Poster Presentations

Pharmacotherapy is an essential module in Diploma in Pharmaceutical Sciences at Nanyang Polytechnic. Graduates from this diploma enter the workforce into the healthcare sector as Pharmacy Technicians. Therefore, the module pharmacotherapy plays a crucial role in bridging theory and practice. Traditionally, a case-based learning (CBL) approach has been employed to teach this module. While the case-based learning approach engages students in discussion and application of commonly occurring problems in real-life setting, the main challenge faced in this approach is the inability to get students to be confident and comfortable when it comes to dispensing and counselling medications. Hence, the aim of this study was to employ a combined case-based learning and experiential learning theory (ELT) methodology as a means of engaging final year students from Diploma in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nanyang Polytechnic in an application-based module, Pharmacotherapy II. This module consists of nine 4-hour face-to-face sessions delivered over one semester. A total of 34 Year 3 students participated in the study from April 2017 to August 2017. A flipped classroom approach was deployed as pre-lesson topic sharing was presented by selected students to the class before the first section of tutorial was distributed. For the first section of tutorial, students had to identify errors in the prescription and make interventions where necessary. They were then required to role-play the dispensing scenario and upload the recordings onto Youtube®. The second section of tutorial consisted of case-based studies where students worked on the questions and discussed the answers collaboratively in groups. The final section of tutorial adopted an authentic learning approach where students would role-play an actual pharmacy work environment scenario depicted before uploading the recordings onto Youtube®. Selected videos from each section were played in class for all to feedback and critique. The links to the videos were posted in Blackboard® for students to review, self-reflect and learn from one another. Individualized comments and feedback were given for each video clip. A questionnaire was administered via Google Forms® at the end of semester to investigate students’ responses to the teaching approach. The results indicated that students had a positive engagement.

Singapore secondary students are familiar with two part linear inequalities such as ax + b > cx + d,  three part inequalities ax + b ?cx + d <ex + f and quadratic inequalities ax2 + bx +c > 0.  However compound linear inequalities with connective words such as and and or do not receive much attention.  Such inequalities include ax + b > c and dx + e f  or  ax + b > c or dx + e ?f . Depending on the conditions, some compound linear inequalities with the connective word and may not have any solutions and those with the connective word or may have solutions which are union of the two sets or the entire number line. 
The objectives of this study are twofold. The first is to identify whether students were aware of these differences and if they were not, could they be helped to construct new understanding of compound inequalities.  The study comprising two phases was conducted to identify the difficulties students have with compound linear inequalities.  In Phase One, 57 Secondary Three Express provided written responses to a 14-item Written Task.  In Phase Two, 20 of the 57 students were interviewed. The objective of Phase Two was to determine whether these students were able to construct a better knowledge of compound linear inequalities.
The study found that although students were able to solve compound linear inequalities involving connective word and, there was floor effect with compound linear inequalities involving the connective word or. However through appropriate prompts students constructed a better understanding of compound inequalities involving the connective words and and or. The study showed that the affordance of number line aided students in their construction of knowledge.  The study argued that teachers and textbook writers should address students’ difficulties with compound linear inequalities.

The effectiveness of case-based (CBL) versus the traditional lecture-based learning (LBL) was evaluated using (i) student’s performance in end-semester exam and (ii) students’ evaluation/feedback implemented in Ocular Disease 1 module, Diploma in Optometry. CBL was introduced in 2013. The AY1112 and AY1213 (LBL) cohorts were compared with the AY1314 and AY1415 (CBL) cohorts. Mean marks for CBL cohorts was shown to be significantly higher (82.4 for AY1314 and 82.8 for AY1415) as compared to LBL (76.0 for AY1112 and 71.1 for AY1213). The differences were statistically significant (one-way ANOVA, p < 0.05) with a ‘trend-up’ mean connect line from LBL to CBL. Spread of marks was found to be narrower with significantly greater number of students obtaining 80 marks and above in the CBL cohorts as compared to the LBL cohorts (one-way ANOVA, p < 0.05). Students’ feedback on CBL were positive. Majority of them reported that CBL enabled them to contribute to team goals effectively (A8, 60.9), to learn independently (A5, 55.4%) and to conduct information search (A4, 56.5%). They also reported that they enjoyed their classes (A12, 55.4%) and that the knowledge enables them to apply learning to real-world applications (A3, 52.1%). It was recommended that CBL can be the future direction in optometry education.

The purpose of this study was to investigate general teachers’ application of differentiating instruction strategy by inspecting their current practices in heterogeneous inclusive classrooms and examining their professional awareness about the necessity of knowing each learner level of readiness, interest and learning profile. Differentiating instruction practices that have been examined included the modification of content, process and product based on student’s readiness, interest and learning profile.
The purpose of the study was based on the belief of the necessity of replacing current traditional practices that proved its failure in embracing students’ differences with more effective differentiated instruction practices that result in increasing students’ learning engagement and motivation to the maximum possible extent. The study answered five main questions, which are:
1. Are general education teachers aware of the importance of knowing students’ different levels of readiness, interests and learning profiles?
2. Are general education teachers attentive to students’ different levels of readiness, interests and learning profiles?
3. Do general education teachers modify content to achieve differentiated instruction?
4. Do general education teachers modify process to achieve differentiated instruction?
5. Do general education teachers modify product to achieve differentiated instruction?
The below theoretical framework guided the study.
The study was conducted at Dubai private elementary schools in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) using a mixed method strategy. The quantitative part included a survey questionnaire administered to 90 general teachers while the qualitative part included two classroom observations. Descriptive and inferential analyses were developed based on data results.
The study findings revealed that despite general teachers’ awareness about the importance of being attentive to students’ needs and differences, the two observed classes proved their failure in implementing their beliefs into their practices by establishing an effective model of a differentiated classroom.
The study suggested investigating challenges faced by general teachers’ in establishing effective differentiated instruction practices and thus finding solutions to overcome such challenges.

Students from Diploma in Pharmaceutical Sciences at Nanyang Polytechnic studied the topic of Pharmacy Law in Year 1 Semester 1 under the module “Good Dispensing Practice”. It is essential for them to know Pharmacy Law as the graduates from this diploma enters the workforce of the healthcare sector as Pharmacy Technicians to handle the different medication in the pharmacy. However, students in year 1 semester 1 were still adjusting to their polytechnic life and might be overwhelmed by the unfamiliar content of Pharmacy Law. This study aims to change the students’ perception of studying Pharmacy Law to be fun by engaging students in activities with the use of experiential learning theory methodology as a mean to engage the Year 1 students. Learner profile and their unique needs as well as the learning environment are carefully considered before designing the activities.

There were a total of four lecture slots allocated for this topic. Lecture 1 serves as an introduction where the essence of the various Acts and Regulation was taught. A study guide on different section of the law was also provided and explained thoroughly so that students’ can self-read to get themselves fully prepared for the subsequent three activities filled lecture. During the lessons, lecturer conducted a briefing followed by pre-test, which evaluated students’ understanding of the topic. Next, students (n=60) were divided into 12 groups of five. During the 50 minutes of in-class time, they took a turn to be either the game master or game players. Collaboration and communication amongst the students were fostered by peer learning through participation in the activities. Finally, the protest was administered and the lesson was concluded by the lecturer.

Despite there was a marginal 0.4% increase in the exam result of that topic, 88% of the students perceived that they learnt better in this format and 91.5% of them highlighted that the activities in the lessons engaged them the most. Compared to the didactic approach of teaching Pharmacy Law which made students less focused in class, this new format of teaching permitted them to apply what they have learnt in an enjoyable manner.

This is a report of a study on the effectiveness of the blended learning approach adopted in the professional learning programmes (PLPs) offered to EL teachers by the English Language Institute of Singapore (ELIS). After seven years of using blended learning in our PLPs, it was timely to evaluate its benefits and to identify any challenges to our teachers’ collaborative learning so that our model of blended learning could be improved to serve teachers even better in the years to come. To investigate the effectiveness of the blended learning approach, the answer to the following research question was sought:  What are the benefits and challenges of the blended learning used by ELIS for the professional learning of EL teachers?

The type of blended learning we aimed for should place emphasis on “the thoughtful integration of classroom face-to-face learning experiences with online learning experiences” (Garrison & Kanuka, 2004, p. 96).  Furthermore, as the EL teachers were members of a community of learners, the idea of community was also another feature of their professional learning experience.  In line with this, Garrison's community of inquiry framework was used as the lens whereby the effectiveness of blended learning was evaluated.  From an analysis of the data collected from both teacher participants and facilitators of our PLPs, participants perceived clear benefits from the skillful facilitation and direction of learning experiences. What was clearly challenging to them was the demands of online tasks. Such findings would be useful to inform the PLP review process so that the benefits of blended learning can be fully realised.

Mathematics is a core subject for all secondary school students in Singapore. However, students find it difficult to handle mathematics problems at application level due to poor grasp of mathematics problems, lack of critical thinking and a lack of awareness of problem solving behaviours. Hence, this study investigated the impact of a concept mapping strategy, through the IT CmapTools, on students’ problem-solving performance, self-regulation and critical thinking skills of 59 secondary two students. Students’ pre and post-performance tests, self-regulation questionnaire (SRQ) and individual concept maps were analysed using T-test, Pearson-correlation and Newman’s Critical Thinking ratio. The experimental group, taught with concept mapping strategy performed significantly better than the control group in terms of the post-performance test. There was also significant positive correlation between experimental group’s level of critical thinking and problem-solving performance. However, no difference was found in both groups’ self-regulation abilities. As such, the study recommended that this technological incorporated concept mapping strategy be tapped on to help students in tackling mathematics application problems and develop critical thinking skills to face the dynamic working world.

In his book, Oceans of Innovation, Sir Michael Barber (2012) noted that schools and education systems need to be constantly testing new techniques to continuously invent best practices. In this continuous innovation, he declared that schools of the future will need both teachers and researchers, and people who combine both roles in the teaching profession.
This poster presentation delves into an important issue of developing professional expertise through the interplay of practice and research. Teacher research, or practitioner inquiry, refers to the systematic, intentional study of one’s own professional practice in one’s own school and classroom work in an attempt to improve teaching and learning (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1993). It will share how a research ecosystem was developed in Raffles Girls’ School (Secondary) and the strengthening of the role of teachers as researchers.
The poster will outline the relationship between research and policy, and how they impact practice – where teachers undertake classroom-based practitioner inquiry to try out and evaluate the effectiveness of new ideas in their own classrooms. In 2012-13, a school-wide research was conducted entitled: “A case study on factors influencing teachers’ readiness in embarking on Practitioner Inquiry: teachers’ motivations and challenges”. The research findings provided useful insights into the factors that motivate teachers to embark on practitioner inquiry. These include how practitioner inquiry helps teachers improve their teaching and enhance students’ learning. It provided them with a platform to delve deeper into specific area of pedagogy that they are interested in or motivated to try. Teachers also highlighted the sense of recognition when their research is shared and published.  
The research provides the impetus for the necessary policy response to support the development of a research culture in the school and enhance teachers’ skills in practitioner inquiry. To date, some twenty per cent of teachers in Raffles Girls’ School (Secondary) have embarked on at least one research, with some having completed two or more in the last five years. These are encouraging early signs, considering that undertaking a research is not a mandatory requirement for teachers.

The purpose of this study was to examine the trend of research in which Korea Children and Youth Panel Survey(KCYPS) data that were provided by the National Youth Policy Institute(NYPI) and then suggest the direction of future panel research. Subjects were 482 articles-173 academic ones presented in academic conferences and 308 ones published in journals over the period from 2011 to November 2017. The results of this study are as follows: First, compared to junior school students panel data, analysis frequency of panel data for elementary and high school students was low. Second, the ratio of cowork with field staff in research team has increased compared to the past, but interoperability is still low. However, the ratio of cooperation research is relatively high. A number of joint researches among a variety of specialties are carried out. Third, as of the theme of panel data, school life area(23.4%) were the top ranking research topics and it is followed by health/emotion area(19.4%), Multiple cultures/Community/ Activity area(16.7%), delinquency area(13.1%), family area(11.3%), cellphone/internet area(9.9%) in order. The implication based on the results of this study are presented in the conclusion.

This study is designed to investigate the effect of ‘attachment to mother’ and ‘psychological independence from mother’ to career congruence of high school students. This study collected 846 copies of data from 1st and 2nd general academic high school students in 5 districts. The instruments of this study were ‘inventory of attachment’, ‘psychological separation inventory, and ‘adolescents-parent career congruence scale’. The results were as follows. First, ‘trust to mother’ and ‘emotional independence from mother’ appeared much higher in male students, but there was no significant difference in career congruence between male and female students. Second, ‘attachment to mother’ and ‘psychological independence from mother’ of male students influenced career congruence meaningfully, but for female students, only ‘attachment to mother’ influenced career congruence. Also, ‘trust to mother’, ‘communication to mother’ and ‘emotional independence from mother’ affected career congruence of both male and female students significantly. Third, ‘emotional independence from mother’ made a partial mediating effect in relationship between ‘attachment to mother’ and ‘career congruence’. Lastly, implication and limits of this study was discussed.

Feedback is a powerful influence on student achievement. This has been demonstrated by Hattie’s (2009) synthesis of 138 diverse influences on achievement from over 800 meta-analytic studies, based on which, Hattie (2009) found feedback is one of the top 10 influence (with an effect size of 0.79). Despite this notable effect size, further feedback research revealing students’ view on teacher feedback in promoting their learning (feedback beliefs) and how they feel (emotions) in learning remains scarce. With a sample of 306 secondary students (grades 7-9) in mainland China, this study tested students’ feedback beliefs (Linderbaum & Levy, 2010) through the Chinese version of the Feedback Orientation Scale (C-FOS, Yang, Sin, Li, Guo, & Lui, 2014), which consists of four feedback orientations (usefulness, self-efficacy, accountability, social awareness). Positive (enjoyment, hope) and negative achievement emotions (anxiety and hopelessness) in learning situations were assessed by using the Chinese version of Learning-related achievement emotions (Yang, 2017), which was developed based on Pekrun Goetz, Frenzel, Barchfeld, and Perry’s (2011) work. The results showed significantly positive correlations between the four feedback orientations and positive emotions. Specifically, students' perceived usefulness of feedback has the strongest correlation with positive emotions than other feedback orientations. Students' perceived self efficacy in using feedback to enhance learning has the most negative correlation with negative emotions, while social awareness in using feedback has the least negative correlation with negative emotions. These correlational patterns are consistent across grades 7 to 9 students. Moving a step forward from existing feedback research, this study shows students’ feedback beliefs matter to their achievement emotions. Theoretical and practical implications of this study to feedback research and effective feedback practices by taking consideration of students’ feedback beliefs are discussed.

In Singapore’s fast changing economy, higher education needs to partner industry to keep pace with evolving demands to ensure the relevance of graduates. Corresponding workforce skills and competencies have also taken a dramatic transformation. There are jobs today that did not exist 10 years ago. Learning in higher education is increasingly moving out of the confines of a classroom and into the marketplace. Thus a more practical and applied approach will serve to boost the conceptual knowledge of students. This can be achieved through providing experiential and practical learning to address evolving demands by developing sustainable partnerships between academia and industry to grow the education-industry ecosystem. The sports industry is facing a multitude of change and challenges. But herein lies tremendous opportunity for higher education to find new ways to create more value to students and the sports management industry. Through collaboration with industry, a new approach to education and future manpower development can be created to build a symbiotic ecosystem. This presentation highlights action research case studies in sports management, where higher education and industry collaborated in curriculum development, training and assessment of students in a realworld setting. A Problem Based Learning (PBL) approach was used as the main pedagogy to deliver academic concepts, industry-specific knowledge and technical skills. This collaborative model provides students with a solid foundation in core curriculum as well as real-world experience with future employers. The action research case studies will demonstrate successful instances where marquee sports events in Singapore were implemented to achieve positive outcomes in both academic and industry competencies. This equipped students with skills and knowledge not just for internship in the final year, but also for eventual employment in the sports events management industry. Ethnographic methods were adopted for data collection. Individual interviews and focus groups were conducted before and after practical sessions. Participants’ observation and extensive field notes were collected. Individual reflection journals and reports were also collected and analysed. Completed studies suggest that this is a good approach worthy of further refinement and development.

This study aims to clarify the current situation of Japanese university students, facing social change in rapidly globalizing Japanese society. In the past decade, the Japanese government has made significant investments into the development of Global Talent to increase competitiveness in the global market. Waseda University contains the largest number of foreign students in Japan. With 4,767 enrolled international students as of 2016, Waseda University has been certified as a top global university and received special subsidies by the Japanese government.
This research analyzed data from the “Survey on awareness and behavior among undergraduate students in a global society,” which was conducted by the Research Project Team on Globalization of University from December 2016 to January 2017.  An on-line questionnaire that was targeted at undergraduate students at Waseda University and collected 3,085 valid responses. However, this study used survey data from Japanese students (2,908 respondents) and analyzed by using SPSS 24. The questionnaire contained 35 items , including the following: “the nationality of foreign students who are making the most friends,” “the country in which you would like to work,” “your idea of current politics,” “global abilities acquired during college life,” and “experience with or desire to study abroad.”
This study was able to delineate both awareness and behavior for university students regarding the globalization of “Campus Life,”, “Labor Market,” and “Japanese Society.” As a conclusion, the findings indicate the existence of both perception and awareness for Japanese students who attend a university with an active globalization policy.