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The main aim of the presented research was to examine the interaction between student’s gender and achievements in learning concepts of electricity via STEAM integrated approach utilizing Scratch. This research was aimed to determine the gender disparity for lower-secondary school students in learning about the concepts of electricity. Quasi-experimental design involving male and female groups was used in this research. Students were required to utilize Scratch to design games and animated stories on electricity concepts. The Electricity Achievement Test (EAT) was administered for pre- and post-test. The findings proved that the STEAM integrated approach via Scratch could narrow the gap between male and female in learning concepts of electricity. The findings of ANCOVA indicated that the intervention had similar positive effects on male and female students' achievement in learning concepts of electricity. This research also provided a new method and an alternate connective framework for learning concepts of electricity via art and showed that both males and females were able to understand the topic of electricity, which reduced gender biases and disparity in the field of science. Keywords: electricity achievement level, Gender gap, Scratch, STEAM integrated approach.

Electrochemistry is difficult to learn due to its abstract concepts involving macroscopic, microscopic, and symbolic representation levels. Studies have shown that students can visualize and improve their understanding of chemistry by using interactive computer animation and simulation. This study reports the effect of interactive computer animation and simulation module named “Interactive Electrolysis of Aqueous Solution” (IEAS) developed to aid students in learning electrolysis. A pre and post-test control quasi-experimental design was carried out to investigate the effects of the IEAS on students’ achievement and motivation in electrochemistry topics. This study involved 62 16-years-old male students from two different secondary schools. Pre and post electrochemistry achievement tests (EAT) and pre and post- Instructional Material Motivation Surveys (IMMS) were used. For EAT, using one-way ANOVA, it shows that there was a significant difference in the post-test mean score in this study on the understanding of the electrolysis concept between students in the treatment and control groups [F (1, 60) = 5.15, p <0.05]. The qualitative results also provided evidence that the students in the treatment group had a better conceptual understanding than the control group, especially at the microscopic representation level. For the IMMS test, there was a significant difference between the treatment and control groups in terms of the mean score of the post motivation IMMS test where p <0.05 in chemistry learning [F (1,59) = 266.89, p <0.05].  Thus, it can be concluded that IEAS has an impact on enhancing the students’ understanding of the electrolysis concept, and the students are more motivated to learn electrochemistry.

High Calcium Wood Ash (HCWA) and Pulverised Fuel Ash (PFA) are by-products from the wood biomass and coal energy production which are produced in large quantity with combined annual production of 500 million tonnes. This poses a serious problem for disposal of the waste material especially at places where land is scarce. The prescribed study was aimed to examine the mineralogical phases and their respective amount present in the industrial wastes which governs the hydration mechanism towards self-sustained solidification of the ashes when used in combination. Besides, the influence of various forming pressure and hydrothermal treatment temperature on mechanical strength performance of HCWA-PFA cementless mortar blocks was also examined. In the study, the mechanical strength of the HCWA-PFA cementless mortar block produced using various forming pressure and hydrothermal treatment temperature was assessed in terms of compressive strength and dynamic modulus. The results of the study are indicative that HCWA is rich in calcium oxide and potassium oxide content. This enables the hybridization of HCWA with the amorphous silica and alumina rich PFA to form a solid geopolymer binder matrix for fabrication of cementless mortar block. Throughout the study, dimensionally and mechanically stable HCWA-PFA geopolymer mortar blocks were successfully produced by press forming and hydrothermal treatment method. Based on statistical analysis, the hydrothermal treatment temperature has a statistically insignificant effect on the mechanical strength of the HCWA-PFA cementless mortar blocks. The dominant factor which governs the mechanical strength of the HCWA-PFA cementless mortar blocks was found to be the hydraulic forming pressure. Moreover, it was found that hybridized HCWA-PFA can be recycled as the sole binder for fabrication of cementless concrete block which is a useful construction material.