Junior College Archives - Page 4 of 7

Index

Ong Ka Min

Junior College

Guiding Students in Writing Data Response Answers Using Bloom’s Taxonomy for Critical Thinking

Author/s:

Ong Ka Min (Yuan Ching Secondary School (Singapore) ) Arulushamaheswary D/O Anbalagan (Yuan Ching Secondary School (Singapore)) Keywords Geography Junior College Secondary School Student Learning Abstract This study focuses on improving students’ ability to respond to data response questions with two or more variables – in particular, students’ ability to describe and compare the data given in […]

Ong Ka Min (Yuan Ching Secondary School (Singapore) )
Arulushamaheswary D/O Anbalagan (Yuan Ching Secondary School (Singapore))

Keywords
Geography
Junior College
Secondary School
Student Learning

Abstract
This study focuses on improving students’ ability to respond to data response questions with two or more variables – in particular, students’ ability to describe and compare the data given in data response questions. Based on Bloom’s Taxonomy, a step-by-step guide was crafted on how to approach these type of questions. The methodology used was quantitative data derived from pre- and post-tests, and a qualitative analysis of the post-test scripts. For this research, we picked Secondary 5 Normal (Academic) students who showed difficulty in coping with data response questions that have two or more variables. We found that the guide was useful in scaffolding writing answers for the students. However, while students were able to apply the lower stages of the guide, they were not able to spiral their critical thinking skills to higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Introduction
The Desired Outcomes of Education (DOE) serve as a guide to teachers in crafting their teaching goals. The development of the attributes stated under the DOE are believed to be key in ensuring that our students are able to thrive in the challenging climate of the 21^st Century. One of the ways in which the DOE can be achieved through Geography is through the development of students’ perspectives on Geographical issues by analysing data and information to critically arrive at reasoned conclusions. As such, part of the learning outcomes of the Upper Secondary Geography curriculum (CPDD, 2013) is the development of the following skills:

Extract relevant information from geographical data
Interpret and recognize patterns in geographical data and deduce relationships
Analyse, evaluate and synthesize geographical data to make informed and sound decisions.

As the types of geographical data that students have to work with vary, we felt that providing a structured thinking process would help to scaffold students’ writing, and help them to answer data response questions better.

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Historical Sources In The Classroom: Purpose and Use

Author/s:

Keith C. Barton

Barton, Keith C. (Indiana University) Keywords History Junior College Secondary School Historical Sources Abstract Historical sources are a common feature of history classrooms, but the purpose of using them is not always clear, and as a result, instructional activities with sources may not be as effective or meaningful as they should be. This lack of […]

Barton, Keith C. (Indiana University)

Keywords
History
Junior College
Secondary School
Historical Sources

Abstract
Historical sources are a common feature of history classrooms, but the purpose of using them is not always clear, and as a result, instructional activities with sources may not be as effective or meaningful as they should be. This lack of clarity stems in part from the fact that there are four distinctly different reasons for using sources, and each carries its own implications for classroom practice. These purposes are 1) illustration and motivation; 2) evidence for historical inquiry; 3) visual or textual interpretation; 4) source analysis. By reflecting on how each of these purposes can play a role in the classroom, which kinds of sources are appropriate for each, and where they fit into an overall sequence of instruction, teachers can ensure that their use of sources deepens and extends students’ historical understanding.

All history teachers know they should be using original historical sources—often misleadingly referred to as “primary sources”—but sometimes they are less clear on the purpose of using them. Students encounter original historical sources in textbooks and accompanying exercises, and they may be required to analyze them as part of examinations. But these encounters are not enough to communicate the purpose of including sources in the curriculum, particularly given that they are often difficult to read and understand. In order to have educational value, teachers need to think carefully about why original historical sources are important, and how their purpose affects their use in the classroom.

Perhaps the lack of clarity about sources stems in part from the fact that there is no single reason for including them, and thus no “right” way of have students engage with them. Rather, there are four distinct purposes for using original historical sources, and each carries its own implications for educators. It is important to think through how these purposes differ and what their role might be in the history classroom.

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Rethinking the Approach to Teaching Causation In the History Classroom

Author/s:

Noel T P Ong

Noel T P Ong (Ministry of Education (Singapore)) Keywords History Junior College Secondary School Rethinking Approach Introduction Core to historical research and the teaching of history is the concept of causation – in fact, E. H. Carr (1961: 87) famously opined, “the study of history is a study of causes”. Without an awareness and understanding of […]

Noel T P Ong (Ministry of Education (Singapore))

Keywords
History
Junior College
Secondary School
Rethinking Approach

Introduction
Core to historical research and the teaching of history is the concept of causation – in fact, E. H. Carr (1961: 87) famously opined, “the study of history is a study of causes”. Without an awareness and understanding of the concept of causation, it would be difficult to comprehend the reasons why events happened the way they did, and that evidence could be marshalled within a historical context to justify the relative hierarchy of factors for any given historical occurrence. However, based on my teaching experience and interaction with other teachers as well as feedback from students, I discovered that students found it difficult to make causal explanations that harnessed their knowledge and understanding of events in history. Specifically, these difficulties included their inability to construct viable historical explanations and to evaluate the relative importance of certain causes in explaining an event, development or action. This article describes an intervention carried out in a school in Singapore in 2015, using ideas and strategies developed by history educators related to the concept of historical causation and the ways to improve students’ causal reasoning skills.

Challenges in teaching historical causation
Scott (1990) broadly defined causation as

an understanding of the difference between long-term and short-term causes; an understanding that some causes are likely to be more important than others; an appreciation of the difference between, and the interdependence of, motivatory and enabling factors; and an understanding of the inter-relationship of different causatory factors.

(Scott, 1990: 9 cited in Phillips, 2002: 42)

However, many students in Shemilt’s Evaluation Study of the Schools History Project (SHP) seemed to “misconstrue even the most apparently self-evident features of the causality concept” (Shemilt, 1980: 30). The tendency was for these students to see causation as “something with the power to make something else happen” (Shemilt, 1980: 30). Exacerbating this issue was the students’ inability to understand “motivated action” as they “insist[ed] on seeing History as a record of what happened to people rather than of what they made happen” (Shemilt, 1980: 32) [emphasis mine]. Much of Shemilt’s findings pointed to apparent difficulties students faced when trying to make causal explanations.

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Using an International Videoconference in Problem-Based Inquiry Projects: The Role of Public Voice, Audience, and Positionality

Author/s:

J. Spencer Clark

J. Spencer Clark (Kansas State University) Keywords Social Studies Junior College Secondary School Teaching Practice Student Learning Contexts Abstract This article discusses and reflects upon a problem-based inquiry project that culminated in an international videoconference between multiethnic and multi-faith secondary students from Macedonia and the United States. The videoconference provided an opportunity for students to share […]

J. Spencer Clark (Kansas State University)

Keywords
Social Studies
Junior College
Secondary School
Teaching Practice
Student Learning
Contexts

Abstract
This article discusses and reflects upon a problem-based inquiry project that culminated in an international videoconference between multiethnic and multi-faith secondary students from Macedonia and the United States. The videoconference provided an opportunity for students to share their action plans, which proposed methods of addressing local problems or issues students had identified through their inquiry. This article focuses on three ways students engaged with the project and videoconference: inquiry, audience, and public voice. These aspects of the project illustrate how the students’ positionality on their chosen problem/issue shifted as they developed skills and knowledge through their inquiry. The article concludes with a discussion of implications for future problem-based inquiry projects in secondary schools.

Introduction
Many educators and schools are concerned with preparing students for civic engagement in their communities (Bischoff, 2016). Digital media and technology have only increased opportunities for schools to enhance their students’ civic engagement locally, nationally, and globally (Levine, 2008). In this article, I will discuss and reflect upon a project that aimed to civically engage high school students both locally and globally by addressing local issues. My discussion will focus on an international videoconference between multiethnic and multi-faith students from The Republic of Macedonia and the state of Utah, in the United States (U.S.). The videoconference served as the culminating event for semester-long, problem-based inquiry projects that were developed by students in both countries. The videoconference provided an opportunity for students to share action plans they created to address the local problems identified through their inquiry. The problem-based inquiry projects allowed students to examine their positionality and develop public voice related to local issues, while the videoconference provided an audience (Levine, 2008) for the students to engage their positionality and public voice, receive comparative perspectives, and corroborate new knowledge gained from their projects.

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The Elected Presidency

Author/s:

Johannis Auri Bin Abdul Aziz

Johannis Auri Bin Abdul Aziz (National Institute of Education (Singapore)) Keywords Social Studies Junior College Secondary School Identity Singapore Scheduled for September, the coming presidential election is one of the most anticipated public events of 2017. While the populations of larger democratic countries have to contend with numerous regional and local elections that may cause electoral […]

Johannis Auri Bin Abdul Aziz (National Institute of Education (Singapore))

Keywords
Social Studies
Junior College
Secondary School
Identity
Singapore

Scheduled for September, the coming presidential election is one of the most anticipated public events of 2017. While the populations of larger democratic countries have to contend with numerous regional and local elections that may cause electoral fatigue, Singaporeans get to express their democratic voice only once every two to three years. This year’s election, though, is especially anticipated by the Malay community because for the first time, the presidential election will be reserved for Malays.

In an inherited Westminster parliamentary system such as ours, the Head of State usually plays a largely ceremonial role. The first four presidents after independence were appointed by Parliament and their duty was largely to play a unifying figure presiding over ceremonies and events designed to bind Singaporeans together as one people and to act as Singapore’s foremost representative to foreign states and their dignitaries. Individuals with dignity, solemnity, and a little of the common touch were the order of the day. Benjamin Sheares was a doctor, Devan Nair was a unionist and Yusof Ishak and Wee Kim Wee were both journalists.

This system was changed in January 1991, after new constitutional amendments passed by Parliament provided for the popular election of the president. The PAP government wanted to invest powers of oversight in the presidency as a check on Parliament and that called for an independent source of legitimacy direct from the people. Under these constitutional changes, the elected president was given the power to veto legislative attempts to use the national reserves, the power to appoint individuals to certain key civil service positions, and powers to oversee the enforcement of the Internal Security Act, the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act as well as the Prevention of Corruption Act by their respective executive bodies.

In November last year, constitutional provisions for the office of the president were again amended. This time the key changes were twofold. First, the 1991 requirement for private sector candidates to have helmed companies worth at least $100 million in shareholder equity was raised to $500 million. Second, the amendment provides for elections that are reserved for minority communities. A reserved election is triggered when five consecutive terms pass without a president from a particular minority community. However, these two new rules have sparked much controversy and heated debate on social media.

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Developing Historical Habits of Mind through Inquiry

Author/s:

Suhaimi Afandi

Suhaimi Afandi (National Institute of Education, Singapore) Eulalia Han (CHIJ Secondary School (Toa Payoh)) Keywords History Junior College Secondary School Inquiry Teaching Historical thinking Introduction Teaching history is not simply about getting students to learn “the right stories” or getting them to absorb transmitted knowledge about the past; it requires teachers to find means to develop students’ […]

Suhaimi Afandi (National Institute of Education, Singapore)
Eulalia Han (CHIJ Secondary School (Toa Payoh))

Keywords
History
Junior College
Secondary School
Inquiry Teaching
Historical thinking

Introduction
Teaching history is not simply about getting students to learn “the right stories” or getting them to absorb transmitted knowledge about the past; it requires teachers to find means to develop students’ historical understanding and to help these students make sense of the knowledge imparted through daily classroom instruction. As many of us already recognize, the knowledge we have about the past is never “given” or “just there” for the taking; the manner in which we come to know what we know about the past requires questioning, imagining, contextualising and (re-)constructing. History education researchers across many national contexts would agree that students need to be taught to understand the nature of historical knowledge – how such knowledge is constructed, how evidence is used to develop interpretations or support claims, how evidence/interpretation is adjudged as valid or credible, etc. – if they are to develop proper understandings about history. Acquiring proficiency in some of these processes calls for a mode of thinking (and an instructional approach) that can enable students to become confident and critical thinkers when studying history. This would involve cultivating certain historical habits of mind that work to develop students’ disciplinary ideas/understandings and help them become more adept at historical analysis. An instructional approach that uses historical inquiry as a pedagogical framework is more likely to provide opportunities for students to develop disciplinary ideas, and offers teachers with potential strategies and scaffolds to help deepen students’ understandings in more exciting ways. This article explores some ways teachers can make “the complex past” more accessible to students by helping them manage historical problems in the classroom while engaging them in disciplined inquiry about the past. It focuses on the use of inquiry as a means to develop good historical habits of mind, and demonstrates this idea by considering the ways students’ ideas (about significance, diversity, causation and accounts) can be developed through historical inquiry.

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Developing Historical and Metahistorical Thinking in History Classrooms: Some Reflections on Research and Practice

Author/s:

Arthur Chapman

Arthur Chapman (UCL Institute of Education) Keywords History Junior College Secondary School Approaches to teaching history Teachers’ Practice Abstract The history of history education, past and present, often resembles a history of contestation, in which rival and polarized understandings of the meanings of ‘history’ and ‘history education’ vie for dominance (Nakou and Barca, 2010). A common […]

Arthur Chapman (UCL Institute of Education)

Keywords
History
Junior College
Secondary School
Approaches to teaching history
Teachers’ Practice

Abstract
The history of history education, past and present, often resembles a history of contestation, in which rival and polarized understandings of the meanings of ‘history’ and ‘history education’ vie for dominance (Nakou and Barca, 2010). A common polarity in debates on history curricula is the opposition between ‘knowledge’ and ‘skill’, an opposition that has had considerable currency in recent curriculum reform processes in England which have emphasized ‘core knowledge’ (DfE, 2013).

Drawing on examples of classroom practice (Chapman, 2003; Woodcock, 2005; Buxton, 2010) and on systematic research and theorizing (Shemilt, 1983; Lee and Shemilt, 2009) this paper aims to destabilize such binary talk and to explore the ways in which ‘first order’ knowledge and understanding about the past and ‘second order’ or metahistorical knowledge and understanding of how the discipline of history works are both logically inter-related and inseparable in practical terms. The notion of historical ‘enquiry’ (Counsell, 2011) is explored as a pedagogic tool for the simultaneous development of these inter-related dimensions of historical thinking.

Introduction
As has often been the case around the world (Carretero, 2011; Nakou and Barca, eds., 2010; Taylor and Guyver, eds., 2011), recent public discussions of history curriculum and pedagogy in England have tended to be structured through overdrawn dichotomies – between ‘content’ and ‘skills’, between ‘traditional’ and ‘progressive’ and between ‘child-centred’ and ‘subject-centred’ pedagogies (Lee, 2011, pp.132-134). This paper aims to demonstrate the emptiness of these oppositions through discussion of a key aspect of historical understanding – historical explanation. It will argue that these oppositions present us with fallacious choices that restrict options to ‘either / or’ where, in reality, more complex choices, including ‘both / and’, are possible and desirable and, very probably, inevitable.

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Military Government and its Discontents: The Significance of the British Military Administration in the History of Singapore and Malaya

Author/s:

Kelvin Ng

Kelvin Ng (CPDD, MOE) Keywords History Junior College Secondary School Military Government History of Singapore and Malaya Abstract The post-war British military government in Singapore and Malaya has often been relegated to a marginal place in historiography. In this article, I argue that this period bears closer study, because its legacies were central to the subsequent […]

Kelvin Ng (CPDD, MOE)

Keywords
History
Junior College
Secondary School
Military Government
History of Singapore and Malaya

Abstract
The post-war British military government in Singapore and Malaya has often been relegated to a marginal place in historiography. In this article, I argue that this period bears closer study, because its legacies were central to the subsequent turbulent political history of the region, and therefore has much relevance to both researchers and educators.

An Epilogue, a Footnote, and a Case of Historiographical Neglect
In the late summer of 1945, a great reckoning loomed across Southeast Asia. In Burma, a mechanised British army had pursued ragged and demoralised Japanese forces across the Chindwin and Irrawaddy rivers and raced to liberate Rangoon before the monsoon broke. At the other end of Asia, America’s unparalleled transoceanic campaign had arrived at the doorstep of the Japanese home islands. Starved by submarine warfare, its urban centres levelled by firebombing, the Japanese imperium was on its last legs. Throughout the occupied Southeast Asian territories, Japanese garrisons without hope of resupply or evacuation prepared to fight to the end. The battle-hardened British and Indian troops gathered to avenge the disasters of 1942 faced a grim struggle.

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Serious Fun: Game Design to Support Learning about the Surrender of Singapore

Author/s:

Suny Matt Gaydos

Suny Matt Gaydos (South Korea) Tharuka Prematillake Thibbotuwawa (National Institute of Education, Singapore) Neo Wei Leng (National Institute of Education, Singapore) Connie Tan Keni (National Institute of Education, Singapore) Suhaimi Afandi (National Institute of Education, Singapore) Mark Baildon (National Institute of Education (Singapore)) Keywords History Junior College Secondary School Surrender of Singapore Game Design Serious Fun: Game Design to Support Learning […]

Suny Matt Gaydos (South Korea)
Tharuka Prematillake Thibbotuwawa (National Institute of Education, Singapore)
Neo Wei Leng (National Institute of Education, Singapore)
Connie Tan Keni (National Institute of Education, Singapore)
Suhaimi Afandi (National Institute of Education, Singapore)
Mark Baildon (National Institute of Education (Singapore))

Keywords
History
Junior College
Secondary School
Surrender of Singapore
Game Design

Serious Fun: Game Design to Support Learning about the Surrender of Singapore
Chronology, or putting past events in temporal order, is a starting point for making sense of the past (Seixas & Morton, 2013). However, sequencing the past into chronological order requires more than the memorization of events and their dates. Chronological thinking is central to historical reasoning because it enables us to organize our thinking about the past, consider relationships between events, determine cause and effect, and identify the structure or “plotline” of stories told about the past (i.e., those contained in accounts or historical narratives). It entails more than simply filling out a timeline, although timelines are essential tools for helping students understand chronological order and cause and effect relationships, and other patterns in history.

In this article, we highlight the development of a game, Singapore Surrenders!, collaboratively designed by a group of historians, history education specialists, and game designers to help students develop their chronological reasoning skills and to learn about events leading to Singapore’s surrender during World War II. We outline our conceptualization of the game, the process of designing the game, and its implementation in an undergraduate course on Singapore history.

The Thinking behind the Design
The Singapore Surrenders! game was conceptualized as a part of The Historian’s Lab, an effort initiated by the Humanities and Social Studies Education (HSSE) Academic Group at the National Institute of Education. The theoretical framework which defines The Historian’s Lab has been generally influenced by the work of Vygotsky (1978) and Bruner (1977), especially with regard to their views on the child as an active problem-solver, having his or her own ways of making sense of the world, and whose level of psychological development can be potentially improved under proper adult guidance or collaboration with more capable peers. In these classrooms, the teacher designs and facilitates dynamic learning experiences and supports the child’s construction of knowledge by encouraging active participation and collaboration (Mercer, 1991). Notions of constructivism, situated learning (Lave, 1988; Lave & Wenger, 1991) and cognitive social learning (Rogoff & Lave, 1984; Rogoff, Matusov, & White, 1996) have guided the Lab’s design of curriculum materials and rich tasks to support student learning. These ideas may be summarized by the four principles that undergird the project’s approach to learning and knowledge construction, namely: a) that learning is interactional and collaborative in nature; b) that learning occurs through participation in a community; c) that knowledge is socially constructed within specific contexts and social engagements; and d) that learner competency can be progressively developed through the co-sharing of knowledge and the design of appropriate scaffolding and guidance.

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Towards an Effective Professional Development Model to Deepen History Teachers’ Understanding of Historical Concepts

Author/s:

Andrew Anthony

Andrew Anthony (Academy of Singapore Teachers (Singapore)) Lloyd Yeo (Academy of Singapore Teachers (Singapore)) Suhaimi Afandi (National Institute of Education, Singapore) Keywords History Junior College Secondary School Approaches to teaching history Abstract This small-scale study explores professional development (PD) designs for history teachers in Singapore and proposes a PD model that uses a job-embedded collaborative approach. Drawing from […]

Andrew Anthony (Academy of Singapore Teachers (Singapore))
Lloyd Yeo (Academy of Singapore Teachers (Singapore))
Suhaimi Afandi (National Institute of Education, Singapore)

Keywords
History
Junior College
Secondary School
Approaches to teaching history

Abstract
This small-scale study explores professional development (PD) designs for history teachers in Singapore and proposes a PD model that uses a job-embedded collaborative approach. Drawing from research on effective PD and data gathered from questionnaires and interviews conducted with participants involved in a PD workshop, this paper considers the value of collaborative PD approaches aimed at promoting and encouraging historical thinking. The authors conclude that PD history workshops that are carefully designed to support the development of teachers’ professional knowledge bases, and ones that offer opportunities for teachers to actively translate conceptual ideas into concrete teaching strategies, are critical in transforming beliefs and practices that can work towards more robust historical thinking and discourse in the classroom.

Introduction
The teaching and learning of History as a disciplinary field of study in schools is a complex and sophisticated endeavor. The assumption that acquiring historical knowledge may be achieved simply by committing historical narratives (including factual details such as events, names and dates) to memory no longer holds. Preparing students for education in the 21^st century involves expanding their knowledge base beyond content mastery or information accumulation, to include deeper understanding about the nature of a specific discipline and the development of relevant thinking and reasoning skills that can allow students to engage with the subject matter. Over the past few decades, research on history education has shown that learning history, for the purpose of deeper understanding, involves not only the study of historical narratives but also the acquisition of discipline-specific cognitive strategies that students can use to better learn and understand the past. To be able to better understand the nature of history, students must be equipped not only with the relevant historical content but also with the necessary tools that can enable them to think historically about the past.

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HSSE Online

Index

Ong Ka Min

Authors List

Authors List

Guiding Students in Writing Data Response Answers Using Bloom’s Taxonomy for Critical Thinking

Historical Sources In The Classroom: Purpose and Use

Rethinking the Approach to Teaching Causation In the History Classroom

Using an International Videoconference in Problem-Based Inquiry Projects: The Role of Public Voice, Audience, and Positionality

The Elected Presidency

Developing Historical Habits of Mind through Inquiry

Developing Historical and Metahistorical Thinking in History Classrooms: Some Reflections on Research and Practice

Military Government and its Discontents: The Significance of the British Military Administration in the History of Singapore and Malaya

Serious Fun: Game Design to Support Learning about the Surrender of Singapore

Towards an Effective Professional Development Model to Deepen History Teachers’ Understanding of Historical Concepts

HSSE Online

HSSE Online