Mixed effects on pupils of different abilities (Opinion, Page A22)

Wednesday, 27 July 2016

The Straits Times

In today’s edition of The Straits Times, there was an article contribution by Dr Kelvin Seah Kah Cheng, a lecturer from the Department of Economics at the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, in which he discussed the replacement of the current PSLE T-score system with the eight wider grade bands from 2021. Dr Seah opined that the recent changes are likely to blunt competition for top scorers but may lead parents of pupils with average ability to push them harder. He added that how parents will respond to the new scoring system will depend on three factors: where they view their child on the academic distribution; how averse they are to risks; and how variable is the child’s past performance.

Click here to read on the article.

 

Panel to document Malay-Muslim community history (Page 11)

Sunday, 17 July 2016

Berita Minggu

It was reported that Dr Azhar Ibrahim, Lecturer from the Department of Malay Studies at NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, will be leading a panel to document the oral histories of the Malay-Muslim community together with a former judge, Mr Abdul Rahim Jalil. It was mentioned that the National Library Board and the National Archives of Singapore have conducted nearly 400 oral interviews with Malay-Muslim personalities in the community. The panel will advise on the themes to be covered and propose other personalities to be added to the list.

Click here to read the article in Malay.

Failure of US ‘economic democratisation’

Tuesday, 12 July 2016

The Korea Times

This was an article contribution by Associate Professor Shin Jang-Sup from the Department of Economics at NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, and former adviser to Korea’s finance minister, in which he examined how economic democratisation originated in the U.S. and how it has been practiced in Korea. Assoc Prof Shin opined that the main task of the Korean government is to find concrete ways to achieve equitable distribution while maintaining economic dynamism in the context of the Korean economy, rather than sticking to the ambiguous term of economic democratisation and attempting to implant the failures of the U.S. in Korea without critical assessment.

Click here to read the article.

Expert: Hang Tuah existed, ruled Temasek (Page 6) 

Monday, 11 July 2016

Berita Harian

This was a feature on the views and research work of two NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences researchers – Associate Professor John Miksic from the Department of Southeast Asian Studies, and Dr Azhar Ibrahim, from the Department of Malay Studies – on the existence and historical importance of Hang Tuah, an illustrious warrior of the 15th Century Malaccan Sultanate. Assoc Prof Miksic shared that in addition to Malay history, Hang Tuah was also often mentioned in various foreign sources such as documents and correspondence from China and Okinawa in Japan. Dr Azhar, who teaches texts about Hang Tuah in a Malay literature module, opined that Hang Tuah’s existence has become a mythology and legend, and its text was created by the feudal class to promote Malay nationalism by portraying Hang Tuah as the perfect Malay subject who was unconditionally loyal to the Sultanate.

Click here and here to read the article in Malay.

FASS Psychology Student Adalyn Heng Wins 2016 University Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Prize

FASS Highlights_OURP 2016-PhotoWe are delighted that Adalyn Heng from the Department of Psychology has been selected by the NUS as the sole FASS winner of the 2016 Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Prize (OURP), on the basis of her recent honours thesis research mentored by Dr Stephen Lim, Director of the NUS Cognition and Education Laboratory.

The researchers comment: “In educational settings, the ability to ask good questions is critical. In this study, we explored the extent to which retrieval practice can enhance learners’ ability to generate higher-order questions. Participants were randomly allocated to one of two learning groups, wherein they either studied a text per se (S_S_) or used a combination of repeated studying and repeated retrieval (SRSR). They returned a week later and generated questions based on the text which they had studied. We observed that participants in the SRSR group asked significantly more higher-order questions than did those in the S_S_ group. This observation has important implications for how we might improve classroom engagement and learning in the real world.”

In addition, Adalyn shares her research experience: “I have learnt the importance of reflection in the research process. At times, making progress on research requires one to take a step back to reflect on and reconnect with one’s initial purpose of embarking on the project. For example, the research process is often fraught with various methodological challenges, ranging from selecting (or developing) experimental materials, specifying the experimental task and conditions, to deciding what statistical tool to use to analyze the data. In addressing these methodological challenges, it is important to stay connected to the overarching purpose of the research and to not lose sight of the larger picture, which in this instance, is to ultimately enhance pedagogical practices. I owe what I have achieved thus far to Dr Lim’s patience and generosity in mentoring and nurturing me. I am beyond grateful.”

We extend our congratulations to Adalyn and Dr Lim!