Typescript. / Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1982. / Bibliography: leaves [201]-215. / Photocopy. / xi, 215 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

For the past few years, Namibian grade 11-12 learners’ achievement level in biology has not been very encouraging. Evidence to this effect is contained in recent examiners’ reports which outline misunderstanding and various misconceptions. The causes of these misunderstandings and misconceptions may be varied, but there is credible evidence that some of it is rooted in the language problem for learners. A classroom is a social unit where many social practices are acquired, including the use of English language. Equally, it is a place where errors in language are learnt and reinforced. Triggered by these challenges facing biology learners, a qualitative case study was conducted at two secondary schools in Ohangwena Region, Namibia. Its purpose was to investigate how biology teachers scaffold learners to make sense of biological language and concepts when English is used as the mediational tool. Underpinned by an interpretivist paradigm, the study made use of document analysis, observation (lessons were also video-taped) and interviews to generate the data. Several data generating techniques were used for triangulation and validation. To further validate the data, transcripts of video-taped lessons and interviews were sent back to the research participants for member checking. The data gathering methods were also used in data presentation, analysis and interpretation to determine the extent of scaffold that teachers provide to their biology learners. The main findings of my study are that, despite efforts by participant teachers to scaffold their learners in making sense of biological language and concepts, success rates in this regard remain disappointingly low due to their (teachers) limited pedagogical content knowledge. Teachers therefore require improved mentorship, monitoring and capacity building.

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.

The purpose of this investigation was to establish the role of project work in the teaching of biology. Questionnaires were sent to biology teachers and judges of a project competition. Participants of this competition were asked for positive and negative aspects of project work. Teachers indicated that the entire range of objectives of biology teaching can be achieved by project work. Judges of Expo felt that most of the objectives were achieved. Pupils expressed similar sentiments. However, teachers felt that... (a) there were several factors which limited the use of project work as a regular teaching strategy. (b) objectives concerned with inquiry skills, attitudes and values were difficult to achieve in normal classroom teaching. It is therefore, imperative that educational authorities do all they can in promoting project work as a teaching strategy in biology. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / M. Ed. (Didactics)

M.Ed. / The purpose of this study was to investigate grade eleven Biology learners' conceptions of what academic learning in the school situation is, and how learning takes place in general and particularly in Biology. Educational phychologists, remedial educators, primary and secondary school educators, parents and learners are often confronted by the question: How do learners learn? Berry and Sahlberg (1996:20) argue that to be able to learn how to learn, learners should have some basic conceptual understanding of the answer to the question: What do we mean by learning? As a result of the excessive emphasis on rote learning and memorization, which seems to be a general practice in most South African schools, this study argues that learners' conceptions of learning (what learning is and how learning takes place) could be a contributing factor to the problematic nature of learning of natural sciences. Learners often experience difficulties with learning and studying. Common experience suggests that many attempts to assist learners to learn how to learn, fail. This may be ascribed to a variety of factors, one of which could be the learners' conception of what learning is and how they learn (Wood, 1988:75). In-depth, semi-structured individual interviews were used as the primary source of data collection and naïve sketches were used as an additional source. In this study, the approach that was followed for data analysis was mainly based upon the constant comparative method suggested by Maykut and Morehouse (1994:124-148). From the analysis of the data 21 categories were identified from which five main patterns (A to E) evolved, as indicated, each consisting of a number of categories. Pattern A: Conceptions of learning are interrelated and interdependent and appear to be on a continuum. In this study, scholastic academic learning was conceptualized as: prior knowledge, knowledge, rote learning, memorization and application. Pattern B: Learning is a complex and domain-specific process, implying that different subjects or learning areas should be learned differently. Pattern C: Learning is strategic. Pattern D: Perceptions of instructional context and evaluation requirements influence learning. Pattern E: Learning and studying are of a personal and idiosyncratic nature. iv.The implications of the findings can be summarized as follows: It is of the utmost importance that educators provide opportunities for learners to discuss their own conceptions/perceptions of learning in terms of learning in general and learning of specific subjects. This dialogue will assist learners to reflect on and become aware of their learning strategies, as well as their deficiencies and needs, therein. It is my contention that learners' conceptions/perceptions of what learning is and how they learn should initially be utilized in any intervention, which is meant to assist and guide learners to learn-how-to-learn. It is the fundamental responsibility of educators to guide individual learners to learn how to learn, utilizing subject specific metacognitive learning or study strategies, integrated with the subject content. Therefore, it is important that educators should assist learners to understand that learning Biology entails more than mere memorization and that it should not be seen merely as a learning subject.

M.Ed. (Media Science) / The influence of technology on our everyday lives and the increasing control that technology exerts over nature and people make mandatory the competencies of our society to evaluate and make- decisions about new technological discoveries. In this regard it is of importance to keep in mind what Toffler (1970:428) attempts to put in its right perspective by saying: "We cannot and must not turn off the switch of technological progress. Only romantic fools babble about returning to a state of nature. A state of nature is one in which infants shrivel and die for lack of elementary medical care, in which, as Hobbes reminded us, the typical life is poor, nasty, brutish and short. To turn our back on technology would be not only stupid but immoral."...

Curriculum 2005 was originally implemented in grade 1 in 1998. In 2002 it was implemented in grade 9. Similar problems and questions, which arose during the initial implementation, arose again during the implementation in grade 9. Implementation gave rise to many questions and uncertainties. Only in October 2001 was it finally decided to implement the curriculum for grade 9 in 2002. The result was that publishers, the national as well as provincial education departments as well as schools were not ready for the implementation in January 2002. This treatise aims to determine the amount of support offered to educators and the degree of uncertainty still being experienced by them. Information regarding these unnecertainties and problems has been obtained from educators by means of questionnaires, circulated to 38 schools in the Northern Cape Province, offering Natural Science. This sampling of schools is representative of schools offering Natural Science in the region. Data regarding the uncertainties from educators have been obtained from the SOC (Stages of Concern) questionnaires of Hall, George and Rutherford. The rest of the questionnaire concerned the biographical information regarding the educators as well as the support that educators have received during the implementation of the learning area. It emerged from the questionnaire that educators understand the importance of a new Natural Science curriculum for SA. They are however sceptical regarding the hasty manner in which the learning area was implemented; the fact that no textbooks or educational teaching aids were available prior to implementation was of concern. Educators are similarly concerned about the inadequate training prior to implementation and lack of support during implementation. Educators are also concerned about the administrative liability that the new curriculum will bring about.

M. Ed. (Science Education) / South African Life Sciences teachers have been subjected to three policy changes during the past six years. The first new curriculum was implemented in 2006, and when it was found that this curriculum lacked sufficient botany content, a new version of the curriculum was implemented in 2009. Following this, a new curriculum was being implemented in 2012 in all subjects, leaving Life Sciences teachers fatigued as a result of all the professional development workshops they had to attend each year. One principle of the new curriculum was that teachers had to use a constructivist approach to teaching, but research had found that this was not the case in South African classrooms. Furthermore, research also showed that some South African teachers lacked the necessary content and pedagogical knowledge to teach science to grade 12 learners. The aim of this study was to see whether teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge could be improved by the use of communities of practice over a period of time. The content that was focused on was DNA, protein synthesis, meiosis and genetics, as these topics were flagged as problematic topics in the National Senior Certificate examinations in 2008. A generic qualitative design was used as this research was situated in an interpretive framework. The genre of the research was phenomenology with design based elements. Before the intervention started, teachers had to complete a questionnaire and this questionnaire had to be completed again after the intervention. Interviews and feedback tools were used to obtain teachers’ views on these communities of practice. The interviews also had a section that pertained to teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge. Structured classroom observations were used to see whether teachers were implementing a constructivist approach when teaching the content. It also served as a method to ascertain whether the activities done during the community of practice sessions were implemented into classroom practice. It was found that communities of practice are an effective way of developing teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge, but that it should be continuous and would be more v effective over a longer period of time. Teachers also enjoyed these meetings, shared resources and motivated each other. Another finding of this research was that teachers did not implement a constructivist approach to their teaching as required by the new curriculum, even though they indicated that they preferred this approach to teaching. A recommendation of this research is that teachers’ professional development should take place in an informal community of practice where teachers could share ideas and resources. A keystone species is required for these communities of practice to stay sustainable. These communities of practice should be implemented on a continuous basis in order to have a positive effect on teachers’ practice.

This study emerged in response to the poor performance in Biology at my school. The Ministry of Education Biology (NSSCO) Examiners’ report (2011) for Paper 3 indicates that learners proved to have difficulties in designing experiments, failed to give a distinction between apparatus and the experiment. The 2012 Examiners’ report on transpiration also highlights that learners were not exposed to practical work. Furthermore, the 2012 report notes that teachers need to work on their learners’ drawing and spelling of terms. It is against this backdrop that a qualitative study was conducted at a school in Oshikoto, using a sample of two teachers. The study’s purpose was to investigate how grade 11 Biology teachers mediate learning of the topic on transpiration. Social Constructivism and Pedagogical Content Knowledge formed the framework used to analyse data gathered from document analysis, interviews and observations. The study findings were that teachers use locally available material for demonstration during practical work, elicit prior knowledge, use a chalkboard to summarise content to learners, and use a question and answer method as strategies in mediating learning on transpiration. In addition, the teachers use homework, scaffolding activities, group work, code-switching, feedback on activities, as well as the use of analogies. Despite efforts by participant teachers to mediate learning of transpiration, shortage of equipment for conducting practical work, poor English proficiency among teachers and learners, and little emphasis on graphing by the syllabus proved to be barriers to their efforts. This study thus recommends that in order to improve on teaching transpiration, teachers need to co-plan lessons, conduct practical work, code-switch during lessons, ensure effective assessment, and include lessons on graphing. Furthermore, teachers need continued training on how to teach transpiration.

This research was undertaken by a group of practising teachers as a collaborative effort to develop a cooperative approach to the teaching of Biology at Secondary School level. The research focussed on Grade 10 learners at three different schools over a period of one full academic school-year. During this time, four complete cycles within an action research framework were completed and reflected upon. Learners were then surveyed by means of a questionnaire and follow-up interviews. The reflective sessions, together with the responses from the questionnaire and interviews, provided a wealth of information with regard to the development of a cooperative approach to teaching. The cooperative classroom is vastly different from the traditional one. Here, new roles are assumed by both teacher and learner. Learners are largely expected to take charge of their learning experience in the classroom. The teacher, while still responsible for facilitating this learning experience, delegates authority to the learners. It was the experience of the group that the relationship between teacher and learner, as well as between learner and learner, vastly improved in the cooperative class where the participants were more relaxed. Over time, learners became more accountable in terms of their work and learning. Learners’ self-esteem and self-confidence grew, and the majority of learners indicated that their understanding of the work improved. Furthermore, the cooperative structure encouraged and developed self-discipline in the learners. In the early stages of this research, the group did find certain behaviour to be inhibiting: excessive noise, laziness, too much tomfoolery, and absenteeism. These problems were easily addressed within the action research framework, and were nearly non-existent by the end of the research. The group also found that: (i) cooperative lessons required more time than traditional lessons, often at the expense (justifiably) of the syllabus, and that: (ii) cooperative lessons played a major role in reactivating learner interest towards the learning process both in and outside the classroom.