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Rapid advances in technology have resulted in a worldwide drive to enhance science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforces to remain internationally competitive and ensure economic prosperity. Despite this, there is ongoing debate about the best strategies for promoting STEM literacy and building national STEM competencies. Women continue to be under-represented within the Australian STEM workforce, impacting Australia's national performance and STEM pipeline figures. Several factors have been determined as crucial components impacting females' perceptions of the STEM fields, and their drive to pursue employment in these areas. One method for analysing these factors is to explore the personal narratives of women in STEM and STEM-related fields to determine which factors impact their engagement with STEM. Our research contributes to this ongoing debate by providing insight into the personal narratives of eight women who participated within the "STEMinist Community of Practice" (CoP) research project, and their fluid experiences of the STEM pipeline. This paper explores the key factors and experiences of the participants, including how their careers progressed over time; and related potential solutions for increasing the number of women in STEM. Additionally, this paper explores the criteria for being considered a 'STEM professional', and how this impacts the fluidity of the STEM pipeline for women. We utilised a qualitative narrative research design through the worldview of interpretivism and employed a storytelling methodology. Thematic analysis was undertaken, and four key themes emerged: influence, perception, self-perception, and community of practice. The research questions are answered through a series of vignettes providing a rich conception of participant experiences. Key recommendations from this article are the development of further communities of practice to empower women within STEM fields, and adjusting the criteria of STEM professionals to include STEM educators, to address STEM pipeline issues.

Purpose: This study aims to gain insights into how students perceive online examination practices and evaluation, as well as identify the key factors that impact their intentions toward online exams. Design/methodology/approach: This empirical study conducted in India utilized an online survey method between May 24 and June 14, 2022. The data were collected from 712 undergraduate and postgraduate students through a Google Docs questionnaire. Descriptive analysis, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), regression and reliability analysis were conducted to analyze the data. Findings: There are many studies related to the adoption of online learning. However, there are limited studies that explore the adoption and acceptance of online examinations and evaluations. This paper intends to fill this gap and tries to highlight important factors influencing online examination usage by the students. Five important factors emerged in the study include "pedagogy, validity, reliability," "practicality," "security," "facilitating condition" and "intention," The study concludes that taking tests online is preferred for several reasons, including the perceived increased dependability of grades and the decreased cost, time and effort associated with taking exams. Research limitations/implications: This research explores students' perceptions of learning management systems (LMS)-based online exams and provides insights for students to better prepare and adapt. It assists policymakers in developing fair assessment policies and improving LMS platforms. The study contributes to the theoretical understanding of e-learning and calls for further research to enhance the effectiveness of online exams. It identifies gaps in existing literature and recommends larger sample sizes, broader representation, longitudinal data collection and conversational methods for future research. Originality/value: This study shows increasing research on e-learning and online examinations, mostly using quantitative methods. The important variables for understanding students' perceptions of online exams are "pedagogy, validity, reliability," "practicality," "security," "facilitating condition" and "intention." Concerns raised include validity, fairness and security. Electronic exams are more suitable for formative evaluation, and validity, reliability, security and adaptability are key pillars for successful online testing.

This study employed a sequential mixed methods explanatory research design to explore the influence of mentoring in the self-efficacy-forming experiences of primary school teachers who participated in a variety of professional development projects on science teaching. In the quantitative phase, survey data drawn from primary school teachers (n = 834) showed that collaborative mentee-mentor activities and metaphorical descriptions of interpersonal relationship were the best predictors of personal science teaching self-efficacy, outcome expectancy, and instructional change. In the qualitative phase, interviews with individual teachers identified their perceptions of how mentoring experiences influenced their development of science teaching self-efficacy and changes they made in their science classrooms. The findings are interpreted through the theoretical lens of the roles of culture and emotions in teacher learning.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between mentoring and coaching experience, teachers' self-efficacy, and job satisfaction. Moreover, the researchers investigated the differences among the group of years of teaching experience of vocational teachers. Structural equation modelling (SEM) and one-way ANOVA were used for analysing the data from 614 participants from five areas in Thailand. The study found positive relationships among the mentoring and coaching experience, teachers' self-efficacy and job satisfaction. There was a significant difference among the group of years of teaching experience in the mentoring and coaching experience of the teachers. These results could be applied in a policy presentation for the education sector to consider driving teacher professional development programmes through mentoring and coaching, especially in the context of vocational teachers. Findings suggest each life phase of the teachers' career demonstrated what administrators should consider when organising professional development programmes in colleges or schools.

Research has shown that cooperative learning (CL) strongly promotes student learning at all educational levels. However, little is known about the CL's influence in teacher education. This study examined the impact of CL on EFL pre-service teachers' learning motivation and academic engagement using a pre-test/post-test quasi-experimental design. Two classes were randomly selected from regional teacher training centres in Cambodia, one class assigned as the experimental group (N = 35) and the other as the control group (N = 30). For one semester, the experimental group were exposed to CL while the control group were taught through lecture-based learning. Data were collected through adapted scales on learning motivation and academic engagement. The ANCOVA results revealed that CL was more effective for learning motivation and academic engagement, but no significant difference was found on extrinsic learning motivation. In conclusion, CL can foster learning motivation and academic engagement among EFL pre-service teachers.

This study aims to examine the effects of e-learning management system -- quality characteristics and student characteristics on continuous intention to use e-LMS. This empirical and quantitative study focuses on emerging nations, specifically India, and explores the acceptance of e-LMS among students. While previous research has examined student acceptance of e-LMS, a limited number of studies investigate the impact of e-learning management system quality and student characteristics on continuing e-LMS usage. This study aims to fill this gap by identifying the key variables that influence the adoption of e-LMS. The survey was disseminated online over four weeks in several departments of an HEI located in a rural, remote, and isolated area of the Himalayan foothills. 469 valid replies were obtained using the purposive sampling technique. The data analysis using the structural equation model showed that learner control, technology experience, motivation for learning related to technology, information quality, system quality, and service quality all had a statistically significant impact on students' continued use of e-LMS. According to the neural network (NN) model results, the most significant factors influencing continuous intention to use e-learning are information quality, technological experience, service quality, system quality, motivation for learning, learner control, and personnel innovativeness.

Australia's economic need for innovation has led to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education becoming an essential investment for the future. This study utilised a mixed-methods approach involving a pre-validated quantitative questionnaire together with qualitative semi-structured focus groups with students across four Year 5 classrooms. Students provided their perceptions of their STEM learning environment and their interactions with their teacher to identify factors influencing their engagement for pursuing these disciplines. The questionnaire comprised of scales from three different instruments: Classroom Emotional Climate, Test of Science Related Attitudes, and Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction. Several key factors were identified through student responses, including Student Freedom, Peer Collaboration, Problem Solving, Communication, Time, and Preferred Environments. 33 out of possible 40 correlations between scales were statistically significant, but eta[superscript 2] values were considered low (0.12-0.37). Overall, the students expressed positive perceptions about their STEM learning environment, with Student Freedom, Peer Collaboration, Problem Solving, Communication and Time appearing to impact their perceptions of STEM education. Three focus groups with a total of 12 students identified suggestions for improving STEM learning environments. Implications from this research include the importance of considering student perceptions when measuring the quality of STEM learning environments, as well as how facets of these environments can impact student attitudes towards STEM.

This study examines science teacher beliefs working in the conflict-affected zones of Jammu and Kashmir. Research in these areas indicates that teacher beliefs influence their classroom practices and student learning outcomes and that teacher beliefs are highly context sensitive. Using data collected from a questionnaire and focussed group discussions, this research elucidates science teachers' beliefs regarding how conflict affects classroom practices, conflict and teaching issues, the multifaceted role of teachers in conflict-affected zones, the role of science education in ameliorating conflict, and the changing role of teachers during three decades of active conflict in Jammu and Kashmir. A nuanced picture of teacher beliefs originated from this study suggesting that despite challenges teachers are committed to children's academic, cognitive, and psychosocial growth.

The What Is Happening In this Class? (WIHIC) questionnaire is a multidimensional measure for assessing the classroom learning environment based on student perspectives. The purpose of this study was to validate an Indonesian version of WIHIC and to assess the instrument's psychometric properties by using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and the Multidimensional Partial Credit Model (MPCM), one of the family of Polytomous Rasch model. The Indonesian WIHIC was administered to 962 high school students (368 male, 594 female), aged 14-18 years, in Jakarta, Indonesia. Results from the CFA model comparison showed that the 7-dimensional factor structure of WIHIC was satisfactory. We performed MPCM and found that this model fit the data of the Indonesian WIHIC reasonably well. Moreover, the estimated Rasch person separation reliabilities of each subscale showed that WIHIC has good internal consistency (0.87 to 0.96). The Indonesian WIHIC questionnaire appears to be a valid and reliable tool for assessing the classroom learning environment in Indonesian high school students.

This paper aimed to explore the variables that influenced the intention to quit the teaching profession among vocational teachers. Moreover, the researchers examined the differences in the perception of the levels of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, personal accomplishment, job satisfaction, and life satisfaction among vocational teachers in Thailand. The target population comprised vocational teachers from public colleges in Thailand with a total number of 29,915. The stratified random sampling technique was used for selecting the samples. The data collection involved self-report surveys from 510 vocational teachers from 55 vocational colleges in Thailand's metropolitan, north, northeast, east, and south. Correlation and regression analyses were used to examine the possible relationships among the variables and identify the significant variables. The findings reported that emotional exhaustion and depersonalization were moderate while personal accomplishment was at a high level. Job satisfaction was the strongest predictor of the intention to quit. In addition, three components of burnout influenced the intention to quit among the vocational teachers: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. For the implication, this study recommended a practical application in the dimension of policy improvement concerning teachers' welfare. It emphasized the need to develop programmes supporting teachers' mental health to reduce burnout and increase job satisfaction.

Recent research has reported that prospective teachers fail to acquire sufficient content knowledge and develop strong teaching self-efficacy. According to a large and growing body of literature, instructional behaviours that result in "autonomy support, structure, and involvement" significantly contribute to student outcomes at all levels of education. However, there remains a paucity of evidence on how these instructional behaviours influence pre-service teachers' learning motivation and teaching self-efficacy, which are robust predictors of their learning and teaching effectiveness. This study examined the relationship between the perceived instructional behaviours of teacher educators (i.e. instructional clarity, instructional support and feedback, instructional support for student autonomy, and instructional support for cooperative learning) and pre-service teachers' learning motivation and teaching self-efficacy. Data were collected from randomly-selected first-year pre-service secondary teachers (N = 601) at regional teacher training centres in Cambodia using adapted scales on instructional behaviours, learning motivation, and teaching self-efficacy. Structural equation analyses revealed that perceptions of teacher educators' instructional behaviours were significantly associated with pre-service teachers' intrinsic learning motivation and teaching self-efficacy. This study extends the understanding of antecedents of learning motivation and teaching self-efficacy among pre-service teachers as well as highlights the need for incorporating these instructional behaviours into pre-service instruction in order to encourage the establishment of effective teachers for the education system.

Students' and instructors' adoption of "e-learning management systems (e-LMSs)" is critical to their success in a "virtual learning environment." Students can use "e-learning" to obtain instructional materials to supplement "traditional classroom" instruction. This study intends to highlight the important factors of e-learning adoption in higher education institutes. The aim is to determine the factors forming positive intention toward using e-LMS based on "individual characteristics" ("instructor quality," "course quality," "learning value," "social influence," "facilitating condition," "system quality," "perceived usefulness," and "perceived ease of use"). The questionnaire-based survey based on 369 responses is from LMS users. The proposed research model was tested using structural equation modeling. Initially, postadoption behavior was required to be investigated. The original measurement model contained eight independent constructs. A modified measurement model was created after the initial model was enhanced using exploratory factor and principal component analysis. The results of this study will help practitioners and policymakers in the effective development and implementation of e-LMSs in higher education institutions (HEIs), especially in developing countries, such as India. From the theoretical point of view, the result of this study will further enrich the IT adoption literature.

Background: To address declining enrolments in science and other STEM subjects in high school and university, particularly disproportionately low enrolments of females in physics, engineering and computer sciences, integrated STEM programs are becoming more popular. However, few studies have investigated classroom experiences or gender differences in the effects of participation in integrated STEM projects on students' attitudes towards continuing to study STEM subjects. Purpose: This study compared male and female students' perceptions of classroom emotional climate and their attitudes towards STEM after completing integrated STEM projects. Methods: For a sample of 246 Years 7-10 students participating in integrated STEM projects in 24 co-educational government classrooms, we investigated gender differences using a seven-scale classroom emotional climate questionnaire and an attitude scale. Responses to items in each scale were converted to interval data using Rasch modelling. Differential item functioning between male and female students was investigated and MANOVA was used to compare genders on responses to each scale. Findings: When MANOVA was used to identify gender differences in Rasch student measures of each scale, statistically-significant differences of modest magnitude (0.25-0.50 standard deviations) were found for Clarity, Motivation, Consolidation and Attitudes, but not for Care, Control, Challenge and Collaboration. Relative to males, females had more-negative views for each climate and attitude dimension for which differences were significant. Compared with boys, girls were undermotivated by their STEM projects and perceived less clarity of instruction and feedback. Conclusions: Greater support for female students through clarifying and giving specific feedback on tasks could improve their perceptions of the classroom emotional climate when carrying out integrated STEM projects. Further research is needed to determine the types of projects that motivate females to study STEM.

Teaching styles that satisfy students' needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness have been found to influence various types of learning outcomes in school and college contexts. However, little is known about how these teaching styles are associated with pre-service teachers' learning motivation and academic engagement. This study examined the relationship between pre-service teachers' perceptions of their teacher educators' teaching styles (i.e. instructional clarity, support and feedback, autonomy support, and support for cooperative learning) and their learning motivation and academic engagement. Data were collected from 601 first-year pre-service secondary teachers randomly selected from regional teacher training centres in Cambodia. Structural equation analyses revealed that perceptions of teacher educators' teaching styles have significant associations with pre-service teachers' intrinsic motivation and academic engagement. This study provides more scientific evidence concerning determinants of pre-service teachers' learning motivation and academic engagement. In addition, practical implication is recommended for teacher educators.

This study conducted in Thailand examined the relationship between measures of social relatedness and motivational goal orientation as well as bachelor degree aspirations of vocational school students. Data were collected from students enrolled in a vocational school near Bangkok (n = 386). The analysis found that teacher support for students was the best predictor of students' adoption of mastery goals, school identification was the best predictor of students' adoption of performance approach goals, and peer involvement was the best predictor of students' adoption of performance avoidance goals. There was a significant interaction between school identification and peer involvement on the intention to pursue a bachelor degree. The researchers interpreted the results in terms of self-determination theory and discussed the implications of students' sense of relatedness to vocational school environment.

This paper reports the development and validation of a new questionnaire to assess students' perceptions of the online learning environment in Indonesia during the COVID-19 pandemic. In total, 669 participants (454 women, 215 men) from various universities were recruited online to complete a 25-item questionnaire. Item factor analysis verified a five-factor model, while multidimensional Rasch analysis showed that all items fit this model and have good reliability. The factors of Access, Interaction, Lecturer Support, Equity, and Investigation formed the valid and reliable Online Classroom Learning Environment Inventory (OCLEI). All aspects of online learning readiness were related to the five factors of the OCLEI, therefore supporting convergent validity. With these results, we concluded that the OCLEI is a novel measure that can be used in future educational research in Indonesia. Limitations and implications are noted.

Organization citizenship behavior for the environment is needed in schools for specifics purposes in order to provide a safe and comfortable learning environment with the same quality of education as in regular schools. This study aims to estimate the effect of school environment, work engagement, and job satisfaction on organizational citizenship behavior for the environment. The sample of this study was 306 teachers from 24 School for specifics purposes spread across 5 regions of Indonesia capital, Jakarta, which were taken a proportionally random sampling. This research design using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with seven hypotheses developed. Data was collected through questionnaires with a Likert scale, and processed using Wrap Pls 6.0 and the Sobel test. The results of this study show that there are a positive effect school environment, work engagement, and job satisfaction on organizational citizenship behavior for the environment. The school environment was found to have the strongest positive effect on organizational citizenship behavior for the environment. The results of this study show that work engagement and job satisfaction are the important factors that must be considered in improving organizational citizenship behavior for the environment. We discuss the findings of this study and we convey the managerial implications that are beneficial for the managers of schools for specifics purposes.

This study aimed to determine the impact of using web vinnarrai.com as an e-learning tool on a physics course (fluid mechanics) in Universitas Negeri Jakarta (an Indonesian University) to increase student creative thinking skills through educational management. The study employed a quasi-experimental method, with the pre-test and post-test control group design. There are four indicators of creative thinking skills: fluency, originality, flexibility, and elaboration. The sample of this research comprised 216 students at the Universitas Negeri Jakarta, from September 2020 to January 2021. The data were analyzed by determining the percentages of average normalized gains and obtained the n-gain score of 0.71 (high category), the effect size score of 0.81(moderate effect), and Cohen's standard score of 79% (Cohen's standard: high). The results of this research -- by knowing the influence of vinnarrai.com web on a fluid -- showed an increased score of students' creative thinking skills in an experiment class, using website, as compared with a controlled-class, using text-book. So, using a "website-based e-learning" is indicated to have improved the students' creative thinking skills in the pandemic era.

Civic education is a moral development imperative of the Indonesian national curriculum and the United Nation's policy on education for sustainable development. It was within this context that we investigated the impact of ethical dilemma story pedagogy (EDSP) on student learning in a constructivist Indonesian STEM learning environment. EDSP uses specially-designed stories to engage students in ethical decision-making for resolving sustainable development dilemmas occurring in their daily lives. The research was conducted in six Indonesian middle schools with 462 students of chemistry, and it was designed to lead to understanding of how well students engaged in a constructivist values learning environment aimed at developing chemistry knowledge/skills and ethical values for living sustainably in the 21st century. Data were collected using the Constructivist Values Learning Environment Survey (CVLES), classroom observations, student interviews and students' reflective journals. Generally, students had positive perceptions of their constructivist values learning environment, engaged deeply in chemistry learning, reflected critically on their values and the social use of chemistry, and practised mutually-respectful communication and collaborative decision-making as strategies for solving sustainability dilemmas. We conclude that ethical dilemma story pedagogy can play an important role in integrating STEM education and civic education.

The Makerspace phenomenon has morphed into three readily identifiable types characterised by accessibility: dedicated, distributed, and mobile. The research presented in this paper describes a type of Makerspace that is defined by its purpose: to improve the confidence and ability of primary education students in STEM education. This approach is innovative and timely given the renewed interest and investment of the federal and state governments into STEM education. A new model of professional learning that is currently being validated in an extended, funded project framed this research that involved 9 female teacher education students and 71 schoolgirls in Years 5 and 6. Whilst a large set of qualitative data was collected, this paper reports on the progress and reflections of the teacher education students, and shares insights into their personal learning and development as teachers.

Cooperative learning (CL) is an instructional model that continues to have great impact on student learning across different disciplines and at all educational levels. However, little is known about how CL influences EFL pre-service teachers' learning outcomes. This study examined the effect of CL on content knowledge and teaching self-efficacy of EFL pre-service teachers using a pre-test/post-test quasi-experimental design. The experimental group (N = 35) and the control group (N = 30) were randomly selected from two Cambodian regional teacher training centres. For 16 weeks, the experimental group was exposed to CL while the control group participated in lecture-based learning. Data was collected before and after the experiment through an achievement test and an adapted scale on teaching self-efficacy. The ANCOVA results revealed that the EFL pre-service teachers in the experimental group outperformed their conventionally trained counterparts in terms of grammar and vocabulary achievement and teaching self-efficacy. This study adds to the existing literature, showing that CL significantly contributes to the increase in content knowledge and teaching self-efficacy among EFL pre-service teachers and highlights the need for applying CL in pre-service instruction.

The goal of this study is to identify the relationship between K-12 teachers' self-efficacy beliefs, classroom goal structure and use of instructional strategies. The study also aims to determine if there is variance in the relationship between these constructs for primary versus secondary school teachers. Data collection involved completion of a self-report survey by 810 primary and secondary school teachers in Thailand. Results revealed that personal and ICT teaching self-efficacy directly predicted both mastery and performance classroom goal structures for K-12 teachers. Mastery classroom goal structure predicted deep learning. Performance classroom goal structure predicted surface learning. ICT teaching self-efficacy was the strongest predictor of teachers' instructional strategies with ICTs. Results also revealed that primary teachers' performance classroom goal structure was positively associated with the use of deep-learning strategies with ICTs and student-centered learning with ICTs. In contrast, for secondary teachers, mastery classroom goal structure was positively associated with student-centered learning with ICTs, whereas both mastery and performance classroom goal structures were positively associated with the use of deep-learning strategies with ICTs. Results of this study suggest that classroom goal structure may be different for ICT classrooms than for regular classrooms. Implications relate to the need to help teachers design ICT activities that reflect both performance and mastery classroom goal structures.

There has been considerable research interest into the relationship between the parenting styles of Asians, and student motivation and achievement. The investigation presented in this paper contributes to the literature in this area by examining the influence of perceived parenting style on goal orientations and career aspirations of a sample of high school science students in Thailand (N = 2638). Results from a multiple regression analysis show several significant findings: students who perceived their parents as empathic were more likely to have adopted mastery goals and empathic parenting had a particularly positive influence on females' career aspirations. Students who perceived that their parents have domineering views were more likely to have adopted performance avoidance goals. Students who perceived that their parents are "the regulators of family rules" were more likely to adopt both mastery and performance goals. These findings are discussed in light of social dimensions of achievement goals and gender roles.

Purpose: The millennial students are disengaged in the current classrooms. Hence, there is a definite need to evaluate and compare the current learning tools. The purpose of this paper is to assess the effects of three learning tools -- listening, structured doodling and note-taking -- on recall ability of students in the classroom. The authors have specifically compared the effect of Andrade's (2010) and Boggs et al.'s (2017) structured doodling condition (i.e. shading in shapes) vis-à-vis note-taking and listening. Design/methodology/approach: An experimental research design was used for the study where three groups of around 40 participants each were created. The participants were Indian students (72 males and 48 females) who were undergraduates at NMIMS University, Navi Mumbai. Each group experienced all the three learning methods that are listening, note-taking and structured doodling. It was a 3×3 mixed model design. Listening, note-taking and structured doodling were compared on recall ability. This was assessed using a questionnaire extracted from Boggs et al.'s (2017) study and a self-designed evaluation sheet. Findings: Across all three groups, structured doodling and note-taking had a higher impact on recall ability than the traditional method. However, the difference in the impact of note-taking and doodling on recall ability was not practically very large. The current finding assumes higher significance in the Indian education set up as Indian students are accustomed to note-taking as a learning tool yet structured doodling had a statistically analogous effect on recall ability compared to a systematically documented note-taking. Hence, a future direction could be to assess the impact of a blended learning tool that utilizes both note-taking and doodling or note-taking through doodling. Research limitations/implications: First, the authors did not capture doodling habits of the students. Second, the study limits itself to a small sample size of 120 management graduates. The study can be extended to other disciplines like science and technology and also on how the higher engagement learning tools can be utilized in the normal environs of a course in a classroom. A future direction of the study can be to engage students in an activity as long as a regular lecture of about 60 min. A fusion of learning tools that effectively combines note-taking and doodling can be suggested to enhance recall ability and classroom engagement. Practical implications: Higher order learning tools characteristically require technologically advanced infrastructure setups. In developing economies like India, most educational institutes may not have access to technologically advanced classrooms; hence, the implementation of higher engagement learning tools becomes a huge challenge. The endeavor in this study has been to study the impact and effectiveness of learning tools like doodling and note-taking which do not inherently call for access to advanced technology. Social implications: In today's age of globalization, emerging economies like India are seen to be taking center stage. Thus, ensuring that Indian education system is geared up to train students to compete globally and in the same vein, these students have access to higher engagement learning tools -- the absolute need of the hour. Hence, the current research aims to bridge the gap between global education innovations and Indian classroom teaching method implementation. Originality/value: The research has assessed the effectiveness of three different learning tools, namely -- listening, note-taking and structured doodling -- in Indian higher education setup. The current research is in harmony with the current literature and would function as an adaptation and augmentation of Andrade's (2010) and Boggs et al. (2017) studies. A very scanty research body on understanding the impact of learning tools on recall ability exists in the Indian education setup. Current research will act as a bridge between global path breaking education research and implementation of in-class teaching methods in Indian higher education.

This study is the first to investigate and validate the psychometric properties of an Indonesian translation of the Student Performance Opportunity of Competence Development (SPOCD) questionnaire that covers five key competencies related to the mathematics learning process, namely: (1) thinking; (2) relating to others; (3) using language, symbols and text; (4) managing self, and; (5) participating and contributing. The SPOCD questionnaire comprises 30 items, with a 5-point Likert scale. A total of 1413 Indonesian high-school students (46.4% male, 53.6% female) from three regions (eastern, western and central Indonesia), aged from 16 to 19 years and ranging from the 10th to the 12th grade, completed the SPOCD questionnaire. A Rasch rating scale model (RSM) and confirmatory factor analysis were applied to evaluate the psychometric characteristics and factor structure of the SPOCD questionnaire. The results indicated that assumptions of unidimensionality, local independence and monotonicity of the SPOCD questionnaire were met. In the Rasch RSM assessment, the SPOCD questionnaire response set worked well, matched the threshold estimates and functioned as an appropriate model for the response categories. The SPOCD questionnaire showed excellent psychometric characteristics for use in measuring the development of competence in middle school students in Indonesia.

Formative assessment and feedback play important roles in empowering students as self-regulated learners in the higher education context. This study aimed to investigate the use of a rubric as a self-assessment tool which could generate intrinsic feedback to promote learning outcomes related to information literacy. We collected data from 584 Thai undergraduate students who enrolled in six sections of a general education course on information literacy skills. The researchers treated three sections as the control group and three sections as the experimental group. Only students in the experimental group took part in a formalized classroom activity based on using the course rubric as a tool for self-assessment. The results from the quasi-experimental study revealed that using a rubric as a self-assessment tool increased students' self-efficacy in information literacy, which were measured in terms of "information search," "information evaluation," "information processing," and "information communication and dissemination." Our findings have important implications for the development of self-efficacy in information literacy.

The use of science kits is a growing trend in India. The kits provide equipments, apparatus and chemicals in the form of a moving laboratory to use in science classes. This research paper highlights the issues and challenges faced by the Government school teachers of Delhi in India while using science kits during teaching-learning process at upper primary and secondary stages. In this study 40 Government schools of Delhi, India were approached. The result reveals that most of the teachers are using science kits during teaching-learning process but suggestions for improvement of these kits have been received for proper utilization of these kits particularly for inclusive classrooms.

To improve the quality of education, it is important for teachers to have an understanding of action research. Action research is 'learning by doing', which involves identifying a problem, looking for a plan to resolve it, observing how successful it is and, if not satisfied, trying again. Action research helps educators to be more effective in their teaching and in the development of their students. This article focuses on how the problem teachers were having with demonstrating the preparation of iron(II) sulfide to students was solved.

Background: Women are underrepresented in engineering. Furthermore, those who enter engineering fields are less likely than men to persist. Although conflict between work and family roles has been a major explanation for this gender gap, there has been little examination of how work and family identities fit with the engineering identity of undergraduate students preparing for careers in engineering. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between direct and indirect measures of work and family identities and engineering identity among undergraduate students in Thailand. Design/Method: A survey methodology was used to assess work- and family-focused hoped-for and feared possible selves, anticipated conflict between work and family roles, engineering self-concept, and intention to pursue engineering professionally. Regression analyses were used to find relationships among these measures. Results: Findings indicate that women with balanced hoped-for and feared possible selves in both life domains of work and family reported significantly higher engineering self-concept than other women in the study. In addition, the salience of work identity and family identity was significantly and more positively related with engineering identity for women than for men. Conclusion: The findings indicate strong compatibility of family, work, and engineering identities for women who intended to pursue the profession. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings for gender-based equity are discussed.

Motivation and success in computer-science courses are influenced by the strength of students' self-efficacy (SE) beliefs in their learning abilities. Students with weak SE may struggle to be successful in a computer-science course. This study investigated the factors that enhance or impede the computer self-efficacy (CSE) of computer-science students. Data collection involved a survey of 524 undergraduate computer-science students from 10 Thai universities. The survey measured four items of CSE, 13 items pertaining to the classroom learning environment (CLE), and 14 items related to information sources of SE. Results revealed that perceptions of a CLE with autonomy, meaningfulness, and involvement were positively associated with strong CSE. In addition, perceptions of social persuasions such as meaningful and encouraging feedback or judgment from influential people demonstrated a statistically positive relationship with CSE. Perceptions of vicarious experiences whereby students determine and compare their own abilities with observational experiences of role models also demonstrated a statistically positive relationship with CSE. Perceived physiological and affective states such as anxiety and stress demonstrated a negative influence CSE. Implications for practice relate to students' perceptions of autonomous learning, the value of positive feedback, students' input into learning content and activities, role models for students and observation of how peers perform tasks better or worse.

This study focuses on the relationship between teacher-student interpersonal behaviour and students' attitudes toward science. To investigate this relationship, student perception data have been gathered with 1021 secondary science students, located in 31 classes in Kashmir, India. Teacher interpersonal behaviour was conceptualised in terms of two behavioural dimensions, Influence (the degree of teacher control in communication with students) and Proximity (the degree of cooperativeness between teacher and students), and measured with the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI). Multilevel variance analyses were conducted on students' attitude scores, and the effect of the interpersonal variables was corrected for the effects of student, class, and teacher background variables, as well as for other elements in the learning environment. Results indicated that both teacher Influence and Proximity were positively associated with students' attitudes and that their effect remained statistically significant after correction for other covariates and learning environment variables.

The purpose of this study was to examine student perceptions of the learning environment in their program major and general education classrooms. The participants were 870 undergraduate students majoring in engineering, fine arts, education, economics and nursing programs at a university in Thailand. We found significant differences in the perceptions of the classroom learning environment across various disciplines. Engineering and economics students perceived the learning environment in general education classrooms as more cooperative than the learning environment in program major classrooms. Fine arts and nursing students perceived greater involvement among students in the program major classrooms than in the general education classrooms. Our findings contribute to the body of research on inter-disciplinary differences in classroom learning environments in universities and the ways in which these differences may impact student learning outcomes.

Disengagement and a lack of motivation have been found to be the major reasons for student drop out from higher education. In order to broaden our understanding of institutional and personal factors associated with intention to complete a college degree, this investigation examined the relationship between students' perceptions of classroom climate and institutional goal structures and their motivational orientation, engagement and intention to persist in college. Data was collected from first-year students (N = 1778) enrolled in an institution of higher education near Bangkok, Thailand. The results indicate that perceptions of classroom climate and institutional goal structures have significant associations with students' motivational orientations and levels of engagement and contribute to intention to persist in college.

This paper examines the learning experiences of 291 Year 5 and 6 Indonesian primary school students, across four schools in North Jakarta, who participated in an integrated STEM project that used a 3-phase "Makerspace" approach: exposure, engagement and experimentation, and evaluation and extension. The Wiggle Bots project involved these students employing their skills and knowledge of technology and science to create a "bot," and then completing a survey that examined their confidence, engagement, identification and application of science knowledge. The results indicated that a "Makerspace" approach was very effective in engaging students in the STEM space, and students were also challenged to work collaboratively in groups mentored by pre-service teachers. With the application of STEM knowledge and skills, we also posit that the "Makerspace" approach is effective in the acquisition and demonstration of 21st century skills: problem-solving, critical and creative thinking, collaboration, and communication.

This paper examined the direct and interaction effects of students' learning and performance-avoidance goal orientations on their psychological wellbeing and a moderating role of students' gender in these relationships. Using 564 self-reports of freshman college students in a Thai university, we found students' psychological wellbeing to be positively related to their learning goal orientation and negatively related to their performance-avoidance goal orientation. Additionally, the negative relationship between students' performance-avoidance goal orientation and psychological wellbeing was stronger for men than women. Lastly, differences in students' psychological wellbeing between men and women became more pronounced with increases in learning goal orientation for students with low levels of performance-avoidance goal orientation, but not for students with high levels of performance-avoidance goal orientation. These findings were obtained after controlling for students' grade point average and academic program.

This survey study conducted in vocational and academic secondary schools investigated the association of 1,060 Thai students' self-reports of mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goal orientations with the salience and content of their hoped-for possible selves reflecting existence, relatedness, and growth needs. Results of mixed-design MANCOVA indicated mastery orientation to be higher for students identifying possible selves reflecting growth or relatedness needs than existence needs as most salient, and performance-approach orientation to be higher for students identifying possible selves reflecting existence rather than growth needs as most salient. Also, school type interacted with students' most salient possible selves reflecting existence, relatedness, or growth needs to relate to their achievement goal orientations. The results are discussed in terms of the classic person versus situation approach to the study of achievement goals in schools, and their implications for classroom and school administration.

The advances of modern biotechnology provide teachers with a number of opportunities to explore socioscientific issues, and in doing so to enhance students' reasoning skills. Although some attempt has been made to understand cultural differences in students' informal reasoning across international and regional boundaries, there is limited research about the differences that exist between students who identify with a Christian worldview and those students who do not. To investigate the role that students' religious beliefs played in their informal reasoning about biotechnology issues regarding genetically modified food, genetic screening, therapeutic cloning and reproductive cloning, the written responses of 101 students identified as accepting a Christian worldview was compared with 21 students who did not identify with a Christian worldview. Using a qualitative approach, the students' responses to these issues were analysed to identify the modes of informal reasoning incorporated in the justification of their views about the technology. It was shown that students with a higher degree of religious belief demonstrated less use of rational reasoning and a greater reliance on intuitive reasoning in their responses to socioscientific issues when compared with their less-religious peers. The findings highlight the need for initiatives that will develop students' rational and emotive reasoning and encourage them to acknowledge the presuppositions of their belief system and how these influence their attitudes towards controversial issues in science.

This article presents an instructional strategy called Premise-Reasoning- Outcome (PRO) designed to support students in the construction of scientific explanations. Informed by the philosophy of science and linguistic studies of science, the PRO strategy involves identifying three components of a scientific explanation: (i) premise--an accepted principle or fact that provides the basis of the explanation, (ii) reasoning--logical consequences that follow from the premise and (iii) outcome--the phenomenon to be explained. Based on a year of study in four physics and chemistry classrooms, the article reports on how the teachers integrated the PRO strategy in their science teaching.

Social responsibility has been linked to the moral development of students, but little prior research has examined how personal and situational variables influence students' willingness to show care and concern for social issues that reflect higher levels of moral development. We theorised and tested the hypotheses that females would endorse social responsibility to a greater extent than males, and that school/programme context would moderate this relationship. In Study 1, levels of social responsibility were greater for girls than boys and in academic versus vocational high schools, and school type moderated levels of social responsibility for boys. Study 2 replicated the male-female difference in social responsibility, and demonstrated greater differences in social responsibility across university academic programmes for female than male students. These studies expand the understanding of personal versus situational influences on social responsibility and their implications for moral education in schools.

"Makerspace" has been lauded as a new way forward to create communities, empower students and bring together enthusiasts of all ages and skill levels "to tinker" and create. Makerspace education has been touted as having the potential to empower young people to become agents of change in their communities. This paper examines how a "Makerspace" approach can capture the imagination and creativity of female primary school students, and engage them in integrated STEM-based projects. The study scaffolded female tertiary undergraduate students to mentor small groups of girls to complete a project in a STEM "Makerspace" situated in classrooms. The data generated and analysed from this study were used to determine how "Makerspace" STEM-based projects were enacted, how they engaged and supported the girls' learning, and considers the future of a "Makerspace" approach as a way to progress integrated STEM education.

This study aimed to translate the information-seeking behavior scale from English to Thai, and to ascertain the construct reliability and validity of the scale. Data were collected from 664 undergraduate students in Thailand. The descriptive statistics were explored to see the extent to which various information sources are being used by undergraduate students. The researchers conducted Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) for the 33 Likert-type items. Results from EFA suggested the elimination of some items and results from CFA confirmed the validity of the scales. The shortened version was comprised of three constructs: "regulation activities when applying search strategies" (five items), "regulation activities when evaluating information on websites" (four items), and "referring to information" (four items). Educators and researchers may find this shortened version of the scale as a useful tool to assess students' information-seeking behavior.

Medical doctor and engineer are highly esteemed STEM professions. This study investigates academic and motivational characteristics of a sample of high school students in Thailand who aspire to become medical doctors or engineers. We used logistic regression to compare maths performance, gender typicality, gender contentedness, and maths and physics self-concepts among students with aspirations for these two professions. We found that high levels of felt gender contentedness in men had positive association with aspirations for engineering irrespective of the levels of maths or physics self-concept. We found that high levels of felt gender contentedness combined with high levels of maths or physics self-concept in women had positive associations with aspirations to become a medical doctor. These findings are evidence that student views of self are associated with uneven gendered patterns in career aspirations and have implications for the potential for future participation.

This study investigated relationship between gender identity, social support for using computers and computer self-efficacy and value beliefs. Data was collected from first year undergraduate students at a university near Bangkok (72.3% females, mean age = 18.52 years). The respondents in our survey did not intend to major in computer sciences. Results show parental and peer support for using computers were positively associated with computer self-efficacy and value beliefs for both males and females. Gender typicality was positively associated with the level of computer self-efficacy for males and personal endorsement of gender-stereotypes was negatively associated with the level of computer self-efficacy for females. Students who responded "yes" to whether they would pursue employment in a job that may require them to work with computers reported significantly higher computer self-efficacy and value for using computers than students who responded "no" or "undecided". Gender role socialization and expectancy-value theories are used to interpret group differences in computer self-efficacy and value beliefs.

This article focuses on the importance of activity-based teaching in understanding the mole concept and the vital role of basic mathematical operations. It describes needs-based training for teachers in a professional development programme in India. Analysis of test results before and after the training indicates that teachers improved their understanding of the concept of the mole and became more confident in teaching this concept and handling mathematical calculations.

Positive self-assessment of ability in the quantitative domains is considered critical for student participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics field studies. The present study investigated associations of gender compatibility (gender typicality and contentedness) and math-gender stereotypes with self-concepts in math and physics. Statistical analysis of survey data was based on a sample of 170 male and female high school science students matched on propensity scores based on age and past GPA scores in math. Results of MANCOVA analyses indicated that the combination of high personal gender compatibility with low endorsement of math-gender stereotypes was associated with low gender differentials in math and physics self-concepts whereas the combination of high personal gender compatibility with high endorsement of math-gender stereotypes was associated with high gender differentials in math and physics self-concepts. These results contribute to the recent theoretical and empirical work on antecedents to the math and physics identities critical to achieving gender equity in STEM fields. [This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Gender in Physics.]

This article reports one of the case studies in a 3-year longitudinal study in environmental science education. This case explores the process of teaching about ecosystems through co-teaching and co-generative dialogue in a Year-9 science classroom in Western Australia. Combining with co-teaching and co-generative dialogue aimed at transforming classroom practices and stimulating students' awareness of ecosystems and bio-diversity. The research employed mixed-methods methodology with multiple research methods. The results show that the teachers and the students were engaged and enjoyed the activities. The fieldwork experiences stimulated student critical voice, group cohesiveness, and student involvement.

The National Curriculum Framework-2005 (NCF-2005) recommends that learning of children has to shift away from methods encouraging rote memory. This is possible only if children get an opportunity to explore the surroundings themselves. In this paper the researcher shares her experiences in the use of various innovative approaches in teaching--learning of science and their impact on rural students at middle school level. The use of these innovative approaches shows how science can be presented as a live and growing body of knowledge rather than a finished product. The paper highlights how different tasks performed in the science class by students with rural background helped them to internalise the subject when integrated with the teaching-learning process. Innovative ways of handling difficult words, collaborative approaches in doing different tasks, performing activities with minimal materials suggested in this paper, have been field tested which facilitated all round development of the children.

This study brings models of value theory and motivational goal theory together to investigate the relationship between lifestyle values (materialism, religiosity, physical well-being and image) and achievement goal orientation of college students enrolled in vocational programmes in Thailand (N?=?1670, males?=?38.5% and females?=?61.5%). We found associations between various lifestyle values and achievement goal orientation. Multiple regression analyses found a positive association with religiosity and personal well-being on the adoption of mastery goals and a positive association with materialism and personal image on the adoption of performance goals. These findings are interpreted with respect to self-determination theory.

This study investigated the influence of entity beliefs, gender stereotypes and motivational goals on participants' self-efficacy in biology and physics and their career aspirations. Participants (n = 2638, males 46% and females 54%) were students enrolled in Years 10-12 of the academic science-maths stream in Thailand. Entity beliefs were endorsed significantly more by males than by females, while gender stereotypes were endorsed significantly more by females than by males. Entity beliefs were found to be significantly and positively associated with performance avoidance goals towards science. Multiple regression analysis found a negative influence of performance avoidance goals and a positive influence of mastery goals on males' and females' self-efficacy in physics and biology and their career aspirations. The stereotype "males are better in physics" had a positive influence on the measure of self-efficacy of males in physics studies and a negative influence on the self-efficacy of females. The stereotype "females are better in biology" had no influence on the measure of self-efficacy in biology studies for either males or females. Our results support a view of subject-specific inquiry as more revealing than global inquiry for the investigation of gender differences in achievement-related beliefs. (Contains 5 tables and 2 figures.)