Pedagogical Approaches for Tech Education

19 March 2026

A lifelong 'maker', Timothy's interests in both teaching and research, are in the teaching of science with an integrative approach, STEM integration and the use of design-and-make activities. He has always been keen to develop learning resources and laboratory activities that cater to the integrated, interdisciplinary teaching of the natural sciences in schools. In particular, he is interested in approaches that in recent years have become defined as 'maker culture', such as where learners learn science by building their own instrumentation or devices. He is also interested in the use of technology in science education, such as using connected internet of things (IoT) sensors for data acquisition and analysis for applied learning; and in the use of 360-degree video media for immersive learning environments (ILE). Timothy teaches pre-service curriculum studies in Computer Applications (CPA) and Primary Science, selected in-service courses in Primary and Lower Secondary Science, as well as undergraduate academic subject courses in molecular genetics and biotechnology. He is also part of the team at the meriSTEM@NIE Centre. Timothy's broad portfolio is both reflected in and possible because of his background. He obtained a BSc (Honours) in Biochemistry and worked at Tan Tock Seng Hospital as a Medical Technologist prior to receiving his MSc from NIE/NTU for his work on the serological diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Working full-time in NIE since 2003, his focus transitioned to teaching and learning of science and he eventually obtained his PhD in Science Education from NIE/NTU.

Timothy is a Council Member of the Singapore Association for the Advancement of Science (SAAS), and a member of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), European Science Education Research Association (ESERA), Australian Science Education Research Association (ASERA), International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA), and The Singapore Institute of Biology (SIBiol). He has been on the Organising Committee for the International Science Education Conference (ISEC), Singapore (2006, 2009, 2014, 2018, 2021), Organising Committee of the International Biology Olympiad held in Singapore (2012), as well as past Editor of the SIBiol Bulletin (2007-2010), past Honorary Treasurer (2003-2006), Council Member (2006-2013) of SIBiol.

Edwin Chng is an assistant professor of science education at the National Institute of Education (NIE), Singapore. At present, Edwin teaches both biology education and computing education courses in NIE. Prior to joining NIE, Edwin was trained as a secondary school Physics and Biology teacher in Singapore. During his time as a schoolteacher, Edwin has had teaching and curriculum leadership experience in two local secondary schools, as well as a short research analyst stint in Research & Management Information Division, Ministry of Education, Singapore.

Edwin’s current research interest lies in the extraction of relevant student information from classrooms to support evidence-based intervention strategies. As such, he works primarily in the fields of multimodal learning analytics, educational data mining, and artificial intelligence (AI) in education. With the use of student pose and gaze data, Edwin has studied how students collaborate and how teachers facilitate in open-ended learning environments such as makerspaces. With the use of computer vision, Edwin has examined the deployment of AI agents to support science teachers with informed pedagogical and technological considerations. Overall, Edwin is interested in the educated use of technological innovations to augment teaching and learning in traditional classrooms.

Academic Background

• PhD in Education, Harvard University (USA)


• MSc in Computational Science and Engineering, Harvard University (USA)


• Postgraduate Diploma in Education, National Institute of Education (Singapore)


• MASt in Applied Mathematics, University of Cambridge (UK)


• BSc in Physics with Theoretical Physics, Imperial College London (UK)

Peter Seow is a Lecturer/Research Scientist in the Office of Education Research in NIE. With his computer science background, he has been studying how students can develop Computational Thinking competencies though physical computing such as the micro:bit boards and unplugged approaches to develop computing concepts. He is deeply involved in the design of constructionist approaches such as tinkering where students can develop concepts and knowledge through creating physical and virtual artefacts that can iteratively reflected, revised and improved to be shared with others. Not only is he interested in how students develop science concepts through tinkering activities but also their social-emotional competencies such as self-efficacy, resilience and social development.

Yong Sim has been with the Natural Sciences and Science Education (NSSE) Academic Group of NIE/NTU as a lecturer since 2016. He was also with NSSE AG/NIE/NTU as a Teaching Fellow for 3 years from 2011 to 2013. He received his Master of Education (MEd) and Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) with Distinction from NIE/NTU and BEng (Hons) from School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering from NTU. He was awarded NIE NEXUS Award (Team) in 2020 and NIE Excellence in Teaching Commendation Award in 2019 & 2023.

Prior to joining NIE/NTU, Yong Sim was with the Ministry of Education (Singapore) where he taught in secondary schools between 2004 to 2015. Yong Sim held the position of Senior Teacher and has experience in mentoring teachers. He is committed to work involving Design & Technology (D&T) education in the secondary schools and shared his professional practices to many D&T teachers in numerous D&T sharing platforms.