ISSN: 2226-6348
Open access
The majority of students are expected to have strong critical thinking and problem-solving abilities in 21st-century learning. Students can form mental habits that will help them succeed in any subject due to the emphasis on logical thought processes and problem-solving. The list of science, technology, Engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects is quite vast and chemistry is one of them. The STEM curriculum pushes students to think critically and develop original answers. Chemistry subject is believed as a major subject in the science field, however, in Malaysia, it is also deemed as one of the most challenging subjects. Crystal and chemical bonding topic are included in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM), Diploma and Degree syllabus. In chemistry, the topic of crystal structure and chemical bonding is commonly taught via slide presentations explaining the theories. Thus, this kit introduces a new teaching method where students need to produce the chemical bonding or crystal structure by using the “Ball and Stick” model. The coloured balls made from styrofoam represent atoms, while a set of sticks represent the bonds that hold them together. It is a special set of tinker kits to represent how molecules look. This kit box has been sold at a fixed price of RM19.90 and it contains 200 pieces of molecular model kit, including 70 atoms (ball), 100 bonds (stick) and 30 parts for lone pair. It comes with CD-ROM for instruction, notes and exercises hence providing a fun learning tool kit for students from secondary to university level. The kits can be dismantled and rebuilt or can be used for display or as a model for teaching specific crystallographic or structural concepts. The different coloured balls represent atoms of different elements. A survey has been conducted on a small group of diploma students and 100% of students agree that this kit is both entertaining and useful in gaining insight into the subject matter.
Schaffrath, R. E. (1983). Is “why” more important than “what”? Journal of Chemical Education, 60(9), 728. https://doi.org/10.1021/ed060p728
McAlpin, J. D., Ziker, J. P., Skvoretz, J., Couch, B. A., Earl, B., Feola, S., Lane, A. K., Mertens, K., Prevost, L. B., Shadle, S. E., Stains, M., & Lewis, J. E. (2022). Development of the Cooperative Adoption Factors Instrument to measure factors associated with instructional practice in the context of institutional change. International Journal of STEM Education, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1186 /s40594-022-00364-w
Mpofu, V., & Mutseekwa, C. (2022). Online stem teaching of practical chemistry: Challenges and possibilities. Academic Voices, 115–127. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-323-91185-6.00014-8
Sari, N. A., Mulyani, S., Hastuti, B., & Indriyanti, N. Y. (2021). Analysis of high school students’ stem literacy and problem-solving skills in chemistry. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1842(1), 012064. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1842/1/012064
Kennedy, T., & Odell, M. (2014). Engaging students in STEM education. Science Education International, 25(3), 246–258.
Rahmawati, Y., Ridwan, A., Hadinugrahaningsih, T., & Soeprijanto. (2019). Developing critical and creative thinking skills through Steam Integration in chemistry learning. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1156, 012033. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1156/1/012033
Hofstein, A., & Naaman, R. M. (2007). The laboratory in science education: The state of the art. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 8 (2), 105-107.
Lewthwaite, Brian. (2014). Thinking about practical work in chemistry: Teachers' considerations of selected practices for the macroscopic experience. Chem. Educ. Res. Pract. 15. 10.1039/C3RP00122A.
Ndibalema, P. (2014). Teachers’ Attitudes towards the Use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) as a Pedagogical Tool in Secondary Schools in Tanzania: The Case of Kondoa District. International Journal of Education and Research, 2(2), 1–16.
Zhao, L., Pan, S., Holzmann, N., Schwerdtfeger, P., & Frenking, G. (2019). Chemical Bonding and Bonding Models of Main-Group Compounds. Chemical Reviews, 119(14), 8781–8845. https://doi.org /10.1021/acs.chemrev.8b00722
Ippoliti, F. M., Chari, J. V., & Garg, N. K. (2022). Advancing Global Chemical Education Through Interactive Teaching Tools. Chemical Science, 13(20), 5790–5796. https://doi.org/ 10.1039 /d2sc01881k
Ahmad, N., Ismail, R., & Abdul Hakim, R. (2019). Higher education subsidy in Malaysia: The benefit incidence analysis. Journal of Islamic, Social, Economics and Development (JISED), 4(25), 72-84.
Dori, Y. J., & Barak, M. (2001). Virtual and physical molecular modeling: Fostering model perception and spatial understanding. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 4(1), 61-74.
Holstermann, N., Grube, D., & Bogeholz, S. (2010). Hands-on activities and their influence on students’ interest. Research in science education, 40(5), 743-757.
In-Text Citation: (Mustafa et al., 2023)
To Cite this Article: Mustafa, H., Onn, M., Zainudin, A., & Rahim, N. H. (2023). Ball and Stick Fun Model Kit for Stem Education. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development, 12(1), 261–268.
Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s)
Published by HRMARS (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode