New Pedagogies in Teaching and Learning

The “Introduction to biology” module at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) has a unique curriculum centered on students acquiring literacy in biology at the freshmore level. The course focuses strongly on students’ competencies in formulating hypotheses, analyses of experimental data and application of knowledge. The profile of the students over the last 3 years revealed that half of them studied biology up till secondary 2 level only. As SUTD offers degrees predominantly in engineering and architecture, it can be predicted that the majority of the students will not likely pursue a future career in biology. Taking all these points into consideration, we were left with an interesting challenge of developing hands-on activities that were well aligned with the course’s goals and simultaneously compatible to the students’ needs. We decided to customize and generate virtual lab simulations (vLAB) using existing software builders (StarCellBio and StarGenetics, MIT). VLABs allow for repetitive practice in techniques manipulation and data interpretation that students cannot otherwise experience in the usual 3-h period of the traditional teaching laboratory. The vLABs designed and evaluated in our course were related to the topics of cell signaling, cell cycle regulation and genetics. Each vLAB assignment consisted of design, set-up, running of experiment using selected techniques, followed by generation and analyses of data. Students were requested on a voluntary basis to complete an anonymous questionnaire consisting of six multiple-choice questions and one open-ended question at the end of the course to measure students’ perceptions of vLAB and the impact of vLAB on their learning experience. Data received from 229 students who responded revealed that approximately 80% agreed that they 1. Learned about experimental design and how to carry out experiments, 2. Discovered how to analyze data generated by biology techniques, and 3. Increased knowledge and understanding of biology concepts through participating in vLAB. One hundred and sixty-three students responded to the open-ended question, which asked if they found vLAB useful. Students’ comments were organized into positive (n = 99), negative (n = 27) and ambivalent (n = 37). Three representative examples of positive comments were; “The virtual labs are engaging as they let us have an experience of what it is like to apply what we learnt and analyze the experimental data.” “It allow us to do the experiment without being in laboratories and everyone can observe the result.” “They allow us to react and see changes in our simulated environment, enabling us to see clearly the relationship between our input and output dynamically.” Three representative examples of negative comments were; “The worksheets for the virtual labs can be a little wordy.” “Most of the classes, because of time constraints, we just go into the activity and we get so confused about what is happening.” “I would prefer an actual lab session.” In conclusion, student gains are promising and a majority were actively engaged in the vLAB learning experiences. We will continue to refine the vLAB assignments to make it more concise and clear for our unique student population.

In-class Educational Group Game (EGG) defines as a face-to-face educational game played in the classroom which aims to motivate the students to learn through interaction and collaboration with peers.  The components of excitement and entertainer while playing the game in a team appeal to learners in the millennial age bracket. Many teachers used some form of in-class EGG to facilitate their teaching, however, most of the researches done were case-study and focused on the students’ perception of the EGG.
To answer this research gap, this study aimed to research on the effectiveness of the in-class EGG in students’ learning motivation and academic achievement in a quasi-experiment method with the use of one control and two experimental groups. Students (n=115), studying Diploma of Pharmaceutical Science in Nanyang Polytechnic were grouped in three groups played. All of them played the in-class EGG and completed the pen-and-paper worksheet as well as the questionnaire for motivation and attribute towards the in-class EGG and pen-and-paper worksheet with the different sequence according to their group.
The combination of worksheet and EGG approach significantly improved students’ scores by 0.146 (14.6%) with t(38)=4.56. The improvement is greater than the worksheet-alone approach by 2.6%. However, the EGG alone approach did not achieve any significant improvement in the result. This result indicated that in-class EGG is effective to improve students’ academic result when it serves as a complementary mechanism with a worksheet. The independent Sample T-test by groups in both worksheet and EGG show a significant reduction of pressure by 1.33 units (t(113)=2.19, p=0.04) for doing worksheet  and increase in motivation by 0.2 point (t(111)=-2.08, p=0.04) for playing EGG when EGG was administered at the beginning of the lesson. The fun element of the EGG helps to reduce the pressure when doing worksheet later.
This positive result helps to garner more support from schools’ management and parents on the implementation of the in-class EGG. The support from parents and schools motivate teachers to use in-class EGG more frequently and enthusiastically. In addition, the experience gathered in this study encourages more teachers to develop more innovative in-class EGG for teaching.

Recent research has shown that ICT is making an impact on education in general (Stratton & Finch, 2001). A student-centred approach in Physical Education (PE) lessons will result in greater gains for students (Kibble, 2005). Tearle and Katene (2005) also claimed that there is significant potential that aid in students’ performance in PE with the use of digital video for visual feedback and analysis. Students can view their own performances from a third person’s perspective and make necessary adjustments to performance. Thus, the teacher-researchers decided to embark on an action research study, “Use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Tool in Peer Analysis and Feedback for Movement Skill”, to discover the potential benefits of incorporating ICT tools in PE.
This study aims to examine the impact of infusing ICT in peer feedback for SBJ and gather the perceptions of the students’ learning experiences. The movement skill, Standing Broad Jump (SBJ) was selected as a focus area of the intervention for analysis has shown that students do not easily achieve the required standards in it. The lesson plans of the intervention incorporated the Mosston’s spectrum of teaching styles - reciprocal teaching style, use of visual feedback from digital video, and verbal feedback through thinking routines from Making Thinking Visible. An observation tool, a free iPad app ‘Hudl Technique’ was used.
The quantitative results indicated that peer feedback assisted by ICT tool yielded more significant improvement in movement skill amongst the Primary 6 students in comparison to the Primary 4 students. Survey findings from the students’ survey for both groups highlighted that the students enjoyed the lesson using the iPad App and had learned how to improve their skill using the formative feedback.
Hence, the study suggests that the intervention is more effective for the Primary 6 students. Yet, educators could provide joyful learning environment through the use of ICT-enabled learning experiences in PE. For future directions, a standardisation of the pedagogy during intervention, and coordination of iPad and venue booking have to be systematically arranged in order to overcome the challenges faced.