Signature Models |
||
These Signature Models are being articulated as part of several multi-year research projects that investigate a range of theoretical and classroom issues that relate to how Singapore students may learn the challenging knowledge and thinking skills that are necessary in the new century. The projects in LSL Signature Models leverage existing foundational work within the field of the learning sciences, such as advanced learning technologies, classroom and professional development resources, school-based research, design principles for learning environments, and alternative assessment techniques, as well as conduct innovative research in these areas. New Literacies Models New Literacies Models focus on digital age literacies that are grounded in participatory forms of critical discourse, identity construction, and social practice. Moving beyond functional approaches to reading and writing, research projects into new literacies adopt a socio-cultural approach to the study of language, text, and discourse based on the view that reading and writing only make sense when studied in the context of social, cultural, historical, political, and economic practices of which the students are a part. The new literacies emphasize not only the operational aspects of reading and writing, including the forms of reading and writing mediated by new media and technology, but also their cultural and critical dimensions. The cultural dimension helps students learn how to make and grasp meanings in a manner appropriate to context and practice, while the critical dimension helps students become aware that all discourse and text embeds a “point of view” that arises through social construction. The new literacies are aligned with the concepts and ideals associated with “critical literacy,” “technoliteracy,” “multiliteracies,” “higher order literacies,” and “new media literacies.” Research projects in New Literacies Models will explore pedagogies, technologies, and learning environments that are designed to help students engage in meaning making practices that foster the development of personal identity and that empower the individual. Representative Projects and Schools
 Science as Systems Models The conduct of science in the 21st century varies profoundly from the ways that science is taught in the vast majority of pre-college classrooms in Singapore and around the world. Scientists primarily study natural phenomena as systems using scientific instrumentation with computational modeling and visualization technologies in order to understand the real world for which events and actions have multiple causes and consequences. Further, new scientific conceptual perspectives and methods allow important behaviors of systems that were systematically ignored or over-simplified by classical science to now be included as basic elements in scientific investigations of physical phenomena. Given the unfortunate situation whereby many students view science as rote memorization of isolated and decontextualized facts for which they often see little use in their daily lives, having students actively investigate science as systems is highly motivating and well-suited to problem- and inquiry-centered learning approaches. In addition, with the increasing power and decreasing cost of computational systems capable of visualizations and computational modeling, it is becoming possible for students and teachers to have access to new tools that are effectively identical to computational science tools scientists use to investigate scientific systems. Research projects associated with the Science as Systems Signature Model attempt to capitalize on students’ natural interests in the world around them that contain countless examples physical, biological, and social systems and to investigate ways to introduce 21st century scientific ideas and computational modeling tools as part of science inquiry activities in Singapore schools. Representative Projects and Schools
 Mathematics & Problem-Solving Models The research projects associated with the Mathematics & Problem-Solving Model focus on helping students to develop strong conceptual foundations in mathematical reasoning and problem-solving. They seek to document the use of technology in mathematics learning that improves competence in problem-solving and that develops dispositions of students towards productive mathematical thinking. Pedagogies will be developed based on what we know from current research on technology-enabled mathematics learning, such as the power of visualizations and multiple representations of important mathematics concepts, making mathematics more concrete through designed virtual manipulatives, solving mathematics problems in real-world contexts and with real-world data, and social sense-making as students collaboratively solve problems. The projects in the Mathematics Problem-Solving Model will also explore if there might be payoffs in science learning, as mathematical understanding underpins much of what is happening in secondary and junior college science and in the ability of students to transfer their mathematical understandings when confronted with real world types of problems and situations (e,g., bird flu, AIDS, disaster control). Representative Projects and Schools
 Knowledge Building Community Models Knowledge Building Community Models focus on advancing the frontiers of students’ theories and ideas through the collective efforts of individual students. The concept of knowledge building emphasizes the centrality of ideas in which individual students assume responsibility to work collaboratively with their peers on refining and improving their collective knowledge. In a knowledge building community, each student is viewed as a legitimate contributor to the shared goals of the community as she or he strives towards building up the community’s knowledge. Many knowledge building research projects employ a computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) system to facilitate constructive discourse among students as they share and negotiate for common understanding. Projects related to Knowledge Building Community Models conduct research into how to foster innovative, creative, and critical thinking, and into ways that students may take collective responsibility as they work towards the advancement of their knowledge. Representative Projects and Schools
 Emerging Research & Pedagogies Given the rapid pace of technological change, research projects in the Emerging Technologies and Pedagogies Signature Model are intended to explore ways that new technologies might be used to support or enhance innovative approaches to learning and teaching. Frequently, projects in this Signature Model will investigate how new technologies and pedagogies may be used in subject areas that might not have used computer-mediated learning in the past. Overall, Emerging Technologies and Pedagogies Signature Model projects should inform our initial understandings for how new technological developments may be more quickly adapted for uses that support advanced learning and teaching in Singapore schools. Representative Projects and Schools |
||
 |
||
