Filipino Science Teachers’ Evaluation on Webinars’ Alignments to Universal Design for Learning and Their Relation to Self-Efficacy amidst the Challenges of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has led teachers in the Philippines to rely on technology to provide and support continued education for K-12 students. However, it is not only technology, but also the interactive online learning environments crafted by teachers that impact student science learning. To support teachers to cope with pandemic teaching, the government provided professional development in the form of teacher-training webinars. This study evaluated the webinars using Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles to understand the impact these professional development sessions had on science teachers’ self-efficacy for delivering science instruction during the pandemic. The study found that webinars including UDL design elements improved science teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching science and there were no significant differences in teacher perceptions relative to gender or teaching experience. Implications for the use of UDL to design long-term professional development offerings beyond the pandemic are discussed.

Pre-service Physics Teachers’ Beliefs about Learning Physics and Their Learning Achievement in Physics

This study investigates pre-service teachers’ beliefs about learning physics and explores how beliefs correlate with learning achievement as evidenced by conceptual understanding and grades in a year-long physics course. To investigate beliefs about learning physics, 14 second-year pre-service teachers in a teacher training program in South Korea completed a Likert-style questionnaire called the Beliefs About Learning Physics Survey (BAPS). To measure learning achievement, final grades for the physic course were obtained and the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) was used to assess conceptual understanding. Analysis revealed that pre-service physics teachers’ beliefs about learning physics had a positive correlation with conceptual understanding but not with motivational beliefs. Students’ grades in physics had a positive correlation with cognitive beliefs, regardless of changes in pre- and post-test responses. Implications about how to utilize pre-service physics teachers’ beliefs about learning physics as an epistemological resource for teaching and learning physics are discussed.

An SSI-Based STEAM Approach to Developing Science Programs

This study employed a multi-phased process to guide the development of an approach for integrating socio-scientific issues (SSI) and science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) education in a way that can reform how science is taught in schools to improve scientific literacy. This approach can help teachers connect science authentically to real-world issues that have social and cultural relevance to students’ everyday lives. To demonstrate how the approach could be used for curriculum development, the authors defined the dimensions and key principles of SSI-based STEAM teaching and translated the approach into a climate change program by using a 6E inquiry model, which emphasizes an “enactment” stage. This program was used to discuss the benefits and challenges of employing an SSI-based STEAM approach in classroom contexts. We conclude by discussing implications for using this approach to improve science learning opportunities in cross-cultural contexts, and we raise questions about the need for future research.

Development of a Field-Based Chemistry Experiment Teaching Model to Strengthen Pre-Service Teachers’ Competence for Teaching Chemistry Experiments

The FCE (field-based chemistry experiment) model was developed to cultivate pre-service science teachers’ ability to teach chemistry experiments in secondary classrooms. We describe the process of developing the FCE model and student activities via feedback from experts and analysis of the implemented program. This study evaluated the effectiveness of implementing the FCE model with 58 pre-service science teachers to examine how this model impacts on the role of the instructor and students. Implementation impact was examined by analyzing qualitative data from surveys and observations of student activities. The FCE model minimized the role of the instructor by using flipped learning and cooperative learning, which enabled learners to construct class contents by themselves with topics aligned to the secondary science curriculum. Findings suggest the FCE model supports pre-service science teachers to acquire both knowledge and practical skills related to conducting and teaching experiments. Implications for pre-service science teacher preparation are discussed.

Cultivating STEAM Literacy: Emphasizing the Implementation of the Arts through Reading Practices Supporting the Asian Diaspora

This paper explores the cultivation of STEAM literacy through the employment of practices derived from traditional reading strategies. This teaching and learning framework focuses on utilizing multimodal texts to increase exposure and opportunities for students to creatively explore diverse realms of STEM through the arts. Featuring student-centered endeavors through self-selected texts and in-class reading practices followed by tiered scaffolded discourse engagements, this framework initiates greater interest, autonomy, and culturally and linguistically authentic practices enhancing STEAM literacy. Embedded in the implications is the deconstruction of frequently aggregated STEM data that “overrepresents” the Asian demographic. Using the lens of the model minority myth, this paper attempts to disaggregate the Asian category, illuminating the actual diaspora that makes up the Asian and Asian American communities, many of which are not represented in STEM fields. Through more reading opportunities and fostering discourse practices, the arts contribute greater inclusion, cultivating STEAM literacy for all students.

Indonesian Biology Teachers’ Perceptions about Socio-Scientific Issue-Based Biology Instruction

Promoting socio-scientific issue (SSI)-based instruction in Indonesian science classrooms requires competent science teachers. To understand teachers’ perceptions about the implementation of SSI-based instruction, a case study involving four biology teachers engaged in a teacher professional development program was conducted. The program consisted of four phases: reflection on teachers’ prior teaching experience and background knowledge, 3-day SSI-based teaching workshop, collaborative development and implementation of SSI-based learning in biology, and post-implementation reflections by teachers. Teachers’ perceptions were gathered via interviews and written reflections, which were analyzed qualitatively with an explanation building mode approach. Findings indicated a positive development along four dimensions: knowledge about SSIs and scientific literacy, the necessity of including SSIs in science instruction, situational factors related to addressing SSIs in class, and teachers’ attitude towards teaching SSIs. Further research needs to be conducted in Indonesian contexts to be able to extend the SSI teacher professional development program to different regions.

Exploring the Effects of Implementing a Research-Based SSI Program on Students’ Understanding of SSI and Willingness to Act

This study aimed to examine the effects of a research-based SSI program on fostering students’ understanding of issues and their willingness to act. Twenty-five middle school students voluntarily participated in the program on the issue of artificial food additives over 6 months. The data were collected by means of interviews with the students, field notes, and students’ artifacts such as SSI maps and journals. Results indicated that students’ research experiences helped them widen their understanding of the issues and feel more connectedness to the issue and motivated to explore the hidden nature of the issue as they conducted their research. They found various stakeholders in the food industry and business network and discovered how individual stakeholders would be affected within the network. They also became aware of the inequality and injustice that arose in the network. In addition, their experience of executing research increased their confidence and willingness to act for resolving contentious issues.

Virtual and Open Integration of Culture for Education (VOICE) with Science Teacher Candidates from Korea during COVID-19

Cultural competencies and confidence in teaching diverse students are needed to close achievement gaps between mainstream and minority students in science. In this study, an online teacher education program, Virtual and Open Integration of Culture for Education (VOICE), was designed to help retain teacher candidates’ science affinities and cultural competency during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thirty-two Korean teacher candidates were selected as culturally responsive instructors who were able to reduce their cultural bias and preferences about Korean culture and develop culturally responsive instruction. VOICE proceeded through (1) “collaborating,” by connecting seminar speakers worldwide; (2) “designing,” by creating culturally responsive science activities based on Korean culture; and (3) “performing,” by communicating with American students, teacher candidates, teachers, and parents. Pre- and post-survey results show that VOICE increased the teacher candidates’ cultural proficiency and interest in science. Guidelines for research on designing online programs to enhance teacher candidates’ science affinities and cultural competencies are provided.

Research Trends in Science and Mathematics Education in South Korea 2014–2018: A Cross-Disciplinary Analysis of Publications in Selected Local Journals

Although science education and mathematics education share many characteristics as neighboring research disciplines, comparisons between the two research fields in the literature have rarely been made. In this study, we examine the two fields’ similarities and differences in the local context of South Korea by analyzing 2,426 research articles published in 15 selected local journals from both fields. The analysis revealed interesting commonalities and divergences across the two fields, suggesting a high degree of similarity in the distribution of research topics across the two fields. Nevertheless, some topics were more frequently studied in one field than the other. Based on the results, we suggest that understanding the ongoing research agendas and aims of adjacent disciplines such as mathematics education will be beneficial to the science education community by allowing self-reflection and facilitating interdisciplinary communication and collaboration. Several potential ways in which the two disciplines can cross-fertilize are discussed.