E2 School Cluster Meeting Hosted SoLEC for Brain Awareness Week

On March 21 2024, the E2 school cluster meeting hosted the Science of Learning in Education Centre (SoLEC) at Yu Neng Primary School. The SoLEC team was led by Dr Imelda Caleon, Assistant Dean (Partnerships) and Senior Education Research Scientist at SoLEC, and the E2 school cluster meeting host was the Principal of Yu Neng Primary School, Mr Ng Yeow Ling. More than 20 school leaders with an additional 15 middle managers and staff from the E2 cluster participated in the Brain Awareness Week (BAW) event. 

Dr Imelda and Mr Wong Kwong Choong introduced SoLEC research work, outreach efforts, and facilities available at NIE. Dr Aishah Rahman followed up with a presentation on her school research on boosting executive functioning (EF) in the classroom. A key takeaway for the attendees was that executive functions are malleable and can be targeted for interventions. Finally, Dr Imelda and Dr Wong Yi Sheng gave a sharing on their research regarding Metacognition for Strategic Learning and Transfer. Preliminary findings from this intervention study compared the effects of a metacognition instructional program with a neuroscience-based learning program on student's learning. 

The attendees also had the opportunity to have a hands-on session with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), electroencephalogram (EEG), and Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) devices that measure various physiological signatures when performing attention-based tasks or in relaxed states. An active Question-and-Answer dialogue session was conducted at the end of the session in which school leaders and teachers had their interests sparked in knowing more about the pedagogical effects with educational neuroscience research that could help in their teaching and benefit their students.