Eng Tek Ong

The distinctiveness and effectiveness of science teaching in the Malaysian ‘Smart school’

A recent reform initiative in the Malaysian educational system has sought to develop ‘Smart schools’, intended to better prepare students for adult life in a developing economy and to increase the flow of young people prepared for scientific and technological careers. The study reported in this paper examined lower‐secondary science teaching, comparing two Smart schools officially judged to be successfully implementing the reform, with two neighbouring mainstream schools. Through analysis of classroom observation, supported by teacher interview and student report, the distinctive features of science teaching in the Smart schools were found to be use of ICT‐based resources and of student‐centred approaches, often intertwined to provide extended support for learning; accompanied by a near absence of the note giving and copying prevalent in the mainstream schools. Through analysis of measures of student attitude to science, science process skills and general science attainment, science teaching in Smart schools was found to be relatively effective overall. However, while the positive attitude effect was general, both academic effects were much weaker amongst students who had been of lower attainment on entry to secondary school.

Acquisition of Basic Science Process Skills among Malaysian Upper Primary Students

This study aims to determine whether there are significant differences in the acquisition of basic science process skills by gender, school location and by grade levels among upper primary school students. Using an established 36-item Basic Science Process Skills test that assesses the skills of observing, communicating, classifying, measuring, predicting and inferring with appropriate reliability and validity, the instrument was administered to 220 respondents - 80, 80 and 60 in Years 4, 5 and 6 respectively, drawn from two urban and two rural national primary schools in Perak. The data were analysed by gender and by location using an independent samples t-test, and by grade level using one-way ANOVA. The findings indicated that while there was no gender difference, significant differences in the basic science process skills were found between rural and urban students, favouring the latter, in terms of observing, communicating, classifying and inferring. The significant grade level differences were only observed between Year 4 and Year 6 students, favouring the latter, in terms of measuring, predicting and inferring. Possible reasons for the differences observed are discussed.

A Glimpse of Evolution Education in the Malaysian Context

Darwin’s Theory of Evolution is the widely held notion that all life is related and has descended from a common ancestor. Darwin’s general theory presumes the development of life from non-life and stresses a purely naturalistic (undirected) “descent with modification”. That is, complex creatures evolve from more simplistic ancestors naturally over time. Malaysia is a multi-racial and multi-religion country in the Southeast Asian region. Due to different religious backgrounds, evolutionary theory is always a sensitive and hotly-debated issue in the teaching of biology in Malaysian schools. This book chapter evaluates the place of evolutionary theory biology curriculum in Malaysian secondary schools. Emphases given to evolutionary theory in the biology teacher education programmes at two public universities as well as prospective biology teachers’ attitudes towards evolutionary theory are also investigated. It can be concluded that the level of acceptance on evolutionary theory among Malaysian prospective biology teachers is low as evolutionary theory was not fully understood. Hence, the introduction of specific courses on biological evolution that cover its most fundamental principles is crucially needed in the biology teacher education programmes in the Malaysian context.

Examining the Validity and Reliability for a Measurement Model of the Malaysian Teacher Disposition Index (MTDI)

In recent years, teacher quality has become the concern nationally and internationally as reflected in the initiatives to prepare quality teachers through the development of teacher education model or quality teacher standards at national and regional levels as documented in NCATE (2001, 2006), SEAMEO RECSAM (2014) and UPSI education research laboratory (undated) Teacher development is a continuous effort either by an individual or supported by the ministry of education.