Science competencies, 21st-century skills, and science locus of control: Bases for the development of technology enhanced Grade 7 Science curriculum materials

Abstract

This descriptive study determined the science competencies, 21st-century skills, and science locus of control of Grade 7 students as bases for the development of technology-enhanced materials for the Grade 7 science curriculum. One hundred (100) randomly selected Grade 7 students were utilized as sample of the study. The descriptive statistics employed were the frequency count, percentage, median, and mean through a questionnaire-checklist to determine the students' levels of competencies in science, science locus of control, and 21st-century skills. For inferential statistics, Pearson's r correlation for independent variables was used with the significance level set at .05 alpha for two-tailed test. The level of Grade 7 students' competencies in science was "Approaching Proficiency" ( 80.22%). The 21st -century skills of the Grade 7 students as a whole group was "Proficient" (M = 88.73%). The Grade 7 population signified more internality in their orientation towards science. A significant negative low correlation between the 21st-century skills and science locus of control of Grade 7 students with ( r=-258 ; p= 0.010) at .05 level of significance . On the other hand, the science competencies of Grade 7 students showed no significant relationships to their 21st-century skills and science locus of control ( r= -.034 ,p = .734). Likewise, the science competencies of the Grade 7 students was not associated or had no relationship with their 21st-century skills (r value =.085 , p= .402) at .05 level of significance. The technology-enhanced materials presented on a PowerPoint included the topics on Acids and Bases and Describing Motion were embedded with video clips and graphics.