Assoc Prof Lee Ngan Hoe’s Research Project Findings Inform A Book Chapter and Two Seminar Presentations

Assoc Prof Lee Ngan Hoe, Assoc Prof in the Mathematics & Mathematics Education Academic Group (MME) at NIE, is the Principal Investigator of the research project “Constructivist Learning Design for Singapore Secondary Mathematics Curriculum”. This project, while still in progress, is already seeing its research efforts bear fruit. Thus far, a publication and two presentations have resulted from the research findings.

The publication, titled “Realising Constructivist Learning Design in the teaching of Gradients of Curve” was authored by Co-principal Investigator Asst Prof Zhu Ying, MME Asst Prof, project collaborator Mdm Pang Yen Ping, Master Teacher (Secondary Mathematics) at the Academy of Singapore Teachers (AST), and Mr Md Sultan Karimshah, Teacher at Gan Eng Seng School. It was published as a chapter in the book series Mathematics Teaching in Singapore: Theory-informed Practices.

On 16 September 2020, the “Constructivist Learning Design Seminar: Promoting Metacognition In, Assessment As, and Joy of Mathematics Learning” was held in collaboration with the Centre for Teaching and Learning Excellence at Yusof Ishak Secondary School. The aims of the seminar were to promote the joy of mathematics learning and examine metacognition and assessment from the perspective of a Constructivist Learning Design (CLD) approach towards lesson planning. Attended by 200 teacher-participants (via Zoom), the session saw members of the project research team helming three concurrent sessions.

Co-principal Investigators Dr Cheng Lu Pien, MME Senior Lecturer, and Ms Gayatri Balakrishnan, Senior Mathematics Curriculum Specialist at the Curriculum Planning & Development Division (CPDD) in the Ministry of Education (MOE), and project collaborator Mr Chew Chong Kiat, AST Master Teacher (Secondary Mathematics), shared how teacher professional development could be carried out in the secondary schools using CLD, and how CLD could be employed in the design and implementation of the secondary mathematics curriculum. The seminar closed with a keynote address by Assoc Prof Lee, discussing the careful and sound planning needed in CLD lessons to achieve the goals of the mathematics curriculum, such as learning for the 21^st century, and peer learning among teachers within the fraternity to address a change of mindset towards teaching and learning.

Additionally, Assoc Prof Lee, Ms Balakrishnan, and Co-principal Investigator Dr Cynthia Seto, AST Principal Master Teacher (Primary Mathematics), shared their research at the annual MOE Research Forum for Research and Practice on 7 October 2020. The project was identified as a showcase of the strong collaboration between NIE, CPDD, and AST, an example of the MOE-NIE research-nexus, and as a possible model for the fulfilment of the research-practice nexus. The speakers focused on the collaborative tripartite relationship among policy, practice, and research in sustaining the CLD in the mathematics classroom, demonstrating the research efforts in increasing the reach and sustainability of the research findings for informing policy and practice.

Speakers, in order from top to bottom: Ms Balakrishnan, Assoc Prof Lee, and Dr Seto