Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This study examined the effects of using Dialogical Argumentation and Assessment for Learning as an Instructional Method (DAAFLIM) in teaching static electricity focussing on lightning as an example of static electricity to Grade 10 learners. Three groups of learners from two township schools were used as a sample for the study. The Solomon three-group design was employed in collecting data. One class was used as the experimental group and the other two were the control groups: control 1 group and control 2 group. The study drew on theoretical frameworks associated with prior knowledge of learners such as the constructivist viewpoint. The frameworks that were applied in the analysis of the data were Toulmin’s Argumentation Pattern (TAP) and Ogunniyi’s Contiguity Argumentation Theory (CAT). The experimental group and control group 2 were exposed to DAAFLIM as a teaching method and AFL as the assessment strategy. The control 1 group was taught in the traditional chalk- talk method and assessment was mostly summative. The experimental and control 1 groups received pre-tests and also wrote a post-test whereas the control 2 group only wrote the post test.

Magister Educationis - MEd / Mathematical modelling is gaining extensive interest across the schooling sector worldwide, as it is deemed to develop learners with competencies set to deal with the demands of the fourth industrial revolution and being creative problem solvers. As mathematical modelling has only recently gained momentum across the mathematics curricula for schools in South Africa, many teachers may not be aware of the competencies that are needed to be developed in their learners through solving word problems, and even learners may not be aware of these essential modelling competencies. Hence, this mixed-methods approach study adopted a case-study design located within an interpretative paradigm to explore the levels of mathematical modelling competencies a sample of Grade 10 learners attending a Western Cape School demonstrated as they solved a set of word problems associated with the use of simultaneous equations. Additionally, data collected through observations and limited sets of semi-structured interviews were considered in the data analysis processes, which were largely driven by qualitative content analysis methods and supplemented with elementary descriptive statistical methods. The findings of this study showed that most of the learners demonstrated non-competency in modelling mainly because of their inability to understand the problem as evident in their failure to comprehend the context of a problem, inability to recognise important quantities associated with a problem, and muddled relationships if any. The study conjecture that the use of the English language could have been a barrier to the sample of English second language speakers understanding the problem. However, a very limited number of students showed partial modelling competency, as they were only able to understand the problem and build a correct model to solve the problem. Regrettably, these students lacked the knowledge of the heuristics for solving a system of linear equations correctly and completely and did not check or verify their answers. The extremely small number of learners, who demonstrated sufficient modelling competency, demonstrated sufficient understanding of the problem, built and solved the system of simultaneous linear equations successfully without necessarily checking or testing whether their answers satisfied the conditions of the problem. Hence, this study recommends that adequate focus be given to the role of language in understanding a problem, heuristic competencies to solve a system of linear equations should be strengthened, and the habit of checking the reasonableness of the solution should be encouraged and developed continuously across problem-solving tasks. Studying learners’ modelling competencies requires further work to add to the repertoire of this knowledge domain.

Magister Educationis - MEd / Role-play is a teaching strategy which is very useful in enhancing the acquisition of knowledge and conceptualisation of some topics in Life Science. According to the theory of constructivism, learning science is a process in which learners construct understanding of the materials. Role-play and constructivism are intertwined, yet role-play as a teaching strategy lacks classroom application in the teaching of Life Sciences. Role-play is not often used in the teaching of Life Sciences, and to be specific, in the teaching of the circulatory system. The study is motivated by learners’ misconceptions of the circulatory system. The study is undertaken to determine the effect of role play on the learners’ conception about the human circulatory system. Random sampling resulted in the selection of one out of 6 grade 10 classes with 49 learners in each from one school in the Metro East District in Cape Town.

<p><span style="font-size:12.0pt / line-height:150% / font-family: &quot / Times New Roman&quot / ,&quot / serif&quot / mso-bidi-font-family:&quot / Times New Roman&quot / mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi / mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">The basic premise of this study was that when a learner is confronted with two contradictory explanations of the same phenomenon, there is cognitive dissonance in the learner as the learner tries to determine which of the two explanations is correct. An argumentation-based instructional intervention programme (ABIIP) was created for and used on and by the Grade 10 learners in order to attempt to ameliorate this cognitive conflict. </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt / line-height:150% / font-family: &quot / Times New Roman&quot / ,&quot / serif&quot / mso-bidi-font-family:&quot / Times New Roman&quot / mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi">The purpose of this study was to determine the relative impact of that intervention programme on Grade 10 learners&rsquo / conceptions of lightning and thunder. The programme was designed to help learners to develop argumentative skills and use the acquired skills to negotiate and harmonise divergent and conflicting explanations of the nature of lightning and thunder that are propounded by different worldviews (Science and indigenous knowledge).</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt / line-height:150% / font-family: &quot / Times New Roman&quot / ,&quot / serif&quot / mso-bidi-font-family:&quot / Times New Roman&quot / mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi">The research design was primarily a case study of 16 Grade 10 learners of the Xhosa ethnic group at a high school in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The Xhosa people are a typical example of a people whose cultural values were undermined and whose voice was silenced by the colonisers and whose local knowledge has been repressed and replaced by forms of Western privileged knowledge and understandings but who remain, deeply and resolutely, steeped in their cultural values and practices, making them a classic example of a people who would battle to harmonise the indigenous and the scientific explanations of natural phenomena. The research instruments used were questionnaires which were administered to learners, educators, community leaders, indigenous knowledge holders and experts to solicit information on causes, dangers and prevention of lightning / individual and group activities as learners went through the lessons on both argumentation and on lightning / follow up interviews and discussions with learners individually or in groups to seek further clarification of the ideas the learners would have raised in their earlier responses to questionnaires or group discussions / guided and reflective essays by the learners to determine the learners&rsquo / levels of understanding of the major tenets of the two thought systems and the relationship between the two worldviews and to determine the qualitative gain, if any, that the learners got from the intervention programme / observation schedules used by the researcher during participant observation of group discussions and during the lessons on lightning / an achievement test on lightning / field notes used by the researcher for memoing observations and reflections as the research process proceeded / informal and serendipitous sources of information. <span style="font-size:12.0pt / line-height:150% / font-family: &quot / Times New Roman&quot / ,&quot / serif&quot / mso-bidi-font-family:&quot / Times New Roman&quot / mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi">The collected data were analysed, mostly, qualitatively. Frequencies, percentages and t-test values were used to express and analyse quantitative data. Aspects of several analytical frameworks that included Toulmin&rsquo / s Argumentation Pattern (TAP) [and its modified versions such as that of Leitao (2000) and that of Osborne et al (2004)] and Contiguity Argumentation Theory (CAT) were used to attach meaning to the collected data and to address the research questions.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size:12.0pt / line-height:150% / font-family: &quot / Times New Roman&quot / ,&quot / serif&quot / mso-bidi-font-family:&quot / Times New Roman&quot / mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi / mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">The basic premise of this study was that when a learner is confronted with two contradictory explanations of the same phenomenon, there is cognitive dissonance in the learner as the learner tries to determine which of the two explanations is correct. An argumentation-based instructional intervention programme (ABIIP) was created for and used on and by the Grade 10 learners in order to attempt to ameliorate this cognitive conflict. </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt / line-height:150% / font-family: &quot / Times New Roman&quot / ,&quot / serif&quot / mso-bidi-font-family:&quot / Times New Roman&quot / mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi">The purpose of this study was to determine the relative impact of that intervention programme on Grade 10 learners&rsquo / conceptions of lightning and thunder. The programme was designed to help learners to develop argumentative skills and use the acquired skills to negotiate and harmonise divergent and conflicting explanations of the nature of lightning and thunder that are propounded by different worldviews (Science and indigenous knowledge).</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt / line-height:150% / font-family: &quot / Times New Roman&quot / ,&quot / serif&quot / mso-bidi-font-family:&quot / Times New Roman&quot / mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi">The research design was primarily a case study of 16 Grade 10 learners of the Xhosa ethnic group at a high school in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The Xhosa people are a typical example of a people whose cultural values were undermined and whose voice was silenced by the colonisers and whose local knowledge has been repressed and replaced by forms of Western privileged knowledge and understandings but who remain, deeply and resolutely, steeped in their cultural values and practices, making them a classic example of a people who would battle to harmonise the indigenous and the scientific explanations of natural phenomena. The research instruments used were questionnaires which were administered to learners, educators, community leaders, indigenous knowledge holders and experts to solicit information on causes, dangers and prevention of lightning / individual and group activities as learners went through the lessons on both argumentation and on lightning / follow up interviews and discussions with learners individually or in groups to seek further clarification of the ideas the learners would have raised in their earlier responses to questionnaires or group discussions / guided and reflective essays by the learners to determine the learners&rsquo / levels of understanding of the major tenets of the two thought systems and the relationship between the two worldviews and to determine the qualitative gain, if any, that the learners got from the intervention programme / observation schedules used by the researcher during participant observation of group discussions and during the lessons on lightning / an achievement test on lightning / field notes used by the researcher for memoing observations and reflections as the research process proceeded / informal and serendipitous sources of information. <span style="font-size:12.0pt / line-height:150% / font-family: &quot / Times New Roman&quot / ,&quot / serif&quot / mso-bidi-font-family:&quot / Times New Roman&quot / mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi">The collected data were analysed, mostly, qualitatively. Frequencies, percentages and t-test values were used to express and analyse quantitative data. Aspects of several analytical frameworks that included Toulmin&rsquo / s Argumentation Pattern (TAP) [and its modified versions such as that of Leitao (2000) and that of Osborne et al (2004)] and Contiguity Argumentation Theory (CAT) were used to attach meaning to the collected data and to address the research questions.</span></span></p>

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The basic premise of this study was that when a learner is confronted with two contradictory explanations of the same phenomenon, there is cognitive dissonance in the learner as the learner tries to determine which of the two explanations is correct. An argumentation-based instructional intervention programme (ABIIP) was created for and used on and by the Grade 10 learners in order to attempt to ameliorate this cognitive conflict. The purpose of this study was to determine the relative impact of that intervention programme on Grade 10 learners’ conceptions of lightning and thunder. The programme was designed to help learners to develop argumentative skills and use the acquired skills to negotiate and harmonise divergent and conflicting explanations of the nature of lightning and thunder that are propounded by different worldviews (Science and indigenous knowledge).

Magister Scientiae - MSc / This study was based on the Science and Indigenous Knowledge Systems Project (SIKSP) at the School of Science and Mathematics Education, University of the Western Cape. The project seeks to enhance educators' understanding of and ability to implement a Science-IKS curriculum (Ogunniyi, 2007) through using the theoretical framework of argumentation (Toulmin Argument Pattern) to the extent that learners would value the significance of both worldviews. This study sought to find the effects of an Argumentation-Based Instruction on grade 10 learners' understanding of the causes of pollution at a river site. Since the integration of Science and IKS are envisaged by Curriculum 2005 (C2005), two theoretical argumentation constructs have been used namely, Toulmin's (1958) Argumentation Pattern (TAP) and Ogunniyi's (1995) Contiguity Argumentation Theory (CAT). / South Africa

<p>The study catered for empirical and metaphysical dimensions of science and IKS. The study employed a quasi-experimental design as well as a qualitative research design. Two cohorts of students from a fictitiously named &ldquo / Culture Secondary School&rdquo / have been used in this study. The list of instruments for data collection were as follows: Conceptions of Fermentation (COF) questionnaire which was used to elicit learners&rsquo / pre- and post-test conceptions of fermentation with special reference to traditional beer or &ldquo / Umqombothi&rdquo / , an Attitudes to Science (ATS) questionnaire which was used to find out the learners&rsquo / worldviews, a Science Achievement Test (SAT) which was used to assess the learners&rsquo / generalised knowledge of fermentation, a classroom observation schedule as well as a focus group interview schedule to gather additional qualitative data. All the instruments were in English with all technical and difficult terms in both English and isiXhosa (the learners&rsquo / home language). Both groups were exposed to Science/IKS-based lessons. The only difference between the two groups was that, the experimental group (E group) was exposed to a Dialogical Argumentation Teaching Model (DAIM) and the comparison group (C group) to a traditional teaching approach. The data gatherred were both analyzed in terms of qualitative and quantitative descriptions.</p>

This study was based on the Science and Indigenous Knowledge Systems Project (SIKSP) at the School of Science and Mathematics Education, University of the Western Cape. The project seeks to enhance educators’ understanding of and ability to implement a Science-IKS curriculum (Ogunniyi, 2007) through using the theoretical framework of argumentation (Toulmin Argument Pattern) to the extent that learners would value the significance of both worldviews. This study sought to find the effects of an Argumentation-Based Instruction on grade 10 learners’ understanding of the causes of pollution at a river site. Since the integration of Science and IKS are envisaged by Curriculum 2005 (C2005), two theoretical argumentation constructs have been used namely, Toulmin’s (1958) Argumentation Pattern (TAP) and Ogunniyi’s (1995) Contiguity Argumentation Theory (CAT).

<p>The study catered for empirical and metaphysical dimensions of science and IKS. The study employed a quasi-experimental design as well as a qualitative research design. Two cohorts of students from a fictitiously named &ldquo / Culture Secondary School&rdquo / have been used in this study. The list of instruments for data collection were as follows: Conceptions of Fermentation (COF) questionnaire which was used to elicit learners&rsquo / pre- and post-test conceptions of fermentation with special reference to traditional beer or &ldquo / Umqombothi&rdquo / , an Attitudes to Science (ATS) questionnaire which was used to find out the learners&rsquo / worldviews, a Science Achievement Test (SAT) which was used to assess the learners&rsquo / generalised knowledge of fermentation, a classroom observation schedule as well as a focus group interview schedule to gather additional qualitative data. All the instruments were in English with all technical and difficult terms in both English and isiXhosa (the learners&rsquo / home language). Both groups were exposed to Science/IKS-based lessons. The only difference between the two groups was that, the experimental group (E group) was exposed to a Dialogical Argumentation Teaching Model (DAIM) and the comparison group (C group) to a traditional teaching approach. The data gatherred were both analyzed in terms of qualitative and quantitative descriptions.</p>