Designing for Student-Directedness: How K–12 Teachers Utilize Peers to Support Projects

Student-directed projects—projects in which students have individual control over what they create and how to create it—are a promising practice for supporting the development of conceptual understanding and personal interest in K–12 computer science classrooms. In this article, we explore a central (and perhaps counterintuitive) design principle identified by a group of K–12 computer science teachers who support student-directed projects in their classrooms: in order for students to develop their own ideas and determine how to pursue them, students must have opportunities to engage with other students’ work. In this qualitative study, we investigated the instructional practices of 25 K–12 teachers using a series of in-depth, semi-structured interviews to develop understandings of how they used peer work to support student-directed projects in their classrooms. Teachers described supporting their students in navigating three stages of project development: generating ideas, pursuing ideas, and presenting ideas. For each of these three stages, teachers considered multiple factors to encourage engagement with peer work in their classrooms, including the quality and completeness of shared work and the modes of interaction with the work. We discuss how this pedagogical approach offers students new relationships to their own learning, to their peers, and to their teachers and communicates important messages to students about their own competence and agency, potentially contributing to aims within computer science for broadening participation.

Attitudes Towards Science: A Study of Gender Differences and Grade Level

<p style="text-align: justify;">It should be noted that learning outcomes are not students’ only achievement; attitude is also the main output in learning. This research explores students’ attitudes toward science learning based on gender and the grade level of schools in Aceh, Indonesia. The participants are 1,023 students from the sixth grade of primary schools and the eighth grade of secondary schools. The total sample includes 16 schools spread across the province. The data have been collected using TOSRA. By using the Likert scale, this questionnaire is useful for obtaining descriptions of the students’ attitudes and assigning scores for a certain group of participants. Based on gender, the results show females reflect more positive attitudes toward science than male students do. According to the grade level of the schools, the data reflect the equality of students’ attitudes toward science between primary and secondary schools. Nevertheless, when primary school students enter secondary school, the majority of students enjoy learning science less. This fact is meaningful feedback for science teachers. This result supports the scholars seeking ways to avoid the gender gap in learning activities. Pedagogical implications are also discussed.</p>

Development of Social and Culture Aspects Pre-service Science Teachers on Learning for Nature of Science

Understanding aspects of the Nature of Science (NOS) for preservice science teachers is one of the essential components to be able to understand Science and its processes. There are seven aspects of NOS: empirical, inference, creative, latent theory, tentative, scientific procedural myths, theories and laws of science, social and cultural dimensions, and their embedding in science. There are 48 preservice science teachers involved in this study. Researchers explored their views about NOS and Indigenous Knowledge (IK) through a validated questionnaire. Results showed that the students' opinions on NOS consisted of empirical, tentative, inference, law, scientific theory, and creativity. Meanwhile, aspects of laden theory, myths of scientific procedures, and social and cultural dimensions embedded with science have not been described by students. Fortunately, the students presented IK as an authentic context based on the culture in science learning. Students express IK ideas: 1) biomedicine (40 students), Biopesticide (2 students), beauty ingredients (2 students), additives (1 student), and supernatural medicine (1 student). Integrating Science and IK as an authentic context in science learning leads IK toward high technology and strengthens NOS aspects. In addition, the assumption that IK has no future is declining.

Smartphones as digital instructional interface devices: the teacher’s perspective

Globally, many nations have put in place policies on technology enhanced teaching and learning in an effort to keep abreast with the rapid advancement in technology. However, the use of technology in education has been slow in many third world countries, inclusive of Zimbabwe. COVID-19 restrictions inadvertently accelerated the adoption of digital instructional interface devices (DIIDs). Smartphones are preferred DIIDs because of their popularity amongst children as well as teachers. However, their successful penetration as DIIDs is largely dependent on teachers’ dispositions as key agents of curriculum implementation. Zimbabwe is known to have a 52% smartphone penetration rate for all citizens. The study was therefore carried out to determine the penetration rate of smartphones in science teachers, and also to probe teachers’ views on learners being allowed unlimited access to smartphones. The study adopted descriptive survey design from a quantitative research approach. Data was collected from 179 science teachers through a self-developed electronic questionnaire that was administered through the Kobo Toolbox online survey application. Results show that the smartphone penetration rate in science teachers is 87%. Multitasking and indecent exposure are the main forms of learner deviance that make teachers more reluctant to accept smartphones as DIIDs. In the presence of school-wide and classroom policies that cater for both merits of smartphone use and ease of policy enforcement, Zimbabwe science teachers are however ready to fully embrace smartphones as useful DIIDs.

Secondary School Science Teacher Response to Minimum Competency Assessment: Challenges and Opportunities

Teachers have an essential role in preparing students for Minimum Competency Assessment (MCA) or Asesmen Kompetensi Minimum (AKM). It takes preparation, readiness, and a good teacher's perception of the AKM so that the implementation of this program goes well. This study aims to analyze teachers' perceptions in secondary schools related to the opportunities and challenges of implementing AKM. A total of 66 secondary school science teachers participated as respondents in this study. Respondents in this study were randomly selected based on their willingness to fill out a given survey. The data collection instruments were six open-ended questions. This instrument is distributed online using Google Forms. The data obtained were then analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. The results of this study reveal that the majority of science teachers have the perception that AKM policy is appropriate and suitable for implementation. However, the availability of supporting facilities and ICT literacy of students and teachers is considered a challenge that must be met. On the other hand, AKM and National Assessment (NA) are considered opportunities to improve the quality of education both nationally and locally in schools. This research is expected to reference the perception of science teachers about the challenges and opportunities for implementing AKM policies in junior high schools

STEAM Project-Based Learning Activities at the Science Museum as an Effective Training for Future Chemistry Teachers

Non-formal learning environments, such as science museums, have a fundamental role in science education and high potentialities as ideal contexts for science teachers’ training. These aspects have been analyzed and reported in several recent works mainly focused on students’ perception of science and increased engagement towards scientific disciplines. In this work, a project-based learning methodology optimized and experimented in the frame of a pre-service chemistry teachers’ course at the University of Pisa (Italy), during the last eight years, involving in total 171 participants, is presented. This educational project has several distinctive features related to the STEAM philosophy, with a high level of multi-disciplinarity and creativity. Most of the laboratories and chemistry-centered activities were conceived, planned and carried out by the future chemistry teachers in non-formal contexts, such as science museums. A case study based on a series of non-formal laboratories designed by a group of students during their training in the academic year 2018–2019 and performed in a science museum is reported and examined in details. In this paper, all steps of the STEAM project-based learning methodology are described underlining the main learning outcomes and cognitive levels involved in each step and the relevant methodologies proposed during the training course and adopted in the project. The effectiveness of this pre-service teachers’ training methodology is finally discussed in terms of participants’ motivation and interest towards the course’s content, students’ final judgment of their training experiences and, in particular, of the STEAM project-based learning activities. From the students’ feedbacks and final assessment, the role of the non-formal context in teaching and learning chemistry and the efficacy of developing educational activities related to current and real-life chemistry-centered topics emerged as very positive aspects of the proposed approach.

The key characteristics of project-based learning: how teachers implement projects in K-12 science education

The aim of this multiple-case study was to research the key characteristics of project-based learning (PBL) and how teachers implement them within the context of science education. K-12 science teachers and their students’ videos, learning diaries and online questionnaire answers about their biology related PBL units, within the theme nature and environment, were analysed using deductive and inductive content analysis (n = 12 schools). The studied teachers are actively engaged in PBL as the schools had participated voluntarily in the international StarT programme of LUMA Centre Finland. The results indicate that PBL may specifically promote the use of collaboration, artefacts, technological tools, problem-centredness, and certain scientific practices, such as carrying out research, presenting results, and reflection within science education. However, it appeared that driving questions, learning goals set by students, students’ questions, the integrity of the project activities, and using the projects as a means to learn central content, may be more challenging to implement. Furthermore, although scientific practices had a strong role in the projects, it could not be defined how strongly student-led the inquiries were. The study also indicated that students and teachers may pay attention to different aspects of learning that happen through PBL. The results contribute towards a deeper understanding of the possibilities and challenges related to implementation of PBL and using scientific practices in classrooms. Furthermore, the results and the constructed framework of key characteristics can be useful in promoting research-based implementation and design of PBL science education, and in teacher training related to it.