Master of Arts (Instructional Design & Technology)

Science education plays an important role in the economic development of a country. It is pertinent for teachers to make learning science not only a meaningful experience for children but also help children develop high cognitive skills like analysis and synthesis to apply knowledge to solve problems.

This study examined the impact of a science programme developed by a local primary school in Singapore to improve the achievement in science. The programme commenced in 1999 and was monitored by the school's science department. Records of the implementation of the programme was kept by the school.

The programme, entitled the Science Application Skills Programme (SASP) was initiated to improve the higher order cognitive skills of pupils and to see the extent of their understanding of these cognitive skills through a range of assessment.

A study was carried out in 2002 to investigate the impact of SASP. Data obtained from the school records of the science department of the primary school was used for this purpose. The data obtained from the school's records for this study ranged from pre and post-test scores of pupils' performance; semestral examination scores of pupils' performance and questionnaires. The study examined the performance of 200 pupils who were involved in the Science Application Skills Programme from its inception in 1999 to the completion of their primary school education in 2001.

The findings of this study have shown a significant impact of the programme on the performance of pupils' achievement in science. Significant improvement was found in pupils' ability to answer questions requiring comprehension, application, analysis and synthesis cognitive skills in the post-tests. Comparison of the pre and post programme performance of pupils in the final semestral examination also showed marked improvement in the post programme examination.

Prior to the implementation of the programme, pupils' achievement in science at the national level was on par with the national percentage passes. The performance of the school in the external national examination has also improved since the implementation of the Science Application Skills Programme. In the year 2000 and 2001 the school performance increased by 3% and 5% respectively above the national average.

The implications of this study encompass some approaches in diagnosing pupils' misconceptions of certain topics in science and the strategies that were carried out in addressing these misconceptions. It further looks into various approaches in creating meaningful learning experiences for pupils learning science. Other implications include the need to improve items to assess higher order thinking skills.