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This study aimed to compare the effects between Student Teams-Achievement Divisions (STAD) of Cooperative Learning method with traditional method on academic achievement in the learning of Fishes (Vertebrate Zoology) among pre-service teachers. A quantitative approach was employed using a quasi-experimental design with a sample of 64 Biology Education pre-service teachers from two intact groups (30 in the experimental group and 34 in the control group) at Sriwijaya University, Palembang, Indonesia. Implementation of the study involving three topics of Fishes was carried out over a three-week intervention. The topics consisted of Agnatha & Placoderm, Chondrichthyes and Osteichthyes. STAD effects were measured by using zoology achievement test instruments The data were analyzed using ANCOVA for academic achievements in three corresponding tests. The results indicated that STAD was more effective than the traditional method in two topics of Fishes: F(1,61) = 6.479, p = 0.013 0.05] in the learning of Chondrichthyes. The findings of this study are discussed in the context of science education and implications for future research are proffered.

For the needs of the 21st century, the Government of Malaysia has conceptualized the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025 which embodies 11 strategic and operational shifts. In Shift 1, it is emphasized that the quality of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education will be enhanced. This study employed the mixed-method approach using the "one-group pre-test and post-test design". Accordingly, this paper describes the pedagogical practice of Project-based Inquiry Learning (PIL) which promotes STEM Education among Year 1 students in the move to progress in tandem with Shift 1. Specifically, using the context of a magnet which has been stipulated in the Primary School Standard Curriculum, Year 1 students experienced the STEM Education through the STEM Pedagogy in which they raised questions upon the presentation of a relevant stimulus (Inquiry Phase), explored the ways in which a train carriage or coach could be assembled by means of recycled materials and magnets (Exploration Phase), designed a train carriage (Design Phase), and ultimately reflected on their inventions (Reflection Phase). The cognitive and affective impacts through the use of this Project-based Inquiry Learning are presented. Implications for the teaching and learning of science are discussed within the context of STEM Education.