The predictive effects of motivation toward learning science on TIMSS grade 8 students' science achievement: A comparative study between Malaysia and Singapore.

TIMSS routinely presents very powerful evidence showing that students with more positive motivation toward learning science have substantially higher achievement. The results from TIMSS 2011 are consistent with previous assessments. This study explored the predictive effects of motivation toward learning science on science achievement among Malaysian and Singaporean eighth graders who participated in the TIMSS 2011. In this study, students’ interest in and liking of learning science, students’ understanding about the importance and the usefulness of the science subject, and students’ self-confidence or self-concept in their ability to learn science were measured. Secondary data of the study were obtained from 5,733 Malaysian students and 5,927 Singaporean students who participated in the TIMSS 2011. The results of the present study indicated that eighth-graders’ liking and valuing of learning science were positively associated with Malaysian and Singaporean Grade 8 students’ science achievement

An action research in science: Providing metacognitive support to year 9 students

© 2016 Wagaba et al. An action research study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of providing metacognitive support to enhance Year 9 students’ metacognitive capabilities in order to better understand science concepts related to light, environmental health, ecosystems, genetics, ecology, atoms and the Periodic Table. The study was conducted over three years involving 35, 20 and 24 students in each year. The interventions included providing students with clearly stated focused outcomes about the relevant science concepts, engaging in collaborative group work, reading scientific texts and using concept mapping techniques. The data to evaluate the effectiveness of the metacognitive interventions were obtained from pre- and posttest results of the Metacognitive Support Questionnaire (MSpQ). The results showed gains in the MSpQ

A case for enhancing environmental education programs in schools: Reflecting on primary school students’ knowledge and attitudes

© 2016 Treagust et al. Environmental education in schools is of increasing importance as the world population increases with the subsequent demand on resources and the potential for increased pollution. In an effort to enhance the standing of environmental education in the school curriculum, this study was designed to determine primary students’ knowledge about the environment, their attitudes towards helping the environment and what they actually have done to help the environment. The Year 4 and 5 students in regular and gifted classes in one primary school answered a questionnaire called the Children’s Environmental Attitude and Knowledge Scale (CHEAKS) and several students in both Year levels were interviewed in pairs to elaborate on their responses. In the interviews, students discussed what they had been taught in school in relation to the environment. The findings include (1) Year 4 students had a higher commitment to the environment than Year 5 students; (2) gifted students had more knowledge than regular students; and (3) girls were more verbally committed to the environment than boys. Having knowledge about the environment did not necessarily mean that the student was committed to saving the environment, nor did it mean that the student took action to solve environmental problems. While this study was conducted in one school, the implication is the need for the implementation of a curriculum to help students develop their knowledge and attitudes to take proenvironmental actions

Primary School Teachers’ Understanding of Science Process Skills in Relation to Their Teaching Qualifications and Teaching Experience

This study investigated the understanding of science process skills (SPS) of 329 science teachers from 52 primary schools selected by random sampling. The understanding of SPS was measured in terms of conceptual and operational aspects of SPS using an instrument called the Science Process Skills Questionnaire (SPSQ) with a Cronbach’s alpha reliability of 0.88. The findings showed that the teachers’ conceptual understanding of SPS was much weaker than their practical application of SPS. The teachers’ understanding of SPS differed by their teaching qualifications but not so much by their teaching experience. Emphasis needs to be given to both conceptual and operational understanding of SPS during pre-service and in-service teacher education to enable science teachers to use the skills and implement inquiry-based lessons in schools

Availability of school resources and TIMSS grade 8 students’ science achievement: A comparative study between Malaysia and Singapore

Studies have shown that resources are crucial for improving schooling, perhaps even more so in developing countries than in economically developed countries, where adequate school structures and material resources may be taken for granted. Recent research reviews suggest that computer use continues to grow in mathematics and science instruction, and that it can positively affect students’ mathematics and science achievement. Hence, the most successful schools tend to have students that are relatively economically affluent and speak the language of the instruction. Successful schools also are likely to have better working conditions and facilities as well as more instructional materials. The ultimate goal of this study is to investigate the contribution of school resources towards the achievement in science among Malaysian and Singaporean eighth-graders. Data were obtained from 5,733 Malaysian students and 5,927 Singaporean students who participated in the TIMSS 2011

The Efficacy of an Alternative Instructional Programme Designed to Enhance Secondary Students' Competence in the Triplet Relationship

Research has consistently shown that secondary school students have conceptual difficulties transferring between macroscopic, submicroscopic and symbolic representations in chemistry. In this chapter, we describe how students responded to a 15-item two-tier multiple choice diagnostic instrument that analysed their understanding of seven types of chemical reactions using macroscopic, submicroscopic and symbolic representations after they had been taught a special alternative programme to make these three representations more overt. The research has shown that by placing particular emphasis on the triplet relationship of macroscopic, submicroscopic and symbolic representations in chemistry, it is possible for students to achieve more meaningful learning of chemical representations. Suggestions are made for how such improved learning can be accommodated in normal classrooms, as compared to research-oriented classrooms

High School and Preservice Chemistry Teacher Education Students’ Understanding of Voltaic and Electrolytic Cell Concepts: Evidence of Consistent Learning Difficulties Across Years

High school students learn the basic voltaic and electrolytic cell concepts during their last year prior to entering an undergraduate teacher-education science degree. During the 4 years of university, students complete a sequence of topics designed to build on conceptual understanding presented in previous years. At the end of their degrees, graduating students are expected to have developed a comprehensive understanding of the subject that they are required to teach. In this research, we designed and developed a 12-item diagnostic instrument which addressed 10 propositional content knowledge statements based on the grade 12 chemistry curriculum that will be taught. In this cross-section study, 50 grade 12 high school students and 216 preservice chemistry teacher education undergraduates in years 1–4 responded to the Electrochemistry Conceptual Test (ECT) consisting of 12 two-tier multiple-choice items. The instrument was content validated by authors and peers prior to administration and when implemented had a Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient of 0.64. Overall, the students across years possessed basic knowledge about electrochemical cells but frequently were unable to explain their knowledge. While the grand mean trend in understanding electrochemistry concepts from high school through university study did show some improvement, the mean scores remained relatively low, and the year group means per item showed no such trend exacerbated by items having varying levels of difficulty. Based on this research, the lack in understanding about electrochemical concepts suggests that instruction in high school and ongoing university chemistry education faces ongoing challenges