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Integrated science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is expanded to integrated STrEAM, where the "r" denotes the amalgamation of reading and writing elements to bridge the gap between STEM disciplines. Since integrated STrEAM is a new approach, it is pivotal to gauge the teachers' self-efficacy in executing integrated STrEAM teaching. Therefore, this cross-sectional survey design reports on the effect of school location and years of teaching experience on the self-efficacy of primary science teachers towards integrated STrEAM teaching. For this purpose, the STrEAM Teaching Self-Efficacy Scale (STSES) was administered to 200 primary science teachers throughout the nation. The STSES consists of five subscales: STrEAM instructional strategies self-efficacy, STrEAM classroom management self-efficacy, STrEAM community involvement self-efficacy, STrEAM student engagement self-efficacy, and STrEAM outcome expectancy. Data obtained from the STSES survey was analysed using two-way Multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA) to identify the effects of school location and years of teaching experience towards self-efficacy perceived by the primary science teachers towards integrated STrEAM teaching. The findings show that school location and years of teaching experience significantly affect the self-efficacy perceived by the primary science teachers towards integrated STrEAM teaching. School location and years of teaching experience also have a significant interaction effect (Wilks' lambda = 0.860, F (15, 519) = 1.950, p < 0.005) on primary science teachers towards integrated STrEAM teaching. The finding of this study is resourceful for the STEM stakeholders and policy makers to design the STrEAM teaching materials for training the teachers.

In the advent of the rapid technological advancement of The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), computational thinking is recognised as an essential skill in the 21st century across all disciplines, especially in STEM, as it trains students to have the cognitive flexibility to deal with complex problem-solving. Computational thinking (CT) is naturally embedded in STEM practices in the reflection of creativity, algorithmic thinking, critical thinking, problem solving and cooperation skills. This study aimed to measure the level of computational thinking in science matriculation students and examine the effect of gender and academic achievement in STEM on CT. The convenient sampling strategy was used to identify one matriculation college in the northern region of Malaysia to participate in the study. (CTS) instrument was employed on 153 science students. Descriptive analysis was used to evaluate the level of CT. One-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was performed to analyse the main effect of academic achievement in STEM on CT, followed by univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) to determine the effect on each of the dimensions of CT. The result indicates that students have a medium high level of CT with an overall mean of 3.51. In addition, the findings showed that there was a statistically significant effect of academic achievement in STEM on CT. The mean score for academic achievement revealed that good students scored the highest, followed by average students and weak students in all dimensions of CT except for cooperation. This study will provide insight into the impact of STEM learning outcomes on the development of CT to inform instructional design.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most educational institutions switched to online learning as a standard education delivery model. The use of social media has since become an essential and integral component of students' lives, both as a tool to facilitate learning as well as for social connections. The current study examines the use of social media and its association with depression among newly enrolled first-year university students during the national lockdown. Three hundred and eighty-six (N = 386) participants aged between 19–21 years from one faculty of a public university were recruited online for the study. Self-reports on daily time spent and emotional investment (frequency of visits) on social media were obtained. Depression was assessed using the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Depression Scale. Results from binary logistic regression showed that high levels of investment in a variety of social media activities were associated with symptoms of depression. Compared to the users at the lowest level, students in the higher usage groups had significantly increased odds of depression (AOR = 2.94, 95% CI = 1.22–7.08; AOR = 2.49, 95% CI = 1.04–5.94, respectively), even after controlling for all covariates. Total time spent, however, was not found to associate with depression. Additionally, indigenous students from East Malaysia who mostly reside in rural areas recorded a significantly higher odds of experiencing depression during the pandemic (AOR = 3.32, 95% CI = 1.23–8.90, p = .02) compared to the Malays. Given the pervasive use of social media during the COVID-19 lockdown, the findings of the study suggest that educators at higher education institutions can leverage on the ubiquitous use of social media among students to disseminate targeted educational messages regarding mental health.

The implementation of 21st century education is a key factor for successful education reform. Due to a lack of empirical research, practices to develop students' 21st century skills at the primary school level are still unclear. The purpose of this study was to identify teachers' contemporary practices and the influences of environmental factors as well as teachers' attitudes on these practices. A quantitative research design was used to achieve the objectives of the study. A total of 400 primary school teachers from the state of Penang, Malaysia was sampled. Three instruments were used to collect the required data; the Teachers' Practices in Teaching 21st Century Skills Questionnaire (37 items), Environmental Factors in Teaching 21st Century Skills Questionnaire (12 items) and the Teacher' Attitudes in Teaching 21st Century Skills Questionnaire (35 items). The data were analysed with descriptive analysis and structural equation modelling (SEM). The results showed that primary school teachers adopted five contemporary practices in teaching 21st century skills. The inquiry-based instructional approach was the most preferred practice, followed by the communicative language teaching approach, constructivist learning approach and problem-centred instructional approach. The technology-based instructional approach, however, was the least preferred practice. Results of the Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) approach showed that supporting environmental factors had positive influence on both teachers' practices and attitudes. Additional results indicated positive mediation role of teachers' attitudes on their practices of teaching 21st century skills. Implications for the research findings were discussed in this study. As supported by the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) Theory, this study found that environmental factors could drive teachers' adoption of contemporary practices. In addition, teachers' attitudes have positive effect on their applications of these instructional practices as emphasised by the Theory of Planned Behaviour. Educational implications and suggestions for future research are also discussed in this paper.

While the quality of school life is expected to be cultural and context-specific, fewer studies have been conducted to investigate the conceptualisation of quality of school life in a multi-ethnic and multicultural context. This study aims to compare Malay and Chinese primary school students' perceptions on the quality of school life in Malaysia. This study employed a quantitative cross-sectional survey research design. Survey data were collected from 594 Grade 5 students. Findings revealed that both Malay and Chinese students ranked the highest score on the opportunity dimension and the lowest scores on the negative affect dimension. The Malay students scored higher means in all dimensions of quality of schools than the Chinese students, except the findings revealed cultural differences in the perceptions of quality of school life.

STEM fields are viewed as being important for global economic development, as well as for the well-being of society. Many factors, including knowledge of future pay and other occupational insights, influence university major selection. This paper reports the findings from an empirical study of diploma, undergraduate, and postgraduate on the relationship between gender equality and university support with students' views on STEM careers, as well as their persistence and attrition in STEM majors. The findings from PLS-SEM analysis shows that gender equality did positively affect students' views on STEM careers and students' persistence in STEM majors. It was also found that gender equality did not affect students' attrition. In contrast, the university support did not positively affect students' views on STEM careers and students' attrition in STEM majors. However, university support was found to positively affect students' persistence in STEM majors. The implications of the findings are that the university can channel its support systems in nurturing the students' skills and knowledge by providing physical and psychosocial support for the students to persist in STEM majors. Hence, encouraging more students to opt for STEM majors is necessary to enhance the global economy so that it can contribute to the well-being not just of the STEM graduates, but the society and nation as well.