Fostering the grade 10 underprivileged students’ inquiring mind through science reflective journal writing and active learning

This research aims to foster the grade 10 underprivileged students’ inquiring mind through science reflective journal writing and active learning. Approximately sixty 15-year-old students in two science classrooms participated in the study. While the students learned the chemistry module called “Biomolecules,” each student was asked to write a science reflective journal after finishing the hands-on activities (i.e., determination of fat unsaturation experiment, and debate over low carb diet as a weight-loss strategy) toward the end of each class period. The module consisted of four to six 50-minute class periods in the span of five weeks. The students reflected on their own learning with the teacher and their classmates. More specifically, they reflected on their scientific process learned, the content they had learned, and the new conclusions obtained from each particular learning activities. Students also reflected on their feelings and problems they had regarding the scientific concepts. From the classroom observation, the teacher’s and students’ reflective journals, we found that students paid more attention in class after the journal writing had been introduced, asked more questions, and overall had a more pleasant classroom experiences. Thus, we encourage the science reflective journal writing and active learning to be used in science classrooms, especially with the underprivileged students in many parts of Thailand.