TEO Tang Wee is a social equity scholar in science education. She applies a critical lens to examine diverse equity issues in science education that affect learners (e.g., lower track students, children aged 6-8, and international students) who are underrepresented in the local and international literature. Her current work focuses on lower track science students’ science learning experiences. As a trained chemist and chemistry education professor, she also actively publishes in chemistry education journals.
Tang Wee was awarded the Singapore Ministry of Education Teaching Award to read Chemistry at the National University of Singapore. She gave the keynote speech at the Chemistry Honours Symposium and graduated with First Class Honors. She was an active member of the Special Programme in Science and Talent Development Programme. She was placed on the Dean’s List for four consecutive semesters and the Vice-Chancellor’s List for meritorious academic achievements.
Prior to her doctoral studies, Tang Wee taught at Naval Base Secondary School, Meridian Junior College, and the NUS High School of Mathematics and Science.
In 2007-2011, she received the National Institute of Education Overseas Graduate Scholarship to pursue her PhD in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. During that time, Tang Wee worked on several research projects. She was a research assistant of a National Science Foundation funded project A Learning Progression for Scientific Modeling. She conducted a case study on inquiry reform and curriculum evaluation in a US STEM school and was hired as a program evaluator on a UIUC Graduate College Focal Initiative outreach programme. She also taught a Masters level educational psychology course to preservice teachers enrolled in the Illinois teacher certification programme.
She co-edited the books Teaching Science in Culturally-Relevant Ways: Ideas From Singapore Teachers (2014) and Science Education Research and Practice in Asia-Pacific and Beyond (2017). She also co-edited a special issue on Critical Issues in STEM Schools in the journal Theory Into Practice. She is currently guest editing a focus issue on Play in Early Childhood Science Education in the journal Pedagogies: An International Journal and a special issue on Broadening and Deepening the Dialogue About "Low Achievers” in Asia-Pacific Journal of Education.
Professional Organisations
- National Association of Research in Science Teaching
- American Educational Research Association
- Australasian Science Education Research Association
- Australian Association of Research in Education
- Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society
Consultancy/Service
- Teaching of NIE International courses:
- AEDS 008 The Teaching of Science at the Secondary Level (Allied Educators' course)
- AEDP 012A Introduction to the Teaching of Science at the Primary Level (Allied Educators' course)
- SPDS012 Assessment Modes and Resource Management in Primary Science (Special Needs Educators' course)
- Research consultant on MOE EduLab Project Multiple Representations in Organic Chemistry
- Core member of MOE Academy of Singapore Teachers Teachers Research Network
- Member of the MOE Singapore Curriculum Philosophy and Pedagogical Practices sub-committee for Math and Science
- Consultancy to schools on The Design and Making of Flip Science Lessons
- Consultancy on evaluation of STEM programmes
Professional Activities
- NARST Committee Member: Strand 9 Reflective Practice Co-coordinator, 2010-2012
- Associate Editor of the journal Asia-Pacific Science Education
- Associate Editor Pedagogies: An International Journal
- Reviewer for the Journal Pedagogies: An International Journal
- Reviewer for the Journal Cultural Studies in Science Education
- Reviewer for the Journal Journal of Mixed Methods Research
- Reviewer for the Journal Journal of Curriculum Studies
- Reviewer for the Journal Journal of Chemical Education
- Reviewer for the Journal Chemistry Education and Research and Practice
- Reviewer for the Journal Teachers College Record
- Reviewer for the Journal Research in Science Education
- Reviewer for EURASIA Journal of Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education
- Reviewer for AERA and NARST
Research Grants
|
Grant Number
|
Title
|
Duration
|
Role
|
| SUG 04/17 FB |
Capturing Change through the Lens of Cogenerative Dialogue: Engagement, Interaction and Measurements
|
Jun 2017-Dec 2018 |
Co-PI |
| OER 09/16 WLY |
The influence of a collaborative PD programme on teachers’ self-efficacy and its sustainability in teaching low progress students
|
Sept 2016-Aug 2019 |
Co-PI |
|
OER 10/16 TTW
|
“We ‘Own’ the Teachers”: Understanding subcultures of Singapore Lower Track Science Classrooms
|
Aug 2016 – Feb 2019
|
PI
|
|
SUG 09/15 TTW
|
Understanding how the Girls To Pioneers Programme Affect Students' Attitudes towards STEM and shape their STEM-related identities
|
Nov 2015-Mar 2017
|
PI
|
|
OER 16/13 TTW
|
“Children are natural scientists”: Learning science in early childhood and early primary years
|
Feb 2014-Dec 2015
|
PI
|
|
OER 51/12 TWT
|
Examining Normal Academic/Technical Students' Science Learning from a Sociological and Cultural Lens
|
June 2013-Dec 2016
|
PI
|
|
OER2/12 TTW
|
Curriculum Evaluation and Change for a Re-envisioned NIE Chemistry Program
|
June 2012-2014
|
PI
|
|
OER 10/12 WJS
|
Design Study Approach to Teacher Professional Development to Support the Implementation of the Revised 2013 Lower Secondary Science Curriculum
|
July 2012-Jul 2014
|
Co-PI
|
|
SUG 33/12 TTW
|
Using Visual Ethnography to Examine Students' Science Research Experience: Attaining Verstehen from Images and Texts
|
Dec 2012-Jul 2014
|
PI
|