Competencies of science centre facilitators

Wan Nor Fadzilah  Wan Husın; Muhammad  Faıruz; Muhammad  Syukrı; Lilia  Halım

doi:10.36681/

Authors

Wan Nor Fadzilah Wan Husın Faculty of Education, National University of MALAYSIA
Muhammad Faıruz Faculty of Education, National University of MALAYSIA
Muhammad Syukrı Faculty of Education, Syiah Kuala University, Banda Aceh-INDONESIA
Lilia Halım Faculty of Education, National University of MALAYSIA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36681/

Keywords:

Science Facilitators, Competencies, Non-Formal Science Learning, Science Centre, Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Personal Development, Learning Assistance

Abstract

In the era of globalization, the structures of non-formal science education, such as science centre, plays an important role in nurturing interest in science. At the same time, the interactive exhibitions reinforce understanding of science concepts. This is where the science facilitators play a significant role. Thus, the aim of this study was to identify the level of science facilitators’ competencies in science centre based on the perceptions of science teachers. This study involved 202 science teachers who completed a survey designed to elicit their perceptions on the level of science facilitators’ competencies. The sample was chosen through random sampling. The questionnaire was based on three main domains: pedagogical
content knowledge, personal development and learning assistance. Results from the descriptive analysis showed that the level of competencies among the science facilitators was at a moderate level for all domains i.e pedagogical content knowledge (mean = 2.61), personal development (mean = 2.78) and learning assistance (mean = 2.78). The findings from multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) showed that there was no difference in the perceptions between the teachers who had visited and who had never visited the Science Centre towards the level of competencies of the science facilitators. This suggests that science centres need to improove the competencies of the science facilitators based on the three domain.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Ahmad, J. (2002). Pemupukan budaya penyelidikan dalam kalangan guru sekolah: Satu penilaian. Tesis Dr. Fal. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

Abdullah, W. N. W. (2003). Panduan menjadi fasilitator. PTS Professional.

Arip, M. A. S. M., & Samad, N. A. (2008). Fasilitator Efektif dan Dinamik. PTS Professional.

Aziz, N.F & Said, I. (2011). The Trends and Influential Factors of Children’s Use of Outdoor Environments: A Review. Asian Journal of environment-Behaviour studies 2(5): 67-79

Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. Eaglewood Cliff, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

Bernhardsson, N. &Lattke, S. (2011). Core Competencies of Adult Learning Facilitators in Europe. German Institute for Adult Education

Chin, K. (2010). Exploring Facilitators’ Beliefs about Human Rights Education: Evidence of Universal and Local Influences. Human Rights Education Associates, Inc

Chua, Y.P. (2006). Kaedah dan statistik penyelidikan. Selangor: McGraw Hill Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.

Corboş, R. A., & Popescu, R. I. (2014). Sources for increasing the competitiveness of museums through studies on the perception of visitors towards cultural events. Revista" Administratie si Management Public"(RAMP), (22), 48-64.

Cox‐Petersen, A. M., Marsh, D. D., Kisiel, J., & Melber, L. M. (2003). Investigation of guided school tours, student learning, and science reform recommendations at a museum of natural history. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 40(2), 200-218.

Dillon, J., Rickinson, M., Teamey, K., Morris, M., Choi, M. Y., Sanders, D., & Benefield, P. (2006). The value of outdoor learning: evidence from research in the UK and elsewhere. School science review, 87(320), 107.

Ebersöhn, L., Ferreira-Prévost, J., Maree, J. G., & Alexander, D. (2007). Exploring facilitation skills in transdisciplinary teamwork. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 13(4), 257-284.

Erdem, E., & Demirel, Ö. (2007). Teacher self-efficacy belief. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal, 35(5), 573-586.

Eshach, H. (2007). Bridging in-school and out-of-school learning: Formal, non-formal, and informal education. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 16(2), 171-190.

Falk, J. H., & Dierking, L. D. (2010). The 95 Percent Solution School is not where most Americans learn most of their science. American Scientist, 98(6), 486-493.

Fairuz. M. (2014). Tahap Kompetensi Fasilitator Sains Dalam Kalangan Guru-Guru Sains. Kertas Projek Ijazah Sarjana Pendidikan, Fakulti Pendidikan, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

FriedHoffer, B. (2007) Why an Informal Science Intervention. Maxwell Auditorium, Singapore 29 Nov-3 Dec 2007.

Grenier, R. S. (2005). How Museum Docents Develop Expertise. Ph.D Tesis, The Graduate Faculty, The University of Georgia.

Guzey, S. S., & Roehrig, G. H. (2009). Teaching Science with Technology: Case Studies of Science Teachers' Development of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK). Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 9(1), 25-45.

Halim, L., & Meerah, S. M. M. (2002). Science trainee teachers' pedagogical content knowledge and its influence on physics teaching. Research in Science & Technological Education, 20(2), 215-225

Hamdan A. K, Madon M, Jaafar S.H,. (2007). Panduan Menjadi Fasilitator Efektif. Bentong, Pahang: PTS

Hassan, N., & Ismail, Z. (2008). Pengetahuan pedagogi kandungan guru pelatih Matematik sekolah menengah.

Hogan, C. (2005). Understanding facilitation: Theory & principles. Kogan Page Publishers.

Hunter, D., & Thorpe, S. (2005). Facilitator values and ethics. The IAF handbook of group facilitation,545-561.http://elena.ait.ac.nz/homepages/phd-students/stetho09/docs/ IAF_book chapter.pdf [9 June 2-14].

Ibrahim, M.S. (2007). Standard Kompetensi Guru Malaysia. Dlm. Norzaini Azman dan Mohammed Sani Ibrahim (pnyt). Profesion Perguruan, hlm 311-364. Siri Penerbitan Jabatan Asas Pendidikan, Fakulti pendidikan, UKM

IEA .2008.TIMSS (2007) International Science Report. Chestnut Hill: IEA.

IEA. 2012. TIMSS (2011) International Science Report. Chestnut Hill: IEA.

Iksan, Z., Halim, L., & Osman, K. (2006). Sikap Terhadap Sains dalam Kalangan Pelajar Sains di Peringkat Menengah dan Matrikulasi. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 14(2), 131-147.

Jelas, Z.M., Norzaini Azman, N., Ali, M.M., Nordin, N.M. & Tamuri, A.H. (2006).

(Developing Core competencies at Graduates: A study of effective Higher Education

Practices in Malaysia Universities; Summary Report). Kuala Lumpur: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Faculty of Education.

Kadir, H. A., Mawel, M., & Jaafar, S. H. (2006). Panduan menjadi fasilitator efektif. PTS Professional.

Kahn, T. M. & Rockman, S. (2002). Leveraging San Francisco Bay Area Science-Technology Museums and Other Informal Science Education Programs as a Key Educational Resource for Student Learning and Teacher Professional Development. The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Menlo Park, CA

Kidd, A. H., & Kidd, R. M. (1997). Characteristics and motivations of docents in wildlife education. Psychological reports, 81(2), 383-386.

Kolb, J. A., Jin, S. & Song, J. H. (2008). A Model of Small Group Facilitator Competencies. Performance Improvement Quarterly 21(2): 119-133

Mirrahimi, S., Tawil, N. M., Abdullah, N. A. G., Surat, M., & Usman, I. M. S. (2011). Developing Conducive Sustainable Outdoor Learning: The Impact of Natural environment on Learning, Social and Emotional Intelligence. Procedia

Engineering, 20, 389-396.

Ministry Of Education (2012a). Laporan Strategi Mencapai Dasar 60:40 Aliran Sains/Teknikal: Sastera. Putrajaya: MOE.

Ministry Of Education (2012b). TIMSS-2007 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study - 2007. Putrajaya: MOE.

Ministry Of Education (2012c). Pelan Pembangunan Pendidikan Malaysia. Putrajaya: MOE

Ministry Of Education. (2011). Kurikulum Sains Malaysia. Putrajaya: Bahagian Pembangunan Kurikulum.

Osman, K., Iksan, Z. H., & Halim, L. (2007). Sikap terhadap sains dan sikap saintifik di kalangan pelajar sains. Jurnal Pendidikan Malaysia 32:39-60.

Paulsen, D. (2004). Leadership essentials: facilitation skills for improving group effectiveness. In Proceedings of the 32nd annual ACM SIGUCCS conference on User services (pp. 153-160). ACM.

Roberts, T. G., & Dyer, J. E. (2004). Characteristics of effective agriculture teachers. Journal of Agricultural Education, 45(4), 82-95.

Roberts, T. G., Dooley, K. E., Harlin, J. F. &Murphrey, T. P. (2006). Competencies and Traits of Successful Agricultural Science Teachers. Journal of Career and Technical Education 22(2): 1-11.

Siraj, S. & Ibrahim, M.S. (2012). Standard Kompetensi Guru Malaysia. In Prosiding Seminar Majlis Dekan Pendidikan IPTA.

Schwarz, R. (2002). The skilled facilitator: A comprehensive resource for consultants, facilitators, managers, trainers, and coaches. John Wiley & Sons.

Schwarz, R. (2005). The skilled facilitator approach. The skilled facilitator fieldbook: Tips, tools, and tested methods for consultants, facilitators, managers, trainers, and coaches, 3-13.

Shulman, L. S. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard educational review, 57(1), 1-23.

Spencer, L. M., & Spencer, P. S. M. (2008). Competence at Work models for superior performance. John Wiley & Sons.

Stamer, D. H. (2008). An Artist in Budapest: Building a Docent Program and Connecting Museums, Galleries, Artists, and Viewers. Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art.

Stewart, J. A. (2006). High-performing (and threshold) competencies for group facilitators. Journal of Change Management 6(4): 417-439.

Szczepanski, A. (2008). Knowledge through action: Teachers’ perceptions of the landscape as a learning environment.

Thomas, G. (2005). Dimensions of facilitator education. In Sandy Schuman (Ed), the IEF Handbook of Group Facilitation. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

Thomas, G. (2010). Facilitator, Teacher, or Leader? Managing Conflicting Roles in Outdoor Education. The Journal of Experiential Education 32(3): 239-254.

Thorpe, S. J. (2013). Towards Online Facilitator Competencies in Collaborative Higher Learning Programmes. International Academic Collaborative Programmes. Anjuran Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh University of Science, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Tran, L. U. (2007). Teaching science in museums: The pedagogy and goals of museum educators. Science Education, 91(2), 278-297.

Tschannen-Moran, M., & Hoy, A. W. (2001). Teacher efficacy: Capturing an elusive construct. Teaching and teacher education, 17(7), 783-805