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Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 17, Issue 1, Article 3 (Jun., 2016) |
Table 3 shows the mean score and the standard deviation (SD) values from both the pre- and post-tests for the five constructs of 21st century skills investigated. Table 3 indicates that the initial level of students’ skills in all five aspects of 21st century skill is relatively high, with mean scores between 3.77 to 4.55. This high perception of their skills is probably due to the fact the respondents are high achievers as demonstrated in their performance in UPSR. High achievers tend to demonstrate also high self-esteem and interest in their performance (Aryana, 2010; Ulrich, 2010). The mean scores of each aspect of investigated 21st. century skills are also high after the students undergone the STEM education program.
Findings from the pre- and post-tests were used to study the effects of POPBL approach in STEM programs on 21st century skills. The mean score from the pre-tests were compared with the mean score from the post-tests using a paired sample t-test. 21st century skills were tested in five aspects, which were (i) Digital age literacy, (ii) Inventive thinking (iii) Effective communication, (iv) High productivity, and the added component, (v) Spiritual values.
Table 3. T test results of students’ 21st century skills’ mean score
*significant < 0.05
Skill
Test
Mean
Std. Deviation
t-value
Sig (2- tailed)
Digital age literacy
Pre-test
3.774
0.419
3.424
0.001*
Post-test
3.916
0.498
Inventive thinking
Pre-test
4.015
0.412
1.377
0.171
Post-test
4.082
0.601
Effective communication
Pre-test
4.088
0.426
1.942
0.055
Post-test
4.173
0.598
High productivity
Pre-test
3.851
0.401
5.878
0.000*
Post-test
4.121
0.481
Spiritual values
Pre-test
4.550
0.414
0.994
0.322
Post-test
4.511
0.525
21st century skills
Pre-test
4.055
0.331
2.996
0.003*
Post-test
4.145
0.451
Based on Table 3, it can be seen that there is a rise in the mean score values for all aspects of 21st century skills except for Spiritual values aspect, which shows a decrease in mean score but there was no significance difference between groups. As a whole, the findings show that there is an increase in mean score for 21st century skills after students have undergone the BITARA STEM program with a t value of (125)=2.996. The findings also show that there is a significant difference for the aspect Digital age literacy with a t value of (125) =3.424 and High productivity with a t value of (125) =5.878. However, there are two aspects of 21st century skills which do not show any significant difference, namely Inventive Thinking with a t value of (125)=1.377 and Effective communication with a t value of (125)=1.942. As a whole, the level of 21st century skills for the majority of students is at a high level. After attending this program, the percentage of students who exhibited a high level of 21st century skills increased by 4.9%. Figure 4 shows the analysis of the findings on the percentage of students according to stages of 21st century skills exhibited, in which the 21st century skills that the students demonstrated have been divided into 3 stages, namely low, medium and high.
Table 4. Percentage of students according to stages of 21st century skills
21st century skills
Low
Medium
High
Percentage (%)
Pre-test
0
11.5
88.5
Post-test
0
6.6
93.4
There are a few important 21st century skills which have to be mastered by students. Through the analysis which has been conducted, it was found that the level of 21st century skills showed an increase in every skill after students attended the BITARA STEM Program with the exception of Spiritual Values. The highest increase occurred for High Productivity with a difference in the mean score between the pre- and post-tests attaining a value of 0.27, followed by Digital Age Literacy (0.142), 21st Century Skills (0.09), Effective communication (0.085), and Inventive Thinking (0.067). It appears that the integration ofPOPBL and on STEM education has helped the students to develop further 21st century skills. POPBL provides opportunities for students to apply their knowledge, and simultaneously encourages them to gather information. Similarly, the characteristics of POPBL that promote group discussions encourage students to carry out collaborative learning which allows students to choose the most efficient way to solve the task using their existing knowledge as well as new knowledge. This can help to improve students’ concentration and boost learning, enhancing their creative skills and enabling them to develop positively into the 21st century.
In the BITARA STEM Program, the teaching and learning approach emphasized upon was the usage of POPBL methods where various hands on-minds on activities were applied, starting with problem identification and ending with a solution to the said problem. Research findings show that the teaching and learning activities in the BITARA STEM Program increased the students’ level of inventive thought even though the increment is insignificant. One possible reason is that through the activities carried out in small groups, the students had to work and think together on how to solve the problems that they faced by applying their individual experiences To achieve that, students had to explore and make connections between the problem’s situation and the situations that they have experienced themselves in real life. Thus the learning situation that is applied in the BITARA STEM Program can encourage students to become innovative and creative in their invention. In order to produce high quality product, students must be able to distribute task according to their importance. This shows that the student have systematic planning skills.
In addition, the students were also required to design new artefacts. Artefact design which was formed based on ideas shared with other team members managed to increase the students’ inventiveness and this had a positive effect on High Productivity. This finding is in line with research by Ibrahim and Halim (2013), and Mohamed et al. (2012) where it was found that POPBL can enable students to achieve high results in their work.
The curriculum for the 21st century should be relevant and coherent with the current situation. The design of the curriculum of the 21st century needs to be futuristic, flexible and dynamic so that creative and innovative human capital can be generated. Therefore, in addition to providing students with skills to collaborate with others, skills of the 21st century require students to work together and communicate through technology. The findings of this research also revealed that students possess Digital Era Literacy Skill which was elevated after attending the BITARA STEM Program.
Technology literacy is a skill that gives a big impact to master the digital era literacy skill (Arsad et al., 2012), through the usage of technological equipment for example the used of internet during the teaching and learning process enable students to find additional information The latest technology like robotic programmer in Wireless Module provides this new experiences to the students. However, there is decrease in the mean score for Spiritual Values (-0.039) after students attended the BITARA STEM Program and this phenomena requires further research. This finding on Spiritual Values calls for improvement in terms of the application of spiritual values during the teaching and learning process to ensure that students are not only inventive, able to communicate effectively, possess digital era literacy skills and high productivity levels, but also equipped with spiritual values in order to develop a nation that is morally upright, whole and well-balanced.
Further analysis of the data on the percentage of students based on the level/stage of 21st century skills that the students exhibited revealed that none of the students were in the lowest level before and after taking part in the program. The post test demonstrated that the percentage of students having or exhibiting high level of 21st century skills increased after the students attended the BITARA STEM Program, an increase of 4.9% from the percentage score of the pre-test. This suggests that applying POPBL in the teaching and learning process of the BITARA STEM Program is able to capture students’ interests and active involvement in the teaching and learning process, and ultimately increase the quality of students’ mastery in STEM-based education. Research findings also show that the implementation of POPBL through STEM programs has managed to enhance the level of 21st century skills as perceived the students. By mastering 21st century learning skills, these students will be able to plan and make wise decisions for their future and address the challenges of globalization. Overall, through exposure to POPBL teaching and learning process, these students will be equipped with relevant learning and innovation skills, information skills, media and technology skills and also life and career skills that are necessary to survive in the globalised era of the 21st century.
