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This study adapted and validated Barnard's Online Self-Regulated Learning Questionnaire (OSLQ) to assess adult learners' (n = 1302) online self-regulation, and examined its relation with attitude towards online learning and perceived online learning satisfaction. It was found that age and employment status were important demographic factors influencing adult learners' online self-regulation. Specifically, middle- and late-career learners perceived themselves to be more self-regulated than early career learners, and self-employed learners perceived themselves to be more self-regulated than out-of-labour learners. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that online self-regulation contributed to adult learners' perceived online learning satisfaction over and above attitude towards online learning and demographic variables. This suggests that online self-regulation is an important predictor of adult learners' online learning satisfaction. Further, within the subscales of online self-regulation, it was found that the more participants set goals and sought help while learning online, the more satisfied they perceived their online learning. Implications for supporting adult learners' online self-regulation and online learning were discussed.

The role of international students' English language proficiency has been extensively researched to understand its impact on academic achievement in English-medium universities, mainly because of students' non-English-speaking backgrounds. However, the relationship between language proficiency and academic achievement among English-speaking-background students remains under-researched, especially in multilingual societies, such as Singapore. The present study explored the relationship among university students' previous academic experience, English language proficiency, and their current academic performance within a sample of 514 Singaporean students (252 females and 262 males). Findings showed that students' proficiency scores significantly predicted their current grade point average (GPA) with their prior academic performance being controlled. Moreover, proficiency scores significantly strengthened the association between students' prior academic performance and their current GPA. Finally, academic discipline showed a marginally significant moderating effect in the relationship between proficiency scores and current GPA. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed.

This article explicates the conception and evaluation of an information and communications technologies (ICT) professional development process for developing teachers' technological pedagogical content knowledge for 21st century learning. The process emphasizes teachers' prolonged engagement with peers and researchers in design teams. Supported by technological pedagogical content knowledge rubrics and technological pedagogical content knowledge design heuristics, the process enabled teachers to assess their current ICT lessons, set design goals, redesign, implement, and evaluate student learning outcomes, as well as reflect on their pedagogical practices. A year-long implementation study conducted with 37 teachers from a Singapore primary school who were organized into seven lesson design teams found that the process had positive effects on teachers' confidence for technological pedagogical content knowledge for 21st century learning and lesson design practices. Five of the seven design teams were able to make pedagogical changes toward 21st century learning, and six of the teams realized improvement in student learning outcomes. The implications for teacher ICT professional development are discussed.

Teacher education institutions conduct information and communications technology (ICT) courses to prepare preservice teachers (or initial teacher education candidates) to support their teaching practice with appropriate ICT tools. ICT course evaluations based on preservice teachers' perception of course experiences are limited in indicating the kinds of ICT integration knowledge or technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) preservice teachers have gained throughout the course. Preservice teachers' ICT course experiences was found to influence their intentions to integrate ICT but its influence on their TPACK perceptions, if better understood, can inform teacher education institutions about the design of ICT courses. This study describes the design and validation of an ICT course evaluation instrument that examines preservice teachers' perceptions of ICT course experiences and TPACK. Hierarchical regression analysis was performed on survey results collected from a graduating cohort of 869 Singapore preservice teachers who had undergone a compulsory ICT course during their teacher training program. These preservice teachers were being prepared to teach the different subject areas at primary, secondary, and junior colleges (or postsecondary institutions for 17-19 year olds) in Singapore. The regression model showed that preservice teachers' perceived TPACK was first influenced by their perceptions of course experiences that supported the development of intermediary TPACK knowledge components such as technological knowledge and technological pedagogical knowledge. The methodological implications for the design of ICT course evaluation surveys and the practical applications of survey results to the refinement of ICT course curriculum are discussed.

The aim of this study is to investigate the complexity of past experiences with ICT, pedagogical beliefs, and attitude toward ICT in education that the Net Generation student teachers have about their intention to teach and learn with technology. This study has a particular focus on their lived experiences as school students where ICT related policies were actively enacted in Korea and Singapore for the past decade. To unpack the profile of the Net Generation student teachers, we selected six factors (i.e., past ICT experiences, personal computer use, constructivist belief, computer efficacy, attitude toward computer in education, and prospective computer use) related to ICT use and examined them empirically with 225 first- or second-year student teachers in Korea and Singapore. Overall, our findings indicate that student teachers in both countries tend to hold fairly constructivist beliefs and positive computer efficacy and attitude; attributes that teacher educators can tap on. Student teachers' perceptions about their use of computers for personal purposes and their past experiences with ICT were not relatively high compared to the other variables examined. This study also provides empirical evidence that students teachers who hold constructivist beliefs, have strong computer efficacy, and show positive attitudes toward computers in education are more interested in using computers in future teaching practices. As a conclusion, we argue that the profile of the Net Generation student teachers shows a more heterogeneous composition than we initially expected, and that teacher educators need to be cautious about making generational assumptions solely based on the structural and technological changes. (Contains 2 figures and 8 tables.)

This paper traces the evolution of the design framework for the use of technology in a teacher education program in a Singaporean university. This course focuses on developing student teachers' capacity for the use of ICT in teaching and learning. We report our two-level reflection: one that focuses on the trajectory of the course design, and one that reflects on the university faculty's pedagogical practices when conducting this course. The goal of this course in the last decade has transformed from a focus on technology skills to pedagogical and knowledge creation. The current goal of the course is to develop student teachers' pervasive use of technology tools to collaborate, design, reflect and think critically. The challenge for the faculty in a teacher education higher learning institute is to design a course that would present opportunities for student teachers to experience the technology tools as learners themselves so as to become teachers who will be doyens in designing technology tool integrated learning. We contend that the experiences of technology tools help to deepen the student teachers' knowledge about technology integration. As student teachers experience technology tools in tandem with theory, the immersive experience may translate into designing apt technology-integrated lessons for their learners. (Contains 2 tables and 6 figures.)

While the growing prevalence of Web 2.0 in education opens up exciting opportunities for universities to explore expansive, new literacies practices, concomitantly, it presents unique challenges. Many universities are changing from a content delivery paradigm of eLearning 1.0 to a learner-focused paradigm of eLearning 2.0. In this article, we first articulate the paradigmatic differences between eLearning 1.0 and eLearning 2.0 based on technological, social and epistemological dimensions on which we make the case that current social practices of learning in many universities are not keeping up with the possibilities afforded by the Web 2.0 tools. To illustrate our argument, we draw upon our observations of a course in which tertiary students exhibited a traditional, divide-and-conquer disposition while using wikis. There is little in-depth collaboration leading to higher order meaning making or knowledge building among these students. From these observations, we contend that to realize eLearning 2.0, there is a need to change the social-technological infrastructure in universities, and we discuss the various dimensions in which these changes could be implemented. (Contains 1 figure and 2 tables.)

In this paper, we describe our path for designing an online community of practice for teachers in Singapore, from identifying the current status of professional development to designing an online platform where teachers can share vivid images of their teaching practices with other teachers. To identify current practices in professional development, we conducted a large scale online survey with 1605 teachers. The quantitative data collected from this survey gave us a macro-level overview of the current status of teacher professional development in Singapore schools. Next, for a more in depth understanding of teachers' views on professional development experiences and gathering of ideas for designing an online video based environment, we conducted participatory design workshops with 11 teachers in two schools. The purpose of these workshops was to engage end users, who are teachers in Singapore, from an early stage of the design process so that their needs and ideas could be reflected in the final design. Finally, we turned the ideas gathered from the participatory workshops into a concrete design of an online environment for a teacher community. In the design process for this environment, particular attention was given to Web 2.0 technology solutions, which emphasise participation from community members as a key element. In conclusion, we discuss issues and challenges faced in this process, and implications for future research into online professional development activities. (Contains 5 tables and 2 figures.)

Although there are some success stories of technology integration in schools, it remains unclear in the literature how teachers become, and take on the identity of, exemplary users of technology in classrooms. Using concepts from cultural sociology, this article examines how an experienced elementary school teacher in Singapore, Cassie, accounted for her difficult learning journey and becoming an expert technology user. From interview data, we highlight the major milestones in Cassie's trajectory of learning and explain how structural factors at the policy, district and classroom levels afforded and constrained Cassie's learning and how she, in turn, slowly changed her pedagogy incorporating technology. We conclude by discussing issues of teacher learning and identity by way of contrasting against a more traditional view of teacher education and from the case example of Cassie, we further explicate the dialectics of teacher agents vis-a-vis the structure of teaching and education. (Contains 1 table and 1 note.)

There have been increasing efforts among science educators to move students away from learning about science towards learning "to be" scientists. To move in this direction, there is a need to change the epistemology of the learning of science from instructivism to one of social constructivist learning. The purpose of this research is to investigate whether the epistemology of science learning in schools can be geared towards the direction of collaborative learning through scientific inquiry. Research participants were a group of students in Singapore who used computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL). Thirteen Secondary One students from a top-band school in Singapore participated in the science research course during which Knowledge Forum was used to support online discussions for the investigative activities. The Test for Integrated Process Skills II was administered before and after the study to compare the students' scientific inquiry abilities. Other qualitative measures such as surveys and post-course activities were used to derive possible reasons that might have led to the observed outcomes.

Introduction: We aimed to compare the malignancy risk stratification of histologically proven thyroid nodules using the 2015 American Thyroid Association (ATA) Management Guidelines, 2014 British Thyroid Association (BTA) Guidelines for the Management of Thyroid Cancer and the Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (TIRADS).Methods: Thyroid nodules measuring > 1 cm resected over 5.5 years were retrospectively studied. Demographic information as well as cytology and histopathology results were collected. Static ultrasonography (US) images and radiologists' reports of each resected nodules were reviewed and classified based on the above risk classification systems.Results: A total of 167 thyroid nodules from 150 patients were examined. More malignant nodules were solid (78.4% vs. 62.5%; p = 0.049) or hypoechoic (70.6% vs. 28.6%; p < 0.001), and had irregular margins (35.3% vs. 8.0%; p < 0.001), taller-than-wide morphology (9.8% vs. 2.7%; p = 0.031), microcalcifications (33.3% vs. 8.0%; p < 0.001), disrupted rim calcifications (9.8% vs. 0.9%; p = 0.012) or associated abnormal cervical lymphadenopathy (13.7% vs. 0.9%; p = 0.001) compared with benign nodules. The guidelines' diagnostic performance was: ATA - sensitivity 98.0%, specificity 17.3%, positive predictive value (PPV) 35.0%, negative predictive value (NPV) 95.0%; BTA - sensitivity 90%, specificity 50.9%, PPV 45.5%, NPV 91.8%; and TIRADS - sensitivity 94.0%, specificity 28.2%, PPV 37.3%%, NPV 91.2%.Conclusion: Sonographic patterns outlined by the three guidelines displayed high sensitivity and NPV. Although isolated suspicious US features cannot predict malignancy risk, they should be considered when risk stratifying nodules that do not fit into particular sonographic patterns based on current guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: We aimed to compare the malignancy risk stratification of histologically proven thyroid nodules using the 2015 American Thyroid Association (ATA) Management Guidelines, 2014 British Thyroid Association (BTA) Guidelines for the Management of Thyroid Cancer and the Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (TIRADS)., Methods: Thyroid nodules measuring > 1 cm resected over 5.5 years were retrospectively studied. Demographic information as well as cytology and histopathology results were collected. Static ultrasonography (US) images and radiologists' reports of each resected nodules were reviewed and classified based on the above risk classification systems., Results: A total of 167 thyroid nodules from 150 patients were examined. More malignant nodules were solid (78.4% vs. 62.5%; p = 0.049) or hypoechoic (70.6% vs. 28.6%; p < 0.001), and had irregular margins (35.3% vs. 8.0%; p < 0.001), taller-than-wide morphology (9.8% vs. 2.7%; p = 0.031), microcalcifications (33.3% vs. 8.0%; p < 0.001), disrupted rim calcifications (9.8% vs. 0.9%; p = 0.012) or associated abnormal cervical lymphadenopathy (13.7% vs. 0.9%; p = 0.001) compared with benign nodules. The guidelines' diagnostic performance was: ATA - sensitivity 98.0%, specificity 17.3%, positive predictive value (PPV) 35.0%, negative predictive value (NPV) 95.0%; BTA - sensitivity 90%, specificity 50.9%, PPV 45.5%, NPV 91.8%; and TIRADS - sensitivity 94.0%, specificity 28.2%, PPV 37.3%%, NPV 91.2%., Conclusion: Sonographic patterns outlined by the three guidelines displayed high sensitivity and NPV. Although isolated suspicious US features cannot predict malignancy risk, they should be considered when risk stratifying nodules that do not fit into particular sonographic patterns based on current guidelines., (Copyright: © Singapore Medical Association.)