Frequencies of constructs and sub-constructs among students' responses (N = 72) to how participants interacted with their group during the stem challenge from year one and year two with a sign test comparison
| 21st-century skills constructs abbreviated a priori sub-constructs | Year one (N = 65) | Year two (N = 694) | Sign test |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collaboration | 23 (35%) | 157 (22%) | + |
| Shared responsibility | 4 (17%) | 51 (32%) | + |
| Work in a team | 10 (43%) | 68 (43%) | + |
| Compromise for a common goal | 5 (22%) | 38 (24%) | + |
| aDifficulty in collaboration | 4 (17%) | 0 (0%) | − |
| Communication | 10 (15%) | 115 (17%) | + |
| Articulation of thoughts and ideas | 3 (30%) | 22 (19%) | − |
| Effective listening | 1 (10%) | 10 (9%) | − |
| Communication in diverse environments | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | NA |
| Use of a range of communication | 1 (10%) | 13 (11%) | + |
| Use of media and technologies | 0 (0%) | 5 (4%) | + |
| aDifficulty in communication | 2 (20%) | 0 (0%) | − |
| bBuilding or reaching consensus | 3 (30%) | 65 (57%) | + |
| Critical thinking | 10 (15%) | 215 (31%) | + |
| Solve problems: conventional and innovative ways | 2 (20%) | 17 (8%) | − |
| Solve problems: identify and ask significant questions | 1 (10%) | 23 (11%) | + |
| Reason effectively: use various types of reasoning | 0 (0%) | 22 (10%) | + |
| Use systems thinking | 0 (0%) | 26 (12%) | + |
| Make judgement and decisions: claims and evidence | 0 (0%) | 12 (5%) | + |
| Make judgement and decisions: alternative P.O.V. | 3 (30%) | 22 (10%) | − |
| Make judgement and decisions: synthesize arguments | 0 (0%) | 13 (6%) | + |
| Make judgement and decisions: draw conclusions | 2 (20%) | 38 (18%) | − |
| Make judgement and decisions: reflect critically | 1 (10%) | 14 (6%) | − |
| aDifficulty in critical thinking | 0 (0%) | 13 (6%) | + |
| bCritical thinking specific to STEM | 1 (10%) | 15 (7%) | − |
| Creativity | 22 (34%) | 207 (30%) | − |
| Thinking creatively: brainstorming and ideation | 1 (5%) | 71 (34%) | + |
| Thinking creatively: new and worthwhile ideas | 1 (5%) | 2 (1%) | − |
| Thinking creatively: elaborate refine and evaluate ideas | 2 (9%) | 51 (25%) | + |
| Working creatively: being open and incorporating ideas | 6 (27%) | 28 (14%) | − |
| Working creatively: communicate new ideas to others | 8 (36%) | 7 (3%) | − |
| Working creatively: understand real world limits | 0 (0%) | 25 (12%) | + |
| Working creatively: productive failure and mistakes | 3 (14%) | 11 (5%) | − |
| Implement innovation: useful innovation or contribution | 1 (5%) | 0 (0%) | − |
| aDifficulty in creativity | 0 (0%) | 12 (6%) | + |
| 21st-century skills constructs abbreviated | Year one ( | Year two ( | Sign test |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collaboration | + | ||
| Shared responsibility | 4 (17%) | 51 (32%) | + |
| Work in a team | 10 (43%) | 68 (43%) | + |
| Compromise for a common goal | 5 (22%) | 38 (24%) | + |
| aDifficulty in collaboration | 4 (17%) | 0 (0%) | − |
| Communication | + | ||
| Articulation of thoughts and ideas | 3 (30%) | 22 (19%) | − |
| Effective listening | 1 (10%) | 10 (9%) | − |
| Communication in diverse environments | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | NA |
| Use of a range of communication | 1 (10%) | 13 (11%) | + |
| Use of media and technologies | 0 (0%) | 5 (4%) | + |
| aDifficulty in communication | 2 (20%) | 0 (0%) | − |
| bBuilding or reaching consensus | 3 (30%) | 65 (57%) | + |
| Critical thinking | + | ||
| Solve problems: conventional and innovative ways | 2 (20%) | 17 (8%) | − |
| Solve problems: identify and ask significant questions | 1 (10%) | 23 (11%) | + |
| Reason effectively: use various types of reasoning | 0 (0%) | 22 (10%) | + |
| Use systems thinking | 0 (0%) | 26 (12%) | + |
| Make judgement and decisions: claims and evidence | 0 (0%) | 12 (5%) | + |
| Make judgement and decisions: alternative P.O.V. | 3 (30%) | 22 (10%) | − |
| Make judgement and decisions: synthesize arguments | 0 (0%) | 13 (6%) | + |
| Make judgement and decisions: draw conclusions | 2 (20%) | 38 (18%) | − |
| Make judgement and decisions: reflect critically | 1 (10%) | 14 (6%) | − |
| aDifficulty in critical thinking | 0 (0%) | 13 (6%) | + |
| bCritical thinking specific to STEM | 1 (10%) | 15 (7%) | − |
| Creativity | − | ||
| Thinking creatively: brainstorming and ideation | 1 (5%) | 71 (34%) | + |
| Thinking creatively: new and worthwhile ideas | 1 (5%) | 2 (1%) | − |
| Thinking creatively: elaborate refine and evaluate ideas | 2 (9%) | 51 (25%) | + |
| Working creatively: being open and incorporating ideas | 6 (27%) | 28 (14%) | − |
| Working creatively: communicate new ideas to others | 8 (36%) | 7 (3%) | − |
| Working creatively: understand real world limits | 0 (0%) | 25 (12%) | + |
| Working creatively: productive failure and mistakes | 3 (14%) | 11 (5%) | − |
| Implement innovation: useful innovation or contribution | 1 (5%) | 0 (0%) | − |
| aDifficulty in creativity | 0 (0%) | 12 (6%) | + |
Note(s): aTo reflect issues reported in the 4Cs, negative codes were established, coded and counted
bCodes are emergent, not reflective of the NEA's framework (2012) of the 4Cs