is not an easy topic for the students to understand. A total of 23 alternative conceptions (ACs) as well as some indication of their strengths and other confidence-related measures have been documented for the students (N=137) – most of these ACs have not been reported before. When the overall scores of the students in the diagnostic test are ranked, it was found that there are a number of differences in the ACs held by students in the top and bottom 25 % of the sample. While most of the ACs held by these groups are common to the overall sample, a number of these are not found in the overall sample. The findings further underscore the diagnostic utility of the 3-tier format. Some implications of the findings are discussed.
WOS© Citations 10 236 734 - PublicationOpen AccessSingaporean preschool children learning science through play(2014)
;Goh, Mei Ting ;Ong, Monica Woei Ling; Play has an important role throughout childhood as children learn and develop through engaging in play. The aim of this study was to examine how purposeful play can be used to introduce and facilitate the learning of science ideas and scientific skills in young children in the Singapore context. Science activities were carried out with preschool children aged 5 to 6 through the use of purposeful play, and the video and audio recordings of the science activities were analysed using qualitative coding methods to identify the science learning that took place while engaging in purposeful play. The coded data were written into narratives to illustrate the process and learning outcomes of the science activities conducted using purposeful play. The findings of this study indicate that young children are able to display science process skills and learn science ideas through engaging in purposeful play.177 1431 - PublicationOpen AccessChildren are natural scientists: learning science in early childhood and early primary years(2016)
; ; ;Ong, Monica Woei LingGoh, Mei Ting231 215 - PublicationOpen AccessInvestigating the studying and learning approach of tertiary students in Singapore(1997-11)
;Poh, Sui Hoi ;Mau, Rosalind Y. ;Quek, Khiok Seng ;Cheng, Yuan Shan ;Ng, Yin Kwee187 148