ERIC Number: EJ1220953
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Jul
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1756-1108
EISSN: N/A
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Integrated STEM-lab Activities in Improving Secondary School Students' Understanding of Electrolysis
Daman Huri, Noor Haslina; Karpudewan, Mageswary
Chemistry Education Research and Practice, v20 n3 p495-508 Jul 2019
STEM education is gaining increasing attention globally to fulfill the acute shortage of STEM workforce. Executing STEM education is frequently viewed as a complex and challenging agenda. The current study proposes Integrated STEM-lab activities in the teaching and learning of electrolysis. The activities use real-world contexts as a platform to exhibit the transdisciplinary nature of integration of the four STEM disciplines. Embedded mixed methods research used quantitative one group pre-test--post-test design, and qualitative interviews were employed to measure the effectiveness of the Integrated STEM-lab activities in improving 50 secondary school students' (Form Four equivalent to Grade 9) understanding of electrolysis. The Electrolysis Diagnostics Instrument was administered for pre- and post-tests. One-way Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) revealed that the Integrated STEM-lab activities effectively improved the students' understanding of electrolysis measured in three subscales (Wilks' lambda = 0.664;F(3,96) = 16.164; p o 0.05; Z = 0.336) with 33.6% of the variances in the pre- and post-tests explained by the treatment. The qualitative interview data supported and provided insight into understanding the quantitative findings. In the interviews, the students elaborated their understanding of electrolysis with details, and consistently the activities were referred to in their responses. The findings of this study suggest that Integrated-STEM lab activities are suitable to address the limitation of the existing laboratory activities for knowledge construction. The activities are exemplary for integrating the four STEM disciplines into the standard science curriculum.
Descriptors: Integrated Activities, STEM Education, Instructional Effectiveness, Student Improvement, Secondary School Students, Secondary School Science, Student Attitudes, Science Instruction, Chemistry, Science Laboratories, Grade 9, Foreign Countries
Royal Society of Chemistry. Thomas Graham House, Science Park, Milton Road, Cambridge, CB4 0WF, UK. Tel: +44-1223 420066; Fax: +44-1223 423623; e-mail: cerp@rsc.org; Web site: http://www.rsc.org/cerp
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education; Grade 9; High Schools; Junior High Schools; Middle Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Malaysia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A