M.Ed. (Didactics - Natural Sciences) / The specific aim of this study is to identify misconceptions about· photosynthesis among Standard 9 pupils. To identify the possible misconceptions which may occur about photosynthesis, the writer made an empirical study using questionnaires which comprised of definitions, multiple choice and descriptive questions. The possible misconceptions and the possible nature of the misconceptions about photosynthesis were identified after the completion of the questionnaire. Comparisons were then made to see whether there was a correlation between the relevant study and other studies in the literature available.

M.Ed. (Didactic Education, Biology) / The aim of this study is to throw light on the importance of the affective domain in the teaching of Biology. In our present science-technology-society-era the emphasis will first fallon the affective domain to an ever-increasing degree, and second on the cognitive domain. The formative value of Biology as subject will be highlighted, and some of the teaching strategies which can lead to the realisation of the affective, will be investigated. In summary one can state that the insufficient interest and negative inclinations of pupils regarding the subject is the result of an incorrect teaching strategy like the conventional textbook approach to the subject. This contributes par-excellence to the lecture-demonstration instruction method. The child is not addressed by the learning content; he is not intrinsically motivated and will not easily cultivate a love for the subject. Being a teacher means that you must sell your subject, you must strip the child of his 20th century bluntness. The Biology teacher must constantly lead his pupils to a sense of wonder. Green (1971:201) justly states: "To cease to wonder is to cease to be man." A heuristic, problem centred, holistic and environmental approach to the subject, out of necessity causes the affective to be an important component of the teaching and learning situation.

Bibliography: pages 189-198. / Applying theoretical conceptualisations of current theories of self-regulated learning, a biology instructional programme facilitating learner perceptions of control by offering choices in task engagement was undertaken with two intact samples of Caucasian standard ten higher grade biology pupils in Cape Town, with the student groups matched for IQ and ability. A counter-balanced, quasi-experimental research design was implemented for two five-day cycles. Learner locus of control and self-regulatory behaviour were established using, respectively, the Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Questionnaire (Crandall, et al, 1965), and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (Pintrich and De Groot, 1990). The primary aim was to test the prediction that, in contrast to teacher-regulated instruction, academic performance after learner self-regulation would be appreciably greater. Differences between the experimental and control group mean achievement scores at the end of the programme were highly significant.

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published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the status of and relationships among the variables of teacher acceptance of evolutionary theory, teacher understanding of evolutionary theory, and teacher understanding of the nature of science among Indiana public high school biology teachers. The relationships between these variables and the emphasis evolution receives in the classroom and teacher academic variables were investigated. Teacher knowledge structure of the concept of evolution was also explored.To answer the questions and hypotheses delineated in the study, a 68-item questionnaire and concept mapping activity was administered to the population of 989 teachers. The response rate was 53%.The teachers exhibited only a moderate level of acceptance and a marginal level of understanding of evolutionary theory. Teacher understanding of the nature of science was moderately high. Evolution played only a minor role in the curriculum. While the teachers had completed considerable course work in biology, the vast majority lacked specific course work in evolution and the nature of science.The data revealed a significant relationship between teacher acceptance and teacher understanding of evolutionary theory and between teacher acceptance of evolutionary theory and teacher understanding of the nature of science. The data also revealed significant associations between teacher allocation of instructional time to evolution and teacher level of acceptance of evolutionary theory, teacher level of understanding of evolutionary theory, teacher level of understanding of the nature of science, and teacher completion of a course in evolution. Additionally, the data revealed significant associations between teacher level of understanding of evolutionary theory and teacher completion of a course in evolution and teacher academic background in biology. Significant associations were revealed between teacher level of acceptance of evolutionary theory and both teacher completion of a course in evolution and teacher completion of a course in the nature of science.A significant amount of the variance in teacher acceptance of evolutionary theory was explained by the other variables delineated. The concept mapping activity revealed that teacher acceptance and understanding of evolutionary theory was reflected in teacher knowledge structure of evolution and that teachers' knowledge structures were characterized by an unsophisticated organizational framework. / Department of Biology

A revolution is taking place in education today at all levels from kindergarten through college, in virtually all subject matter areas. This revolution is due, in part, to research in learning theory and technological advances. Changes in attitudes have led to the concept of "accountability"--that educators must perform and produce educational programs that are meaningful and interesting as well as informative. The fact that private industry has had satisfactory results in the academic marketplace has also provided impetus for the current educational revolution which has resulted in several innovations.A general education biology course, Man and the Life Sciences, has been taught with an audiotutorial component at Ball State University since 1965. Quarterly evaluations by the students provided the staff with evidence that three of the units should be redesigned 1) to have more appeal to the students; 2) to meet their expectancy of relevance; and 3) to have a higher level of academic quality.The problem for the present research investigation was twofold: 1) to design three audiotutorial units for a college general education biology course titled Aggression, Territoriality and Survival; Time, Adaptation and Change; and Man, Communication and Behavior, with innovative approaches and 2) to evaluate the effectiveness of the newly developed materials.In designing these three units, specific goals of the research undertaking were 1) to integrate the three units in such a way that concepts of organismal biology, evolution and behavior are pervasive throughout all three units; 2) to develop a list of performance objectives for each of the three units; 3) to determine learning strategies which will help the students achieve each of these objectives; and 4) to determine learning strategies which will help make these objectives interesting and relevant to the students.In order to meet these criteria, the principles of systems management were employed bys 1) specifying goals, 2) specifying desired outcomes for students, 3) planning instruction, 4) evaluating student achievement, and 5) revising instructional procedure in light of experience. In planning the instruction, the method used to facilitate the accomplishment of the desired outcomes was the audiotutorial approach which allowed the student to learn at his own pace. Each unit actively involved the student in sequential multimedia learning activities. A learning guide was designed for the student to use in responding to questions posed as he progressed through the audiotutorial learning activities.After development, the unit materials were first tested with a group of ten students. Feedback on the basis of achievement tests and individual interviews provided the rationale for revisions in preparation for field testing. After completion of the field testing, which involved approximately 650 students, additional revisions were made, resulting in the final version which was evaluated to determine the overall effectiveness of the learning materials.Final measurement of student accomplishment was effected by the use of pre-tests and post-tests consisting of parallel quiz items which had been validated in preliminary testing. Forty-five objectives were final tested; difficulty levels from the pre-test indicated that twenty-four of the objectives were achieved by seventy percent or more of the students. Chi square applied to the results of the remaining items indicated that seven additional objectives probably were also achieved at this same level; fourteen of the objectives were not achieved during the final evaluation. Standard item analysis was used to assist in determining why these objectives were not accomplished; this information can be used in making future revisions.Student opinions were solicited in the form of a student unit evaluation. At least forty percent of the students rated each unit's interest level as high and fifty percent rated each as average; thus, the units accomplished what was expected.A program of instruction should evolve with new ideas and innovations with an effort toward continual improvement. Data collected from this research investigation can be used to pinpoint specific areas where additional research would be beneficial.

The knowledge explosion of the last decade has left education in schools far behind. The emphasis in schools must change if they are to prepare students for their future lives. Tertiary institutions as well as commerce and industry need people who have well-developed cognitive skills. A further requirement is that the school leaver must have skills pertaining to information processing. The skills that are required are those which have been labelled higher order thinking skills. The work of Piaget, Thomas and Bloom have led to a better understanding of what these skills actually are. Resnick sees these skills as being: nonalgorithmic; complex; yielding multiple solutions; involving nuanced judgements; involving the application of multiple criteria; involving uncertainty; involving self-regulation of the thinking process; imposing meaning and being effortful. How these can be taught and the implication of doing so are considered by the researcher. The outcome of this consideration is that higher order - thinking entails communication skills, reasoning, problem solving and self management. The study takes the form of an investigation of a particular case: whether a Biology field trip could be used as a source of information, which could be handled by a computer, so that higher order thinking skills could be acquired by students. Students were instructed in the use of a Database Management System called PARADOX. The students then went on an excursion to a Rocky Shore habitat to collect data about the biotic and abiotic factors pertaining to that ecosystem. The students worked in groups sorting data and entering it into the database. Once all the data had been entered the students developed hypotheses and queried the database to obtain evidence to substantiate or disprove their hypotheses. Whilst this was in progress the researcher obtained data by means of observational field notes, tape recordings, evoked documents and interviews. The qualitative data was then arranged into classes to see if it showed that the students were using any of the higher order thinking skills. The results showed that the students did use the listed higher order thinking skills whilst working on the database.