Office of the Vice Provost for International Relations
Columbia and the World

According to a recent United Nations Study, the United States has one of the least effective K-12 education systems among the world’s richest countries. In contrast, Singapore, which ranks 39th among nations in Gross Domestic Product, appears to have one of the most successful K-12 educational systems among developed nations.

In 2004, the Summer Research Program for Science Teachers (SRP), administered within the Department of Physiology, initiated a teacher exchange with Singapore’s Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) in which four Summer Research Program participants from New York City and Westchester County high schools visited Singapore and three Anglo-Chinese School science teachers participated in research projects in Columbia labs and in the Summer Research Program’s weekly professional development activities. In this way, U.S. teachers learned about the investments and programs Singapore has implemented that contribute to its extraordinary success in preparing students in science, and Singaporean teachers gained hands-on experience in research in Columbia University research laboratories and were able to learn about American precollege science education.

In the inaugural exchange, SRP participants spent two weeks in Singapore working with and observing classes taught by Anglo-Chinese School science teachers. Immediately upon returning to New York, the program participants and the Anglo-Chinese School science teachers presented a joint seminar at which they described their respective experiences in Singapore and New York. The U.S. teachers reported that Singapore science teachers work even harder and longer hours than their already hardworking U.S. counterparts. They were impressed by Singapore’s investment in first-class science education facilities and the speed with which facilities are constructed and programs implemented once the Ministry of Education has granted approval.

The Singaporean teachers described how highly they valued their laboratory research experiences at Columbia. They also described their impressions of the New York City public high schools they visited. They were impressed by the imagination of New York City science teachers in designing exercises and laboratory experiments that engage students and bring relevance to science education. They especially admired the creativity and willingness to take intellectual risks of the best U.S. students. In an effort to be supportive of New York City public high school teachers participating in the Summer Research Program, with whom they had interacted for several weeks, they reported being impressed by the accomplishments of New York City teachers whose classes they had visited given the “run-down facilities and scarcity of science resources” available to them.

The Exchange Program continued in 2005 initiating a partnership with the Singapore Ministry of Education. Through this partnership, the New York area science teachers were able to visit two government schools in addition to visiting Anglo-Chinese school classrooms.

In 2006, the SRP participants visited three Singapore government schools, spending four days at each school. By these means, the three teachers spent a longer period of time, becoming comfortable with the staff and students. By the final day in each of the schools, the Columbia program teachers were able to teach a class, American-style. This proved to be a very good use of their time, providing them with many different types of pre-college science education experiences. As in previous years, the Singapore science teachers participated in the Summer Research Program and worked in Columbia’s research laboratories. The exchange will continue in 2007. To date, Columbia University’s SRP has hosted 12 Singapore science teachers while ten New York area science teachers have visited Singapore science classrooms.

In 2004, the Singapore Ministry of Education invited Jay Dubner, the Summer Research Program’s Coordinator, to assist them in replicating Columbia’s teacher professional development program. Following a week’s work of designing and planning, Singapore’s Local Attachment Programme for Science Teachers was initiated in late 2004.

Contact

Jay Dubner
jd109@columbia.edu