Flipping the Use of Science, Technology, and Society Issues as Triggering Students’ Motivation and Chemical Literacy

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to investigate the effect of the use of science, technology, and society (STS) issues through flipped and traditional learning environments on students’ motivation to learn chemistry as well as their chemical literacy (CL). Two freshman engineering classes totaling 89 students taught by the same instructor enrolled in a general chemistry course at a university were the sample of the study. The study had one intervention and one comparison group (CG); the groups were randomly assigned. The intervention group engaged in the STS issues through flipped learning environment while the CG engaged in the STS issues in a traditional setting. A motivation questionnaire was administered to the groups at the beginning and at the end of the treatment; in addition, CL items were administered at the end of semester. The treatment took one semester. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to compare groups on pre-test scores; then, multivariate analysis of covariance was used to reveal the effect of treatments on motivation, its factors, and CL. The results indicated that utilizing STS issues through the flipped learning environment was superior to traditional STS instruction on increasing students’ overall motivation score, intrinsic motivation, and relevance of chemistry. No significant difference was observed in CL scores. Further studies are suggested to investigate the impact of flipped STS interventions on higher-order thinking skills including socio-scientific reasoning. © 2020 International Council of Associations for Science Education (ICASE). All Rights Reserved.