Caleon, Imelda S.

Towards gaining a better understanding of the field of the Learning Sciences, this research investigates the research trends over 10 years. It also compares the Learning Sciences with the closely related academic fields of Educational Technology and Educational Psychology. A content analysis is performed on 5187 journal articles drawing from 12 top journals from 2003 to 2012. This content analysis was semi-automated and guided by an initial theoretical frame. The results reveal that research trends in the Learning Sciences have remained largely consistent except in the area of individual differences and affect, which has increased over the years. Key strengths of Learning Sciences include research on small group learning, inquiry, problem solving, argumentation, and mixed-methods. As the LS reflects on its state of practice, it should recognize that the field has achieved many research distinctives, yet, there are several opportunities for further research growth.

This three-wave longitudinal study underscores the importance of identifying elements in school settings that can help academically at-risk students--those who are likely to follow a trajectory of low achievement or academic failure-- to develop academic resilience. The study utilised both quantitative (i.e., survey questionnaires and standardised achievement tests) and qualitative (i.e., open-ended questions and semi-structured interviews) approaches, and focused on two subject domains--English Language (EL) and Mathematics (Maths). The participants of the study were 1305 students from 22 schools in Singapore. These students were considered as potentially at-risk academically as their aggregate scores in the Primary School Leaving Examination were lower than the cohort’s mean score. From this pool of students, students facing different levels of academic risk (i.e., low, moderate and high) in EL or Maths were identified on the basis of their school grades and scores in standardised achievement tests at the end Secondary One (S1). Low language or numeracy proficiency on entry to secondary school, which is a critical transition phase in students’ life, was considered as a significant risk factor that can directly predispose students towards continued poor academic performance in later years.
The profiles of the students in the three risk groups were compared in relation to their background characteristics and the focal variables of this study: socio-emotional strengths (i.e., emotional awareness, empathy, goal setting, social competence, and emotional regulation), academic motivation (i.e., amotivation, extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation), perceived relatedness with teachers (i.e., student-to-teacher communication, teacher trust and teacher alienation), and perceived teacher autonomy and competence support. The results of the study suggest that, compared to students facing low academic risk, students facing high academic risk tended to report lower emotional awareness, goal setting and perceived teacher support; and higher amotivation, teacher alienation, and student-to-teacher communication. These variables can be considered as potential foci of interventions that can be implemented before or at the beginning of secondary school in order to preclude students from facing high levels of academic risk or to mitigate the effects of academic risk factors.
This study applied a dual approach in defining academic resilience. Using a trait-based approach, subjective academic resilience was defined as the students’ capacity to effectively handle challenges, adversities, pressures and setbacks in school setting; it was measured using students’ self-ratings on items acting as indicators of trait-based or dispositional form of academic resilience. Using a process- based approach, objective academic resilience was defined as the achievement of positive academic outcomes despite the presence of challenging situations or risk factors (i.e., low achievement on entry to S1). In this study, a positive academic outcome is assessed in Secondary Three (S3): It corresponds to at least a passing grade in EL (or Maths) and/or a score in standardized achievement tests in Reading (or Maths) above the 23rd percentile of the norming population.
Focusing on objective academic resilience, high-risk students who achieved positive academic outcomes in S3 were considered as resilient, and those who remained at a high-risk status were considered as less resilient. Compared to the less resilient students, the resilient students tended to report a greater improvement in goal setting, emotional awareness, and student-to-teacher communication and had a more stable perceived teacher trust over three years. The resilient students tended to have lower amotivation and teacher alienation than their less resilient peers. There were also indications that the resilient students were more competent in setting goals and in working towards their goals; they also tended to frame failure and deal with failure more positively, and to report receiving more competence and relatedness support than their less resilient peers. The key sources of support that helped students deal with academic challenges were mainly peers, followed by family members and teachers.
The results of the study also indicate that student-to-teacher communication and students’ goal-setting ability (particularly, a positive change), perceived teacher competence support, and students’ emotional regulation were the most consistent positive predictors of academic resilience in both objective and subjective forms. The aforementioned factors were found as significant predictors of academic resilience more consistently and strongly in relation to EL than Maths.

The impact of two cryogenics-based enrichment programmes (CBEPs) held in out-of-school setting on the learning of science concepts and attitudes towards science was evaluated using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The findings presented in this study are based on a sample of 531 Primary Five and Six students from six schools in Singapore who had their class enrichment lessons at the Snow City.

In general, students reported large significant learning gains immediately and two-weeks after their CBEP experience. The learning gains in relation to the CBEP involving liquid nitrogen remained stable after around two weeks but those for the participants of the CBEP involving liquid oxygen slightly waned. About 93% of the participants of the former and 88% of the latter reported cognitive test scores above pretest level around two weeks after their respective CBEP experience. Greater learning gains due to participation in either CBEP were recorded for EM1 than for EM2 students. CBEPs did not have any differential impact on the learning gains of boys and girls.

Regardless of gender and stream, CBEPs produced fairly significant improvements in the attitudes towards science of the participants, specifically in relation to enjoyment of science and motivation to pursue science careers; however, no significant change was detected in the participants' perceptions of the social implications of science. Although satistical tests revealed that the retention of the said attitudinal gains did not occur for most if the students who took retention test, 13 to 20% of such students were found with at least a three-point improvement in scores in the given attitude areas. A substantial proportion of the participants shifted from negative or neutral responses to positive responses for at least two items in both enjoyment of science and career preference subscales two weeks after participating in CBEP. The contents of such items point to the possible "ripple effects" of CEBPs in the participants' future activities that could eventually lead to better achievement and more stable attitude change.

Learning gains derived from CBEPs were found to be basically determined by academic ability while attitudinal gains were predominantly influenced by initial attitude towards science. EM1 students have greater propensity to learn more from CBEPs than EM2 students. These who have initially more positively attitude towards science tend to maintain or improve such level of attitude after experiencing CBEPs. Gender did not have any significant in determining the cognitive and affective benefits that students derived from CBEPs.

Additionally , positive association bewteen post-CBEP attitude towards science and learning of cryogenics-related concepts was detected. The causal direction of the association appears to be from attitude towards cognitive: meaning positive attitude leads to greater learning gains and not the other way around.

At least 92% of the subjects liked the CBEPs covered in this study and expressed willingness to attend similar programmes in the future. The students expressed recognition of both entertainment and educational value of the programmes. The CBEPs appeared slightly more appealing for females than males for EM1 than EM2 subjects of the study. The complexity of the topic and the degree of students participation are two factors that are of importance in relation to the likeability of a particular CBEP.

This study served as an appraisal of Snow City's CBEPs, as well as a pioneering work on the evaluation of cryogenics-based programmes. Its results have provided empirical evidence that Snow City can be venue for a novel learning experience that can generate positive cognitive and effective impact on students. The findings of this study have shown that CBEPs can benefit the majority of its participants, at least for upper primary students, regardless of gender and academics ability.

In the past two decades, the field of Machine Learning has not only greatly expanded in terms of the plethora of increasingly powerful modeling frameworks it has provided, but has also birthed the applied fields of Educational Data Mining and Learning Analytics. Learning Analytics has blossomed as an area in the Learning Sciences, promising impact for various stakeholders working at different educational levels, such as Instructional Designers, Students, Instructors, Policymakers and Administrators. This symposium offers a taste of cutting edge work across each of these levels, with a common emphasis on analytics applied to social processes.

Load reduction instruction (LRI) is an instructional approach designed to manage the cognitive load on students as they learn complex learning materials. According to Cognitive Load Theory, complex learning is associated with high cognitive load and when not effectively managed, could impede learning. Inquiry-based learning with hands-on component, where students conduct experiments to find solutions to problems, are known to incur high cognitive load. In this study, we examined the effects on students' educational outcomes when the five key principles of the LRI framework were implemented to reduce the cognitive load of inquiry-based learning with hands-on involvement. Multiple regression analysis was used to compare the educational outcomes of the intervention and control groups. The control group also experienced hands-on inquiry-based learning, but without LRI. Results showed that students in the intervention group had better outcomes, indicating the effectiveness of LRI in managing the high cognitive load of complex instruction.