This paper explores the impact of test-taking conditions on the quality of the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) assessment. Interviewers record information about the room of assessment and interruptions that occurred during each interview. These observations, along with information on interviewer assignment…

Research tells us that reading is correlated to academic achievement but how do we motivate students to read? How can schools build reading cultures? Through the case study of a government secondary school in Singapore, I examine how attention to the invisible network of resources that support reading can provide insight into students' resources…

We explored the social shaping of science at the micro-level reality of face-to-face interaction in one of the traditional places for scientific activities--the scientific lab. We specifically examined how doctoral students' perception of their: (i) interaction with doctoral mentors (MMI) and (ii) lab social environment (LSE) influenced…

The rise of interest in the learning organization (LO) concept attests to the value of learning by individuals and organizations for continuous improvement and adaptability to the ever-changing environment. Although the LO concept originated from business contexts, it was subsequently extended to educational organizations, particularly to schools.…

While more women than ever now participate in the paid workforce, it still can be hard to find women in top leadership positions. To understand why so few women are in top leadership positions, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) set out to understand what factors help women achieve leadership…

This study investigates and compares elements of creativity in secondary schools and classrooms in Australia and Singapore. Statistical analysis and qualitative investigation of teacher, student and leadership perceptions of the emergence, fostering and absence of creativity in school learning environments is explored. This large-scale…

Drawing upon insights gained from the extant work on culture and pedagogy, this paper explores the ways in which, in an ostensibly meritocratic education system, ideas about students' cultural backgrounds and its relevance for teaching are interpreted, negotiated, and ultimately drawn upon to engage students in the low-progress academic tracks.…

This paper presents an analysis of English language (EL) education from the perspectives of Japanese and non-Japanese professionals in Singapore, based on their experiences of "doing business" in Singapore. As established career business people, the perspectives of Japanese participants offer a retrospective evaluation of their…

This study marries collaborative problem solving and learning study in understanding the onset of a cycle of teacher professional development process within school-based professional learning communities (PLCs). It aimed to explore how a PLC carried out collaborative problem finding--a key process involved in collaborative problem solving--that…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore patterns of importance ratings of managerial competencies in 22 countries in different regions around the globe, to guide specificity in assessing and developing managers in multiple geographies. Additionally, this study examined the utility of clustering countries based on shared culture, as…

The social situation of development (SSD) specific to each age determines regularly the whole picture of the child's life. Therefore, we need to learn about the whole context surrounding children relevant to their development. The focus of the study is to understand parent's views on infant-toddler's science concept formation in the family…

The paper intends to develop a student-centered and school-based method to incorporate computer game play (GP) and game design (GD) activities into school by discovering students' views about why and how to incorporate. The paper first critiques the current GP and GD activities, which are designer-centric on a touch-and-go basis, falling short of…

This paper shares the theoretical and methodological frameworks that are deployed in a 3-year study to examine how Singapore primary school students leverage on mobile technology for seamless learning. This notion of seamless learning refers to the integrated and synergistic effects of learning in both formal and informal settings, which is…

This study describes the profile of and relationships between adaptive skills and the maladaptive behaviors exhibited by adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) attending special schools in Singapore. Parents of 20 adolescents with ASD attending special schools completed the Development Behavior Checklist (DBC; Einfeld & Tonge, 1995;…

Social capital--the social relations between people--is an important component of the family environment and is crucial for the creation of human capital for the next generation. Drawing on James S. Coleman's theory of family capital, this study focuses on parents' utilization of social capital to support children's literacy acquisition in four…