Tan, Oon Seng

The advent of the knowledge-based economy calls for new paradigms in education. There has increasingly been a search for educational methodologies that emphasise areas such as real world challenges, higher-order thinking skills, multi-disciplinary learning, independent learning and entrepreneurship. According to Feuerstein these challenges relate primarily to the ability to adapt and confront change. How can educational psychology and cognitive theories contribute to these endeavours?

Problem-based learning (PBL) is an inquiry-based approach to learning that requires students to be engaged with a real-world problem. PBL is underpinned by constructivist learning principles whereby learners will be intrinsically motivated as they are challenged and given autonomy to direct their own learning. In the COVID-19 pandemic teaching and learning landscape, there is an increasing need to harness the affordances of technology to engage students in their learning. In this chapter, preservice teachers are immersed in either a traditional PBL environment (tPBL) or an technology-enhanced PBL environment (ePBL). The focus of this study is to examine the effects of PBL (tPBL and ePBL) on preservice teachers’ motivational orientations. The understanding of the changes in preservice teachers’ motivational orientations after PBL (tPBL and ePBL) will inform teacher educators on how to improve on its implementation to enhance preservice teachers’ motivation to learn. An understanding of how a constructivist pedagogical approach impact on preservice teachers’ motivation to learn is pivotal as teachers role model and design learning environment to inculcate in their learners the motivation and passion to learn and become lifelong learners.

Changes in the industrial world and society today far outpace the cycles of education reform in the curriculum. The digital age and social media have changed the nature of knowledge acquisition in mathematics and science. Complexity of problems, technological innovations, multi-disciplinary interfaces and the availability of big data analytics call for new ways of learning in mathematics and science education. PISA achievements in Singapore is a corollary of continuous incremental improvements plus quantum leap changes in the Singapore Math and Science curricula ecology. This chapter aims to provide the big picture of how mathematics education and science education in Singapore ride on waves of change to equip learners with the kinds of thinking needed for the future world of work. Beyond the rigor of well-planned and resourced syllabuses rich in fundamentals and heuristics are the pedagogical approaches of process thinking and applied learning. The aligning of learning with applications in an ecology of inquiry and authentic experiences at every level has been catalytic for the success of Singapore learners. In the light of all these is the teacher policy factor that brings about the Math and Science teachers who can bring about student engagement and agency in their pursuit of STEM aspirations.

Our students today face a knowledge-based economy, which requires the ability to learn independently, to be innovative in using and synthesizing knowledge, and to adapt fast to the changing world. Project Work (PW) is introduced as one of the instructional models for a more student-centered approach of learning in Singapore. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of project work (PW) and study the motivational processes of PW using a self-determination theory (SDT) framework. A total of 435 students from Normal Academic stream (NA) and Normal Technical stream (NT) were recruited from four secondary schools in Singapore. Students‟ perceptions of the values of PW, basic psychological needs, relative autonomy, enjoyment, and grades were measured across three time points. Results showed that students valued the PW experience. However, their enjoyment, needs, and relative autonomy decreased significantly in the 10 to 12 weeks of PW experience. Multiple regression analyses revealed that post-PW enjoyment negatively predicted PW grades, while psychological needs, relative autonomy and pre-PW enjoyment positively predicted post-PW enjoyment. After 6-month PW, post-PW enjoyment emerged as a stronger predictor than grades in predicting the perceived skills learned from PW. The study applies self-determination theory to the PW context and highlights the importance of facilitating the three psychological needs in the PW context to enhance students‟ motivation and achievement in PW.

In the light global trends of change and the need to adapt, the expansion of polytechnic education, the call for more creative human resource and the national agenda for education in Singapore the development of a cognitive intervention programme was rationalized and conceived.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a Cognitive Modifiability Intervention (CMI on cognitive abilities, attitudes and academic performance of polytechnic students in Singapore.

The CMI has its theoretical underpinnings in Feuerstein's Theory of Structural Cognitive Modifiability (SCM). The CMI curriculum was designed based on a applied model of the theory of SCM that encapsulates the following key areas:

i. belief system and effective-motivational processes,
ii. imediated learning experience,
iii. cognitive functions,
iv. instruments for intervention and
v. bridging for transfer of learning

The broader overarching aims of CMI are

i. to enhance student's capacity to learn how to learn,
ii. to enhance problem solving abilities, and
iii. to enhance students capacity to adapt and confront change.

The CMI consisted of lessons under four major clusters of cognitive domains, namely, the Affective-Motivation Domain (ADM), the System-Strategic Thinking (SST) cluster, the Analytical-Inferential Thinking (AIT) cluster and the divergent-Creative Thinking (DICT) cluster. The CMI address these cognition domains through an active modification approach. The programme consisted of 30 weekly lessons spread over an academic year.

The research sample comprised 158 first-year polytechnic students A 2 x 2 x 2 factorial pretest-postest design with matched experimental and control groups was used . The three factors were treatment (experimental versus control), entry ability levels (high or low) and course grouping (Engineering or Applied Science). Cognitive abilities were measured by the Cognitive Abilities Tests which included measures of verbal quantitative and nonverbal abilities. Attitudes were measured by the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) which included measures of anxiety, time management , attitude towards school, concentration, motivation, information processing and test strategies.

The hypotheses that CMI could produce significant changes in cognitive abilities and attitudes were supported in this study. The major findings in the main research are as follows.

1. CMI has significant effects on the cognitive abilities of polytechnic students. Engineering students tended to show slightly better effects in terms of overall cognitive abilities compared to Applied Science students
2. CMI has significant effects on the quantitative abilities of polytechnic students.
3. CMI has significant effects on the verbal abilities of polytechnic students with high abilities.
4. CMI has significant effects on nonverbal abilities . In particular, Engineering students tended to produce higher gain compared to Applied Science students.
5. CMI has significant effects on time management, attitude towards school, and information processing of polytechnic students.
6. CMI has significant effects on concentration and motivation for Applied Science students.
7. CMI effects on academic performance are tenuous

Additionally, six case vignettes of CMI students were presented. profile mappings of the prototypical cases of students who experienced changes reflect structural modifications in cognition and affective-motivational domains . These were supported by evidence of pervasiveness, autonomous transfer of learning and durability.

The conclusions point to the generalizability of CMI for the cognitive education of polytechnic students. The potential of CMI for developing quantitative abilities and creativity is highlighted. Further research pertaining to the extension of SCM to various education programmes, teacher training and in-depth qualitative investigations of SCM are suggested.