In order to fully appreciate the interdisciplinary nature of energy resources, there is a need to understand pertinent issues from other viewpoints besides a purely chemistry perspective. In this paper, the teaching of cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and business databases as part of CM4282: Energy Resources at the Department of Chemistry, National…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine leading from the middle, which is consistent with calls to distribute leadership, while expanding the direction of influence, from the normal top-down to include a bottomup or lateral direction. The paper proposes that the position of the vice-principal enables the role incumbent to lead from the…

Higher education institutions are facing an increasing demand to collaborate with each other in the knowledge economy. Yet, research on how higher education management enhances collaborative work is rare. This paper takes research collaboration as an example and presents a provisional exploration initiated by a higher education institution in…

The emergence of a vibrant literary, culture and arts scene promotes Singapore's claims as a hub for arts and culture in the Asian region, and as a global arts city by the 21st century. The richness and variety of Singapore literature from the early post-colonial years are evident in the evolution of a Singapore literary culture. The diaspora of…

The goal of this research was to understand the various aspects of the action research initiative in the Department of Mathematics and Science, Singapore Polytechnic. A total of 55 lecturers took part in this study and data were collected through semi-structured questionnaires, informal conversations with the lecturers, observations of their…

Here, we look at the enrolments of students in undergraduate mathematics courses in a number of countries. The data show various increases and decreases and we suggest some common reasons for the fluctuations. These include students' goals of a secure and well-paid job, government actions and the state of the economy in the country concerned. We…

What is the nature of middle leadership in primary schools? What are middle leaders' understanding and experiences in leading learning and teaching? Set against the policy context of decentralised centralism in Singapore and an emerging worldwide trend of decentralisation as a means to encourage school-based development and innovation, this study…

This article suggests that there is an overwhelming support for fieldwork among a prominent group of professionals in Singapore. Professionals were surveyed to assess how fieldwork is viewed amongst the subject leaders (heads of departments, subject heads and geography coordinators) and the various stakeholders (school leaders comprising…

Heads of secondary school mathematics department were surveyed to assess their perceptions of how they influence and impact students' performance in mathematics. Survey results showed both agreement and discrepancy between what department heads perceived as actual and optimal activities to enhance instructional improvement, influence student…

This article describes a four-step programme designed to promote the use of cooperative learning among teachers at a Singapore primary school. In the initial step in the programme, teachers at the school were asked if they would like to participate in the programme. Six came forward. In the second step, an outside consultant did a brief workshop…