Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1964. / Typescript. Abstract: leaves [ii]-v. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 219-225).

South African School Curriculum, calls for the integration of IKS within school science (Department of Education, 2006, Department of Basic Education, 2011). Lightning is an area of high interest in the Eastern Cape and is used as the topic in this study which focuses on the integration of indigenous knowledge systems in science education. The study investigated the impact of an intervention strategy framed around the use of scientific argumentation and the integration of everyday knowledge and indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) into the teaching of electrostatics at Grade Ten level. The impact focused on the teachers’ ability to implement the strategy, the electrostatics knowledge gained by learners, the learners’ argumentation ability, and the motivational and confidence levels of both teachers and learners. The sample comprised eight schools (the science teachers and their Grade Ten Physical Science learners) in the Uitenhage District of Education of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Qualitative data were generated via interviews, classroom observations, pre- and post test questionnaires with open-ended questions to evoke meaningful responses that could not be anticipated by the research, and argumentation writing frames for both teachers and learners. Limited quantitative data were generated via the argumentation writing frames and the more close-ended questionnaire questions. The findings of the teacher and learner argumentation frames and the teacher checklists which revealed that the intervention impacted positively on the teachers’ ability to integrate IKS into their teaching practice. The use indigenous knowledge as the context for argumentation appears to have been a more effective way of introducing the concept than doing so within a scientific context (which the learners found difficult). The intervention facilitated an enhanced level of understanding on lightning, and assisted with the creation of the “third space” and border crossing between IKS and western science. The individual interviews disclosed the teachers’ improved ability to integrate IKS, IKS improving the facilitation of the argumentation strategy, and their improved motivation and confidence.

A thesis submitted to the faculty of humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of philosophy Johannesburg, 26 May 2017 / The reality of South African education leaves little doubt that the school science textbook is the primary means by which the „what is taught and learnt‟ in science classrooms is determined. Reports from different countries suggest the same trait. The possibility that not all learners‟ „naïve ideas‟ originate in everyday life has also emerged in the literature along with allusions to the quality of textbooks. If school textbooks are to be blamed, even partially, for learners‟ naïve ideas, a systematic analysis of their subject content becomes requisite. The present study is a systematic content analysis of presentations of foundational aspects of Electrostatics, in approved South African physical sciences textbooks in use after the first democratic elections of 1994, thus representing and addressing three curricula school education has gone through since. The study was perceived as a first step to an anticipated analysis of the entire topic Electromagnetism to which Electrostatics is part of, given its difficulty as has been widely reported in the literature and its status in school curricula. Using the conceptual framework of the Classical Electromagnetic Theory, six foundational aspects of Electrostatics were demarcated for the analysis, targeting the concept charge, its origins, transfer and conservation, the distinction between conductors and insulators, the attraction between charged and uncharged objects, as well as global perceptions of Electrostatics and its place within Electromagnetism. Categorisation tables with theoretically grounded indicators were developed as the primary constructs against which texts were analysed, but inductive categorisation tables emerged from the texts as well. An additional construct was necessitated and developed, the “Organisation of the science educator‟s thought”, based on the notion of a scientific explanation and the nature of scientific models, for analysing links between macro and micro. The analysis revealed that the subject matter content of Electrostatics in South African textbooks is of major concern, giving learners no reason to make sense or develop an appreciation for science, physics in particular. In fact it is not science. The analysis suggests that the long lists of problems revealed, have their origin in two main drawbacks: Firstly, inadequate author understanding of the concept charge, disregarded or misused in the texts, and secondly, author unawareness of the inferred nature of science models, affecting purpose of accounts, explanations and reasoning. Furthermore, certain unprofessional author practices are suggested, such as lack of familiarity with curricula and the content of other topics (not a single link was found), lack of research, and general disregard for learners‟ difficulties, while misconceptions identified in the literature are all communicated in the texts, most explicitly so. The findings suggest that science textbook authors are in need of training. / MT2017

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1936 J61 / Master of Science

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 164-170).

Thesis (M.S.)--Florida State University, 2004. / Advisor: Dr. Frank A. Gross, Florida State University, College of Engineering, Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 18, 2004). Includes bibliographical references.

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