Lilia Halim

A peek into oneself: reflective writing amongst undergraduate Medical Imaging students

Reflection is thinking about, pondering upon something that we have learnt. It is something that one consciously looks at in great depth – contemplating, analyzing in order to learn from it. Reflection aids everyday life in formal learning and informal learning. Reflection is used widely in the field of education, especially healthcare curricula throughout the world in which clinical practice is a huge component. This study aims to identify whether there is an improvement in students’ clinical grades with the use of a reflective journal. Before students were exposed to clinical posting, they underwent a Workshop on Reflective Writing to teach them how to write a reflective journal. They were introduced to Kolb’s four-stage model of reflection: concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization and active experimentation. The students were asked to write a minimum of three journal entries each week, but they were encouraged to write as much as possible. Students were then sent on clinical placement. A one-to one interview with each student revealed that students felt that writing reflective journals improved their clinical practice. Findings revealed that there was improvement in their clinical practice. Hence knowledge of reflective writing is fundamental to healthcare educators, and they themselves need to be reflective practitioners.

Science Education Research and Practice in Malaysia

Science education is often seen as the vehicle for Malaysia to become a developed country based on science and technology. As a result, Malaysia has made the policy of producing 60 % of its critical mass of educated people, both at school and university, in the science and technology discipline. However, we have yet to reach the target because of the decline of interest in science among students. Various strategies and policies have been formulated and adapted to arrest the situation. This chapter begins by looking at the historical and social contexts that have driven developments in science education in Malaysia. With this context, it brings forth the research that has been embarked on looking at the issues, problems and effectiveness of the practices in science classrooms. This chapter also looks critically at the usefulness of research in informing practice including the barriers hampering the bridging of the gap between research and practice. To conclude, possible and future trends of research in science education are recommended.

Pengurusan Penglibatan Pelajar dalam Amali Sains (Management of Students' Involvement in Science Practical Work)

The aim of this study is to identify teachers’ teaching approach, students’ learning style, and types of evaluation of Form 4 sport science subject in secondary schools. The study also meant to identify the relationship between students’ learning style with their achievement in sport science subject. Samples consist of 208 teachers who thought in sport science subject and 2729 of students who participate in the sport science subject at selected secondary schools. Instruments used in the study consist of questionnaires for teachers and students with reliability of α = .962 and α = .799 respectively. The results showed that teachers’ teaching approach based on teaching management strategy was at medium level while its teaching techniques and teachers’ content knowledge on sport science were at high level. This study also found that students acquired a high interest towards sport science subject but at of a medium level on perceptual learning style which involve visual, auditory, and kinaesthetic. The evaluation styles chosen for measuring students’ learning achievement was written test, practical test, oral test, semester examination, project, and performance evaluation. Students’ learning achievement of Form 4 sport science subject was 9.2% scored grade A, 21% grade B, 38% grade C, and 18.5% grade D. Learning factor has a low significant relationship (r = .17**, p < .00) with students’ achievement in form 4 sport science subject. In conclusion, teachers’ teaching approach should anticipate with students’ learning styles and include varieties of evaluation process to evaluate students’ learning achievement in sport science subject

Understanding of Basic Particle Nature of Matter Concepts by Secondary School Students Following an Intervention Programme

Grades 10 and 11 students’ (N=172) understanding of particle theory concepts was assessed using the Particle Theory Diagnostic Instrument (PTDI), consisting of 11 two-tier multiple-choice items in a pretest–posttest design after implementing an intervention instructional programme. The intervention programme involving eight lessons of about 45-min duration each included teacher demonstrations and student practical activities followed by class discussions to explain students’ observations. The 11 items assessed understanding in three key conceptual categories: (1) intermolecular spacing in matter (CC1), (2) the influence of intermolecular forces on changes of state (CC2), and (3) diffusion in liquids and gases (CC3), using a quantitative methodology. There was a statistically significant improvement in overall mean scores among students from the pretest (M=4.08, SD=1.79) to the posttest [M=6.04, SD=2.49, t (171)=10.10, p<0.001]. However, the students did not display a good understanding about the concepts in the three conceptual categories: only 30.8% of students correctly answered all four items in CC1, 7.0% correctly answered all three items in CC2, and 16.3% correctly answered all four items in CC3.

Students’ interest towards STEM: a longitudinal study

ABSTRACT Background: Previous studies have reported the impact of integrated science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)-based programmes on students’ interest towards STEM, however, only few have tracked the longitudinal impact of such programmes across the years. Purpose: This study examined the long-term impact of the Bitara-STEM: Science of Smart Communities Program (Bitara-STEM) on middle school students’ interest towards STEM. Program description: The program exposed students with integrated STEM education through a hands-on project based learning experiences, in an informal learning environment involving the application of the five phases of an engineering design process. Sample: This study involved 121 students who participated in the 2014 cohort of the Bitara-STEM program. Design and methods: Data were collected through a longitudinal survey and interviews. Interviews were conducted with sub sample of students to gauge the reasoning behind the decline, sustain or increment of interest towards STEM. Results: Findings revealed that, 2 years after leaving the programme, the levels of interest towards STEM careers were sustained but interest towards STEM subjects was not. The data from interviews revealed that the possible reasons for the decrease in interest towards STEM subjects could be due to the quality of teaching and learning that they experienced in the classroom. Conclusions: Thus, in order to sustain interest towards STEM subjects, students should be involved with Bitara-STEM type active learning strategies more regularly. Teaching and learning approaches in schools need to reflect the more active learning approaches, involving the integration of STEM subjects, as exemplified in this programme.

The development of teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge in teaching biology

This paper examines the development of biology teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). All participants were provided with PCK training activities to improve their understanding of PCK and ability in creating lesson plans according to content representation (CoRe). Research instruments used in this study were open-ended questionnaire, semi-structure interview, lesson plans, CoRe and pedagogical and professional-experience repertoire. The results of the PCK training programme indicated that before participation in the training workshop, three biology teachers lacked content knowledge in some specific topics of biology so that their teaching methods were not congruent with five components of PCK. After the PCK training programme, the three biology teachers understood more about biology contents and the five components of PCK. They realised the importance of the students’ prior knowledge and individual differences of learning styles as well as different biology conceptions. They focused on the inquiry-based learning in accord with the National Science Curriculum Standards.

Influence of students’ STEM self-efficacy on STEM and physics career choice

Interest towards STEM and STEM careers is declining worldwide. Among the STEM related careers, the physics discipline has been the most affected in terms of numbers and imbalance of gender. This study investigates the role of self-efficacy in STEM towards STEM careers and Physics career based on gender and types of school. Findings showed that there is a positive and significant correlation between students’ STEM self-efficacy and interest towards all disciplines in STEM and Physics career. Boys showed high level of self-efficacy in engineering discipline while the girls’ associate more with science. Students from boarding schools showed higher self-efficacy and interest towards STEM careers compared to students from public schools. An implication of the study is that self-efficacy and interest in STEM careers are enhanced through engagement with STEM activities in and outside of school. Emphasis should be given to the role of counselors in making STEM careers relevant to students.

Mathematical Modeling from Metacognitive Perspective Theory: A Review on STEM Integration Practices

This study presents to identify mathematical modeling is the least elements focusing on current STEM integration practices. Through this study, a review of the existing practice of STEM integration curriculums, models, modules, and programmes was undertaken to confirm the issue. The database reviewed to confirm this issue is from Social Sciences Citation Index with keyword “Mathematical Modeling,” “STEM curriculum,” “STEM model,” “STEM module” and “STEM program.” As a result, these studies confirmed that mathematical modeling activities were the least focusing on existing STEM integration practices and the theory of metacognation and the theory of sosial interactiondevelopment could promote these abilities.

Integrating mechatronics in project-based learning of Malaysian high school students and teachers

College students’ attrition in engineering programs is a major problem in developed and developing countries. Outreach activities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are a powerful resource to ignite K-12 students’ interest to pursue scientific and engineering careers. Here, a program on mechatronics for Malaysian high-schoolers developed at the New York University Tandon School of Engineering and implemented at the National University of Malaysia is presented. The program follows a dual model where instructors and students work together on a project-based learning curriculum inspired by real-world problems. A group of Malaysian graduate students and high-school teachers was trained to serve as instructors by the New York University team. After training, the New York University team aided the instructors to administer the curriculum to 100 high-schoolers and organize a one-day exhibit for families at the National University of Malaysia. Pre- and post-assessment surveys offer evidence for the positive impact of the program on teachers’ professional development and student engagement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields.

The Integration of Fund of Knowledge in the Hybridization Cognitive Strategy to Enhance Secondary Students’ Understanding of Physics Optical Concepts and Remediating Their Misconceptions

The objective of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of integrating the fund of knowledge in the hybridization cognitive strategy to enhance conceptual understanding and remediating misconceptions in physics optics. For this purpose, the quantitative Physics Optics Conceptual Test (POCT) was employed. The test consisted of 10 multiple-choice items and 10 structured questions that were administered as a pre-test and a post-test to 127 secondary science students in four intact classes of one Technical School. Two classes of different cognitive levels were labelled as the treatment group (N = 63) which were instructed using the hybridization cognitive strategy and the other two classes of different cognitive levels were labelled as the comparison group (N = 64) which were instructed using traditional designed physics instruction. A two-way between-groups analysis of variance was conducted to explore the impact of the teaching strategy and students’ achievement on the post-test scores of the POCT. The result showed that the integration of the fund of knowledge in the hybridization cognitive strategy can enhance the conceptual understanding of physics optics concepts not only for higher cognitive level students, but could also benefit lower cognitive level of students at the same time.