Journal Screenshot

International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2226-6348

Importance of Assessing Chemistry Teacher Competency in Stem Integrated Education in Malaysia

Thilagavathy Sethuramah, Mohd Effendi Ewan Mohd Matore, Zanathon Iksan

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARPED/v11-i3/14450

Open access

Ever since its establishment, STEM has been a famous topic in education internationally because it brings positive impacts to society therefore competency of teachers is important for student development and ensures the quality of learning among students. In Malaysia, STEM education has been implemented to raise teachers’ and students’ interest, motivation, and attitude in STEM and career awareness corresponding to the STEM field. Therefore, this paper aims to identify the importance of assessing chemistry teacher competency in STEM integrated education in Malaysia. This paper has referred to a few studies that have been undertaken in Malaysia and other countries from the year 2015 to the present regarding the importance of assessment for the chemistry teacher to integrate STEM in the teaching and learning process. The main importance of assessing chemistry teacher competency in STEM integrated education in Malaysia is to determine the prevalence, acceptance, and growth of STEM among academics, including teachers, researchers, and educational policymakers. The discussion also involves teachers’ competency, level of knowledge, and skills among chemistry teachers to integrate STEM during the teaching and learning process and also the attitude of the teacher toward integrating STEM. The discussion can improve chemistry teacher competency by giving awareness to teachers and administrators. Therefore, it is advised that a study be conducted to assess chemistry teacher competency in implementing and integrating STEM during teaching and learning to prepare pre-service and in-service teachers.

Altan, E. B., & Ercan, S. (2016). STEM education program for science teachers: perceptions and competencies. Journal of Turkish Science Education, 13(special), 103-117.
Appleton, K. (2003). How do beginning primary school teachers cope with science? Toward an understanding of science teaching practice. Journal for Research in Science Teaching, 33, 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023666618800.
Bahrum, S., Wahid, N., & Ibrahim, N. (2017). Integration of STEM education in Malaysia and why to STEAM. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 7(6), 645-654.
Barber, M., & Mourshed, M. (2007). How the world’s best-performing school systems come out on top. London: McKinsey & Company.
Barry, D. (2020). The Value of The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers as an Evaluation Tool to Enhance Teacher Quality (Doctoral dissertation). Griffith University, Australia.
Bryan, L. A., Moore, T. J., Johnson, C. C., & Roehrig, G. H. (2015). Integrated STEM education. STEM road map: A framework for integrated STEM education, 23-37.
Chouhan, V. S., & Srivastava, S. (2014). Understanding competencies and competency modeling?A literature survey. IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 16(1), 14-22.
Ikiao, E. K. K. (2019). Effect of Discovery Teaching Approach on Scientific Creativity Amongst Students of Chemistry in Public Secondary Schools in Imenti North Sub-County, Kenya (Doctoral dissertation, Chuka University).
Johnstone, A. H. (1991). Why is science difficult to learn? Things are seldom what they seem. Journal of computer assisted learning, 7(2), 75-83.
Kelley, T. R., & Knowles, J. G. (2016). A conceptual framework for integrated STEM education.
International Journal of STEM education, 3(1), 1-11.
Khanam, R., 2018. The importance of chemistry education. In: 8th Edition of International Conference on Chemistry Education and Research August 27-28, 2018, 4. Switzerland. Journal of Organic & Inorganic Chemistry, Zurich, 23.
Mahdi, G. J. (2014). Student attitudes towards chemistry: An examination of choices and preferences. American Journal of Educational Research, 2(6), 351- 356. http://doi.org/10.12691/education-2-6-3
Mahmud, S. N. D., Nasri, N. M., Samsudin, M. A., & Halim, L. (2018). Science teacher education in Malaysia: challenges and way forward. Asia-pacific science education, 4(1), 1-12.
Margot, K. C., & Kettler, T. (2019). Teachers’ perception of STEM integration and education: a systematic literature review. International Journal of STEM education, 6(1), 1-16.
Meng, C., Idris, N., Leong, K. E., & Daud, M. (2013). Secondary school assessment practices in science, technology and mathematics (STEM) related subjects. Chew, CM, Idris, N., Leong, KE & Daud, MF (2013). Secondary School Assessment Practices in Science, Technology and Mathematics (STEM) Related Subjects. Journal of Mathematics Education, 6(2), 58-69.
Niemi, H. (2015). Teacher professional development in Finland: Towards a more holistic approach. Psychology, Society and Education, 7(3), 279-294.
Omar, R., Hassan, S., Ahmad, N.A. & Roslan, S. (2018). Importance of teachers’ competency through students’ perception in relationships between parental involvement and motivation with students’ achievement. Sains Humanika, 10(3), 17-23.
Omar, M. K., Zahar, F. N., & Rashid, A. M. (2020). Knowledge, skills, and attitudes as predictors in determining teachers' competency in Malaysian TVET institutions. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 8(3C), 95-104.
Ramli, N. F., & Talib, O. (2017). Can education institution implement STEM? From Malaysian
teachers’ view. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 7(3), 721-732.
Salam, R. (2021). The Importance Performance Assessment and Its Impact on Improving Performance of Public Service Organizations in South Tangerang City. Sosiohumaniora, 23(2), 226-233.
Schleicher, A. (2011), Building a high-quality teaching profession: Lessons from around the World, OECD Publishing. Retrieved on 18 January, 2019 from http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264113046-en
Schleicher, A. (2016), Teaching excellence through professional learning and policy reform: Lessons from around the world, international summit on the teaching profession, OECD Publishing, Retrieved on 18 January, 2019 from
http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264252059-en
Shahali, E. H. M., Ismail, I., & Halim, L. (2017). STEM education in Malaysia: Policy, trajectories and initiatives. Asian Research Policy, 8(2), 122-133.
Siew, N. M., Amir, N., & Chong, C. L. (2015). The perceptions of pre-service and in-service teachers regarding a project-based STEM approach to teaching science. SpringerPlus, 4(1), 1-20.
Rushton, G. T., Ray, H. E., Criswell, B. A., Polizzi, S. J., Bearss, C. J., Levelsmier, N., & Kirchhoff, M. (2014). Stemming the diffusion of responsibility: A longitudinal case study of America’s chemistry teachers. Educational Researcher, 43(8), 390-403.
Stains, M., Harshman, J., Barker, M. K., Chasteen, S. V., Cole, R., DeChenne-Peters, S. E., & Young, A. M. (2018). Anatomy of STEM teaching in North American universities. Science, 359(6383), 1468-1470.
Thibaut, L., Ceuppens, S., De Loof, H., De Meester, J., Goovaerts, L., Struyf, A., & Depaepe, F. (2018). Integrated STEM education: A systematic review of instructional practices in secondary education. European Journal of STEM Education, 3(1), 2.
Thibaut, L., Knipprath, H., Dehaene, W., & Depaepe, F. (2018b). The influence of teachers’ attitudes and school context on instructional practices in integrated STEM education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 71, 190-205.
Trang, N. T. T., Oanh, D. T., Binh, P. T., Ninh, T. T., & Duc, N. M. (2021). Practical investigating of STEM teaching competence of pre-service chemistry teachers in Vietnam. In Journal of Physics: Conference Series (Vol. 1835, No. 1, p. 012069). IOP Publishing.
Tümay, H. (2016). Reconsidering learning difficulties and misconceptions in chemistry: emergence in chemistry and its implications for chemical education. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 17(2), 229-245.
Valiandes, S. (2015). Evaluating the impact of differentiated instruction on literacy and reading in mixed ability classrooms: Quality and equity dimensions of education effectiveness. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 45, 17-26.
Weinert, F. E. (2001). Concept of competence: A conceptual clarification. In D. S. Rychen & L. H. Salganik (Eds.), Defining and selecting key competencies (p. 45–65).

In-Text Citation: (Sethuramah et al., 2022)
To Cite this Article: Sethuramah, T., Matore, M. E. E. M., & Iksan, Z. (2022). Importance of Assessing Chemistry Teacher Competency in Stem Integrated Education in Malaysia. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development, 11(3), 372–384.