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Teachers’ motivational strategies can be categorised into two types of motivating styles—autonomy-supportive style versus controlling style (Reeve in Educ Psychol 44:159–175, 2009). Several factors can affect the teachers’ use of motivational strategies, and student-related factors are some influential reasons. In this study, we focussed on identifying the student-related reasons that could affect the teachers’ motivating styles through 56 teacher interviews from 17 secondary schools across Singapore. From the teachers’ accounts, we identified “student profiles”, “students’ behaviours”, “students’ engagements”, and “students’ feedback” as the student-related factors that could affect the teachers’ motivating styles. By identifying these factors, we hope to raise awareness amongst the teachers (at the personal level) and their social environments (at the contextual level) on what can facilitate or thwart the expression of autonomy-supportive teaching. We also hope to provide useful information on what the social environments can do to support teachers in autonomy-supportive teaching.

Using the self-determination theory (SDT), this study sought to understand motivational profiles and their links to psychological learning attributes. Participants were 90 secondary three (grade 9) students, aged 15 to 16 years old, from an elite all-girls school in Singapore. Hierarchical cluster analysis revealed three clusters of students with distinct motivational profiles. MANOVA, ANOVA and post hoc tests showed that the three clusters differed significantly in self-efficacy, intrinsic task value, effort and enjoyment in learning. A “highly motivated” cluster characterised by high introjected, identified and intrinsic regulations was found to be most adaptive, with the “highly motivated” cluster being associated with the most optimal psychological learning attributes. An “unmotivated” cluster characterised by high amotivation was found among this sample of high-ability students, with the “unmotivated” cluster being the least adaptive. The importance of understanding how the different motivational regulations were combined to influence psychological learning attributes was discussed.

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between Japanese sporting culture, sport motivation, participation and life aspirations. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to examine the three measurement models and hierarchical regressions were used to determine the predictors of sport participation and life aspirations. The results showed that sporting culture strongly predicted sport participation and life goals among Japanese university students. In addition, intrinsic motivation predicted sport participation, but not other forms of motivation. Introjected and intrinsic motivation predicted intrinsic life goals, whereas external and introjected regulations predicted extrinsic life goals. The results present an important facet of the influence of Japanese sport culture.

It is commonly claimed that outdoor adventure programmes produce positive changes in participants by exposing them to adventure activities designed to encourage self-discovery and character building. Previous studies have focused on the impact of rehabilitative adventure therapy programmes and adventure education programmes for male dominated or co-ed environments, however little is known about girls’ motivations for participating in adventure educational programmes and their associated outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a five-day Outward Bound course among young, female secondary students in Singapore. A total of 149 female students aged from 13 to 16 years from a single cohort took part in the study. Results showed that the course had positive impacts on the participants’ social skills, interpersonal skills, leadership, and self-esteem. The effect sizes ranged from .24 to .64, which were consistent with the moderate change of previous outdoor programmes effect size research (Hattie, Marsh, Neill, & Richards, 1997). In addition, intrinsic motivation positively predicted participants’ satisfaction level after the course. Overall, this study showed that outdoor adventure programmes can have a positive impact on adolescent Singaporean girls.

AbstractThe computer-supported Project Work classroom learning environment discussed in this paper represents a paradigm shift from teacher-centered to student-centered teaching and learning in Singapore schools. Besides the face-to-face weekly lessons in existing Project Work classrooms, the students engaged in computer-supported online forum discussions. Two hundred and sixty students and 26 teachers from seven high schools participated in this study. Their perceptions of this new learning environment were assessed using a modified version of the Web-based Learning Environment Instrument (WEBLEI). In addition, the instrument was also validated. The WEBLEI exhibited satisfactory internal consistency reliability and discriminant validity. Comparing the actual and preferred perceptions of the students and teachers revealed that there were differences between the actual and preferred perceptions for both students and teachers. With these in mind, the implications for using technology to support the face-to-face teaching and learning in Project Work classrooms are discussed in this paper.

This article describes how teachers have used computer mediated communication (CMC) to facilitate asynchronous online communication among students' collaborative project groups in project-based classrooms. Since 2000, project-based learning has been infused into the formal curriculum of the Singapore schools through the introduction of Project Work. This initiative aims to inculcate creative and critical thinking, communication, collaborative learning, self-directed inquiry, and lifelong learning skills in all learners. Student-centered learning describes ways of contextualizing learning and teaching so that they are authentic, whereby students take ownership of activities, such as planning, learning, interacting with teachers and other students, researching, and assessing their own learning. Collaborative activities are broadly described as working together with another person or a group in exploring a question or working toward completing a group project. The teachers use the CMC tool as a means of information dissemination among themselves and student counterparts from other schools.