RESEARCH OPERATIONAL TEMPLATE (ROT)

THE DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF AN INSTRUMENT TO MEASURE SCIENCE TEACHERS’ PREPAREDNESS TOWARDS
STEM IMPLEMENTATION
1. Brief Overview of the study
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) is currently worldwide issues for its future workforce demand
and the fact that the foundation of STEM is linked to the prosperity of the country. U.S Bureau of Labour Statistics reported
that STEM related workforce grew by 10.5%, between May 2009 and May 2015 compared with 5.2% net growth in non-
STEM related workforce showing that the high demand for STEM related occupations (Fayer, Lacey, & Watson, 2017). Due
to this increased STEM workforce grew, Malaysia also projected the growth for STEM related workforce by aiming 1 million
STEM workforce demand by 2020 compared to 120K STEM workforce that currently available (Academy of Sciences
Malaysia, 2015). In conjunction with that, Ministry of Education takes the initiative to embark on a preliminary step
towards providing future workforce by making STEM as one of the pillars in Secondary School Curriculum Standard that
will be used nationwide starting 2017 (Curriculum Development Division, 2016).
2. PROBLEM STATEMENT
i. Current issue / Symptom
 Malaysia faces the decline in science stream enrolment in upper secondary school, from 44% in 2011 to 21% in 2014
that way behind the Higher Education Planning Committee set a target to achieve their 60:40 Science: Art Policy
(Academy of Sciences Malaysia, 2015).

ii. Specific problem(s) underpinning the issue

 Students’ interest and achievement in science related subject were reportedly depending upon teachers preparations
(Henry et al., 2011; Slavit, Nelson, & Lesseig, 2016; Steele, Brew, Rees, & Ibrahim-Khan, 2013).
 Teacher preparedness have significant correlation with their of teaching instructional efficacy (Darling-Hammond,
Chung, & Frelow, 2002).
 Some of the reasons that contribute to students declining interest in science related subject is ad hoc changes in
education policies, low quality of teachers and ineffective STEM teaching instructional method (Academy of Sciences
Malaysia, 2015)
 Despite having less training compared to other methods , demonstration and experiments are the most effective
instructional methods in teaching STEM (Smith, Rayfield, & Mckim, 2015).
 Malaysia teachers were reportedly have issues in term of lack instructional training, exposure to content knowledge,
inadequate facilities and supports in implementing STEM (Ramli & Talib, 2017; Siew, Amir, & Chong, 2015; Wahid & Talib,
2017).

iii. Proposed solution – NOVELTY

Development of a valid and reliable instrument to accurately measure teacher preparedness towards STEM
implementation.

3. OBJECTIVE
I. To define the concept of science teachers’ preparedness towards STEM implementation
II. To generate item pool of science teachers’ preparedness towards STEM implementation instrument
III. To test the validity of science teachers’ preparedness towards STEM implementation instrument
IV. To test the reliability of science teachers’ preparedness towards STEM implementation instrument
V. To examine any significant difference among science teachers’ preparedness towards STEM implementation
instrument with regards to their teaching experience
4. THEORETICAL / CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Theoretical Framework

STEM as Teaching and Learning

Learning by Doing Theory Integrated Curriculum Model Approach
(Schank, Berman, & Macpherson, 1999) (VanTassel-Baska & Wood, 2010) (Curriculum Development Division, 2016)

•Goals •Issues / Theme Dimension •Knowledge

•Mission •Advance Content DImension •Skills
•Cover story (background story line) •Process Product Dimension •Value
•Role (who the students will play)
•Scenario operations (activities that
students does)
•Resources
•Feedback

Teachers Preparedness in STEM Implementation

Conceptual Framework

5. SIGNIFICANCE
- Student interest and achievement in STEM related to teacher preparedness, so an instrument must be developed in other
to measure teacher preparedness in implementing STEM.
- Add more knowledge in the world of STEM, particularly in Malaysia scenario.

6. RESEARCH QUESTIONS 7. INSTRUMENTATION 8. DATA ANALYSIS

I. What is the concept of science teachers’ preparedness -Document Analysis Systematic Review
towards STEM implementation -Interview with experts Interview with practitioners and
experts
II. What are the items on science teachers’ preparedness -Document Analysis Systematic Review
towards STEM implementation -Interview with experts Interview with experts
III. To what extent the instrument is a valid measure for Survey using Content Validity
assessing science teachers’ preparedness towards questionnaire Face Validity
STEM implementation Construct Validity – CFA
IV. To what extent the instrument is reliable measure for Survey using Internal Consistency Reliability
assessing science teachers’ preparedness towards questionnaire -Cronbach’s Alpha, EFA,
STEM implementation
V. Is there any difference among science teachers’ Survey using Rasch Measurement Model
preparedness towards STEM implementation questionnaire
instrument with regards to their teaching experience

9.RESEARCH DESIGN: 10. SAMPLING TECHNIQUE / SAMPLING FRAME:

Exploratory Design Sampling Technique : Multistage Cluster Sampling

11. EXPECTED MAIN FINDING:

Valid and reliable instrument to measure science teacher preparedness in STEM implementation
12. CONTRIBUTION TO THE BODY OF KNOWLEDGE (THEORY, METHODOLOGY, PRACTICALITY):
THEORY – Better theoretical comprehension in science teachers preparedness in STEM implementation
METHODOLOGY – Steps in instrument development based on methodology adopted from previous studies (DeVellis, 2003;
Mackenzie, Podsakoff, & Podsakoff, 2011; Suhairom, Musta’amal, Amin, & Johari, 2014)
PRACTICALITY – A new assessment for teacher preparedness in STEM implement

REFERENCES:
Academy of Sciences Malaysia. (2015). Science Outlook 2015: Action Towards Vision. (Academy of Sciences Malaysia,
Ed.). Ministry of Sciene, Technology And Innovation.
Curriculum Development Division. (2016). Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Menengah. Putrajaya: Ministry of Education.
Darling-Hammond, L., Chung, R., & Frelow, F. (2002). Variation in Teacher Preparation: How Well Do Different Pathways
Prepare Teachers to Teach? Journal of Teacher Education, 53(4), 286–302.
DeVellis, R. . (2003). Scale Development : Theory and Aplications (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications Inc.
Fayer, S., Lacey, A., & Watson, A. (2017). STEM Occupations : Past , Present , And Future.
Henry, G. T., Thompson, C. L., Bastian, K. C., Kershaw, D. C., Purtell, K. M., & Zulli, R. A. (2011). Does Teacher Preparation
Affect Student Achievement? Education Finance and Policy.
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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.
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. https://doi.org/10.1186/2193-1801-4-8
Slavit, D., Nelson, T. H., & Lesseig, K. (2016). The Teachers’ Role in Developing, Opening, and Nurturing an Inclusive
STEM-focused School. International Journal of STEM Education, 3(1), 7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-016-0040-5
Smith, K. L., Rayfield, J., & Mckim, B. R. (2015). Effective Practices in STEM Integration: Describing Teacher Perceptions
and Instructional Method Use. Journal of Agricultural Education, 56(4), 183–203.
Steele, A., Brew, C., Rees, C., & Ibrahim-Khan, S. (2013). Our Practice, Their Readiness: Teacher Educators Collaborate to
Explore and Improve Preservice Teacher Readiness . Journal of Science Teacher Education, 24(1), 111–131.
Suhairom, N., Musta’amal, & Johari, N. K. A. (2014). The development of competency model and instrument for
competency measurement : The research methods. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 152, 1300–1308.
Wahid, N. T. A., & Talib, O. (2017). STEM Integration in Classroom Practices in Mara Junior Science College ( MJSC ).
International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 7(4), 1030–1041.