Thursday Online Presentation Session 2

Educational Research, Development & Publishing

Session Chair: Wei Liu

11:25-11:50

68391 | Assessing ASEAN Students’ Competencies and Readiness in Learning Mathematics through MaRWA Diagnostic Test

Wisnuningtyas Wirani, SEAMEO QITEP in Mathematics, Indonesia

Ummy Salmah, SEAMEO QITEP in Mathematics, Indonesia

Bungkus Dias Prasetyo, SEAMEO QITEP in Mathematics, Indonesia

Uki Rahmawati, SEAMEO QITEP in Mathematics, Indonesia

MaRWA is a Southeast Asia regional mathematics assessment based on PISA and TIMSS, initiated by SEAMEO QITEP in Mathematics. The programme aims to asses ASEAN students’ weaknesses and strengths in school mathematics by using an online diagnostic test. In particular, the test was designed for students in grades 5, 8, and 10. A total of 882 students in grades 5, 8, and 10 from 26 schools in regional wide were involved in this study. For each level of education, there were 30 mathematics problems, which were classified into 20 multiple choice questions and 10 essay questions. These items were generally made to determine students’ competencies and readiness in learning school mathematics, specifically to measure their order of thinking level. Three levels of thinking: higher order thinking skill (HOTS), middle order thinking skill (MOTS), and lower order thinking skill (LOTS); were embedded in the set of problems. There were four codes for students’ correct answer and six codes for the incorrect answers. The quantitative data is the students’ scores, while the qualitative data is the coded students’ answers. It was found that the students’ average scores for the primary to senior high school levels were in a low category, and most of the participants were struggling to solve HOTS problems. The most common type of error for the majority of students on the three levels was not answering the problems.

11:50-12:15

68108 | Exploring Chinese Secondary Teachers’ Perception of Critical Thinking in Mathematics Teaching

Wei Liu, Hillcrest Christian College, Australia

The significance of developing students’ critical thinking has been widely recognized by educators (Forawi, 2016; Howe, 2004; Siegel, 2010). Critical thinking has been regarded as an important and necessary education outcome and subsequently empowers students to creatively contribute to their future chosen career.

Critical thinking is a western expression, are Chinese teachers committed to thinking critically to the same degree as western teachers? This study examines the definition of critical thinking espoused by teachers in China, with the purpose of finding more about teachers’ perceptions of critical thinking skills in their teaching, and how they promote critical thinking among their students, expecting to provide significant insights on critical thinking utilized in a different culture.

The study found that secondary school mathematics teachers in the survey did not have, in general, a comprehensive view of critical thinking. There were about 47% of participants did not respond to the first questionnaire about the definition of critical thinking which meant that critical thinking was not a familiar term for everyone in a secondary education setting. About half teachers could not identify strategies essential to critical thinking, their responses revealed that Chinese teachers were more focus on students acquire knowledge and thought critical thinking was a tool to improve students’ learning. Critical thinking was more frequently thought to be skepticism, which showed that teachers’ perception of critical thinking was influenced by their culture.

12:15-12:40

68548

| Effective Ways To Enhance Chinese Language and History Learning for NCS Students

Yat Ling Choy, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

The Education University of Hong Kong has launched various animation projects, such as "Jockey Club From Words to Culture Programme: An Animated Way to Learn Chinese", "The Animated Chinese History for Curious Mind Project" and "The Life and Values Education Animated Series", to enhance children's interest in learning Chinese language, history, culture, developing their moral characters and positive values through learning the good deeds and achievements of the figures. Past studies have shown that animation teaching can enhance local children's language ability and interest in learning, and is even more effective in developing children's moral values. In this study, students from the Education University of Hong Kong adapted animation materials to suit the age and language proficiency of NCS children. The students used animation as a novel way to teach NCS children. NCS children from four social welfare organizations and schools were used for four to six weeks of intervention. The research questions include (1) How to adapt the animation materials for NCS children? (2) Does the language ability of NCS children improve through teaching with animation? (3) Does the interest of NCS children in language learning improve through teaching with animation? In this way, the features of the teaching materials and pedagogies that can effectively enhance the learning of the Chinese language and culture of NCS students are also summarized in this study.