Pedagogical Practices for Enhancing Critical Thinking Among Middle Year Science Students

This research paper explores the perspectives of teachers regarding pedagogies for enhancing critical thinking among middle year science students. The literature review covers articles on the subject and analyses the impacts of thinking on the pedagogy of the students. The research question is 'What are teacher’s perspectives regarding pedagogies for enhancing critical thinking among middle year science students?' The research methodology includes a deductive approach, descriptive research design, interpretivism research philosophy, purposive sampling, and thematic analysis.

Education Research Design and Methods
Student Name
University Name

Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
The Literature Review................................................................................................................3
Research Question......................................................................................................................7
Research Aims...........................................................................................................................7
Research Methodology...............................................................................................................7
Research Approach....................................................................................................................7
Research design..........................................................................................................................8
Research philosophy..................................................................................................................8
Sample technique and Data analysis..........................................................................................8
Summary....................................................................................................................................8
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................9

Introduction
Club together Science, Technology, Engineering and Math in an interdisciplinary
fashion, add some innovative methods of teaching beyond the books and what we have in our
hands will be a class learning with the help of STEM. At the turn of the previous century, the
four components of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) served as the
foundation of the development of Industrial revolution (Ross, 2016). During the previous
century STEM subjects were productive subjects for the students that were seeking for skills
to earn their livelihood, it indeed was an important stream of education. Under the schemes of
STEM they were incorporating scientific theories along with the real world applications; they
were also introducing Pedagogical practices so that students can grasp this knowledge easily.
(Stone, 2017).
STEM subjects are in a process of transformation where technology and the demands
of the industries of the future have a great role to play. Information levels of the students are
very high; they have a filtered and convenient access to the data. STEM subjects are
important at the middle levels of the education because they play a crucial role in the “critical
thinking faculty of an individual.” In the current assignment we are reviewing some sources
of literature that deals with the Pedagogical Practices for middle year science teachers to
engage their students in critical thinking in this changing environment.
The Literature Review
In the literature review conducted on the teachers perspectives regarding pedagogies
for enhancing critical thinking among middle year science students, it can be inferred that
there is a vast impact on the overall thinking of the students as well as of the teaching in the
minds of the student which also again help to analyse the subjects as well as the form of

space that they require. The following literature review concerns the articles based on the
subject and also help to critically analyse the impacts of the thinking on the pedeology of the
ends of the students.
Sadler, P.M., Sonnert, G., Coyle, H.P., Cook-Smith, N. and Miller, J.L., 2013. The
influence of teachers’ knowledge on student learning in middle school physical science
classrooms. American Educational Research Journal, 50(5), pp.1020-1049.
From the given article, it can be inferred that the knowledge of a teacher plays an
effective role on student learning in middle school. It is the skill of a teacher that helps a
student to enhance critical thinking among the middle year science students as the teacher
forms the base for the development of the skills and mind of the student right from the early
childhood days. The overall majority of the science students are to have a better
understanding of the subject and the teaching staffs of the paedology means help to
understand the ways a lot better.
It can be inferred that that science was present to offer magical solutions to the day to
day problems in the past. Now, this magical spell has become a state of the factory affair. In
the future, the main role of the science will be to predict probable solutions. He connected the
scientific practices with social issues and quite frequently quoted some international scientists
of the world.
In this paper, he gave us the breakdown of the nine elements of the scientific temper.
This piece of the literature is important for our study because it presents a sociological
account of some traditional theories that gave rise to a liberal thought process. He connected
an important thread of learning methods of the past to the present methods.
This research paper is certainly helpful for us because it connects humanitarians with
the scientific temper and allows us to explore certain Pedagogical practices that were present

in the society in the past. The identification of these existing practices and a framework to
revamp them for the future students can always give us a new line of thought for the research
that we are undertaking.
2. Earp.J, STEM learning – international best practice, Australian Council for
Educational Research, Viewed on 14th August,
https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/articles/stem-learning-international-best-practice.
Australian middle-level students are losing interest in STEM-related studies and it can
cause a deficiency of STEM-based skill workers in the coming future says, Jo Earp (2017).
Experts at the Australian Council for Educational Research support this vision because it is
an outcome of some systematic studies that they did over the decades.
This article also gives us an access to the international viewpoints connected to the
Pedagogical Practices that are prevailing in various other countries. This article gives us an
insight into the international perspective that is surrounding the issue. This article also gives
us some takeaway points in the form of Key Findings of various surveys that have been done
in this direction.
Development of a standardized STEM ecosystem is emerging as an international
concern. Australia is not alone many other countries of the world are also facing the same
problem. In the first few paragraphs, this article establishes migration from the STEM as a
future national crisis (Yap, 2017). It also signifies the importance of user-friendly language to
describe STEM-related concepts. A summary of 18 in-depth case studies and experimental
solutions in the direction of Pedagogical practices makes it an accomplish document to
become the framework for an elaborated study on the issue.

This article is very important for our research; it gives us the leads to various other
keywords that can be incorporated into our primary research plan. This article will also help
us in fixing the variables of the research because it caters to a big sample and presents a
holistic point of view of the problem.
3. Kyere. J, (2017), Effectiveness of Hands-on Pedagogy in STEM Education, Walden
Dissertations and Doctoral Studies Collection, Viewed on 14th August,
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=4035&context=dissertations
A doctoral study submitted by John Kyere (2017) presents an exhaustive account of
the current pedagogy practices in the STEM. This report checks the performance of the
students in the stream on a yearly basis and presents an account that shows the decline in the
interests’ levels of the students.
In this report, the author has dedicated an entire chapter related to teacher preparation
and their critical role in the implementation of various STEM-related pedagogy practices.
Most of the other researchers in the field have talked about the role of the gadgets and
other devices. Johy Kyere (2017) also discussed the same from a different point of view. He
introduced the concept of the social change due to the smart electronic devices. This piece of
literature also presents an account of the stakeholders in the process. For instance, students
are stakeholders, parents are stakeholder and teachers are stakeholders.
This doctoral study is very rich in data because the author had left no stone unturned
in interviewing the people. The report represents both qualitative and quantitative data
samples to support its findings and recommendations. While developing a thesis on the topic,
the rich and consolidated databases present in this literature can help us a great deal to

substantiate the findings and information that we will collect from other sources. We can
compare and contrast them with the data present in this report and chalk a course of action for
our research essay.
4. Kwek, S.H. (2011). Innovation in the Classroom: Design Thinking for 21st Century
Learning. (Master’s thesis). Viewed 14th August,
http://www.stanford.edu/group/redlab/cgibin/publications_resources.php
The title “Innovation in the classroom” sets the nature of the content in the mind of
the reader. However when we explore the content then we find that it is much more than that
and deals with a bigger picture. Author Sweet Hong David Kwek in his essay based on the
qualitative research raised this question from a very poignant point of view. Machines are
gradually eating up the pie of the human labor from the economic activities. Unfortunately,
the underdeveloped countries and the developing countries are going to suffer the pangs of
this machine based evolutions (Means, 2018). STEM classrooms of these countries are not in
a position to meet this challenge that the future is holding for them.
The inclusion of the terms like a virtual world and emotional intelligence in the
STEM teaching methods is a strong recommendation. This report advocates for a 21st-century
classroom where inclusion of the passion to learn and critical thinking are a must. An
alternative progressive vision is the need of the hour. Where certain barriers like high stake
testing of the STEM proficiency should be removed to attract the students in this stream of
the education (Schyrlet Cameron, 2015).
This master's thesis also introduces us to the concept of Design thinking, design
thinking is a method of learning that allows a kid to build up a creative confidence in him.
Activity-guided problem-solving capacity of the students at the middle level is also a big area

of concern. The technologies are killing the essence of an activity and making it a beaten
track for the students. This master's thesis can help us a great deal on the path where we can
find the root causes behind the decreasing performance levels of the STEM students.
5. Sidelinger.R, Dialogic Pedagogy in the College Classroom: Overcoming Students’
Negative Perceptions of the Talkaholic Teacher, Currents in Teaching and learning.
Viewed on 14th August, Worcester-State-University-Currents-2018-V10-N1-Final.pdf,
May 2018, PP 21-22
The personality of the teacher plays a crucial role in the process of the student
engagement, says, Robert Sidelinger. If a teacher is talkative then it can emerge as a big
problem. Since our study has its focus on the techniques of the teaching. It is very important
for us to cover this tangent of the main problem. This particular essay introduces us to the
terminology of the pedagogy in an exhaustive manner. For instance, he introduced the
concept of the student satisfaction level during the process of learning. He emphasized that
learning should be an active process where the teacher should play the role of the active
campaigner.
Constant interaction between a student and teacher can increase the attention span.
This study says that during a dialogic pedagogy the process of talking should continue and
they should be designed in a fashion where students can express themselves more freely
(David Skidmore, 2016).
This study is important for our research because apart from the fruits the means are
also important. Our thesis of the study revolves around the role of the teachers at the middle
level, though the findings and recommendation of the study are universal in nature; however,
they are applicable on our target group as well.

Research Question
Research questions are defined as the questions that are to be included in the research
topic which will enable the wholesome analysis of the topic within the concerned span of
time. The research questions are those that help the researcher to have a detailed analysis on
the topics stated and to mention the course idea in the same. The topic here concerns is on
paedology and the impact of teaching on the same along with the perspectives of a teacher.
The research question is as follows:-
What are teacher’s perspectives regarding pedagogies for enhancing critical thinking
among middle year science students?
Research Methodology
Mackey and Gass (2015) states that the research methodology of the part of the
research proposal is the analysis of the way in which the conduction of the research of the
methods of the assessment has been done. There are a number of parts of the research
methodology that help to understand the process along with the aims and objectives of the
research work that is being done and also to have a detailed description of the overall analysis
of the methods and means employed in the process (Mackey and Gass (2015). The research
methodology along with the aims and objectives of the research analysis is being done in the
following paragraphs –
Research Aims
Research aims are defined as the objectives of the research that are to be included in the aims
by the assessor in order to get the proper reasons to do a following research analysis. Taylor,
Bogdan and DeVault (2015) states that the aims of the research are mainly adhered to the

topic in the specific genre. The aims of the paedology department is to assess the The aim of
the research is to identify the perspectives of the teachers regarding pedagogies for enhancing
critical thinking among middle year science students.
Research Approach
There are different types of research approach that can be evaluated by the researcher. These
are in the form of inductive approach and deductive approach. In this research process, the
researcher will select deductive approach in order to carry out the research in an effective
manner. This is mainly because the researcher will evaluate the different theories of
pedagogy from various theories of past authors and researchers (Meyers, Gamst and Guarino
2016). There are no scope of new theories to be inducted and this is the reason why,
deductive approach will be appropriate for the purpose of this research.
Research design
There are different types of research design that can be selected by the researcher. Lewis
(2015) states that hese are in the form of descriptive research design, correlation, semi-
experimental and experimental. For this particular research process, the researcher will select
descriptive design for this particular type of research (Panneerselvam 2014). In addition to
this, this type of research design will help the researcher to carry the process of research in a
wide and descriptive manner. In addition to this, it can be also inferred that descriptive
research design will help the researcher to analyse different aspects of pedagogy.
Research philosophy
The research philosophy is that very objective of the research method which help the
researcher to have a detailed analysis of the objectives and visions which are there in the

conduction of the research. There are mainly three types of research philosophy. These are
positivism, realism and interpretivism (Silverman 2016). In this case, the researcher will
select positivism research philosophy in order to carry out the research in an effective
manner. Positivism is defined as the form of research philosophy in which the collection of
the data adhering to the scientific means are being collected which along with the
measurement and the precise forms of the ways includes the status of the research method.
The overall analysis should be generalised and made according to the plans and prospects of
the positive methods of the experiment in the concerned span of time.
Sample technique and Data analysis
Sample is defined as a part of a wide range of population that is taken to define the whole
range of the existing set of population methods and also to have a detailed analysis of the
accounts measured. Maxwell (2012) states that the sampling technique that is to be used in
the case is the teachers who are engaged in the working with the middle school science
student and also contributed to the growth of the minds of the student. Data analysis is
defined as the way in which the data of a method is being analysed to make sure that the
wholesome data which is there in the analysis in the method. The sample size that is to be
analysed in the technique is to be made according to the requirements of the analysis. The
researcher will select qualitative data analysis technique to carry out this research (BNS and
HV 2013). The sample size will be 10 teachers who will be interviewed. Data will be
analysed with the help of interview analysis. The sample size will be selected based on
random probability sampling technique which is one of the most common forms of the
probability sampling method in which there is a chance for each and every teacher involved
in the method to be selected in the process and access their views when in terms of the
analysis.

Summary
The research methodology used for the assessment is qualitative in nature where the
teachers are to be summoned and they are to be interviewed to get the right methods for the
use in the paedology ways that are to be implemented in the child’s education. The research
method to be used in the case is qualitative and descriptive in nature which will enable the
researcher to have an ample amount of exercise on the topic using the method of
interpretivism. The sample technique taken for the research method is non probability sample
which means that every teacher in the scene has the right to be included in the analysis.
Conclusion
The exercise of the literature review gives us this prima facie impression that innovation in
the field of pedagogy is required. There are many aspects to the problem. Virtual world and
smart gadgets are definitely easing out the life of the middle-level students. Answers are
instantly available and the capacity to think critically is losing its importance. In the current
research where we are trying to find the Pedagogical strategy to engage middle-level
students, this current literature review gives us an idea that we don't need to drift down from
the regular processes. Instead, we should go for an optimization of the current gadgets and
internet in the favor of active Pedagogical methods. The communication between the teacher
and the student can play a crucial role in the exercise by giving it a human touch.
The crux of this literature review brings us to the conclusion that the introduction of a fresh
set of Pedagogical strategies is the need of the hour for the middle-level students.
Organizations like ACER has an elaborated policy document for the measurement and

implementation of healthy STEM standards in Australia. Their agenda is dependent on two
facts, first, they are focusing on global STEM standards and second, they are focusing on the
differences that the school sector can make.
With the help of the current research program, we are going to explore the effectiveness of
prevailing pedagogical strategies for middle-level students. Based on our findings and
opinions we wish to recommend a framework of reforms so that they can fill the gap if it is
present.
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