Study protocol: How does cognitive flexibility relate to other executive functions and learning in healthy young adults?

BACKGROUND: Cognitive flexibility (CF) enables individuals to readily shift from one concept or mode of practice/thoughts to another in response to changes in the environment and feedback, making CF vital to optimise success in obtaining goals. However, how CF relates to other executive functions (e.g., working memory, response inhibition), mental abilities (e.g., creativity, literacy, numeracy, intelligence, structure learning), and social factors (e.g., multilingualism, tolerance of uncertainty, perceived social support, social decision-making) is less well understood. The current study aims to (1) establish the construct validity of CF in relation to other executive function skills and intelligence, and (2) elucidate specific relationships between CF, structure learning, creativity, career decision making and planning, and other life skills. METHODS: This study will recruit up to 400 healthy Singaporean young adults (age 18-30) to complete a wide range of cognitive tasks and social questionnaires/tasks. The richness of the task/questionnaire battery and within-participant administration enables us to use computational modelling and structural equation modelling to examine connections between the latent constructs of interest. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT: The current study is the first systematic investigation into the construct validity of CF and its interrelationship with other important cognitive skills such as learning and creativity, within an Asian context. The study will further explore the concept of CF as a non-unitary construct, a novel theoretical proposition in the field. The inclusion of a structure learning paradigm is intended to inform future development of a novel intervention paradigm to enhance CF. Finally, the results of the study will be useful for informing classroom pedagogy and the design of lifelong learning policies and curricula, as part of the wider remit of the Cambridge-NTU Centre for Lifelong Learning and Individualised Cognition (CLIC).

Learning number patterns through computational thinking activities: A Rasch model analysis.

Despite the increasing presence of computational thinking (CT) in the mathematics context, the connection between CT and mathematics in a practical classroom context is an important area for further research. This study intends to investigate the impact of CT activities in the topic of number patterns on the learning performance of secondary students in Singapore. The Rasch model analysis was employed to assess differences of ability between students from the experimental group and control group. 106 Secondary One students (age 13 years old) from a secondary school in Singapore took part in this study. A quasi-experimental non-equivalent groups design was utilized where 70 students were assigned into the experimental group, and 36 students were assigned into the control group. The experimental group was given intervention with CT-infused activities both on- and off-computer, while the control group received no such intervention. Both groups were administered the pretest before the intervention and the posttest after the intervention. The data gathered were analyzed using the partial credit version of the Rasch model. Analysis of pretest and posttest results revealed that the performance of the experimental group was similar to the control group. The findings did not support the hypothesis that integrating CT in lessons can result in improved mathematics learning. However, the drastic improvement was observed in individual students from the experimental group, while there is no obvious or extreme improvement for the students from the control group. This study provides some new empirical evidence and practical contributions to the infusion of CT practices in the mathematics classroom.