Dr. Imelda S. Caleon is a Research Scientist and Convener of Low-Progress Learners Research Task Force at the Centre for Research in Pedagogy and Practice (CRPP), National Institute of Education. Her main research interests include the areas of science education and positive education. In marrying these two fields, her foremost intent was to utilize and develop approaches rooted in positive psychology to facilitate learners' conceptual and mindset change. She has a deep passion to empower learners, especially those placed at risk, by supporting them in recognizing, growing, and accessing their rich resources (emotional, psychological, social and cognitive) so that they can thrive in school and beyond.
She is currently leading a longitudinal study that focuses on the mechanisms involved in the development of academic resilience of students facing risk of continued low achievement. She is also engaged in two research projects focusing on the cultivation of positive emotions and other strengths-based approaches to enhance students’ academic and non-academic learning outcomes. She has just completed a study on physics teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, and practices, with a particular focus on how teachers facilitate students’ conceptual change and development. Before embarking on a full-time research career, she was a physics lecturer for two years and then a secondary school physics teacher for ten years.
Current Research Portfolio
- Principal Investigator, Lessons from Resilience Nurturing Environments: Classroom Practices of Turnaround Teachers (OER 28/15 ISC), Tier 2, Feb 2016-June 2018
- Principal Investigator, Turning Achievement Around: Predictors of Academic Resilience of Academically At-Risk Students in Singapore (OER 42/12 ISC), Tier 2, Jan 2013-Dec 2016
- Principal Investigator, Nurturing Positivity: The Effects of Positive Psychology Intervention on Students with Different Academic Abilities (SUG 11/15 ISC), Tier 1, Oct 2015-July 2016
- Principal Investigator, Nurturing Positivity: A Positive Psychology Intervention to Enhance Well-being, Engagement, and Achievement among At-risk Students (OER 6/13 RBK), Tier 1, Jan 2014-May 2016
- Co-Principal Investigator, Using a Collaborative Video Annotation and Analytics Environment (CoVAA) to Enhance Flipped Classroom Pedagogical Practice and Foster Students’ Conceptual Understanding, Social Knowledge Construction and Self-Regulated Learning (NRF2015-EDU001-IHL09), Tier 3, Oct 2015- June 2018
- Co-Principal Investigator, Understanding How Teachers Design Lessons in Response to the Language Demands of Science (OER 16/14 SLH), Tier 1, May2015- Dec 2016
- Co-Principal Investigator, A Preliminary Study of Assessment Progression: Evaluation of Assessment for Learning Lessons and Summative Assessment Tasks in General Music Programme (AFR 03/14 LWS), Tier 1, Nov 2014-July 2016
- Co-Principal Investigator, Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills (ATC21S) Singapore Trials: Collective Creativity and Collaborative Problem-solving Competencies among Secondary School Students (OER 59/12TPL), Tier 1, May2013- Dec 2015
- Co-Principal Investigator, Community Music Education: Towards the Development of New Pedagogies for the 21st Century (OER 01/14 OP), Tier 1, Jun 2014 - May 2016
Completed Research Projects
- Principal Investigator, Beginning and Experienced Physics Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Instructional Practices (OER 8/11 ISC), Tier 1, Nov 2011- Jan 2015
- Co-Principal Investigator, Practices, Perceptions, and Needs of Primary School Generalist Art & Music Teachers in Singapore: An Investigation of the Pedagogical Changes & Differences of Generalists after a Specialist Professional Development Program (OER 32/12 OP), Tier 1, Jan 2013- Apr 2014
- Co-Principal Investigator, Trends of Learning Research from 2003 to 2012: Analysis of Articles, Authors, and Institutions in Selected Educational Journals (OER 39/12 CYH), Tier 1, Jan 2013- June 2015
- Co-Principal Investigator, Development of an Outdoor Education Curriculum in Singapore through a "Deliberative" Perspective - Inclusion of the Commonplace of the Teacher (OER 43/12 MT), Tier 1, Dec 2011-Dec 2014
- Collaborator, A Value-mediated Approach to Profiling Professional Learning Communities in Singapore Schools (OER 18/12 LWO), Tier 2, May 2012- 2015