Lilia Halim, Kamisah Osman & Wan Nor Fadzilah Wan Husin 178
Core Competencies of Malaysian Science Centre Facilitators 179
Table 3: Interquartile range analysis of the second round.
Dimensions
Score of interquartile range
Total items 0 – 1
(High consensus) 1.10 – 1.99 (Moderate consensus)
≥ 2(No consensus)
0.0 1.0
Personal qualities 9 13 0 0 22
Subject knowledge 3 8 0 0 11
Communication skills 7 7 0 0 14
Assistance of learning 5 11 0 0 16
Evaluation of learning 3 7 0 0 10
Total 27 46 0 0 73
Based on Table 3, all 73 items obtained high consensus from the experts, with 27 items with scores at 0.0 and 46 items with scores at 1.0. This means that all the experts agreed to a high degree of consensus and the next round of Delphi was not necessary.
The dimensions in the framework suggested are seen as equally important to the competencies of science facilitators for learning to occur. Figure 1 depicts the dimensions and examples of question items in each dimension.
Figure 1: Competency framework of facilitators for science centres (source: Halim et al.
2015).
Lilia Halim, Kamisah Osman & Wan Nor Fadzilah Wan Husin 180
The framework suggested comprises dimensions that are generic in nature, namely personal qualities and communication skills. Chi-Chin (1995) and Kamolpattana et al. (2015) also found that personal qualities are important for creating a positive atmosphere for attracting visitors to hear their explanations. This study also found that Delphi experts stressed the need to develop education-related competencies (evaluation and learning assistance) among the science facilitators. The dimension of “evaluation of learning” is important to ensure that learning occurs in a free learning environment such as in science centres and science museums.
In a free learning environment, it is essential that the science facilitators are able to assist and engage the students in such an environment, and this requires facilitators to be competent in providing learning assistance to the students. A note of caution: similar to studies by Kamolpattana (2008) and Chi-Chin (1995), the emphasis on the evaluation of learning suggests that cognitive elements are being emphasized. In the Asian context, acquiring knowledge is seen as the main component of learning. However, developing the affective components of learning science – such as building a positive attitude towards science and encouraging an interest in science learning, which could be developed in the non-formal context – is equally important.
Conclusion
Malaysia aims to be a developed country by the year 2020 and views economic progress as the key driver to achieve this status. Human capital development through education at all levels (pre-school to tertiary) and context (especially formal education) has always been given priority by the government as a means to achieving the country’s economic advancement. Recent global developments such as the impact of globalization – namely the need to keep updating knowledge and skills so as to be relevant to the ever-changing demands of the workforce – has led Malaysia to promote the lifelong learning agenda in a concerted effort.
Most noticeable has been the formulation of the national LLL policy in 2014. The LLL agenda focuses on continuous competency development for employability and, to a certain extent, learning for self-improvement. Examination of the LLL policy suggests that the issue of professionalization of adult educators is not be-ing dealt with extensively. Thus, for an effective realization of the policy, ongobe-ing conceptualization and research on the professionalization of adult educators is necessary, since it is still a contentious issue, as argued in the literature of adult education and continuing education.
The empirical study of this chapter is an effort to add to the existing knowledge of the competencies of adult educators, specifically science facilitators and in the
Core Competencies of Malaysian Science Centre Facilitators 181
non-formal context. In non-formal science education, the role of the science fa-cilitator is very important, as it can encourage and facilitate science-centre visitors to explore science and thus develop scientific literacy. Being scientifically literate is one of the ways to empower society to deal effectively with the economic and environmental impacts of globalization. The five dimensions of science facilita-tor competencies identified will help the facilitafacilita-tors to improve their skills and knowledge. Science facilitators should be encouraged to reflect on their com-petency achievement and evaluate the extent of their proficiency in conducting daily tasks, so that they can do their job effectively. This could be done as part of an in-service training or a professional development course.
Identifying the competencies is a beginning to the professionalization of adult educators. Competencies can also be acquired at the workplace. Thus, future stud-ies might measure the gap between acquired and expected competencstud-ies, so that planning for in-service training can be more effective. Identifying competencies at the micro-level related to the various tasks of science facilitators is also important.
This would enable facilitators to follow a more focused professional development programme.
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