Pedagogical Research Lab at Raffles Girls’ School (Secondary) (RGS PeRL) Singapore

1. Pedagogical Research Lab at Raffles Girls’ School (Secondary) (RGS PeRL)Singapore A school-based model of an educational research lab APCG 2010, Sydney Presenter: Mary George Cheriyan, Director, PeRL

2. What’s PeRL’s purpose? • A culture of reflective practice focuses on the purpose behind the practice and its impact on the learner. • An indigenized paradigm in educational research generates home-grown improvements to educational practices.

3. What ’s the nature of the practice that the Lab focuses on? The Raffles Programme curriculum is based on Gifted Ed principles: Integrated Curriculum Model (Van Tassel-Baska, 1986): • Advanced Content • Higher Order process and product • Overarching themes, ideas & concepts with salience to the real world

4. Egs of Curriculum Map & Unit Plan. -Curriculum map -Unit Plan F:\APCG\UnitPlan_FoundingModSpore.doc Special emphasis on the Asian high ability female learner

5. Research at PeRL Key thrusts • Pedagogical practices: What works • Gaps in research on the Asian high ability female learner

6. Research projects 1. Effectiveness of the Performance Task as an alternative assessment mode. Implementation of the Performance Assessment in RGS • Cognitive research (Gardner 1993) indicates that most learning goes on within an active, rather than a passive context and “that children construct knowledge from their actions on the environment” (Wadsworth 1989)

7. Research questions: PT Overarching: How effective is the Performance Task as an alternative assessment mode? • What is the value of alternative assessments for high ability learners? • What are teachers’ and students’ perceptions of Performance Tasks? • What evidence is there to show that Performance Tasks supports the assessment of learning that are less accessible by standardized assessments?

8. Research Projects (Piloted in 3 classes): 2. What are the factors influencing students’ buy-in of 1 to 1 laptop learning?

9. Implications & Consequences • Advocacy role: • indigenized research; the learning needs of the Asian gifted girl 2. Learning Community of educators: -consultancy: ideas on Best Practices -research collaboration

10. Implications & Consequences 3. Reflective Practitioners • School-based research is a potent strategy for professional development because it is a learning process which is systematic and collaborative within the context of the classroom and school environment. The objective of such research to understand practice in order to improve that practice Nowlan, D. (2001). Action Research as Teacher Professional Development. Kemmis, S., & McTaggart, R. (2000). Participatory action research. In N.Denzin & Y. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of Qualitative Research. (2nd ed., pp 567-605). Thousand Oaks: Sage. Calhoun, E.F., (1993). Action research: Three approaches. Educational Leadership, 51(2), 62-65.

11. 4. Implementation focused research (Taylor, 2009) • Intent of the research is to apply it. Review Improve Innovate

12. Visual tool