THE EFFECT OF SOCIOSCIENTIFIC ISSUES WITH THINKING WHEEL MAPS ON ENTREPRENEURIAL SCIENCE THINKING AMONG YEAR FIVE STUDENTS

Abstract

This study was conducted to examine the impact of the socioscientific issue approach with the help of a thinking wheel map (SI-TM) on entrepreneurial science thinking and the constructs of Observation, New Ideas, Innovation, Creativity, and Value. A teaching and learning module was developed as a guide for teachers in implementing the SI-TM method in improving entrepreneurial science thinking among Year Five students. A quasi-experimental quantitative study was conducted on 345 Year Five students in an urban primary school in Tawau, Sabah. A total of three groups were divided randomly, namely i) Socioscientific Issues Approach with the help of Thinking Wheel Map (SI-TM, n=115), ii) Socioscientific Issues Approach (SI, n=115) and iii) Conventional Method (CONV, n=115). The Entrepreneurial Science Thinking Test Instrument (EST) was developed to measure the level of entrepreneurial science thinking. Data analysis was performed using MANCOVA, ANCOVA, and Effect Size. The results of the MANCOVA analysis show that there is a significant effect across the three groups of teaching and learning methods for entrepreneurial science thinking. Meanwhile, the results of the ANCOVA analysis have shown that there is a significant effect of the SI-TM method compared to the SI and CONV methods on entrepreneurial science thinking, the construct of Observation, New Ideas, Innovation, Creativity, and Value. The SI-TM method showed a higher mean posttest score compared to the SI method, then the mean SI posttest score was significantly higher than the CONV method in all constructs studied except the Observation construct. The findings of this study prove that the SI-TM module has a positive impact on the cultivation of entrepreneurial science thinking among Year Five students.