Curriculum Development and Practices

The aim of this preliminary and exploratory research study was to examine the effects of two different teaching methods for Chinese, namely the Analytical method (形声识字法) and the Whole word method (独体识字法) for students with dyslexia in Singapore. For the Analytical method, the phonological radicals embedded within Chinese characters were identified and used as clues in helping Dyslexic children to read the Chinese characters.
The Analytical method broke down the components in the Chinese characters and emphasised the phonetic parts within the Chinese character, which reduced the cognitive visual memory load for the dyslexic students (Ho & Sigel, 2011). The Whole word method referred to reading the whole Chinese characters by sight or memorization of the Chinese character (Chartier, 2004; Shu and Anderson,1999). The participants of the present study were 39 students selected from 2 primary schools in Singapore: 20 students were readers with no dyslexia (normal readers) while 19 students were readers who were diagnosed with dyslexia. The students’ ages ranged from 9 to 11 years old, and they were in Primary 3 to Primary 5.
During each learning session, the participants learned to read the pre-selected 30 Chinese characters under the two experimental conditions: the Analytical method and the Whole word method. All participants recognised and read aloud the word list using two instructional methods. The correct responses of each student for each condition was then recorded. A character was considered learned when the character was correctly pronounced in 3 successive post-tests.
The results revealed that the Analytical method was more effective in helping the students with dyslexia recognise Chinese characters as compared to the Whole word method. The results of the study suggested that using the appropriate instructional method to learn to read Chinese characters was important for students with dyslexia.

The effectiveness of sequential, cumulative and multisensory intervention programmes on learners with dyslexia has been proven in multiple academic literature. This study serves as a follow-up on a previous research which explored the classroom practices of the English Exam Skills Programme (EESP). In comparison between students with dyslexia and a control group, the study found significant progress in their grammar, vocabulary and comprehension components of their English examination paper after intervention.
Aligning with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework, the EESP is postulated to benefit all learners, including struggling learners with or without a diagnosis of SpLD or any learning disorders, and are scoring below 65% in their school English Language examination papers. This study seeks to investigate the possible effectiveness of the EESP on a group of struggling non-dyslexic learners after a 20-week intervention.

Education and Career Guidance (ECG) is integral to the holistic development of students as schools prepare students for an increasingly complex world. This paper focuses on the use of game-based learning to deliver developmentally appropriate ECG activities for Primary students. Career Quest is a feature in the one-stop national ECG portal, MySkillsFuture, which uses a game-based approach to facilitate students’ exploration and understanding of their interests and strengths, and the world of work.  By encouraging primary school students to build their awareness of self and the world of work through the portal, it is submitted that students will be empowered to consider their interests and strengths purposefully in order to make informed decisions about their education pathways. 
Research Question: How might we increase engagement of students in learning about self and careers through game play? 
Methodology: Gamification is used as a pedagogical approach to achieve the ECG goals of self and career awareness for primary students. Designed to be developmentally appropriate, Career Quest allows students to explore different industries and occupations in a virtual world using a customised avatar. In addition, the integration of John Holland’s theory of career choice in the six mini games within Career Quest enables students to learn more about their interests and strengths as they participate in the game play.  A pilot was conducted with approximately 2,700 students across 17 primary schools from Jan to Apr 2017 before the launch of the MySkillsFuture for Students portal. 
Findings: Students reported that they found Career Quest interesting and informative. They reported an increased in understanding and awareness about different occupations and industries, and expressed strong interest to explore and find out about more jobs. Teachers also gave positive feedback on its interactivity and strong aesthetic appeal. 
Conclusion: Gamification, through Career Quest in MySkillsFuture, has helped create an attractive virtual environment that motivates primary students to find out more about their interests and strengths and broaden their understanding of the world of work. This lays the foundation for students to embark on further career exploration in secondary schools.