ABSTRACT
Current trends of research emphasize the application of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) knowledge in everyday life, but focus more on the secondary and tertiary levels in Malaysia. Thus, the idea of STEM education for enhancing the learning process has the potential to be applied at the primary level. Through simple but insightful design, STEM practical activities can be conducted via the innovative use of smartphones as an experimental tool for daily investigation, due to their accessibility and ease of use anywhere and anytime. The purpose of the study was to develop and evaluate the usability of STEM practical activities using free mobile apps for primary school students. Two STEM practical activities were successfully developed for sound and light topics. This usability study examined student perceptions via interview. The questions were adapted from the technology acceptance model (TAM) and past research studies. A Year 4 class (aged 9–10) of primary school students from a mainstream school in the state of Perak, Malaysia, was chosen using the cluster sampling method to form the research sample. Two primary science teachers and five students were selected for the interview sessions. Then, the teacher and student feedback and comments were analysed using Qualitative Data Analysis (QDA) software. The findings showed that the primary teachers and students gave positive feedback on the STEM practical activities, but they need more guidelines for future implementation as they are not familiar with STEM activities. In terms of its implications, this study indicates that the implementation of STEM practical activities using free mobile apps promotes the interactive learning process at the primary level.
