Journal of Baltic Science Education

523

Authors: Editorial Board

Contents, Vol. 20, No. 4, 2021, JBSE

528-545

Authors: Jamilah Ahmad, Nyet Moi Siew

There are limited research studies about the development of test instrument to assess the level of entrepreneurial thinking among children in STEM education. The purpose of this research was to develop an Entrepreneurial Science Thinking Test (ESTT) for primary school children in STEM Education and evaluate its validity and reliability. The ESTT was developed using experiential learning theory which comprised of five constructs, namely Observation, New Ideas, Innovation, Creativity, and Value. The ESTT consisted of ten open-ended question items that require children to answer questions in statements and draw sketches of ideas. The evaluation was conducted to determine the reliability and validity of ESTT which involved five subject matter experts and 166 11-year-old fifth graders from five urban schools in Sabah, Malaysia. The data obtained from fifth graders were computed using WINSTEPS software version 3.73 and analysed using the Rasch measurement model. The results indicated a high acceptable content validity and construct validity, high internal consistency, and excellent item reliability and item separation. Through item fit analysis, all items were retained. The finding established the reliability and validity of the ESTT and would therefore represent a valid and highly reliable instrument for measuring entrepreneurial science thinking among fifth graders in STEM Education.

558-572

Authors: Turki Alqarni

This study examined the impact of the Augmented reality (AR) use on Jordanian 6th grade students' attitudes towards science and their learning outcomes. A quantitative quasi-experimental study is preceded with the Pre-test and Post-test control group design model, where 24 students who identified to have special needs participated in this study and were randomly divided into two groups. Two groups, control group 12 students were taught conventionally, and 12 students were designated as the experimental group, they used the AR technology for four weeks. The two scales used in this research were reliable and validated. The results show significant results for the AR technology in enhancing student learning outcomes. Additionally, results supported that AR technology has the potential to enhance students with learning disabilities positive attitudes. The result shows that AR technology helped students in promoting positive attitudes towards students and enhance students learning outcomes.

590-611

Authors: Nilgün Bakkaloğlu, Pınar Özdemir Şimşek

This study deals with the effects of applying drama method in the teaching of environmental issues in science courses on the achievement, retention of learning, student interest and attitudes of primary school students and also whether these effects are dependent on teachers. The study was designed on the basis of the Solomon Four-Group Design. The study is a two group pre- and post-test experiment in two parts, each part having an experimental and control group. The courses were delivered to both groups by the researcher in the first part and drama teacher in the second. The experimental groups received 144 hours of teaching for six weeks, during which a drama course outline was employed, while in the control groups the courses followed the course outlines covered in the curricula. The data were collected using the Environmental Achievement Test, Interest Scale towards the Environment and Attitude Scale towards Science. The findings suggest that the teachers had some effects on the methods, but the significant differences in scores were due to the drama method, which was found to improve the achievement of the third-grade students and the interest towards environment and attitudes towards science of both third- and fourth-grade students.

622-638

Authors: Leonard Molefe, Jean-Baptiste Aubin

Today science teachers are expected to understand the nature of environmental education, and be competent in skills, methods, and procedures relevant to a science discipline. The purpose of this research was to explore pre-service science teachers’ views with regard to environmental education, investigation conducted during a freshwater ecosystem studied, skills developed and the associated stepwise scientific process. Data were collected through a five-item questionnaire that included the characteristics of environmental education, types of scientific investigations, science process skills and the scientific process. 94 students that registered for a Bachelor of Education degree participated in this research. The results from statistical analysis of the teachers’ responses showed the importance of lifelong learning, involvement of community in environmental education and development of critical and problem-solving skills. However, most teachers could not provide correct scientific investigation they conducted during the freshwater study. Although there were no correlations between the investigation, science process skills and the associated scientific process, influence of the stepwise scientific process recommended in the science curriculum was evident in the teachers’ linking of form a hypothesis to observation. The findings imply that teachers face potential challenges in understanding of scientific investigations and the scientific process.

651-663

Authors: Ning Wang, Aik-Ling Tan, Wu-Rong Xiao, Feng Zeng, Jiong Xiang, Wei Duan

Learning experiences can affect students' interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) careers. Applying the social cognitive career theory, this study tested and compared the effect size and effect mechanism of formal learning experiences (FLE) and informal learning experiences (ILE) on 1133 tenth-grade students' interest in STEM careers (ISC) through a paper questionnaire survey. The results of structural equation model analysis showed that: 1) The total effect of ILE on students' ISC is much greater than that of FLE; 2) ILE, STEM self-efficacy (SSE) and STEM careers perceptions (SCP) can directly affect students' ISC; FLE and ILE can also indirectly affect students' ISC through the mediating role of SSE and SCP. The analyses suggest that in order to improve students' ISC, STEM education (especially informal STEM education) should be strengthened, both formal and informal education should pay attention to the cultivation of students' SSE and SCP.

677-690

Authors: Shao-Na Zhou, Lu-Chang Chen, Shao-Rui Xu, Chu-Ting Lu, Qiu-ye Li, De-An Li

Most studies have concentrated in assessing students’ overall attitudes towards science, mathematics, and engineering/technology or the attitude towards individual STEM domain. The present research aims to explore primary students’ gender and grade differences of their STEM domain-specific attitudes including self-efficacy and expectancy-value beliefs, as well as their correlations. The results showed no detected significant effects among these different STEM domains in the overall attitudes, the overall self-efficacy beliefs, and the overall expectancy-value beliefs for primary students. The correlations between self-efficacy and expectancy-value were much stronger for the science domain and engineering/technology domain than the mathematics domain. No gender difference of the self-efficacy beliefs was detected except in the mathematics domain, and the result that lower primary students performed significantly better than upper primary students in the self-efficacy was also mainly contributed by the grade difference in the mathematics domain. Whereas no different expectancy-value beliefs existed across genders and grade levels in various STEM domains. The present results reported some unique performances by the primary school students compared to the elder group.