Characterization of Science Teachers’ Teaching Practices Using Pedagogical Content Knowledge Perspectives in a Developing Country with a Highly Centralized Education System

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. August 2017. Major: Education, Curriculum and Instruction. Advisor: Fred Finley. 1 computer file (PDF); x, 353 pages.This study aimed to understand Malaysian physics teachers’ teaching practices from a pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) perspective. The physics topic of interest was Archimedes’ principle. A multiple-case study approach was used, and classroom teaching observations and audio records of teaching, interviews, and collection of documents were the data sources on the teachers’ teaching practices and their knowledge about their practices. This study found that two national contextual amplifiers, the national assessment and curriculum, were strongly associated with the teachers’ PCK in practice. Their uses of teaching activities and representations were mostly consistent with these two national contextual amplifiers. Nonetheless, the teachers had freedom to choose and use any teaching activities and representations that they deemed appropriate for students, demonstrating the personal nature of their PCK in practice. This study suggests that the national curriculum is a source of canonical PCK because the official curriculum directly informed the teachers about the subject matter of teaching Archimedes’ principle, and it is a nationwide curriculum sanctioned by the Ministry of Education. The main recommendation from this study is for the Ministry of Education to consider changing the national contextual amplifiers in order to transform science teachers’ PCK in practice

Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge among Undergraduate Education Degree Students at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

AbstractThis study aims to identify technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) among undergraduate physics education degree students at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). A paper-and-pencil test was used to collect data on their conceptual understanding of Archimedes’ principle. They were also requested to write a teaching lesson plan for the topic of Archimedes’ principle. The data gathered was analysed qualitatively using content analysis. The finding indicates that, these respondents possessed many alternative conceptions in the buoyancy concept and more interestingly, those who have not undergone the Teaching Practice (TP) demonstrated more alternative conceptions compared to those who have. Moreover, those who have undergone TP tended to use question-and-answer method to deliver this topic

Bridging culture and science education: implications for research and practice

Since the 19th century, many studies have claimed the importance of integrating culture in science education, grasping everyone's experience and background. However, from 2012 to 2015, many recent works within these years describe how standardized curricula have marginalized cultural-based education. Scholars then reemphasized the role of bridging funds of knowledge (FOK) as a conceptual framework to counter the deficit of marginalized groups and advance social justice in science education. However, up to this point, the extent and pattern of the growing body of literature on cultural-science integration is still less explored. Hence, in this review, we sought new and current inquiries that connect FOK or cultures with science education reform discourse to identify and understand the current trends of the integration phenomena by doing a systematic literature review. After constantly comparing the articles, we found three trends of the integration, which are (1) cultural-based lesson plan for equity in science educational opportunities, (2) effectiveness of integrating culture in science education, and (3) cultural-based science education as a voice of multidimensional perspectives. We hope that this review of research could reshape the future direction of research on equity and social justice issues in education and reshape the practice of education, particularly science education

Exploring teacher effects on intensifying and minimizing mathematics anxiety among students in Sokoto State, Nigeria

Mathematics anxiety is the feeling of tension and fear which interferes with the manipulation of numbers in ordinary life and academic setting. This study aimed at exploring students’ level of mathematics anxiety and teacher behavior and speech which intensifies and minimizes mathematics anxiety among secondary schools in Sokoto state, Nigeria. In total, 109 questionnaires regarding mathematics anxiety named the cognitive, emotion, physical-mathematics anxiety rating (CEP-MAR) were distributed to students and 102 were returned. From the responses in the questionnaire, 20 of the most mathematics anxious individuals were selected to participate in a photovoice project. These 20 students were given cameras and asked to capture classroom events, which impact on their mathematics anxiety. Afterwards, a one-to-one semi-structured interview was conducted with each student to discuss the photos. The findings disclosed that teachers’ behavior and speech such as being too quick in mathematics classroom lessons, giving too many notes, exercises, punishments and embarrassing/alarming statements have a significant effect in intensifying mathematics anxiety. The findings also showcased that quiz/competitions, good learning environment, intrinsic and extrinsic motivational statements help in minimizing mathematics anxiety. This study provides further evidence that teachers have both positive and negative effect on students’ mathematics anxiety

Chemistry lecturers’ attitudes toward educational technology: Afghanistan lecturer perspective

Teachers play important role in applying technology in teaching and learning especially their attitude towards educational technology. Therefore, this study aimed to determine Afghanistan’s chemistry lecturers’ attitudes and find out differences in technology attitudes based on gender. The random sampling was used to select 154 participants. The result shows the positive attitudes of Afghanistan chemistry lecturers toward using education technology in the class. Furthermore, based on the finding, there was no significant difference between male and female lecturers’ toward using educational technology in the class. The result of this study can be use by the Afghanistan’s Ministry of higher education (HEM) and all university managers to introduce modern education technology into the education system since Afghanistan lecturers seem ready to use it in class

The effect of interactive computer animation and simulation on students’ achievement and motivation in learning electrochemistry

Electrochemistry is difficult to learn due to its abstract concepts involving macroscopic, microscopic, and symbolic representation levels. Studies have shown that students can visualize and improve their understanding of chemistry by using interactive computer animation and simulation. This study reports the effect of interactive computer animation and simulation module named “Interactive Electrolysis of Aqueous Solution” (IEAS) developed to aid students in learning electrolysis. A pre and post-test control quasi-experimental design was carried out to investigate the effects of the IEAS on students’ achievement and motivation in electrochemistry topics. This study involved 62 16-years-old male students from two different secondary schools. Pre and post electrochemistry achievement tests (EAT) and pre and post-Instructional Material Motivation Surveys (IMMS) were used. For EAT, using one-way ANOVA, it shows that there was a significant difference in the post-test mean score in this study on the understanding of the electrolysis concept between students in the treatment and control groups [F (1, 60) = 5.15, p <0.05]. The qualitative results also provided evidence that the students in the treatment group had a better conceptual understanding than the control group, especially at the microscopic representation level. For the IMMS test, there was a significant difference between the treatment and control groups in terms of the mean score of the post motivation IMMS test where p <0.05 in chemistry learning [F (1,59) = 266.89, p <0.05]. Thus, it can be concluded that IEAS has an impact on enhancing the students’ understanding of the electrolysis concept, and the students are more motivated to learn electrochemistry

Student teachers' attitude and self-esteem towards online learning: Application of Rasch measurement model

The spread of the COVID-19 epidemic has changed the education delivery system. Educators are encouraged to continue the online teaching process to ensure that students can continue to learn whereby a program or course which is designed intentionally to be carried out fully online through some platforms that include Skype, Zoom, Google meet, Webex, and Kahoot. Thus, there is a need in conducting a study to identify the attitude and self-esteem towards online learning especially among student teachers. Therefore, this study aims to investigate student teachers' attitude towards online learning, student's teacher's self-esteem towards online learning and also the relationship between attitude and self-esteem towards online learning among student teachers. A total of 143 student teachers who undergo their teaching practicum are involved in this study. There are two instruments used in this study which are self-develop (Questionnaire measuring Attitude) and adopted instrument from the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Inventory (RSES). All the collected data were analysed by using Rasch Measurement Model. Based on the result, the student's teachers show better attitude in the aspect of cognitive but negative attitude in the aspect of affective and behaviour. Meanwhile, the overall student teachers have moderate level of self-esteem. Findings showed that the self-esteem was significantly positive and moderately related with attitude towards the correlation coefficient .500. In conclusion, attitude and self-esteem are the important aspect for an educator in order to maintain a good teaching and effective learning process to the students even in facing an emergency situation

Math-related critical thinking theory in civil engineering design

Design is the fundamental soul to all branches of engineering. It is a prime context for understanding how civil engineers use critical thinking and mathematical thinking in engineering problem-solving. However, information about the interrelation between these two types of thinking in real-world engineering practice is found lacking in the literature. This paper presents the first-hand experience of developing a substantive theory which relates both critical thinking and mathematical thinking used by practicing engineers in the civil engineering design process. The qualitative research using modified grounded theory method was employed in this study. Data were generated from semi-structured interviews with practicing engineers from two engineering consultancy firms. Six essential processes of justifying decisions reasonably in engineering design process were identified, namely complying requirements, forming conjectures, drawing reasonable conclusions, defending claims with good reasons, giving alternative ways and selecting and pursuing the right approach. Findings of this study may advise prospective civil engineers of the applicability and indispensability of critical thinking and mathematical thinking in making and justifying decisions during the engineering design process. The study also contributes useful information to engineering education on fulfilling the expectations of engineering program outcomes set by the Engineering Accreditation Council

The attainment of soft skills among students: impact of abroad study visit program

This study aims to determine the impact of an abroad study visit program on the attainment of soft skills among the students. A questionnaire was used to collect the data using a five-scale range of answers. Thirty-five students were selected among the participants of the program. The data is analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics, namely mean, standard deviation, and correlation. The primary finding obtained is that the program has provided a huge opportunity for the students to develop their professional ethics and moral indicated through the highest mean obtained by the items related to the construct. In terms of correlations, the positive and the strongest correlation is between the construct of Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills and the construct of Lifelong Learning and Information Management. The implications of the findings are also discussed

Adsorption of fatty acid on beta-cyclodextrin functionalized cellulose nanofiber

Fatty acids in wastewater contribute to high chemical oxygen demand. The use of cellulose nanofiber (CNF) to adsorb the fatty acids is limited by its strong internal hydrogen bonding. This study aims to functionalize CNF with β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and elucidate the adsorption behaviour which is yet to be explored. β-CD functionalized CNF (CNF/β-CD) was achieved by crosslinking of β-CD and citric acid. Functionalization using 7% (w/v) β-CD and 8% (w/v) citric acid enhanced mechanical properties by increasing its thermal decomposition. CNF/β-CD was more efficient in removing palmitic acid, showcased by double adsorption capacity of CNF/β-CD (33.14% removal) compared to CNF (15.62% removal). CNF/β-CD maintained its adsorption performance after five cycles compared to CNF, which reduced significantly after two cycles. At 25 °C, the adsorption reached equilibrium after 60 min, following a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The intraparticle diffusion model suggested chemical adsorption and intraparticle interaction as the controlling steps in the adsorption process. The maximum adsorption capacity was 8349.23 mg g−1 and 10485.38 mg g−1 according to the Sips and Langmuir isotherm model, respectively. The adsorption was described as monolayer and endothermic, and it involved both a physisorption and chemisorption process. This is the first study to describe the adsorption behaviour of palmitic acid onto CNF/β-CD