Singapore Educators and Researchers Lead Global Knowledge Building Dialogues at ISLS/CSCL & KBSI 2025, Helsinki
We celebrate the remarkable achievements of 10 educators from 4 Singapore schools, who, together with researchers from the National Institute of Education (NIE), represented Singapore prominently at the International Conference on Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) / International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS) and the Knowledge Building Summer Institute (KBSI), held in Helsinki, Finland in 2025.
Singapore contributed 3 out of the 18 globally accepted practitioner papers and 4 research-based contributions at ISLS/CSCL, alongside a strong suite of papers and symposia at KBSI 2025. These contributions reflect Singapore’s ongoing commitment to bridging research and practice through Knowledge Building (KB) pedagogies, epistemic innovation, and teacher-researcher collaborations.
Firstly, it is worth noting that at ISLS, Professor Marlene Scardamalia, inaugural Presidents’ Chair and University Distinguished Professor of Knowledge Innovation and Technology, President of Knowledge Building International from 2012 to 2020, delivered a keynote titled:
"Expanding the Realm of Possibilities in Education through Knowledge Building: Epistemic Agency, Collective Responsibility and Generative AI"
She urged education systems to move from “working backward” (toward pre-defined learning outcomes) to “working forward”, where teachers and students collaboratively pursue knowledge advancement. She called for responsible integration of AI—not to automate learning—but to augment student creativity, agency, and community knowledge growth, reinforcing values central to Singapore’s current initiatives.
ISLS/CSCL 2025 – Practitioner Papers
1. Co-Designing Educational Practices Through Research-Practice Partnerships
Ms Norhazlinda, Ms Liyana, Mr Elwirandi, Ms Melissa, Ms Christine, and Dr Teo Chew Lee shared how a teacher-led professional learning community at Oasis Primary School, working in collaboration with a researcher, applied KB principles to redesign classroom practice. The team explored how to elevate student agency and align with school-wide strategies through idea-centered inquiry.
2. Enhancing Student Metacognitive Thinking and Content Learning in Chinese and Science Classrooms with Generative AI Chatbots
Dr Guangji Yuan and Mr Zhijin Han presented findings from their use of Fairbot, an AI chatbot designed to support metacognitive thinking and domain-specific learning. Through co-designed teacher prompts and AI scaffolds, the chatbot guided student inquiry and showed promise in improving reflective thinking and text comprehension.
3. Gamifying Knowledge Building: Fostering Inquiry and Motivation in the Primary Classroom
Ms Usha discussed the integration of game-based mechanics with Knowledge Building principles to enhance inquiry and engagement. Her design supported younger learners in navigating complex ideas while maintaining motivation and collaborative depth.
ISLS/CSCL 2025 – Research Contributions
1. Recognizing Group-Level Epistemic Emotions during Knowledge Building Activities
Dr Alwyn Lee introduced EmoSense, a prototype leveraging facial recognition and surveys to recognize group-level epistemic emotions such as curiosity and confusion. This work provided new insights into how emotional dynamics influence collaborative knowledge advancement.
2. Emotion and Online Collaborative Knowledge Building Using the Knowledge Forum
Dr Teo Chew Lee, presenting at the ICLS symposium on emotions and epistemic engagement, shared a multi-modal study of student emotions during KB. Physiological and behavioral data revealed that emotions like challenge and interest correlated strongly with perceived learning, providing design cues for emotionally attuned learning environments.
3. How Do Students Build Community Knowledge for Sustainability through Collaborative Discourse?
Dr Alwyn on behalf of Dr Aloysius Ong explored how student-generated questions deepened inquiry in a sustainability-themed KB program. Findings emphasized the central role of “wonderment” and “explanation-seeking” questions in advancing student understanding and collective meaning-making.
4. Poster: Elevating Design Knowledge in CSCL
Dr Alwyn Lee also presented a poster examining how design knowledge in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) is often under-recognized in research literature. By reviewing articles from the International Journal of CSCL, the team identified five key design patterns supporting online collaborative learning—spanning learning goals, task structures, platform affordances, and peer interaction processes. The study calls for greater emphasis on documenting and sharing reusable design knowledge to strengthen CSCL innovation and implementation.
Knowledge Building Summer Institute (KBSI) 2025 – Paper Presentations
Theme: Advancing Knowledge Building and Epistemic Agency Using Generative AI (I)
Tensions and Contradictions of Supporting Knowledge Building with a Generative Artificial Intelligence Learning Companion
Prof Tan Seng Chee, Ms Yee Yin Tan, Dr Teo Chew Lee, and Dr Guangji Yuan presented this paper examining the complex dynamics of integrating AI companions into KB environments. The team identified key tensions between student epistemic agency and AI-generated scaffolding, highlighting the importance of design considerations that preserve student ownership over knowledge creation while leveraging AI affordances.
Theme: Improvable Ideas and Practice in Multiple Learning-System Contexts (II)
Fostering Secondary School Students’ Engagement and Conceptual Understanding in Mathematics through Knowledge Building
Mr Lin Jiehui shared how Secondary One students with weaker math foundations benefited from a KB approach emphasizing idea diversity, improvable ideas, and democratization of knowledge. Discourse analysis on Knowledge Forum revealed improved conceptual engagement and peer contribution, demonstrating the potential for KB to transform mathematical understanding in less confident learners.
Teacher Knowledge Building Mindset
Mr Melvin Chan reflected on his and a colleague’s journey in developing and sustaining a knowledge building mindset. They discussed shifts in teacher identity, strategies for encouraging curiosity-driven innovation, and the importance of community support in sustaining long-term pedagogical transformation. Their narrative emphasized that a mindset grounded in collective responsibility, openness, and continuous improvement is key to advancing KB in schools.
Symposium: Advancing Knowledge Building Innovation Networks
Creating Concrete Impact in Classrooms through Knowledge Building Singapore
Dr Teo Chew Lee and Prof Tan Seng Chee led this symposium presentation showcasing Singapore’s Knowledge Building innovation network. Drawing on classroom research and practitioner partnerships, they illustrated how local schools have implemented KB at scale. Emphasis was placed on how designing for impact, not just fidelity, enables KB to adapt meaningfully across diverse school systems and learner needs.
ISLS early career workshop
Exploring Knowledge Building Through Interdisciplinary Lenses
Dr. Guangji Yuan also introduced her innovative research on KB at the Early Career Workshop. Her work uniquely integrates interdisciplinary tools, including electroencephalography (EEG), AI, and adaptive thinking, to deepen the understanding of KB. By exploring the cognitive and neural processes of collaborative learning and leveraging AI-supported educational tools, Dr. Yuan aims to improve collaborative learning and share some new ideas about education, brain science, and technology.
The combined contributions across ISLS/CSCL and KBSI 2025 with the collaboration of researchers and teachers highlight Singapore’s growing contribution in educational innovation.
APSCE Webinar Series - Design For Emergence
Dr Guangji YUAN and Dr Dan TAO will be speaking in a APSCE Webinar Series on the 27th September 2021, 9 am (GMT +8). Please refer to the following poster for the abstract and registration.
Expert Panel Global Event: New Realties, New Schooling
Dr Teo Chew Lee, Senior Research Scientist at NIE, will be speaking at an expert panel open to all participants from around the world. This panel revolves around the topic of “Learning in the Building and Learning from Home” and Dr Teo will discuss about the recent experience with online learning and remote teaching in Singapore.
This panel will take place via Zoom on November 11th at 5.30am Singapore Time. Please register at the following link for more information and details.
Talk at the SUSS Virtual Graduation Symposium 2020
Dr Teo Chew Lee, Senior Research Scientist in the Office of Education and Programme Director for the Learning Sciences and Innovation Research Programme in NIE Singapore, will be conducting a talk at the virtual graduation of Early Childhood Education (ECE) students from the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS).
The talk is titled “Can young children work together and build knowledge?” and will be held during the ceremony from 2.00pm on 9th October 2020.
Knowledge Building Symposium 2018
The Knowledge Building (KB) Symposium 2018 took place on 22 November and was co-hosted by Office of Education Research and Chua Chu Kang Primary School (CCKPS). The event was attended by 134 participants from 30 organisations, including international guests from Canada and United States. The symposium witnessed the commingling of teachers, students, researchers, and professors from educational institutions and research and academic think-tanks.
KB Symposium 2018 - Welcome and Opening
Dr Teo Chew Lee, Senior Research Scientist from NIE’s Office of Education Research, kickstarted the symposium by introducing the fundamental tenets of KB such as the KB principles and scaffolds during her opening speech.
Dr. Teo Chew Lee giving the opening address for KB symposium 2018
To find out more, please click here.
KB Summer Institute 2018 (KBSI2018)
KB Summer Institute (KBSI) 2018 was held in Toronto, Canada, from August 14-17, 2018.
KBSI is an open event to all individuals (teachers, principals, students, researchers, professionals, etc.) who want to become better acquainted with knowledge building concepts and approaches and advance their work in light of global competencies and models of an inclusive knowledge society. KBSI is also open to organisations (ministries, schools, universities, etc.) interested in introducing Knowledge Building into their organizations and establishing state-of-the-art approaches to knowledge creation.
There was a live streaming of practitioner session(s). Please go to IKIT's website for more details of this event.
Making the Learning Sciences Count!
ICLS 2018
The International Conference of Learning Sciences 2018 | London, U.K.
The Learning Sciences represent a bridge for researchers and practitioners to come together to deconstruct the complexities of what happens in classrooms. For practitioners, research data serves as a mirror to reflect and improve our craft; for researchers, classrooms a living lab to examine dynamic ideas.
As such, no matter which side of the bridge we arrive from, we forge toward same frontiers: Making the Learning Sciences Count in our efforts to nurture the next generation.
That was the virtuous theme for the International Conference of Learning Sciences (ICLS) 2018 in London, U.K. which was attended by our Knowledge Building (KB) Science Team from St. Hilda's Primary School, Singapore.
Hear their thoughts and ideas here!
What is Science?
Do our students understand what Science is? Why do we learn Science? What is our role when we learn Science?
One thing I learnt from the ICLS sessions is that Science instruction needs to be informed by the epistemology of science: What are our students' beliefs about Science?
To attain deeper learning of Science beyond experiments and lab lessons, we should develop students' understanding of the nature of Science and to be critical of our inquiry processes as well.
We can promote these by helping students work as little scientists, engaging in reflection about Science and scientific inquiry as they embark on collective Knowledge Building.
Mr Tan Boon Tee, Science Teacher
What's possible?
What can KB Teachers in Singapore learn from our counterparts overseas? What are the possibilities in KB we have yet to see?
My richest learning was from breakfast with KB Teachers from other countries. Hearing how their students decide what they want to learn about a topic over a month or two makes me wonder if our current system promotes the joy of learning or not.
Bound by instructional objectives and guided by set curriculum designed with examinations in mind, we cannot deviate much from what we need to cover; what students must learn.
If there is white space given to students to steer their own learning with support from stakeholders, intrinsic motivation and deeper learning can be fostered in them. This will be probably more enjoyable for us teachers too.
Mrs Jamay Loh, Science Teacher
What did we contribute?
What can we contribute to the Learning Sciences community? What did we learn when preparing for an international conference?
At ICLS 2018, we wanted to share Science lesson designs that were driven by student ideas archived on Knowledge Forum, an enhancement from traditional curriculum-driven lessons. We were delighted to know that attendees were keen to find out what worked and how we leveraged on student ideas to craft engaging lessons.
The process of writing the conference paper enabled us to crystallise key drivers of the innovative student idea-centric lesson design, making us reflective practitioners who build on successes and learn from areas for growth.
Mrs Usha Ram, Science Teacher
Of course, all work and no play makes Knowledge Builders dull, innit?
Check out the other highlights of our London trip here!
Knowledge Building Symposium 2017
Student activities - One of the highlights in the symposium
The Knowledge Building (KB) Symposium 2017 was held on 20 November at Haig Girls’ School. It was a successful event with extensive reach involving students, teachers and school leaders from a number of local primary and secondary schools and tertiary institutions.
The symposium was commenced by Dr Teo Chew Lee, Senior Research Scientist from NIE, and graced by guest-of-honour Dr Eddy Lee, visiting consultant to NIE. Dr Lee shared his insights and perspectives on various aspects of knowledge building. He also moved around the different sessions and activities and engaged in dynamic dialogue with the participants.
To find out more, please click here.
Knowledge Building Symposium 2016
On the 21st of November 2016, the first local Knowledge Building (KB) Symposium, "Ideas First, A Reason to Teach" was held at the National Institute of Education, gathering members of the KB community locally as well as from Hong Kong and Quebec to share about their experiences.
Teck Whye Secondary School (TWSS)'s student presenters at NIE.
To find out more on how students feel about Knowledge Building, please click here.