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There may be differences between this version and the published version. You are advised to consult the publisher's version if you wish to cite from it. This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Yasri, P., and Mancy, R. any changes. Analysis revealed that a high proportion of students underwent a change in position, primarily towards increasing acceptance of evolution, a trend that was clearest among Christian students. Participants reported that these changes were influenced by changes in their understanding of the evidence for evolution and of ways of relating science and religion, but not in changes in their religious beliefs. The study shows that the tool is effective for detecting changes in position and eliciting key reasons for these changes.Moreover, it points to the importance during evolution education of focusing on the evidence for evolution and the relationship between science and religion.

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STEM education is a pedagogical philosophy which aims to draw the interrelationship between science, technology, engineering and mathematics to solve complex problems in real life situations. In order to use STEM education to foster students' learning, the researchers designed STEM activities for middle school students related to the concept of force and motion in three different approaches: a linear model, a jigsaw learning and a stand-alone engineering design activity. To compare the effectiveness of the three approaches, the researchers analysed students' reasoning and problem-solving scores gained before and after doing the activities. The result showed students participating in the linear model and in the jigsaw learning significantly outperformed those in the stand-alone engineering design activity. In addition, when comparing conceptual development between those attending the linear model and jigsaw learning, the result showed that the former significantly outperformed the latter. It is therefore suggested that to maximise the effectiveness of STEM activities in promoting conceptual understanding as well as reasoning and problem-solving skills, teachers should adopt the linear model. However, when instructional time is limited, the jigsaw learning can be considered as an alternative approach. The stand-alone engineering design activity although can promote students' enthusiasm to learn, it may not sufficiently lead to the development of reasoning and problem-solving skills as expected.

Chemistry education requires establishing connections between chemistry concepts and learners' experiences encountered in the real world. However, due to the abstract nature of chemistry which is regularly displayed in an isolated-fashion in classrooms, this results in the difficulty when learners utilize knowledge relationally and rationally. To ease this learning issue, a conceptually integrative learning unit incorporating chemical concepts of dissolution was developed, involving polarity, concentration, and chemical structure. The purposes of this study are threefold. The first is to cognitively embrace students in the content in terms of factual and applied knowledge. The second is placed on the reasoning sophistication, which plays a crucial role in problem solving, decision making, and data interpretation, by classifying it into three levels: Intuition, hybrid, and analytics. The third is to explore cognitive authority reflecting forms of knowledge which students lean towards when making decision: Direct experiences (first-hand knowledge) and learning from other people (second-hand knowledge). This research study was conducted in a quantitative manner based on a pretest-posttest design with 79 upper secondary students. The results showed that there was a statistically significant increase in students' conceptual understanding in both factual and applied knowledge, after participating in the developed learning unit. In addition, over 20% of the students exhibited more sophisticated reasoning skills (i.e. hybrid or analytic level of reasoning). Furthermore, forms of cognitive authority underpinning the reasoning skills shifted from secondhand knowledge towards first-hand knowledge after participating in the learning unit, which is considered as a more scientifically appropriate form of knowledge.

Using unplugged coding activities to promote computational thinking (CT) among secondary learners has become increasing popular. Benefits of using unplugged coding activities involve the cost-effective implementation, the ability to promote computer science concepts and self-efficacy in learning computer programming, and the engaging nature of active learning through collaboration. However, there is insufficient information regarding qualitative investigation on how learners develop their CT skills while working on unplugged coding tasks. This study therefore developed unplugged coding activities using flowcharts for high school students to learn computer science concepts, and to promote their CT skills. The activities consisted of five missions encompassing the concepts of sequence, repetition, input & variable, condition, and loop with condition. The data collection was carried out with 120 high students whose participation was video recorded and observed. A thematic analysis revealed that patterns of CT development started from initially developed, to partially developed and fully developed stages, respectively. The various stages were derived from different abilities to apply the computer science concepts to complete the missions with different expressions of CT skills. In addition, the study proposed a 3S self-directed learning approach for fostering the CT development, composing of self-check (in pairs), self-debug (in pairs), and scaffolding. It is therefore suggested to use the 3S model integrated with the unplugged coding activities for developing CT among high school learners.