Integrating Ethnoscience Within Project-Based Learning: Enhancing Twenty-First Century Skills of Science Pre-Service Teachers Through Lecturer Perceptions
摘要
The integration of ethnoscience into project-based learning (PjBL) has gained increasing attention as a culturally responsive approach to fostering twenty-first century skills in science education. However, limited empirical evidence explains how lecturers’ knowledge and pedagogical competence shape the implementation of Ethno-PjBL and its impact on students’ twenty-first century skills. This study investigates the structural relationships among lecturer knowledge, pedagogical competence, Ethno-PjBL implementation, and students’ twenty-first century skills in higher education science programs in Indonesia. A quantitative survey design was employed involving 38 science lecturers from multiple universities. Data were analyzed using partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results demonstrate that lecturer knowledge has a strong and significant effect on pedagogical competence (β = 0.986) and directly influences students’ twenty-first century skills (β = 1.396). Pedagogical competence significantly predicts the implementation of Ethno-PjBL (β = 0.885), while the direct effects of pedagogical competence and Ethno-PjBL implementation on twenty-first century skills are not statistically significant. The structural model explains a substantial proportion of variance in twenty-first century skills (R2 = 0.965), indicating strong predictive power. These findings highlight that the effectiveness of Ethno-PjBL is primarily driven by lecturers’ conceptual understanding and pedagogical readiness rather than the mere adoption of instructional models. The study underscores the importance of strengthening lecturers’ professional knowledge and pedagogical capacity to ensure meaningful implementation of culturally integrated project-based learning for developing twenty-first century skills in higher education science classrooms.