Lim, Shirley S. L.

This report details the three keys aspects of the project ─ (a) the ideas and motivation of teachers to carry out inquiry, (b) students ideas about science learning in school, and (c) factors that could enhance science teacher professional development to carry out inquiry. In elementary science classrooms, we showed that: (1) while teachers express moderate to strong intention to teach science through inquiry they are constrained by numerous components in their classroom context, including goals of instruction, curriculum integration, learning environment, lesson strategies, student disposition and teacher disposition; (2) students value hands-on and collaborative experiences for learning science, suggesting a pedagogy characterized by clear learning goals and valuing a sense of community among learners; and (3) further training should focus on how to, more than why, teach through inquiry, adopting a paradigm that is responsive to different contexts.

Biology is a difficult and boring subject for many students and university enrollments for the discipline all over the world have not been encouraging for the past decade. One of the main reasons for the poor "image" of biology has always been blamed on the descriptive and jargon-filled nature of the discipline. With the current emphasis on the life sciences in Singapore, there is a dire need to review and develop biology teaching strategies that would facilitate the learning of the discipline as well as improve the attitudes of students to the subject and to themselves.

In this study, some major theories on the improvement of biology teaching are outlined. This is followed by a systematic review of specifically designed teaching strategies such as (1) the word roots system to overcome the terminology syndrome; (2) appropriate use of multimedia; (3) problem based learning (PBL); (4) outdoors and field based laboratories and, assessment strategies.

Results of a survey administered to the author's students showed that students were highly positive about the learning, teaching and assessment strategies implemented in the modules that the author taught (i.e., NAB311 "Invertebrate Zoology", BAB203 "Lower and Higher Animals", NAB319 "Ecology and Biostatistics" and NRE381 "Research Exercise"). Further modifications in the curricula of the various modules to improve the teaching of biology were briefly discussed based on the results of the survey and current literature.

In this paper, we discuss our efforts in curriculum development of an environmental science module that will be conducted in a networked teaching and learning environment, complemented by laboratory sessions and field work. The aim of the curriculum is to promote collaborative and distributed learning of environmental science that emphasizes the acquisition of higher order thinking skills. Some aspects of the curriculum that will be highlighted include the contents of an interactive multimedia teaching system for self-paced learning, and scenario generators that allow the participants to experiment with hypothetical environmental situations.

An oil spill occurred in the Straits of Singapore (one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes) on 25 May 2010. Pre- and post-oil spill population parameters (i.e., abundances, densities, burrow diameters, location of burrows with respect to shore height and size-distribution gradient) of the ghost crab Ocypode ceratophthalmus on two adjacent beaches at East Coast Park, Singapore, were compared to study the extent of impact and subsequent recovery rate. The ghost crab population, which was decimated after the oil spill, rebounded within three months to densities close to those that were observed prior to the oil spill. The lower boundary of the recolonised population in September 2010 and January 2011 shifted upshore by about 0.4 m from that documented in September 2006. The zone that was recolonised was between 2.6 m and 2.8 m above Chart Datum in January 2011, directly above the upper limit of the region contacted by the spilled oil, indicating that the crabs avoided settling in sediments that contained oil residues. No distinct size distribution gradient on the shore was observed in the pre- and postspill populations. This study confirms that the abundance and distribution of O. ceratophthalmus provide reliable, sensitive and effective indications of the conditions of beach habitats.

Three common rocky shore littorinid taxa, i.e. Littoraria spp. (a collective term for L. strigata and L. articulate), Echinolittorina malaccana and E. vidua occupied different tidal heights based on field observations carried out at Tanjung [=Cape] Chek Jawa, Pulau [=Island] Ubin, Singapore in 2002. Littoraria spp. were consistently observed at a lower level on the shore than E. malaccana and E. vidua. Manually translated littorinids returned to their preferred zones in the field, i.e., E. malaccana returned to the region above the MHWS level of 2.7 m while Littoraria spp. remained below the region occupied by E. malaccana. Further, E. malaccana individuals with their shell nodules removed by filing did not occupy a lower zone than intact conspecifies in the field. Although significant temperature differences (TD) were observed between rock and surfaces in the laboratory (TD Littoraria = TD filed E. malaccana

Density and distribution patterns of two species of fiddler crabs, Uca annulipes (H. Milne Edwards, 1837) and U. vocans (Linnacus, 1758) were studied on Palau [=Island] Hantu Besar, Singapore. Twenty-five and 261 m2 quadrats were sampled at the upper and lower shore levels of the lagoonal beach. Sediment samples from each quadrat were analysed for %sand, %mud and %organic content. A two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) of crab density against species and shore level position showed the interaction term. 'Species X Shore level' to be significant (p<0.05), with Uca annulipes being more abundant on the upper shore and U. vocans preferring the lower shore. A General Linear Model for Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was used to further analysed the biotope-related variables (sand, mud and organic content) against crab species and shore level position. This time 'Species X Shore level' interaction was not significant (p>0.05). After this interaction term was removed from the model, only the main factor, 'Species', was significant (p<0.05). Subsequent ANOVAs showed U. annulipes was significantly (p<0.05) associated with sediments containing higher sand content regardless of shore level, and U. vocans was significantly (p<0.05) associated with sediments that had higher mud content. These results provide quantitative data to support and explain qualitative observations that U. annulipes are generally found in sandier habitats than U. vocans.

There are several definitions of Problem Based Learning (PBL). For example, those of the Basudur Simplex Model, Kaufman and Swartz. The common features are: 1) Find and define the problem; 2) Examine facts and possibilities; 3) Consider alternative solutions; 4) Implement the best solution and 5) Problems should be related to the “real world”. However, in the natural sciences and mathematics, one often proceeds from “real world” problems to the conceptualisation of the abstract. Conceptualisation of the abstract is one of the tenets of the natural sciences and mathematics. Perhaps it is required less in the biological sciences, but it is increasingly required in physics and almost entirely in mathematics. The usual definitions of PBL have to be adapted to take into account the fact that conceptualisation of the abstract, rather than solving “real world” problems, is the end-product of many problems in the scientific disciplines. We give examples and counter-examples of the applicability of PBL integrated with information technology in our disciplines.

Biological knowledge for citizenship rests at the nexus of two important concepts -scientific literacy and citizenship education. Scientific literacy, the ability to make sense of and hence decisions related to scientific issues, operates under the broad construct of citizenship. Citizenship education is defined by UNESCO as "educating children, from early childhood, to become clear-thinking and enlightened citizens who participate in decisions concerning society". As society moves further into the 21st century, many of the challenges facing 'sustainable societies' require scientifically literate citizens to participate at multiple societal levels. At the international level, many of the UN Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the world community have a scientific grounding in biology. This suggests that global citizenship education must take cognizance of biological knowledge. Through the theoretical lens of scientific literacy, pressing biological issues of food security, nutrition, biodiversity decline, and climate change are discussed in the chapter, making explicit the importance of biological knowledge for responsible global citizenship. These issues affect citizens at the community and individual levels through decisions linked to matters like food waste, diet, body mass index, and choice of food. Various learning approaches have been used to incorporate these matters into science curricula, such as through real-world learning.

The agamid genus Bronchocela is represented by seven species distributed in the southeastern corner of South Asia, the Sundaland, the Lesser SundaIslands, Sulawesi, Philippines, and the Moluccan islands and northwest New-Guinea east of the Lydekker's Line. The taxonomic status of Bronchocela cristatella, once considered a member of the speciose genus Calotes, is reviewed. Egg shape and the ratio of tail length to snout-vent length are two characters that are useful to delimit the genus Bronchocela from other agamid genera allied to it. Of 10 morphometric variables studied in 32 museum specimens, tail length (TL) and snout-vent length (SVL) were the main variables which accounted for body size and shape variation respectively. No sexual dimorphism for body size and shape was detected. Bronchocela cristatella, like other members in the genus, has the longest tail among arboreal agamids. A diagnosis for the species is proposed.