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Logical thinking skills and science process skills of secondary three students in neighbourhood schools of Singapore
Author
Salinah Mohd Yunos
Supervisor
Yap, Kueh Chin
Abstract
This research investigated the status of the logical thinking skills and science process skills of Secondary Three Singapore Students. The relationship between the two skills and performance in Physics was also looked into. Factors such as school location (zone), gender, stream and frequently spoken language were examined to see if these had any effect on the two sets of skills and achievement in Physics in Singapore schools.
The purpose of the research were (I) to perform a baseline study in Singapore for logical thinking skills and science process skills, (ii) to study the relationship between logical thinking skills and science skills in the Singapore context, (iii) to study the effect of the two sets of skills on the achievement in Physics and (iv) to study the effect of school location (zone), gender stream and frequently spoken language for the two sets of skills and achievement in Physics.
The data used in this research was obtained form a sample of four hundred and forty-one (441) Secondary Three students from eight neighborhood schools. The schools were chosen based on their location, i.e. two schools were selected from each of the four schools zones in Singapore . Intact classes (i.e. one normal and one express class) from each school were used.
To measure the logical thinking skills of the students, the Group Assessment of Logical Thinking (GALT) by Roadrangka, Yeany and Padilla (1983) was used. GALT is a 12-item instrument that is divided into six sub-scales, each with two test items. The instrument uses a double multiple-choice format for presenting options for answers, and a justification for each answer. GALT classifies individual scores into cognitive levels on the basis of the use of logical skills. To assess the science process skills of the students, the instrument Test of Integrated Process Skills (TIPS) developed by Burns, Okey & Wise (1985) was utilized. It comprises 36 questions designed to measure five integrated science process skills. Each question presents students with a problem for which they are asked to select the best from four possible options. To test the students' ability in Physics, the Physics Performance Test was constructed. This comprised of 19 multiple-choice questions, with five options followed by four short structured questions.
The following are findings in the study :
1. There was a significant relationship between logical thinking skills and science process skills as suggested by previous studies in other countries. This implied that the two sets of skills are somewhat related. This also suggested that the competency in either skill affects the performance in the other.
2. The two sets of skills have a significant relationship to performance in Physics. This suggested that enhancing students' thinking skills could affect their achievement in Physics and vice-versa although this is beyond the scope of this study.
3. The ability of the students in different school zones was different for the three tests. The reason for this was inconclusive.
4. Other findings pointed that there were no gender differences in science process skills and achievement in Physics. There were however, gender differences detected for logical thinking skills. The study revealed that male students were superior to their female counterparts in logical skills especially in conservation of variable and in proportional skills.
5. Students in the Express stream outperformed the students in the Normal stream for all three tests. This was aptly so and implied that the students had been well streamed into their different ability groups.
6. Students who spoke English more frequently (ES) performed better in the process skills test than those who spoke less English more frequently (NES). The reason was that the process skills test was more wordy than the other two tests and thus required students to have a certain degree of proficiency in English to understand. There were no significant differences between the ES and NES students for logical thinking skills and Physics performance test.
The findings provided some indicators to curriculum developers, teachers and educators as well as follow up actions to focus on specific groups of students in enhancing their thinking skills and their performance in Physics. It is hoped that by improving the thinking skills of students, it will not only enable them to perform better in their examinations but also transform them into thinking individuals. This would inevitably improve their marketability in the working world and enable them to effectively contribute to the economical and social development of Singapore.
The purpose of the research were (I) to perform a baseline study in Singapore for logical thinking skills and science process skills, (ii) to study the relationship between logical thinking skills and science skills in the Singapore context, (iii) to study the effect of the two sets of skills on the achievement in Physics and (iv) to study the effect of school location (zone), gender stream and frequently spoken language for the two sets of skills and achievement in Physics.
The data used in this research was obtained form a sample of four hundred and forty-one (441) Secondary Three students from eight neighborhood schools. The schools were chosen based on their location, i.e. two schools were selected from each of the four schools zones in Singapore . Intact classes (i.e. one normal and one express class) from each school were used.
To measure the logical thinking skills of the students, the Group Assessment of Logical Thinking (GALT) by Roadrangka, Yeany and Padilla (1983) was used. GALT is a 12-item instrument that is divided into six sub-scales, each with two test items. The instrument uses a double multiple-choice format for presenting options for answers, and a justification for each answer. GALT classifies individual scores into cognitive levels on the basis of the use of logical skills. To assess the science process skills of the students, the instrument Test of Integrated Process Skills (TIPS) developed by Burns, Okey & Wise (1985) was utilized. It comprises 36 questions designed to measure five integrated science process skills. Each question presents students with a problem for which they are asked to select the best from four possible options. To test the students' ability in Physics, the Physics Performance Test was constructed. This comprised of 19 multiple-choice questions, with five options followed by four short structured questions.
The following are findings in the study :
1. There was a significant relationship between logical thinking skills and science process skills as suggested by previous studies in other countries. This implied that the two sets of skills are somewhat related. This also suggested that the competency in either skill affects the performance in the other.
2. The two sets of skills have a significant relationship to performance in Physics. This suggested that enhancing students' thinking skills could affect their achievement in Physics and vice-versa although this is beyond the scope of this study.
3. The ability of the students in different school zones was different for the three tests. The reason for this was inconclusive.
4. Other findings pointed that there were no gender differences in science process skills and achievement in Physics. There were however, gender differences detected for logical thinking skills. The study revealed that male students were superior to their female counterparts in logical skills especially in conservation of variable and in proportional skills.
5. Students in the Express stream outperformed the students in the Normal stream for all three tests. This was aptly so and implied that the students had been well streamed into their different ability groups.
6. Students who spoke English more frequently (ES) performed better in the process skills test than those who spoke less English more frequently (NES). The reason was that the process skills test was more wordy than the other two tests and thus required students to have a certain degree of proficiency in English to understand. There were no significant differences between the ES and NES students for logical thinking skills and Physics performance test.
The findings provided some indicators to curriculum developers, teachers and educators as well as follow up actions to focus on specific groups of students in enhancing their thinking skills and their performance in Physics. It is hoped that by improving the thinking skills of students, it will not only enable them to perform better in their examinations but also transform them into thinking individuals. This would inevitably improve their marketability in the working world and enable them to effectively contribute to the economical and social development of Singapore.
Date Issued
2001
Call Number
QC30 Sal
Date Submitted
2001