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Teo, Tang Wee
- PublicationEmbargoProfessional growth of STEM teachers: Viewing from Entrepreneurial Frame
This paper examines professional growth of a STEM teacher from the entrepreneurial frame. Using a personal narrative together with a STEM/science lesson package developed by the participant teacher, we unpack a teacher’s professional growth by interpreting her beliefs and actions using characteristics of entrepreneurial thinking. Our analysis and interpretations revealed that risk-taking forms of behaviour manifest as willingness to take calculated risks to make ‘cold’ calls to different organisations to request sharing or learning opportunities. The motivation to succeed stems from a belief that STEM education can improve the lives of students and that all students can learn. Passion for the discipline of STEM and personal beliefs to uplift students propel the teacher to persevere in her professional development despite busy schedules and conflicting demands of school and home. This study and its findings bring a fresh perspective to the idea of teacher agency from an entrepreneurial lens positioning teachers as self-empowered as compared to individuals who depended on the system to provide enablers for professional growth in the teaching profession. While self-empowerment to enact a curriculum is catalytic, teachers’ capacity for change is circumscribed by teachers’ capacity to act and accumulate practical knowledge. These entrepreneurial actions of successful STEM teachers could be used to facilitate teacher reflection on their professional journey. As the narrative approach sought to present an in-depth examination of the relationship between entrepreneurial thinking and teacher professional growth, the generalisability power of the assertions made is limited. The entrepreneurial thinking framework together with narratives from successful teachers enable teachers to locate where they are in their personal professional development and where they can aspire to move towards in their personal goal settings. Future research can examine teachers’ levels of entrepreneurial thinking and compare them against narratives of their professional growth to distil the behaviours that could lead to growth of entrepreneurial thinking. Curriculum leaders can also use the ideas of entrepreneurial thinking for professional growth to counsel and coach their team.
81 14 - PublicationOpen AccessEmbracing inclusivity through pedagogical practices: Case studies from Singapore science lessonsThis paper examines the pedagogical practices in three case studies of elementary science lessons that took place in classrooms or laboratories to make connections to the discourse about inclusivity in science teaching. Using the Singapore Teaching Practice as a reference, we analyzed the pedagogical practices enacted during three lessons where specific intervention strategies were undertaken during the lessons to address the needs of students with dyslexia. Using event-oriented inquiry, nine (including one emergent) pedagogical practices were adapted by the science teachers. The findings also suggested differences in the outcomes from enacting the same pedagogical practices in different teaching situations. This study contributes to the literature by offering a situated definition of ‘pedagogical practices’, a dynamic construct in the existing literature, in the context of inclusive education. Suggestions on ways to adapt the nine pedagogical practices to enhance the reflexivity of teachers in inclusive science teaching are offered.
158 645 - PublicationOpen AccessExamining power, knowledge and power relations in a science research apprenticeshipThe science laboratory is a politically entrenched space where complex power relations interplay while social agents learn about the rules and routines to ensure safety, precision and reproducibility in research work. This paper presents a case study of two Singaporean students undergoing apprenticeship in a 3-year school-based School Scientist Programme. They engaged in an open and authentic science inquiry involving chemical synthesis in the school’s science laboratory under the apprenticeship of an in-house School Scientist who started the programme. The goals of this paper are to offer an alternative—critical and nuanced—lens to the dominant positivist and social constructivist discourse about science research apprenticeship. Using visual ethnography approach, we collected videos and photographs of the students’ and School Scientist’s interactions during the science research over the first 18 months of the programme. The study documented critical events that showed shifts in control over knowledge construction and mastery of the chemical synthesis craft as the science research progressed. This paper contributes to the Foucauldian theory of power in offering an alternative view to the dialectical explanation of power and knowledge. First, it shows that while there is an overall gain in knowledge of chemical synthesis increased during the apprenticeship, the power relationship fluctuates when a different genre of chemical synthesis work was introduced. The fluctuation is related to the overtaking and relinquishing of control (power) with the latter leading to the construction of knowledge. Second, we show how the power relationship, involving the interplay of power and knowledge between the expert and apprentice, is more interconnected and complex. The findings of this study have implications for teachers who want to plan and enact authentic science inquiry with their students.
WOS© Citations 1Scopus© Citations 2 150 178 - PublicationMetadata onlyCentricities of STEM curriculum frameworks: Variations of the S-T-E-M quartetThis commentary is an extension to the integrated S-T-E-M Quartet Instructional Framework that has been used to guide the design, implementation and evaluation of integrated STEM curriculum. In our discussion of the S-T-E-M Quartet, we have argued for the centrality of complex, persistent and extended problems to reflect the authenticity of real-world issues and hence, the need for integrated, as opposed to monodisciplinary, STEM education. Building upon this earlier work, we propose two additional variationsjsolution-centric and user-centric approaches to the provision of integrated STEM curricular experiences to afford more opportunities that address the meta-knowledge and humanistic knowledge developments in 21st century learning. These variations to the S-T-E-M Quartet aims to expand the scope and utility of the framework in creating curriculum experiences for diverse profiles of learners, varied contextual conditions, and broad STEM education goals. Collectively, these three approaches problem-centric, solution-centric, and user-centricjcan afford more holistic outcomes of STEM education.
Scopus© Citations 10 269 - PublicationRestrictedIdentifying types of science practices that are challenging for low progress students in Singapore(2019)
; Yeo, Leck WeeUnited States’ education reform document like the new A Framework for K-12 Science Education discussed a more scientific way of learning – the emphasis of scientific inquiry through Science Practices, which include both specific scientific skills and cognitive processes. Likewise, in Singapore, the importance of Science Practices is reflected as desirable learning outcomes in the secondary (Grade 7 – 11) science syllabuses. With the significance of Science Practices in education, this study serves to identify the challenging types of Science Practices for students, specifically those from the lower secondary (Grade 7 – 8) Normal streams in Singapore. In this research, these students were collectively known as the Low Progress group due to their weaker academic abilities. Three science inference tests with 35 individual items assessing various Science Practices were administered and responses were analysed with Rasch analysis. Thereafter, Science Practices were categorised into higher-order, middle-order and lower-order to reflect the students’ difficulty in applying them. Results showed that students struggled the most with Science Practices that required them to decipher information that were beyond their language abilities. These findings will be useful towards teaching, assessing, curriculum planning and research studies involving the academically weaker students.375 21 - PublicationMetadata onlyTaking the lead in STEM: A case study of a Singapore primary science teacher's attempt at STEM
The implementation of STEM is fraught with challenges for teachers as they struggle in the transformation from being single disciplinary-based teachers to cross-disciplinary trailblazers. Since the 1960s, there have been reports on how teachers find it difficult to cope during times of curriculum reform. The reasons are varied, but the unwanted ‘side-effects’ include teachers being deskilled and feeling dejected about the education system, resulting in high turnover. With the inundation of narratives about the promises of STEM education and how teachers need to adapt and prepare students for the 4th industrial revolution, how do teachers digest the narratives and take on this new challenge? What impact does this new wave of education goals have on primary science teachers who are mostly not trained in the STEM disciplines? This paper reports on a case study of a primary school teacher in Singapore who participated in a larger study and made efforts to introduce integrated STEM to his students. We followed the journey of this teacher who led a team of teachers in his school to learn, then teach, an integrated STEM curriculum that entails coding with humanistic outcomes. The findings illuminated his positive thinking about STEM teaching, the STEM capital he had harnessed to enact the curriculum, and the ways he empowered himself to carry out the curriculum effectively. The findings could offer insights for the enablers of STEM curriculum making even as teacher agency is circumscribed by traditional disciplinary and personal structures.
20 - PublicationEmbargoEpistemic infrastructure in STEM hackathons(Springer, 2025)
; ; 30 9 - PublicationMetadata onlyFormation and influence of epistemic norms in integrated stem problem- solving: A study of Singapore secondary students’ STEM inquiryGuiding students’ STEM problem solving entails dynamic processes driven by changes in real-world contexts. To understand these processes, we aimed to identify the formation and influence of ‘norms’ as shared behaviour patterns desirable in STEM problem-solving. To this end, 10 sessions of STEM lessons for secondary students were carried out, and we collected data comprising lesson observation videos, fieldnotes, interviews, and photographs of students’ artifacts. The data were analysed based on three features of norms: justifiability, sharing, and behaviours. The results report three epistemic norms in STEM problem-solving. First, the norm of ‘defining a real-world problem that is useful and accessible’ was found. While the students searched for useful problems in their everyday lives, they also needed to ensure that these problems were scoped such that they had the capacity to manage them. The second norm was ‘designing creative and concrete prototypes’. Students’ prototypes were expected to be creative in addressing the established problems and to be developed in a concrete manner. The last norm identified was ‘testing and revising in more iterative and feasible ways’. The students tested their models repeatedly in a manner aligning with their skills and the materials provided. Based on the findings, educational implications are discussed in terms of understanding and facilitating STEM problem-solving.
37 - PublicationMetadata onlyChina primary school students’ STEM views, attitudes, self-concept, identity and experiences: A pilot study in Shandong ProvinceThis article reports the survey findings of a pilot study on primary students' views, attitudes, self-concept, identity, and experiences toward STEM education. This survey was held in China Shandong Province. Applying a mixed-method approach, we administered the survey to 332 students and interviewed 8 students to learn about their views about STEM education after the activity. The survey data was analyzed using Rasch on five constructs, namely views, attitudes, self-concept, identity, and experiences in STEM learning. The transcribed interviews were analyzed using emergent coding. The findings showed that students generally responded positively to the five constructs. Students thought that problem-solving was essential, but it was still difficult for them to solve a real-world problem. They agreed that joining STEM activities could enhance their interest in STEM jobs, but they still had less confidence in pursuing a STEM job. The findings provide some insights into a pilot STEM curriculum work in a province and open up possibilities for broadening and deepening knowledge about STEM teaching and learning in China, which is at its nascent stages.
62 - PublicationOpen AccessEnabling classroom change by infusing cogen and coteaching in participatory action researchParticipatory action research is an empowering approach to advance research with participants. This paper describes and discusses the process and outcomes in engaging cogenerative dialogue (cogen) and coteaching in participatory action research (PAR) to support science curriculum change in a Singapore lower track classroom. The intervention was introduced after researching in a science teacher’s two lower tracker classrooms for about 18 months and observing that his lessons were teacher-centered and he experienced difficulty engaging the students. Using the empirical findings to inform teaching practice, the researchers engaged the science teacher and two selected students in two cogen sessions to identify issues with the science lessons. The students suggested solutions which were taken up and used to plan and design revised lessons co-taught by the science teacher and one researcher. This paper describes changes to the teacher’s and researcher’s teaching, learning, and research experiences through the lens of cogen and PAR. Transcripts from one cogen session, one cotaught lesson, one teacher interview, and one researcher’s written reflections were analyzed to distil affordances of PAR that led to changes in the classroom practices, views about science teaching and ways to carry out science research. The study illuminates the potentially transformative role of cogen, when coupled with action research, in Singapore and other classrooms.
Scopus© Citations 4 232 197