Pillai Anitha Devi Pillai, Nanyang Technological University

S Anitha, West View Primary School

With the increasing use of Genre-based pedagogy in the language classroom in ESL contexts, there is a need to examine more strategies which will enhance the language classroom. This paper shows how debate can be used as a pedagogical tool to empower learners by providing practical ideas for teachers to initiate the art of debating from Year 1 to Year 12. This study takes upon a genre-based approach and supports cooperative and self-directed learning strategies via a Work Plan.

A systematic Work Plan is proposed to integrate debating skills and activities into the genre classroom as a prelude to argumentative writing. At the primary level, debate can be effectively used to compliment the learning of expository text types, listening and speaking strategies. At the next level, students learn to formulate adroit judgments and deliver coherent presentations independently that convey clear and distinct perspectives and solid reasoning. At an advanced level, they learn to present clear thesis statements and analyze arguments. In addition learners will be exposed to fallacies in oral arguments and the art of crafting effective counter arguments. At all three levels students learn to rationalize, develop research skills, incorporate gestures, tone and vocabulary tailored to audience and purpose as well as essential rhetorical strategies.

The pilot study revealed that debate sharpens participants’ skills in critical thinking and analysis, public speaking, researching, writing and listening. Additionally it teaches participants the importance of being knowledgeable in current affairs. Students also learn to use language in an increasingly sophisticated manner. This resulted in better quality of expository writing by students. In the course of promoting debate as a tool in Singapore classrooms, we found that debate helps students to acquire the emotional maturity to win and lose graciously and be able to gain the social skills necessary to work with peers.

Ekwarangkoon Pikun, Chulalongkorn University

The main purpose of this research was to research and development of the measurement and assessment integrated learning system in primary school and the three specific purposes were to construct, try out and improve the measurement and assessment integrated learning system in primary school. The samples for evaluation research consisted of 10 teachers and 153 students from primary school in Chacherngsao and Samutprakarn provinces. Data were collected by questionnaires, tests, document review, observation and interview. Data were analyed by using descriptive statistics, content analysis, and test of means differences. The research findings were summarized as follows: 1) measurement and assessment integrated learning system in primary school consisted of three components (1.1) input: integrated units, teachers, students, administrators, and parents; (1.2) process: planning, designing, implementing measurement and assessment and feedback; (1.3) output: teacher development in integrated measurement and assessment skills and attitudes towards in integrated measurement and assessment and students development in knowledge, skills, and moral. 2) The evaluation result after using measurement and assessment integrated learning system in primary school showed that this system was at the high level in terms of utility, feasibility, propriety and accuracy.

Marsh Colin James, Curtin University

It is argued that formative assessment is extremely valuable because it helps students adjust to their learning tasks through the feedback they receive and it provides data to teachers about instructional units in practice and students in action. Others point out that it empowers the student and ensures student motivation.

There are however many inhibiting factos at both teacher, school and system levels that inhibit the potential of formative assessment.

In this paper the author draws upon recent experiences in Hong Kong, Singapore, Slovenia, Croatia and Australia to illustrate the successes and difficulties in bringing about effective use of formative assessment.

Jitmart Watcharaporn, Chulalongkorn University

The purposes of this research were 1) to develop a valid scale to measure emotional intelligence (EI) by applying the Buddhism concept for Thai primary education students, 2) to test the EI model invariance between male and female students and 3) to test the EI model invariance between the students in normal school and alternative school. The EI definition covered three dimensions of Tri-Sikkha, three stages of training in Buddhism included Sila (observing the five precepts and a helpful member of society) Smathi (knowing oneself and other, act according) Panya (thinking wisely, seeking out of source of wisdom and good examples). The 49 open-ended situation items were constructed, each item had 3 questions and administered to 245 students of 4 public school. The response data were used to construct four choices for each question. Therefore, each item gave three score: feeling or emotion, thinking, and intentional acting. After a try-out of these multiple choice items and item analyses, 30 items were selected according to the item statistics and the item content. The research samples consisted of 1,335 Mattayomsuksa 3 students of 20 public schools in Thailand. The validation data revealed satisfactory results. Then the raw score were convent to percentile rank, normalized Z-scores, and normalized T-scores for a future comparison. The model of EI was valid and fit to the empirical data. The model indicated invariance of model form, but all parameter were not invariance between male and female student, and type of the student’s school. The study concludes with suggested remedies for addressing measurement endemic to EI research.

Chan Chi Fai, Stephen , The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Ng To Yee, Vincent, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Ngai Grace, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

This paper presents a framework for integrating service learning into educational programs for professional disciplines such as information technology. In this framework, a student engaging in service learning provides a community service, to one or more recipients, and is supervised by a community service tutor. At the same time, the service involves learning activities in the professional discipline, supervised by a professional discipline teacher. In some cases the role of the service tutor and the discipline teacher may be taken up by the same person. The learning student is modeled by a vector in 4 dimensions: hard/soft skills in the professional discipline, and hard/soft skills in community service. The service learning activity also impacts on the recipient(s) and the teacher/tutor. We then report our experiences in applying this framework to integrating community service into learning activities in a computer science program. It includes (1) small-size student exercises with a community service-theme in regular teaching subjects, (2) medium-size student projects in collaboration with external organizations, both as part of the regular curriculum and as extra-curricular activities, and (3) tutoring of secondary and primary students in information technology workshops, both locally and in an excursion to a high school in mainland China. All such activities are carried out under the umbrella of a Community Outreach Merit Program in which students are rewarded with certificates and small prizes for their involvements in relevant community services. Results so far indicated that our students value the experience and benefit significantly in professional and all-rounded education.

Lye Ai Fern, Nanyang Girls' High School

The development of an inquisitive mind is the corner-stone to acquire the aptitude for effective questioning and the passion for new discoveries; skills that are vital in scientific research work. Depending on the cognitive level of students and interest in the subject, teaching through inquiry can vary from being highly teacher-structured to one which is set and designed by students. Assessment tasks could also be set by a teacher or initiated from the students. The hypothesis of this research is that high ability students with an aptitude for Science will prefer, as well as possess the ability, to craft a meaningful assessment task and perform well for the task. In this research, learning of high ability students was assessed using a task that is crafted by teachers, and a task crafted by themselves. Students were provided with a thinking scaffold and marking rubrics to guide them to brainstorm on their assessment task. Learning of the students was measured using a rubric-based framework which assesses the development of particular meta-cognitive skills. Results were then compared with those obtained from the teacher-crafted task. The effectiveness of the student-designed learning task in stimulating student interest in Science was measured via a survey and small group interviews. Preliminary findings have revealed that these students are able to set high level assessment tasks for varied topics in Biology. These results will have implications for educators in the design of an inquiry-based classroom for high ability students. The challenges encountered in the process are also discussed.

Wan Wai Yan, Sally, Shatin Tsung Tsin School

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a school based reading program on the development of reading skills of primary 1 to 3 students at a local primary school. All primary 1 to 3 students received instruction from a government sponsored reading program, Primary Literacy Programme – Reading. The study is based on a pre-test and post-test design to primary 1 to 3 students. The results indicated general improvement in word recognition and oral reading fluency performance across participating students. A discussion investigating case study data demonstrates the significance of the use of diversified teaching strategies in the classroom teaching.

Lim Linda, Chongzheng Primary School

Phyllis Toh, Chongzheng Primary School

In view of the school’s vision to develop the pupils as ‘Creative Thinkers’ and the fact that pupils who are high achievers generally enjoy solving mathematical problems, it is deemed relevant to conduct a study in Mathematical Investigation pedagogical approach to the teaching of Mathematics.

The study hopes to identify the key enabling factors in Mathematical Investigation pedagogy in assisting to develop pupils’ ability in problem-solving.

A homogenous group of 26 pupils from Primary 6 in Chongzheng Primary School participated in the pilot action research study. Two teacher researchers, trained in the Mathematical Investigation pedagogy, were appointed by the school principal to commence the study at the beginning of March 2006. Purposive sampling of pupils who met the 3 inclusion criteria were selected for the study: (a) Top 26 of the 84 pupils who sat for the selection test for the Math Olympiad Competition (b) Display traits of diligence and enthusiasm (c) Have above average Mathematics achievement in school assessments. Data sources include field notes from the site observation of two schools that offer the Gifted Education Programme, focus group interviews, direct observations, video-taping and reflection journals.

Findings of the pilot study revealed that pupils understood the importance of teamwork and identification of patterns in problem-solving. The findings from the study are significant as they can be translated into problem-solving techniques that pupils will be equipped with in the later part of their lives. If pupils are given frequent practice in Mathematical Investigation, the problem-solving ability becomes second nature to them. Thus, it could enhance an individual’s capacity in management, leadership and other professional disciplines.

In conclusion, the preliminary theoretical construct can be regarded as an educational and developmental tool for personal growth and development.

Wang Wen-Chung, National Chung Cheng University

Shih Ching-Lin, National Chung Cheng University

Likert-type items and rating scale items have been widely used in education and other human sciences. These kinds of items often (if not always) require respondent’s subjective judgment, which is random in nature. Conventional analysis ignores the randomness in the subjective judgment and thus will yield inappropriate results when the randomness exists. In this study, we show how to directly take into account the subjective nature by a random-effects item response modeling (Wang, Wilson, & Shih, in press). This new method not only detects whether the randomness exists but also assesses its magnitudes. In this article, we first comments on the drawbacks of conventional analysis of Likert-type or rating scale items. Then, the new random-effects method is introduced. Corresponding parameter estimation procedure and computer software are described. Several real data sets were analyzed using both conventional and the new method. The results are compared and the summary is presented. Through these empirical examples, we provide in detail the applications and implication of the new method. This article ends with some discussion and extensions of the new method.

Jitgarun Kalayanee, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi

Thaweesin Sangdeuan, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi

Vitthayaporn Nattip, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi

Chunkul Charathip, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi

Tongsakul Anuvat, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi

Purpose of the research was to study Project-Based Learning through learning tools: A case study of Darunsikkhalai School for Innovative Learning. The research method was qualitative using participant observation, interviewing and note-taking for 4 months. Result of the study was that the Project-Based Learning composed of three models as follows. 1) Policies of the school were constructionism, learning organization and the fundamental of mindfulness meditation practice. 2) Role of teacher was as facilitator. 3) Learners’ characteristics consisted of goal setting by using “Agenda Book,” and meetings. Learners’ interesting/attention took place when the facilitators asked questions or they were on a field trip. Their skills relevant to team’s assignments. Their abilities included goal setting, planning, searching for information, note-taking, team learning, sharing ideas, and presentations. Furthermore, the learners’ planning also consisted of short and long plans, and ranked the plans in order of priority. Lego and Microworlds were used for creative thinking while Mind Map could be used for classification thinking. Integration of concrete matters was Lego and Microworlds and the integration of abstract was rather complex. Scientific process was a process of finding answers. To share ideas began with time schedule of the school giving learners opportunity to express their ideas openly and naturally with congenial atmosphere. Transfer of learning occurred when the learners acquired direct experiences, explicit knowledge, and/or tacit knowledge. Cooperative learning could be built up when all team members had equally received their assignments. In terms of multiple intelligences, it was found that spatial intelligence and bodily intelligence were ranked at a highest level while linguistic intelligence and intrapersonal intelligence were at a lowest level.

Jinvong Achara, Curtin University of Technology

Fisher Darrell, Curtin University of Technology

AIDS is one of the most important health problems in Thailand as there has been a sharp increase in the incidence of AIDS, especially among young people. Research in the past has shown that Thai students have many misconceptions about AIDS. Therefore, improved AIDS education for the young group is necessary to prevent AIDS. The action research described in this paper was aimed at improving students’ understanding in a Health Science class at the university level. The CLES (The Constructivist Learning Environment Survey) was used as a tool for developing a news learning model based on constructivism theory. The research was conducted over one semester in four stages: determining students’ perceptions of their actual and preferred classroom environments and their pre-instruction conceptions about AIDS; constructing an intervention to improve the learning environment and students’ achievement about AIDS; implementing the intervention; evaluating the intervention by re-assessment with the CLES. The results indicated that the new constructivist model of AIDS education was effective in improving the constructivist learning environment and increasing students’ knowledge and improving their attitudes about AIDS.

Chan Lydia Lai Seng, University of Oxford

Sylva Kathy, University of Oxford

Research into the assessment of young language learners is a relatively new field of endeavour. In Hong Kong, there is a growing need for the identification and development of appropriate English language assessments for use with young Chinese children. The absence of such instruments not only has a profound impact on our ability to assess children for diagnostic or placement purposes, but also impedes attempts to evaluate a variety of teaching programmes.

This study explored widely recognised Early English language assessments developed for use with preschool children in U.K., and investigated whether they were appropriate and useful for the assessment of ESL children in Hong Kong. The objective was not to compare Hong Kong children with their British counterparts, but rather the focus was on the validity and sensitivity of the instruments. It is recognised that there may be various factors affecting the accurate assessment of L2 children using L1 instruments, but it is important to first test out these instruments in order to decide whether or not to adapt these tools or to develop an alternative scale altogether.

The convenience sample consisted of approximately 75 normally developing 4-year-old children (mean age = 4:6; SD = 5.89) from a Kindergarten in Hong Kong. All of the children were enrolled in bilingual (Chinese and English) Kindergarten programmes. The children’s performance on the selected English language assessments (British Picture Vocabulary Scale II, Phonological Awareness and Letter Identification) was compared against their performance on a nonverbal cognitive measure (Pattern Construction subscale of the British Ability Scales II) and relevant teacher ratings of their English abilities. The progression of item difficulty was also examined, as well as the appropriateness and relevance of individual test items to Hong Kong children.

Ngai Grace, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Chan Stephen, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Ng Vincent, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Leong Hong-va, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

It is a well-acknowledged fact that introductory courses constitute some of the most difficult courses for instructors in any computer science or engineering program, due to the mix of programming backgrounds and abilities. In addition, the transition from secondary school to university is not always an easy one for students; changes such as the mode of teaching and style of learning add to students’ stress and frustrations. As a result, many of them find introductory programming courses difficult and uninteresting, and some may even drop out of the program as a result. However, as the principles taught in these courses are fundamental to the field, it is important that students are stimulated and challenged, but not intimidated, by these courses.

In this paper, we present our experience with employing the principles of over-learning and active learning in introductory computer science teaching at the university level. Specifically, we discuss our experience with COMP 201: Introduction to Programming, the only mandatory programming class in the Computing curriculum at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. We had four goals in mind when we instituted this mode of teaching: firstly, we wanted to assist students as they negotiate the learning curve and enable them to become “fluent” in programming as soon as possible. Secondly, we want to stimulate their interest in computer programming, and computer science in general. Thirdly, for those of our students who are direct entrants into university from secondary school, we wish to ease their transition into university learning. Finally, we wanted to ensure that our course would better satisfy the excellent “Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education”, as laid out by Chickering & Gamson (1987).

We offered the aforementioned course in its new mode on a trial basis during the Fall Semester in 2005-06, with an overwhelmingly positive response from the students. We will present details of how we implemented the course and managed our resources, together with results and feedback that demonstrate the efficacy of our approach. Finally, we will present new ideas and approaches that we intend to implement in the future.

Seow Anthony T. C., Nanyang Technological University

Curriculum development has to move in tandem and in a practical way with the ever changing societal needs and global trends in order to stay relevant and competitive at all times. This paper shows that curriculum development could occur at three levels of implementation and that it is at the school level that changes to the curriculum are most profound.

With the continuing interest and debate on a thinking curriculum, since 1997, “Thinking Schools, Learning Nation” has been the buzzword for educational institutions in Singapore. Implicit in a national document of the same title are a number of poignant educational messages which are now being translated into national initiatives and realized in stages in the Singapore school curriculum. This visionary document looks many years ahead into the future for how educational institutions, as thinking schools for transforming the country into a learning nation, can remain relevant and are able to keep pace with, if not ahead of, current trends and competition.

This paper examines the various educational initiatives that have been incorporated in today’s English Language curriculum in Singapore and how the schools are coping with the rapidly changing educational landscape. Elsewhere, it has also been widely acknowledged that “the ability to learn, to reason, to think creatively, to make decisions, and to solve problems” should be an educational norm (Moss, undated, cited in Henson, 2001:345; highlighting, my own).

Schools are beginning to realize that education is more than just being taught academic subjects; it is also a preparation for life, for sustained learning beyond school. The challenge for Singapore schools is how well we understand by “Thinking Schools, Learning Nation”, and for many it is certainly more than just another educational slogan. It is necessary for us to take constant stock of education and ensure continuous progress.

Yang Xiaolin , Shenyang Normal University

Shi Chengyuan , Shenyang Normal University

Sun Hechuan , Shenyang Normal University

Educational inspection is a fundamental mode which implements scientific administration to education in the modern world. In addition, educational inspectorate system has become an essential part in modern educational administration. Given the importance of the inspectorate system in education, this paper tries to compare the three different aspects of the national inspectorate systems in the United Kingdom, France and China. It consists of five parts: (a). The historical development of the educational inspectorate systems in the United Kingdom (UK), France and China; (b). The status quo of the educational inspectorate systems in the UK, France and China, including the roles and responsibilities of the inspectors, the inspectional functions and scopes, the strategies and methods used by the educational inspectors in these three countries; ©. The implications of this study for policymaking and practice.

To Wah Tong, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Wong L T, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Mui K W, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Assessment is an important part of the teaching and learning process. Assessment allows the instructor to assess the understanding of the students on subject matters taught. Essay type questions with calculation components are reckoned to be an accurate tool of assessment and have become the typical examination and test format in many universities worldwide. Multiple choice questions has the advantage that marking can be done very quickly and rapid feedback can be given to students. In the case of online multiple choice questions tests, the test result can be obtained immediately after the test. If it was found that the correlation between the multiple choice questions to that of examination is as good as the conventional essay type of questions, we can use it to assess the students with good confidence that it will accurately indicate the students’ performance. In a first year engineering subject at the department of Building Services Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the author has attempted different types of tests at different years over a 4 year’s period. The test results are compared with the examination results for the respective years. The purpose of the comparison is to find out whether there is good correlation between the different types of tests to that of examinations.

Lam Tak Shing John, The Hong Kong Institute of Education

Curriculum here is defined in terms of Pinar’s (1974) and Pinar & Grumet’s (1976) notion of ‘currere’ which means ‘to run the course’. It is an experiential journey in which teachers and students alike can discover their self and identity and thus enhance their understanding of their passage through life. And also for reflexive persons, deepened understanding of the running will bring forth deepened agency. If put in a context of curriculum autonomy and agency for teachers, the term means curriculum will provide the teachers with the ‘space’ and ‘place’ (Miller, 1990) for their personal and professional growth and development. Likewise, in a child-centred fashion, teachers can design curriculum that will be conducive to the personal and academic development of their students. In the end, it would approximate to a ‘journeying together’ for teachers and students on their quest for meaning, identity and self-actualization in life. In this paper, this notion is alluded to a term first used by Giddens (1991) —self as a reflexive project. Transplanting this notion to the arena of curriculum making, it means teachers will autonomously reflect on, experiment with, review and refine their curriculum thinking and practice so as to ultimately reach self-actualization. This notion will be illustrated with some examples excerpted from the findings of a two-year study done locally by the writer on teachers’ personal theory and theorizing. Three out of a total of 8 teachers/principals in the study showed signs of treating curriculum as a reflexive project. In dire contrast to a technocratic paradigm of perceiving teacher professionalism, curriculum development and other educational issues, curriculum as a self-reflexive project dwells more on the Self-oriented paradigm. It is argued in this paper that for such self-oriented paradigm of teacher professional and curriculum development, some corresponding school organizational structures should be put in place. One of the four local schools studied shows that a three-tier model of ‘Experimenting—Platform building—Policy formulation’ can be one of the possible avenues for schools to acculturate curriculum as a self-reflexive project in their school ethos and structures. Other implications for teacher education, school-based curriculum development, and curriculum leadership will be made. The advantages and disadvantages of this notion in comparison with the technocratic mode of teachers’ professional development in curriculum matters will also be briefly discussed.

Lumley Tom, Australian Council for Educational Research

Australia is undergoing significant reform to its frameworks for curriculum, assessment and reporting at both primary and secondary level. Prominent amongst new developments in some Australian states is a focus on cross-disciplinary domains of learning, such as ‘thinking processes’, ‘personal learning’ and ‘interpersonal learning’. These domains are described separately from the traditional disciplinary domains. This presentation will describe the context for the program of reform before considering issues arising from two associated projects related to assessment and reporting for the new cross-disciplinary domains. The first of these projects set out to provide guidance for teachers on completing new student report cards, one requirement of which is for students to develop and monitor personal learning goals. The second project aims to provide samples of student work in response to classroom assessment tasks in order to illustrate different levels of achievement for these cross-disciplinary domains.

Sandra-Segeram Charmini, Nanyang Technological University

Lim S. E. Audrey, The Hong Kong Institute of Education

Genre analysis is a technique of identifying text structure (conventional aspects of language use within a text associated with particular prose types (Bhatia, 1993). Research on reading has shown that 5 different types of expository text structure affect reading comprehension (Meyer, 1982). Students who organized their recall of text according to a text structure remembered more content including main ideas and supporting sentences did better on a True/False test based on content of passage. Freedman (1995) explains what is meant by ‘explicit teaching of genre: explicit discussions specifying the formal features of the genres and/or articulating the underlying rules.’ Coe (1994) has identified several steps in teaching a particular genre. This paper will explore the feasibility of genre analysis as a basis for English language teaching in Secondary and Upper Primary schools. A case will be argued for the use of genre analysis to help students to identify common elements of text organization patterns, language and vocabulary associated with different genres (narrative, descriptive, expository, argumentative) and how teachers can apply genre analysis as a means for the selection of texts appropriate for English language teaching, especially at the Upper primary and beyond, to facilitate reading comprehension and writing. The presentation will outline the steps involved in teaching a particular unit based on the principle of genre analysis.

Ong Ai Choo, Nanyang Technological University

There is increasing understanding among educators that children’s social emotional learning should be promoted in school, if not given equal emphasis to academic achievement. Research evidence indicates that enhancing social and emotional skills of children provides a firm foundation for their successful cognitive and behavioural development, and that social and emotional skills are in fact essential for the successful development of thinking and learning activities. This paper first describes a framework for social emotional learning, its key components and features, and appropriate teaching methods, including cognitive and affective methods. It also demonstrates how SEL may be infused into the formal and informal curriculum. Finally it describes the implementation of an SEL programme in two primary schools, in which a total of 35 pupils participated in the programme. A brief description and evaluation of the programme is provided, including reflections on major lessons learned from the project.

Pereira Mary Delfin, University of Notre Dame Australia

The purpose of this paper is to describe the Literature-Driven English Programme (LDEP) that was implemented in Singapore as part of a curriculum initiative to enhance English Language skills. The LDEP was designed and was implemented in four diverse secondary schools in Singapore over a span of five to six weeks during 2004. The sample provided, within and across the schools, different levels of performance in a graded situation; multiple teachers and classes; and control and experimental conditions for the curriculum implementation. Thus, the effectiveness of the curriculum was tested in naturalistic conditions with all the variables left intact. The findings from the research suggest that the LDEP had been effective in enhancing the language skills of the Secondary One students in the four diverse schools.

This paper includes the literature reviewed before the LDEP was designed. It also details the conceptual framework of the programme and compares the programme with the Literature-based English Curriculum. Comparison is also made between the LDEP and the Russian researcher, Bakhtin’s dialogic approach to teaching grammar. Additionally, the advantages and limitations of the programme are offered along with suggestions for further improvements to be made to the LDEP.

Chan Kam Wing, The Hong Kong Institute of Education

Heterogeneous groups are usually used in cooperative learning to structure positive interdependence among the members for complementing and helping each other’s learning. It is not uncommon to find in heterogeneous groups, students of different ability, gender, interests and socio-economic status. Supporters of heterogeneous groups claim that the performance of low ability pupils improves (Webb & Cullian, 1983) because these pupils receive more elaborated explanations from their high ability peers about the learning materials. High ability pupils can also benefit in heterogeneous groups because in the giving of elaborated explanations to the low ability peers, they reorganize and clarify information in different ways, which enhances the development of meta-cognition (Webb, 1992). This paper argues that these benefits will not come about automatically when students are put in heterogeneous groups. Although positive interdependence and individual accountability can motivate group members to interact with each other, diversity in needs and interests may counteract the motivation, affecting the quality and quantity of interaction. Based on a case study of two primary schools, the author found that students encountered many problems in heterogeneous groups such as quarrels, conflicts, frustration and lost of interest in learning. Although quarrels and conflicts could be handled by the students themselves after they had learnt to use social skills to reduce the level of confrontation in their groups, frustration and lost of interest in learning still lingered on. Alternative strategies of grouping students on a friendly or homogeneous basis are suggested. Teachers are drawn to the flaws of cooperative learning and the subsequent importance of team building before cooperative learning is introduced as an instructional practice.

Chen Yu-Kai, National Kaohsiung Normal University

Yang Kun-Yuan, Chung Yuan Christian University

Often when technology skills are taught to children, the computer application becomes the focus in the class. However, the practical application of these technology skills in their daily environment is not evident to the students, and the skills taught can be easily forgotten. Students retain their learning best when they can internalize the skills to an intrinsic need. By using a theme-based approach to computer education, children acquire computing skills while completing exciting projects that they can remember.

Theme-based Learning is a unique approach to teaching technology skills where students complete projects that focus around problem solving tasks. They learn computing skills as they complete activities such as solving a mystery, publishing a magazine, becoming a travel agent, or creating a multimedia storyboard. Theme-based Learning is personally meaningful to students. This is because everyone in the class is learning the same technology skill, however within the boundaries of the project each student can select a topic based on their interests.

In a Theme-based Learning environment, technology is used as a tool to solve a problem in each project. By focusing on the topic, and not the technology skills, critical and creative thinking is promoted by using the computer as a problem solving tool. Lessons will become more interesting, and students will benefit from both book knowledge and computer knowledge at the same time. Regardless of the learning styles of each individual student, each one will be excited and engaged through Theme-based Learning.

In this workshop, we will demonstrate several short lessons spanning the ages of five to 16 using this Theme-based Learning approach. Hands-on trial sessions will also be made available for participants.

Wiriyachitra Arunee, Chiang Mai University

English Programs of high ability students can be developed through a good curriculum , different approaches of teaching and learning and stimulating experience.

High ability students have different learning styles from ordinary students. First, they have extremely high motivation. When they learn about something they would go deeply into the content. They would never give up until they have fulfilled their quest of knowledge. Second , they like to be challenged ;otherwise, they would easily lost interest. These characteristics are far different from those of ordinary students . It is, therefore, counterproductive to put these high ability students in the same class as the ordinary ones. As a result, there are pilot projects that are developed especially for these students.

This paper reports the research project on managing an English program for the high ability upper-secondary school students in English in Northern Thailand. It demonstrates the process of the program management. The process includes a selection of schools and students, the curriculum planning,teaching, learning and evaluation procedure. It also shows the results of the effectiveness of the program reflected in the students' development both in cognitive and metacognitive domains. The results also include the opinions of the students, teachers, administrators, and parents towards the program and the problems the program have faced.

Kuek Cheow Teck Marcus, Chung Cheng High School

Munirah Shaik Kadir, Chung Cheng High School

Prasanthee Rajendram, Chung Cheng High School

The Thinking Schools Learning Nation (TSLN) was implemented in 1997. This initiative calls for a change in the way teachers teach their pupils. Thus, the Project Work (PW) initiative was formally launched in all schools in Singapore in the year 2000 by the Ministry of Education. This initiative has caused much change in the landscape of Singapore’s education system. PW aims to allow pupils to transfer ideas from one context to another and to make creative connections between different fields (knowledge applications). Furthermore, through PW, pupils are also given the opportunity to work in teams (collaboration skill), reflect and evaluate their own performance and communicate ideas (communication skill) effectively. All these will better prepare our pupils for their future challenges and thereby achieving TSLN initiative.

However, many teachers, even after going through well-developed teacher-training programme, were apprehensive and fearful when asked to conduct project work with their pupils. This paper gives an evolution of PW in our school since the year 2000, thereby discussing some of these observable issues (such as classroom management and project crafting) faced by teachers and how our school addresses them over the years.

Tongsakul Anuvat, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi

Jitgarun Kalayanee, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi

Purposes of this research were to study general status of electrical power instructors, and to construct regression equation or prediction of variables affecting Project-Based Learning (PBL). The sample chosen for this study were 247 of electrical power instructors at vocational education institutes. The instrument used for data collection was a 7-rating scale questionnaire. The reliability of the instrument calculated by Cronbach Alpha Coefficient was 0.9839. The data was analyzed by using Mean ( ), Standard Deviation (S.D.), t-test, F-test, correlation coefficient, and multiple regression analysis. Results of the study were as follows. (1) Scientific Process, Interesting/ Attention, and Multiple Intelligence affecting the Project-Based Learning as perceived by electrical power instructors. (2) The independent variables or predicting variables that was chosen as part of regression equation or predicting equation were three variables according to priority of significance: Scientific Process (X4), Interesting/ Attention (X3), and Multiple Intelligence (X2). Correlation Coefficient between the prediction variables and Project-Based Learning was 0.975. The regression equation or the predicting on Project-Based Learning in type of raw score was:

Y = 0.474+0.336 X4+0.325 X3+0.254 X2

The regression equation or the prediction equation on the Project-Based Learning, in type standard score was:

Y = 0.380X4+0.404X3+0.282X2

The prediction equation had the power of prediction 95% and error of prediction was 20.11%.

Liu Kun-Shia, National Sun Yat-sen University

Cheng Ying-Yao, National Sun Yat-sen University

Lin Huann-Shyang, National Hualien University of Education

Chen Chiu-Chan, National Sun Yat-sen University

Yen Chia-Ling, National Sun Yat-sen University

Subject matter in science developed by science competition awarded teachers can be applied to science teaching and to facilitate students’ creativity and problem solving (Cheng & Liu, 2005). Along with our previous research projects (Cheng, Wang, & Chang, 2002, 2003; Cheng, Wang, & Lin, 2005), the purpose of this study was to develop creative subject matter in science for the sixth grade. Seven science competition awarded teachers were recruited as a team. Among them, five were awarded science competition champion more than five times in Kaohsiung city, and three were writing committee members of science textbooks. According to the creative thinking instruction model, they initiated three teaching units, simple machinery, burning, and weather change. They then met regularly to modify the three units for future application. Three major characteristics can be found in these creative teaching materials: (a) they were designed according to the creative thinking instruction model; (b) students’ real-life experiences were incorporated as the themes of situational problems; and © the teaching practice proceeded with cooperative learning and direct operation. These three units not only meet the competence indicators of science and technology learning area in the Grade 1-9 Curriculum, but also are in accordance with the subjects of most commercial science textbooks. They can be applied to current science teaching and to promote creativity education.

Yu Wai Mui Christina, The Hong Kong Institute of Education

Man Wing Yan Thomas, The Hong Kong Institute of Education

While constructivist, learner-centred approaches are considered to be more effective than traditional, teacher-centred approaches for the delivery of enterprise education for the youth, the majority of the current focus has been concentrated upon the uses of experiential learning without much attention to the social interactions within the learning process of enterprise education activities. Social interaction is also known as educational interaction when it occurs in small social units and in forms of face-to-face interaction (Vanderstraeten, 2004). Through social interaction, participants act in different ways in response to the stimulus raised in the social unit. It is able to create a new level of learning on the basis of participants’ stimulus. However, the interactive nature of enterprise education has received relatively less attention even though social interactions are considered to be critical in the learning process. As an effort to address this issue, we conducted an empirical study to investigate the development of social interactions and their impacts on developing students’ entrepreneurial characteristics throughout an enterprise education activity which is called the Teen Entrepreneurs Competition (TEC).

All 420 participants of TEC were the population of this study. With the use of a mixed approach involving both quantitative and qualitative methods for data collection and analysis, the development and impacts of four key types of social interactions were investigated, including the interactions with team members, activity facilitators, school teachers and other business stakeholders during the venturing process. The findings showed that the participants’ entrepreneurial characteristics such as decision making and risk management would be developed and enhanced through the four key types of social interactions. The findings also provided useful insights for enhancing non-classroom based activities and authentic learning in other teaching contexts. The results complement the existing literature on enterprise education by extending the current focus on the experiential aspect towards the interactive aspect during the learning process. It is recommended that enterprise education activities should maximize participants’ social interaction opportunities and facilitate participants to reflect upon their social interactions for a better learning.