published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

This dissertation was motivated by the decline in percentage of the number of Standard 10 pupils who offered History for the National Senior Certificate (Matriculation) Examination in the Mathole Directorate in the Ciskei from 1987 - 1990. The research revealed that the decrease in the number of pupils doing History in Standard 10 did not indicate loss of interest in the subject. Instead, the multiplicity of new subjects introduced in the school curriculum and some peculiar subject combinations in some schools forced some pupils (reluctantly) to reject History as a school subject. Those who chose to do History in Standard 10 showed their liking for the subject and expressed their interest in it. The study took the form of a survey through the use of questionnaire and informal chats with pupils and teachers on their views about History as a school subject. A questionnaire was designed for pupils offering History in Standard 10 and administered in four of the eight Senior Secondary Schools in the Mathole Directorate in Ciskei. Generally, work on pupils' interest in and attitude towards History as a school subject is very rare. Some of the few available works merely compare pupils' liking for History as opposed to other school subjects and when the response is not favourable; conclude that pupils in Senior Secondary Schools do not enjoy studying History. Pupils' interest in and attitudes towards the subject, the extent of their interest, the causes of their attitude and the internal and external influences on their interest in and attitudes towards the subject were neglected by earlier works, but have been given attention in this study. As a result of very little available work and material, pupils' responses to the questionnaire formed the basis of the material used in this work. A large number of pupils' responses was put in tables according to sex instead of schools. Where applicable, X2 tests were administered to see if there were any appreciable statistically significant differences between the responses of the boys and girls. In most cases where the X2 tests were applied, no statistically difference was noticed. The study showed more boys than girls showing interest in and positive attitudes towards History. The general picture of the study showed a deviation from the view commonly expressed by other studies that pupils in modern Senior Secondary Schools do not like History. As this study revealed, it is not the subject itself that pupils did not like, but the way it is handled by some teachers and lack of teaching aids to concretise events. This leads to the role of Teacher Training Institutions: which must be to produce the versatile, duty-conscious and innovating History teacher to revolutionise History teaching to make History alive to pupils.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

The definition of discipline-based art education presented in this thesis includes all domains of art learning and practice: art history, art criticism, art production, and aesthetics. The study develops a series of art history lessons for adolescents at the junior high and high school level. Activities are designed to present instructional strategies appropriate to the educational needs and concerns of these groups of students. These lessons primarily focus on art history, and art criticism as a means for approaching studio production concepts. One instructional unit includes a day-by-day description of art history learning activities covering a period of 10 days, or two regular school weeks. Also included is a description of the order in which the art history, art criticism and production activities occur for each lesson. Specifics regarding media, materials, artists to be studied, styles, reproductions and the vocabulary terms and images to be used for each day are also included. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)

The purpose of this study is to ascertain the place and function of history in the curriculum of the secondary school in the United States, as reflected in the published writings of professional educators, historians, and psychologists.

M.Ed. (Education) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Education, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education / 'Ihis research report examines the position and role of South African history thought to pupils in Black Secondary schools between 1953 and 1988. This includes the perceptions of those who were pupils in Black secondary schools from 1954 to 1975, and the views of teachers who offered South African history at these schools during the period examined. (Abbreviation abstract) / Andrew Chakane 2019

A research project report submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the MSc in Science Education. Johannesburg, February 2017. / An understanding of the NOS is a basis for scientific literacy which is one of the major goals of science education the world over. This study compared Grade 11 High school learners (n=10) and third year Bachelor of Education, Pre-service teachers’ (n=10) understandings of Nature of Science (NOS). Data on participants’ understandings of NOS was collected by means of a Likert type questionnaire and through semi - structured interviews. Likert type questionnaire data was quantitatively analysed using a combination of descriptive statistics, the Mann-Whitney U test and graphical comparison of group median scores on questionnaire items to ascertain differences in NOS understandings between the Grade 11 learners and the B.Ed. Pre-service teachers. Semi-structured interview data was analysed through a combination of typological and interpretative analysis of interview transcripts to determine differences in NOS understandings between the two groups. The findings reveal that there are no significant differences in the understandings of the NOS between the Grade 11 learners and third year, Bachelor of Education, Pre-service teachers. The analyses reveal that overall; the Grade 11 Learners and third year B.Ed. Pre-service teachers’ understandings of NOS are not very different from each other. Both groups held such misunderstandings as; there is a single scientific method, scientific knowledge is not socially and culturally embedded, scientific knowledge is universal and can be proven through collection of empirical data. It is recommended that if the goal of science education for scientific literacy is to be achieved, initial teacher education training should do more to explicitly develop Pre-service teachers’ subject matter knowledge understandings, pedagogical skills and valuing of NOS, that is, their pedagogical content knowledge for nature of science. Explicit testing of learners’ NOS understandings is also suggested as a way of improving the school Physical Science curriculum. The effectiveness of the current science content and methods courses in improving the Pre-service teachers’ NOS understandings is questioned. Recommendations for further studies are suggested. / MT2017

The purpose of this study was to apply the research technique, content analysis, to the five most widely used United States high school history textbooks. The textbooks were investigated to obtain an objective, systematic, quantitative, and qualitative description of the textual content concerning the period of World War II.The population studied consisted of the five most widely used high school United States history textbooks. Three categories, people, events, and themes were researched in all five textbooks. Each of 126 specific items were coded from each textbook according to inclusion, frequency, magnitude, and direction. Jury validity was utilized, and three professional historians used as independent coders confirmed instrument reliability.Findings1. Events were included in a greater percentage than people or themes.2. American, British, and German political leaders were included more frequently than Russian, Italian, or Japanese leaders.3. Allied leaders were treated more favorably than the Axis leaders.4. The specific items were superficially treated with the textbook lacking indepth presentation of many specific items.Conclusions1. There exists a commonness and similarity among the most widely used United States history textbooks with a distinct lack of differences in that they generally present a series of chronological events and facts.2. The textbooks less than fully achieve the goals established for history courses by state and national organizations.3. Omissions, biases, inaccuracies, and distortions appear in the most widely used American history textbooks because of the forces of the mass market and apparent inadequate usage of current historiography.