Esther Gnanamalar Sarojini Daniel

The Delphi Technique in Identifying Learning Objectives for the Development of Science, Technology and Society Modules for Palestinian Ninth Grade Science Curriculum

This article outlines how learning objectives based upon science, technology and society (STS) elements for Palestinian ninth grade science textbooks were identified, which was part of a bigger study to establish an STS foundation in the ninth grade science curriculum in Palestine. First, an initial list of STS elements was determined. Second, using this list, ninth grade science textbooks and curriculum document contents were analyzed. Third, based on this content analysis, a possible list of 71 learning objectives for the integration of STS elements was prepared. This list of learning objectives was refined by using a two-round Delphi technique. The Delphi study was used to rate and to determine the consensus regarding which items (i.e. learning objectives for STS in the ninth grade science textbooks in Palestine) are to be accepted for inclusion. The results revealed that of the initial 71 objectives in round one, 59 objectives within round two had a mean score of 5.683 or higher, which indicated that the learning objectives could be included in the development of STS modules for ninth grade science in Palestine.

Thinking about thinking: changes in first-year medical students’ metacognition and its relation to performance

Background Studies have shown the importance of metacognition in medical education. Metacognitive skills consist of two dimensions: knowledge of metacognition and regulation of metacognition. Aim This study hypothesizes that the knowledge and regulation of metacognition is significantly different at the beginning and end of the academic year, and a correlation exists between the two dimensions of metacognitive skills with academic performance. Methods The Metacognitive Skills Inventory comprising 52 Likert-scale items was administered to 159 first-year medical students at the University of Malaya. Students’ year-end results were used to measure their academic performance. Results A paired sample t-test indicated no significant difference for knowledge of metacognition at the beginning and end of the academic year. A paired sample t-test revealed significant difference for regulation of metacognition at the beginning and end of the academic year. A very strong correlation was found between the two dimensions of metacognition. The correlation between knowledge and regulation of metacognition with students’ academic result was moderate. Conclusions The improvement in students’ metacognitive regulation and the moderate correlation between knowledge and regulation of metacognition with academic performance at the end of the academic year indicate the probable positive influence of the teaching and learning activities in the medical program.

Asia Pacific science education in a knowledge society

Science education, since the end of the nineteenth century has been a formal vehicle to ensure the perpetuation of scientific knowledge necessary for general scientific literacy and the creation of a society of scientists. However, since then, beliefs about knowledge and knowing have changed from science being described as being just a pile of chronologically documented facts, through the dynamic growth of scientific knowledge as explained by Kuhn in his Structure of Scientific Revolutions, to the present twenty-first century concept of knowledge societies by which new scientific knowledge is being interpreted. Science education perspectives in relation to teacher education and pedagogies need to be frequently revisited. Indeed, many nations in the Asia-Pacific region are doing just that. How then is the teaching and learning of scientific knowledge in the region? This article will review and compare research related to science achievement, quality of science education and approaches to teaching science in the Asia-Pacific region in particular five nations, in an attempt to answer this question.

Representational Competence in Chemistry: A comparison between students with different levels of understanding of basic chemical concepts and chemical representations

Abstract Representational competence is defined as “skills in interpreting and using representations”. This study attempted to compare students’ of high, medium, and low levels of understanding of (1) basic chemical concepts, and (2) chemical representations, in their representational competence. A total of 411 Form 4 science students (mean age = 16 years) from seven urban secondary schools in Malaysia participated in this study. Data were collected from three instruments namely the test of chemical concepts, the test of chemical representations, and the test of representational competence. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences was used to analyze the data. Findings showed students with a high level of understanding of (1) chemical concepts and (2) chemical representations had significantly higher overall level of representational competence compared to both the medium and the low groups, at p < 0.001. However, students with medium and low levels of understanding of (1) chemical concepts and (2) chemical representations showed no significant difference in their overall levels of representational competence. Findings also showed that students’ overall level of representational competence had a higher dependence on their level of understanding of chemical concepts than their level of understanding of chemical representations.

Curriculum, Pedagogy, Teacher Training and Recent Reforms in Primary Science Education

The dynamism of science education in Asia is an enigma yet structured. An enigma because science teaching and learning is about discovering the secrets behind natural world phenomena, which suggests nonlinear knowledge construction and creation and liberal pedagogies that teachers need to be exposed to; yet in many Asian classrooms, preceptive transfer of knowledge takes place much of the time which points the finger at the structure of science education which encompasses planned curricula and training of teachers in pedagogical and content knowledge. Since World War II, Asian nations, such as Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, China, and Hong Kong, have seen progressive phases of curricular changes, pedagogical approaches, assessments, and teacher training programs specifically for science education, with many of the cues coming from the West. This chapter discusses the various descriptions of the evolution of primary science curricula in the six nations over the past sixdecades, which indicates that the focus at present are inculcating values, attitudes and skills in general and in particular, to the environment. Furthermore, the global voice for STEM integration is growing louder in order to plant the seeds of the wonder of science in young minds who face a fast-changing world.

Swimming against the tide in STEM education and gender equality: a problem of recruitment or retention in Malaysia

ABSTRACT Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is acknowledged as one of the key drivers of technological innovation. Malaysian women join the educational pipeline as equals to their male counterparts. Nevertheless, women are persistently under-represented in technology and engineering, but over-represented in other STEM fields. Using data provided by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education, our results suggest that under-representation of women in engineering was attributed to low recruitment at the point of entry. Such a finding thus begs the question as to why women were not recruited into engineering. Malaysian policymakers and educators need to address under-representation of women in order to achieve gender equality in STEM, as part of the goals of Millennium Development and Vision 2020; to become a nation that is competent, confident and innovative in harnessing and advancing science and technology.

Be it Elementary or Tertiary Level of Biology that we Teach, We need TPACK

Whether one is teaching elementary science or genome biology, the ability to create innovative biology lessons requires Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK). We have come a long way since the early twentieth century … the world is changing. The laptop in the classroom has become commonplace and new technological tools can be integrated in the biology classroom. Today when we hear about the technology in the teaching–learning environment, we think of word-processing software, presentation software, animation software, multimedia, online learning (including interactive features such as chat rooms, forum, etc.), distance learning, laptops, tablet PCs, handhelds and such. Related to the technology-supported learning environments (for biology and other subjects) and the learning experiences, Brown (Why students still need teachers in the internet age. Keynote address presented at the ‘International educational conference: Education and ICT in the new millennium’, University Putra Malaysia June 30 2000) purported that five key components were necessary in learning which are motivation, structure, knowledge, guidance and evaluation. Educators and technical developers need to rethink their roles in the light of new fast evolving technologies (Naismith L, Lonsdale P, Vavoula G, Sharples M, Literature review in mobile technologies and learning. Retrieved May 23 2006. from http://www.futurelab.org.uk/, 2005).

Student Biology Teachers: Passive Recipients to Active Participants (A Case Study, University of Malaya, Malaysia)

This paper will focus upon a pilot attempt at involving the Biology Methods Course student teachers in the University of Malaya, actively in their own training. Forty-eight students were involved in this case study. The objectives were to guide student teachers to (1) not just implement the National Biology Curriculum but to also become innovators as well as interpreters of the curriculum and to be able to teach it in a very unique way and (2) develop good communicative skills so as to boost confidence and self-growth. The student teachers were allowed to be involved partially in their own training, by planning certain activities, which was assessed. The supervisor together with three other impartial persons determined the criteria by which these activities would be evaluated. This exploratory attempt (enveloped in a field trip planned by the student teachers themselves) showed that student teachers were able to innovatively interpret the National Biology Curriculum. This, in turn, revealed that better communicative skills and self-growth as future science teachers could be inculcated.

Orchestrating Biology Instruction

Biology teachers hold a lot of power in their hands. This power is to orchestrate the learning environment so creatively that students are stimulated to want to know more. It may be a simple spark as a story or an interesting fact, but it is enough to light the fire of curiosity. Much research points to the fact that the direct teaching of biology content overshadows the process of discovering the wonders of natural science. New research also indicates that changes need to be made within the biology curriculum to make it more relevant and current as well as interdisciplinary. Biology teaching and learning needs to break loose out of its rigid structure and become more fluid and non-linear to become more appealing to our present generation of digital natives.