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The Holy Quran encourages the functioning brain to reach the truth and understand this universe by using mental habits: “For the worst of beasts in the sight of Allah are the deaf and the dumb, - those who do not understand” (22:8). In contrast, science emphasizes the importance of mind habits in learning and applying it peacefully to humanity. However, recent studies have not investigated the distribution of Holy Quran verses in developing scientific habits of mind. This research aimed to assess the effect of pondering over the Holy Quran verses on the students’ scientific habits of mind. The study participants consist of 94 science students in grade 9 in from two schools in Oman. This study highlights the importance of subjects’ integration and enhances meaningful learning. This semi-experimental research adopted Solomon four groups and applied well-developed two tools, namely, habits of mind scale and semi-instructed interview. The results showed there is significant difference in the post-test mean scores of scientific habits of mind between non-pretested groups compared to the experimental group. The combination between science subject and Holy Quran verses related to science enhances students’ scientific habits of mind. Thus, activating verses in science classes should be encouraged in science curricula.

This study was conducted to corroborate in understanding the teachers’ beliefs about assessment practices. The prior studies related to teachers’ assessment beliefs in mathematics have been done to assess teachers’ beliefs in the general context of mathematics teaching. This study developed an instrument to assess teachers’ assessment beliefs of mathematical thinking. The research aimed to develop and validate a scale of assessment beliefs of mathematical thinking by using the confirmatory factor analysis. The first draft of the scale contained 25 items. The sample of the study consisted of 537 mathematics teachers from public schools in Oman. The instrument was a questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale. The scale was validated by asking a number of experts in mathematics educational measurement and evaluation. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was applied to test the model of assessment beliefs of mathematical thinking scale using AMOS 25.0. All constructs had acceptable reliability. The model had a good model fit for the assessment beliefs of mathematical thinking scale which obtainable from the fit indices tests. The findings revealed that all fit criteria indices were realized. The results also showed acceptable validity and construct reliability for the scale.

Developing teaching strategies has become the cornerstone of education. The most successful educational strategies are those that adhere to their vital role to students as they focus on raising the students’ attitude towards learning. This research shed some light on the impact of scaffolding strategies on middle school students’ attitudes towards the science subject. Specifically, the aim of this research is twofold: to examine students’ attitudes towards learning and enjoying science and to emphasise their attitudes towards science teachers and their teaching methods in the classroom. A quasi-experimental research design was implemented to achieve the research objectives involving pre- and post-test for the experimental and control groups. The research population consisted of 84 ninth-grader science students in Saudi. A questionnaire of 24 items was developed to cover the major dimensions of the study after being validated by relevant experts. After conducting the questionnaire, data were collected accordingly and then analysed using descriptive analysis and inferential statistics. Findings showed a significant difference in the science student’s attitude in favour of students who were taught using scaffolding strategies compared with those taught using conventional teaching methods. Based on the findings, the research proposes that scaffolding strategies should be applied as educational venues of learning autonomy to students in classrooms that directly and indirectly promote students’ positive attitudes towards learning science. The research concluded with a recommendation that scaffolding strategies should be applied when teaching science for better outputs. Therefore, policymakers and curriculum planners need to adopt scaffolding as a typical teaching strategy for the art of teaching in general and science in particular.

Today’s educational challenges necessitate the creative use of digital technology to adapt an effective pedagogical approach in chemistry teaching. While various visualization tools have been developed to improve visual-spatial skills, previous studies on digital technology interventions provide limited findings and show moderate effects on students’ learning. Moreover, students still have misconceptions even after using three-dimensional models physically or virtually while learning chemical bonding. Therefore, this study investigates the effectiveness of the CHEMBOND3D e-module that integrates the web-based visualization tool, Molview, on the chemical bonding concept knowledge and visual-spatial skills between treatment groups and control groups. A pretest-posttest non-equivalent control group with a quasi-experimental quantitative design is used in the research. Pilot studies were conducted to verify the validity and reliability of the CHEMBOND3D Chemical Bonding Knowledge Test and Revised Purdue Visualization Test of Rotations. A total of 112 pre-university students from 10 schools in Sabah were selected based on the sampling method. The findings showed significant improvement in the chemical bonding concept knowledge and visual-spatial skills for treatment group students using CHEMBOND3D e-module compared to control group students using conventional methods. This provides new evidence of the potential of web-based application in learning microscopic chemistry concept in chemical bonding. These findings can facilitate further studies of other digital visualization tools such as virtual reality and augmented reality in support of learning complex chemistry concepts in reaction mechanisms and chemical equilibrium.

This study examined the effect of the SB-CPBL on Jordanian 8th-grade students’ attitude towards science. A quantitative quasi-experimental design with a non-equivalent control group was employed in this study. 120 8th-graders, divided into two groups, were involved in this study. Two groups (60 students, 30 males, and 30 females) were designated as the experimental group; they used the SB-CPBL module for six weeks, while two groups (60 students, 30 males, and 30 females) were designated as the control group and taught conventionally. The validity and reliability of the measurements used, comprising four sub-scales with 40-items, were already robust. The statistical comparison between the groups showed a significant improvement in the SB-CPBL students’ attitudes towards learning science compared with their conventionally-taught counterparts. The findings also confirmed the insignificant effects of gender vis-à-vis attitudes towards science. The results concluded the effectiveness of SB-CPBL approach in improving students’ attitudes towards science in school settings. Keywords: cooperative learning, cooperative problem-based learning, problem-based learning, students’ attitudes towards science

The purpose of this study is to build an analytical rubric for Alternative Assessment for science activities in order to facilitate teachers in assessing multimedia communication skills by inculcating 21st Century Skills. The study attempts to answer a key question i.e. whether the analytical rubric for Alternative Assessment is appropriate to assess multimedia communication skills in science activities in school? The research was conducted by taking into account the advice of 11 experts in science education and five science teachers as assessors to evaluate the reliability of analytical rubric for multimedia communication skills in school. Three round Delphi technique was used to validate the analytical rubric and inter-rater reliability Intra-Class Correlation-ICC was computed to measure the reliability of the rubric. The study found that the rubric has a high validity of 82.0% and high absolute agreement for multimedia communication rubric (ICC = 0.90). Therefore the multimedia communication skill rubric can be adopted and implemented in schools. The study also found that there are a number of issues and constraints in the implementation of alternative assessment, but the construction of the rubric is a shift in assessing student outcomes that are emerging according to the global environment. However, further research on the validity and reliability of the rubric is necessary.

Inventive thinking is one of the constructs in 21st century skills. The 21st century skills are the skills needed by future workforce in the new global economy that driven by knowledge, technology and innovation. Inventive thinking comprises of six elements which are flexibility, self-regulation, curiosity, creativity, risk taking and higher order thinking. This study aimed to measure the level of inventive thinking among preparatory course science students at two MARA colleges. Besides, this study has also examined the effect of gender and previous school location on the level of inventive thinking. This quantitative approach study employed 21st century skills instrument. Total of 240 respondents of first year students that attended to these colleges have answered the questionnaires. Findings revealed that the levels of all subconstructs in inventive thinking were high except for creativity that revealed a moderate level. Meanwhile, there were no effects of gender and former school location on the levels of inventive thinking. However, these findings have given insight that the level of creativity should be enhanced. Science students should master all subconstructs in inventive thinking in order to become great innovators who can contribute to the nation’s prosperity.

Encouraging students’ higher-order thinking skills (HOTs) has become an ultimate objective for several education programmes. Being a significant domain of scaffolding strategies, HOTs has been considered as a concern that should persistently be at the vanguard of reform agenda of science. The present research aims to examine the effect of scaffolding strategies on HOTs of middle school science students in the context of Saudi Arabia. To carry out the research aim, quasi-experimental design has been applied based on multiple-choice questions comprising 20 questions all distributed on four skills, namely, application, analysis, evaluation and creation. The total population of the research was 84 grade 9 students who all sat for both pre-test and post-test. Convenient sampling was chosen as a sampling method that typically suits both the experimental group (42 students) and the control group (42 students). After collection, data were analysed using both descriptive analysis, mean and standard deviation, and inferential statistics including t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multivariate ANOVA. The effect of scaffolding strategies on the four skills was found to be significant (p

Science educational standards are increasingly emphasising on argumentation skills. However, students’ argumentation skills are often not developed well as their experience of science knowledge in schools is often in the form of uncontested facts. This research asserts that argumentation skills should be developed through explicit teaching of argumentation while engaged in practical work that draws on students’ science process skills. In turn, developing argumentation skills also improves their science process skills. Thus, this research sought to examine the effect of the Modified Argument-Driven Inquiry approach (MADI), Inquiry without Argument approach (IWA), and the conventional practical work approach (CON) on the development of argumentation and science process skills of Grade 10 students in practical biology. This research employed the quasi-experimental methodology involving Pre-test Post-test Non-equivalent Control Group design. The data were collected through tests on argumentation skills, science process skills and diffusion and osmosis concepts’ understanding. The MANOVA results showed that there was a significant improvement in the argumentation skills, science process skills and biology understanding among the students who experienced the MADI approach in practical biology. In contrast, students who experienced the IWA approach in practical biology showed significant improvement only in biology understanding. Keywords: argumentation skills, practical work, modified argument driven inquiry, science process skills

Supervision without effective monitoring and strategy planning can lead to zero output. The fear of productivity losses, combined with the horror of massively declining performance, has encouraged many leaders to increase their subordinates’ monitoring efforts. This article explores the techniques used by lecturers in managing their research and how they affect the outcome and performance. Some techniques might sound familiar while some will be new. Two sets of questionnaires were developed to investigate the relationship between techniques and performance. One set was distributed to 15 lecturers and the other set was distributed to 100 students from different fields to get input from them on the best supervision characteristics. Fourteen outputs were outlined to show the weight of techniques used by the lecturers. From the survey results, lecturers who applied more than three techniques were able to produce more than three graduating students and more than 20 publications. The aim of the study is to list the most effective techniques for sustainable supervision which lead to output production.

Recent studies have revealed that the existing measurement methods related to computational thinking (CT) pivot on gauging thinking skills, recommending an extended understanding of CT as disposition. Disposition reflects inclination towards learning CT and indicates the interest to think intelligently about issues confronting them. Hence, the aim of this chapter is to assess students' affection towards learning CT as problem solving tool that can transform knowledge more productively. In the context of the affective domain, attitudes and beliefs can be regarded of as generic responses to something, the core quality of an emotion, feeling, mood, or temperament, and hence as affective mental activities. The framework of the CT disposition proposed in this chapter was developed based on tripartite classification of mental activities known as of trilogy of mind: cognitive, affective, and conative. The basic tenet of this chapter is aligned with the theoretical underpinnings of thinking dispositions which is expected to suit different contexts and needs.

Studies have acknowledged computational thinking (CT) as an efficient approach for problem-solving particularly required in digital workplaces. This research aims to identify indicators for a holistic CT assessment instrument for undergraduate students. A three-round fuzzy Delphi study has been conducted to gain comprehensive opinions and consensus from undergraduate lecturers of computer science disciplines and experts from the information technology industry. In round 1, the experts judged a set of predefined indicators describing CT skills and attitudes identified from the literature, while rounds 2 and 3 focused on variables selection. The consensus was achieved on holistic CT, and the indicators are teamwork, communication, spiritual intelligence, generalization, problem-solving, algorithmic thinking, evaluation, abstraction, decomposition, and debugging. Results demonstrate the importance of attitudes in the process of solving a problem and suggest higher education institutions to consider holistic CT in preparing qualified future graduates. Many CT studies focused only on the skills of CT. This study outlines the assessment indicators that consider both CT skills and attitudes, particularly at the undergraduate level.

Computational Thinking (CT) is the main skill of the 21st century that is increasingly attracting more researchers to study how to implement CT in the learning and teaching process. Among the CT tools that can be used to develop CT is programming. Currently, availability and easily accessible programming tools have led researchers and educators to explore how to introduce CT in the context of learning and teaching in schools. Recognizing the importance of implementing CT in the classroom, this study aims to develop the CT-S (Computational Thinking and Scratch) module for the Linear Motion topic. The type of this study is research and development research to develop modules based on the ADDIE model to produce the CT-S module with validity and reliability. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistical analysis. The result showed that the CT-S module was valid. It is eligible to be used as the instructional material of Physics. This study implies that computational thinking skills can be integrated with other subjects besides computer science like physics. Therefore, teachers can design lessons that are relevant to the context and students' characteristics.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of incorporating explicit instruction of scientific argumentation through practical work on 10th grade students’ skills in science process. This research used a quasi-experimental method which involved one control group and two experimental groups from two national secondary schools in the category of rural school were involved in this study. A total of 112 10th grade students from the three classrooms were assigned randomly as the conventional (CON) group, experimental group with Inquiry without Argument approach (IWA) group and the Modified Argument-Driven Inquiry approach (MADI) group. In order to evaluate the effects of intervention on the tenth-grade students, Science Process Skills Test (SPS Test) was administered as pre-test and post-test on the control and experimental groups. Data collected from the experimental study were described by means of descriptive analysis and inferential analysis involving ANOVA analyses. The results of ANOVA showed there exist significant differences in science process skills among the three groups where students in the MADI group showed better performance compared to the other groups. The results of this research have implication on researchers and practitioners keen on promoting biology science process skills through instructions of scientific argumentations given explicitly in learning environments of science practical work.

The purpose of this study is to identify the extent of readiness of national elementary science teachers in the Kuala Pilah District to apply the High Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) teaching as well as the level of HOTS-focused training needs in Science teaching. Quantitative research using the survey method and questionnaire as a research instrument. The sampling method was used to select respondents consisting of 124 National School Science teachers in Kuala Pilah District, Negeri Sembilan. The data were analyzed using Winstep 3.71.0.1 software with Rasch Measurement Model approach for the description of descriptive data. The Cronbach Alpha value obtained in the pilot study was 0.95. The findings showed that Science teachers had a high level of knowledge in HOTS (mean score = 3.85, min size +0.29). This data indicates that this Science teacher has a high level of readiness to embrace HOTS basic knowledge, KBAT pedagogy knowledge, KBAT item building, and KBAT assessment to be applied in the classroom. The analysis also shows the level of teacher training requirement applied HOTS as a whole at a high level (mean score = 4.21, mean size = -0.87). This finding concludes that Science teachers have had a high level of readiness to implement KBAT in teaching Science, but they also require training to empower existing domains.

Studies have shown that various factors (the role of formal education, informal education, and community) contribute to the lack of participation in STEM and STEM careers. This research aimed to understand the multi pathways of factors contributing to the interest in STEM careers (STEM careers in physical sciences and STEM careers in life sciences). This research was a survey research which administered a questionnaire randomly to 1485 secondary school students (14 years of age). Data analysis was based on the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach using Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) to test the hypothesized model. A model containing five constructs, namely environmental factors (learning experiences, media, social influences), self-efficacy in science, technology, engineering and mathematics respectively, perceptions of STEM careers and interest in physical sciences and life sciences STEM careers was proposed in this research. The results show that students’ interest in life sciences based careers is influence by their self-efficacy and perceptions of the career. Meanwhile, students’ interest in physical sciences based careers is influence only by their self-efficacy and not influence by their perceptions of the career. The need to improve students’ self-efficacy through STEM learning experiences is imperative to ensure continued interest in STEM careers. Key words: environmental factors, life sciences STEM careers, perceptions of STEM careers, physical sciences STEM careers, self-efficacy, social cognitive career theory.

Education is the key to sustaining our natural resources. Thus, community awareness is extremely important in order to make changes and reduce climate change, specifically global warming, and to curb the increase of carbon dioxide emissions which have caused the greenhouse effect. Although there are various studies on public awareness of energy literacy, analytically reviewing works on this research topic has been challenging as scholars have yet to integrate the SLR review technique into the process. This article intends to perform a systematic literature review on how to increase the public’s knowledge of energy literacy. The systematic literature review method comprised five key procedures guided by the review protocol. The process involved formulating the research questions, identifying the searching and screening methods, deciding the inclusion and exclusion criteria, appraising content quality, and extracting data. The articles for review were retrieved from established databases, specifically Scopus and Web of Science (WoS). Thematic analysis of the articles discovered five main themes, which were (1) energy literacy; (2) renewable energy; (3) programmes, training, and campaigns; (4) fostering strong social relationships in teaching energy literacy; and (5) teaching techniques. These five themes were divided into 11 sub-themes. Findings from this systematic review will provide in-depth info to our community and specifically to educationalists, enabling them to develop more effective, efficient, and sustainable strategies that will shape future globally competent citizens in justifying and adapting energy literacy issues.

This study aims to obtain expert agreement on the content validity of the Career Interest Inventory Competency Instrument (K-IMK). The K-IMK instrument contains three main constructs namely knowledge, skills and attitudes. There are 58 question items with a breakdown of each Attitude Construct 19 question items, Knowledge Construct 22 question items and Skill Construct 17 question items. In this study, the Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM) uses five Likert scales to obtain expert agreement. A total of 15 experts in the field were used in this study to determine the value of the expert agreement. The results of this study found that the construct in this instrument got more than 75% and the threshold value is (d) < 0.2.

Assessment practices of mathematical thinking are an important part of mathematics teachers’ practices. This survey aimed to develop and validate an Assessment Practices of Mathematical Thinking ( APMT ) instrument. A total of 523 mathematics teachers from Omani public schools were randomly selected as samples. The initial scale consisted of 25 items. The scale was validated by experts in mathematics education and educational measurement and evaluation. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the APMT model. Results show that the goodness-of-fit indices for the first and second order of the APMT model are placed within the acceptable criteria, and that the magnitudes of loadings for all items are statistically significant. The final version of the APMT scale contains five factors and 21 items. In conclusion, this study has developed an APMT instrument is acceptable psychometrically, and useful to be used for assessing teachers’ assessment practices of mathematical thinking in Arabic context, especially in Oman. The instrument can also be used by teachers for the purpose of self-assessment of their assessment practices of mathematical thinking, which can show their strengths and weaknesses. This instrument is unique because it focuses on different types of assessment practices that can be implemented to evaluate and develop students’ mathematical thinking within and out of the classroom. Key Words: Mathematical thinking; assessment practices; diagnostic assessment; formative assessment; summative assessment; alternative assessment; electronic assessment; confirmatory factor analysis; exploratory factor analysis; mathematics teachers Amalan pentaksiran pemikiran matematik adalah bahagian yang penting dalam amalan guru matematik. Kajian tinjauan ini bertujuan untuk membina dan mengesahkan instrumen Amalan Pentaksiran Pemikiran Matematik ( APMT ). Sebanyak 523 guru matematik dari sekolah-sekolah awam di Oman dipilih secara rawak sebagai sampel. Skala awal terdiri daripada 25 item. Skala ini disahkan oleh pakar dalam pendidikan matematik dan pengukuran dan penilaian pendidikan. Analisis faktor eksploratori dan pengesahan digunakan untuk menguji model APMT. Hasil menunjukkan bahawa indeks goodness-of-fit untuk susunan pertama dan kedua model APMT diletakkan dalam kriteria yang diterima, dan magnitud muatan untuk semua item adalah signifikan secara statistik. Versi akhir skala APMT mengandungi lima faktor dan 21 item. Kesimpulannya, kajian ini telah membina sebuah instrumen APMT yang dapat diterima secara psikometrik, dan berguna untuk digunakan untuk menilai amalan penilaian pemikiran pemikiran matematik guru dalam konteks Arab, terutamanya di Oman. Instrument ini juga boleh digunakan oleh guru untuk tujuan penilaian kendiri amalan penilaian mereka terhadap pemikiran matematik, yang dapat menunjukkan kekuatan dan kelemahan mereka. Instrumen ini unik kerana memberi tumpuan kepada pelbagai jenis amalan penilaian yang boleh dilaksanakan untuk menilai dan mengembangkan pemikiran matematik pelajar di dalam dan di luar kelas. Kata Kunci: Pemikiran matematik; amalan penilaian; penilaian diagnostik; penilaian formatif; penilaian sumatif; penilaian alternatif; penilaian elektronik; analisis faktor pengesahan; analisis faktor penerokaan; guru matematik

Mastery regarding argumentation in science among high school biology students remains elusive. This study argues that argumentation can be explicitly taught and acquired through an explicit instruction revolving around argumentation. A teaching and learning module named as the LAB-MADI Module was developed to provide secondary biology students an environment to practice and acquire argumentation skills from reasoning based on evidence through practical work. An initial draft of the LAB-MADI Module for laboratory investigation was pilot studied in one of the schools with a group of twenty-two (n = 22) Grade 10 students (aged 16 years) from a pure science class taking biology as an examination subject. The results of the pilot study showed that the activities are able to improve students’ argumentation skills.

An Instrument of sustainability thinking was developed to measure students’ level towards sustainability thinking. Instrument of Sustainability Thinking Skills (STSI) was developed to measure the level of sustainability thinking towards STEM and non-STEM education among secondary school students. STSI consisted of 51 items measuring the four constructs of curiosity towards sustainability, namely sustainability thinking, green technology in sustainability, sustainable behavior (environmental value) and sustainable behavior (general ecological behavior). A total of 471 form 4 students aged 16 to 17 years enrolled in six urban and non-urban schools in Malaysia, were involved as research sample Rasch Measurement Model was applied to determine the validity and reliability of STSI. The results of the validity analysis found that the polarity of the items through the PTMEA-CORR values showed that all 51 items were >0.00 (+). Through item fit analysis, all items were retained because items meet the requirements of the range in MNSQ outfit, ZSTD outfit and PTMEA-CORR. Results also showed that STSI has an excellent item reliability and moderate high item separation value of 0.99 and 7.53 respectively. STSI also has a high person reliability and person separation value of 0.98 and 5.72 respectively. In conclusion, STSI has good validity and high reliability in measuring curiosity towards STEM Education among form 4 students in secondary schools.

One classic problem in science education that is still happening today is the lack of learners’ involvement in scientific activity. This may lead to not instilling positive scientific attitudes and the fostering of positive attitudes towards science is an important aspect that could promote greater interest towards science. The Take-Home-Experiment strategy is an attempt to implement an alternative strategy to ascertain whether its implementation promotes a positive attitude towards science among lower secondary school students. A quasi-experimental design was used to determine the effect of the T-H-E strategy on students' scientific attitudes. A total of 151 students in Form 2 from a lower secondary school at Pekanbaru Indonesia were divided into three groups: T-H-E group, Laboratory-Experimental group and Conventional group. The research used a questionnaire instrument on scientific attitude which consisted of 31 items with a Cronbach alpha reliability index of 0.68. The result of a one-way ANOVA shows that there was a significant difference in scientific attitude of students among these 3 groups. The mean score (mean = 3.21) for scientific attitude of the T-H-E group was higher compared to both the laboratory-experimental group (mean = 3.07) and the conventional group (mean = 2.91). This research found that the use of the Take-Home-Experiment strategy in teaching science has the potential to enhance lower secondary school students’ scientific attitude. Keywords: scientific approach, teaching science, scientific attitude, Take-Home-Experiment.

Background: Previous studies have reported the impact of integrated science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)-based programmes on students’ interest towards STEM, however, on...