Abstract
Advancement of science and technology in many areas has made progress on human lives more developed than the ancient time. A strong science education would be able to equip our younger generation with the skills needed to ensure them for securing a better job in future. Thus, this study is to compare the science teachers’ instructional practices in Malaysian and German secondary schools. A total of sixteen science teachers were involved where eight of them were from the German secondary schools and another eight of them were from Malaysian secondary schools. This study was done by conducting classroom observations and semi-structure interviews. The data collected were then analyzed qualitatively based on Dancy and Hendersons’ framework of instructional practices. In conclusion, Malaysian and German science teachers have similar source of knowledge, definition of students’ success, learning modes, type of motivation and problem-solving skills where they show differences in the interactivity of the classroom, instructional decisions, assessment, content and instructional design. There are also ten good instructional practices found in this study which can be adapted in both nations to improve their science education.
Highlights
It is undeniable that our world is getting advanced gradually
It is found that the similarities of instructional practices between Malaysian and German secondary schools could be seen in terms of several categories namely knowledge source, definition of students’ success, learning modes, motivation and problem-solving skills
The findings found that the differences in instructional practices between Malaysian and German secondary schools are obvious in terms of its interactivity, instructional decisions, assessment, content and instructional design
Summary
It is undeniable that our world is getting advanced gradually. Looking at the current rate of technological and scientific advancement that our world is heading to, there is an obvious need for us to look into the preparation of our younger generation for the future with a steady knowledge and understanding of the science. OECD found that German students have higher ability to solve a range of pure and applied problems than Malaysian students (OECD, 2012b). German students’ exceptional execution in science literacy could be clarified by their lesser feelings of stress when dealing with science whereas the larger amounts of uneasiness and worries in learning among the Malaysian students could be the reason that Malaysian students failed to meet the expectations results (OECD, 2012b)
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