The shortage of specialist Physics teachers in senior secondary schools in Swaziland has, for years, been one of the nagging issues for the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET). This led MoET to exploiting the services of non-specialists, thus undermining the quality of learners who graduate from the system. Therefore, the study ascertained the causes of the shortage of specialist Physics teachers in senior secondary schools in Swaziland, how they could be retained and how their number could be increased. A positivist-interpretive quantitative research approach was utilised to obtain reliable and valid results in this study. The quantitative research was a survey consisting of a questionnaire that was completed by Physics teachers in senior secondary schools. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics. The study, based on the findings, concluded with some recommendations that could be used to retain and increase the number of Physics teachers in senior secondary schools. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / M. Ed. (Curriculum Studies)

Large underfunded classrooms are indicative of the situation found in many developing countries. These limitations often lead to the ineffective teacher-centred approach dominating classroom instruction in these countries. The aim of the study was to examine active learning strategies used by teachers in large unfunded Physics classrooms, in Kerala, India. This study used a qualitative approach utilising a case study method. The data collection process involved mainly unstructured interviews, lesson observations and the analysis of documents. The results of the study indicate that despite the difficulties faced in India, similar to those faced by other developing countries, the Indian state of Kerala implements and supports active learning rather than the more common teacher-centred approach. The research defines the common forms of active learning in the Physics lessons and critically examines the core elements of the learner-centred teaching approaches. Successes have been found in the implementation of active, collaborative, cooperative and problem-based learning in the large underfunded Physics classes. The results of the research suggest that teachers need to be highly trained, resourceful, creative, hardworking and sometimes go above and beyond the required duties to make active learning in large underfunded Physics classroom a success. / Science and Technology Education / M. Ed. (Natural Science Education)

Not only is Quantum Mechanics (QM) conceptually rich, it is also a theory that physics students have found abstract and technically formidable. Nevertheless, compared to other classical topics of physics, university students’ understanding of QM has received minimal attention in the physics education literature. The principal purpose of this study was to characterize the variation in the ways that undergraduate physics students depict the basic concepts of QM and to extrapolate the results to scaffold possible changes to instructional practices at the university that provided the context for the study. In so doing, an adaptation of a developmental phenomenographic perspective was chosen. Empirically, the study was approached through in-depth interviews with 35 physics students from two Ethiopian governmental universities after they had been exposed to the traditional QM course for one-third of a semester. Interview responses were analyzed using phenomenographic approach where a picture of students’ depictions was established for each quantum concept by expounding the given responses. For each basic quantum concept addressed, the structure of the description categories was separately constructed, and overall, it was found that naive, quasi-classical ontology and/or variants of classical ways of visualization are dominant in students’ responses. For example, it was found that students’ depictions of the photon concept could be described with three distinct categories of description, which are (a) classical intuitive description, (b) mixed model description and (c) quasi-quantum model description. Similarly, the findings revealed that it is possible to establish three qualitatively different categories of description to picture students’ depictions of matter waves, namely, (a) classical and trajectory-based description, (b) an intricate blend of classical and quantum description and (c) incipient quantum model description. Likewise, it was found that students’ depictions of uncertainty principle can be described as: (a) uncertainty as classical ignorance, (b) uncertainty as measurement disturbance and (c) uncertainty as a quasi-quantum principle. With regard to learning QM, the categories of description made clear several issues: most students did not have enough knowledge to depict the basic concepts of QM properly; they were influenced by the perspective of classical physics and their perceptions in making explanations about QM; and they also applied mixed ideas, one based on their classical model and the other from newly introduced QM. These results are also supported by the findings of previous studies in similar domains. Findings from the study were used to guide the design of multiple representations-based instructions and interactive learning tutorials on the conceptual aspects of QM that has been shown to address specific difficulties identified in the study. Theoretical and practical implications of the study, as well as potential future considerations are drawn. / Mathematics, Science and Technology Education / D. Phil. (Mathematics, Science and Technology Education)

The shortage of specialist Physics teachers in senior secondary schools in Swaziland has, for years, been one of the nagging issues for the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET). This led MoET to exploiting the services of non-specialists, thus undermining the quality of learners who graduate from the system. Therefore, the study ascertained the causes of the shortage of specialist Physics teachers in senior secondary schools in Swaziland, how they could be retained and how their number could be increased. A positivist-interpretive quantitative research approach was utilised to obtain reliable and valid results in this study. The quantitative research was a survey consisting of a questionnaire that was completed by Physics teachers in senior secondary schools. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics. The study, based on the findings, concluded with some recommendations that could be used to retain and increase the number of Physics teachers in senior secondary schools. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / M. Ed. (Curriculum Studies)

The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has associated the poor pass rate in the National Senior Certificate (NSC) Grade 12 Physical Sciences examinations to the learners’ lack of practical skills and the inability of learners to solve problems by integrating knowledge from the different topics in Physical Sciences. The CAPS (Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement) is central to the planning, organising and teaching of Physical Sciences. Even though more than a third of the learners achieved below 30% in the NSC Grade 12 Physical Sciences: Physics (P1) November 2017 examination, there was a lack of references made to the CAPS, rationalising the poor performance. A disjointed alignment between the CAPS and the P1 is a possible cause for the poor performance. Since there have been no previous studies that investigated the alignment between the CAPS and the P1, this study aims to fill that gap. This study used a positivist research paradigm and a case study research strategy. A purposive sampling procedure selected the CAPS Grades 10 – 12 Physical Sciences document; the Physical Sciences Examination Guidelines Grade 12 documents and the final and supplementary P1 examinations in the period starting November 2014 to March 2018 as the documents for analysis. A summative content analysis research technique was conducted using the Surveys of Enacted Curriculum (SEC) research method. The SEC method employed the use of the four topics of Grade 12 Physics and the four non-hierarchical levels of cognitive demand as described in the modified version of Bloom’s taxonomy. The physics topics included mechanics; waves, sound and light; electricity and magnetism; and optical phenomena. The cognitive demand levels included recall; comprehension; application and analysis; and synthesis and evaluation. This study found a 100 percent categorical coherence, a 67.3 percent balance of representation, a 79.4 percent cognitive complexity and an average Porter’s alignment index of 0.77 between the CAPS and the P1. The overall Cohen’s kappa for all the documents analysed was 0.88. The findings of this study indicate that the mechanics topic was under-emphasised whilst the application and analysis cognitive demand was over-emphasised in the P1. The CAPS and the P1 did not utilise the highest cognitive demand, synthesis and evaluation which may be interpreted as an environment that fosters lower order thinking. To change this environment of lower order thinking and simultaneously increase the alignment between the CAPS and the P1 this study recommends that firstly, the CAPS decreases the recall based content of the mechanics topic. Secondly, the CAPS and the P1 increase the synthesis and evaluation cognitive demand-based content at the expense of the recall cognitive demand-based content. Thirdly, the CAPS must include the content of the school-based physics practical assessments while decreasing the focus on physics definitions. The ultimate aim is an improvement in the pass rates of the NSC Grade 12 Physical Sciences examinations. / Science and Technology Education / M. Sc. (Mathematics, Science and Technology Education (Physics Education))

Os avanços tecnológicos afetam inúmeros aspectos da sociedade. Na esfera educacional estas inovações têm oportunizado um vasto acesso a informação de diferentes níveis de qualidade e complexidade. Tendo em vista que o uso das tecnologias como recurso didático-pedagógico pode colaborar para a construção e socialização do conhecimento, possibilitando maior qualidade nos processos de ensino e aprendizagem, buscou-se, na presente investigação, produzir um material didático hospedado na WEB, baseado na teoria de David Ausubel, por meio do trabalho de M. A. Moreira, que inspire e possibilite a utilização de objetos de aprendizagem no ensino de óptica em Física. Existe um número elevado de sites e portais educacionais gratuitos para o ensino de Física, contudo, existem poucas análises da combinação destas ferramentas didáticas com vistas à aplicação em sala de aula. Este trabalho foi dividido em duas partes: uma investigação, junto a vinte docentes da cidade de Curitiba, sobre quais as características necessárias em um material didático tecnológico na abordagem do referido conteúdo; os dados coletados contribuíram para a construção do produto deste mestrado profissional: um site contendo sugestões de sequências didáticas, incluindo roteiro de estudo, vídeos educativos, exercícios, recomendação de outros sites e simuladores. O produto desenvolvido constitui um objeto educacional voltado para o ensino da óptica e é destinado tanto a professores quanto estudantes do ensino médio, buscando tornar estes conteúdos mais próximos do cotidiano e enriquecer o processo de ensino e aprendizagem. / Technological advances affect many aspects of society. In the educational sphere these innovations have allowed wide access to information from different levels of quality and complexity. Given that the use of technology as a teaching and pedagogical resource can contribute to the construction and socialization of knowledge, allowing greater quality in teaching and learning processes, we sought to, in this research, produce educational materials hosted on the web, based on the theory of David Ausubel through the work of M. A. Moreira. Our goal is to inspire and to facilitate the use of learning objects in the teaching of optics. In fact, there is a large number of websites and free education portals for teaching Physics; however, there is little analysis of how to combine these teaching tools in order to improve Physics teaching. We investigate, with twenty teachers from the city of Curitiba, which features they deem necessary to feature in teaching materials in such content approach. The collected data contributed to the building of a website containing suggestions for didactic sequences, including study guides, educational videos, exercises, recommended websites, and simulators. The developed product constitutes an educational object tailored for both teachers and students. Its main goal is to provide better conditions for the teaching of optics at high school level.

Language is a crucial means of gaining comprehension of Physics content as well as providing correct answers to Physics questions and explanations of Physics phenomena. Therefore language determines the academic achievement of Physics learners. Consequently, language diversity plays a pivotal role in the outcomes of education in a multicultural society such as South Africa. The research reports on the role played by language in the academic performance of learners whose language of instruction is different from their home language. A mixed method approach was used in which the participants were assigned to either the control or experimental group. Intervention was provided to the experimental group in form of Physics lessons in the learners’ home language. The mixed method approach was used to elicit responses from a sample of 40 learners on the role of language in the learning and teaching of Physics to learners whose home language is different from the language of learning and teaching. Data was collected from 3 written tests (an English Language Proficiency test, pre- and post- tests) and interview responses. The sample comprised 24 girls and 16 boys aged between 15 and 17 years. Quantitative data was analysed using R- computing while interview responses were analysed using Glᾰser and Laudel’s model. A paired t- test revealed statistically significant difference in the academic performance of the two groups in the post- test in favour of the experimental group which had been afforded intervention. The results of this study show that translanguaging approaches, where languages of input and output are deliberately interchanged, proved to be a valuable pedagogical strategy as learners got the chance to learn in their home language leading to an improvement in their academic performance in Physics. The findings of this research are in line with some previous research which demonstrated that the use of learners’ home language is a social practice that goes beyond the four walls of the classroom. The use of pedagogies that embrace multilingualism is therefore highly recommended in 21st century Physics classes. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Didactics)

This study investigated whether girls achieve better results in Physical Science in single sex environments or in co-educational classes. Thirteen independent South African schools where children were of similar socio-economic background were considered. Grade 12 Matriculation Physical Science examination results for 1999 to 2003 were analysed using Bonferroni (Dunn) t-Tests and Scheffe's Tests. Questionnaires were completed by a small number of students in order to compare their attitudes towards Physical Science and examined qualitatively. There were significant differences found by the administration of the Bonferroni (Dunn) t-Tests and Scheffe's Tests in 2000, 2001 and 2002 to indicate that girls in single sex schools achieved better results in Science than the co-educational schools. However, in 1999 and 2003 there was no significant difference in the results achieved, and so there may be other factors that are more important predictors of achievement than whether the schools are mixed or single sex. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Natural Science Teaching)

Large underfunded classrooms are indicative of the situation found in many developing countries. These limitations often lead to the ineffective teacher-centred approach dominating classroom instruction in these countries. The aim of the study was to examine active learning strategies used by teachers in large unfunded Physics classrooms, in Kerala, India. This study used a qualitative approach utilising a case study method. The data collection process involved mainly unstructured interviews, lesson observations and the analysis of documents. The results of the study indicate that despite the difficulties faced in India, similar to those faced by other developing countries, the Indian state of Kerala implements and supports active learning rather than the more common teacher-centred approach. The research defines the common forms of active learning in the Physics lessons and critically examines the core elements of the learner-centred teaching approaches. Successes have been found in the implementation of active, collaborative, cooperative and problem-based learning in the large underfunded Physics classes. The results of the research suggest that teachers need to be highly trained, resourceful, creative, hardworking and sometimes go above and beyond the required duties to make active learning in large underfunded Physics classroom a success. / Science and Technology Education / M. Ed. (Natural Science Education)

O presente trabalho consiste em uma pesquisa em ensino de física, mais específicamente em ensino de acústica. Foi aplicada uma sequência didática em uma turma de primeiro ano do ensino médio, contextualizando os conceitos de acústica na audição de música e na vivência com a poluição sonora e utilizando como marco teórico a teoria da aprendizagem significativa desenvolvida por Ausubel. O objetivo foi aplicar a sequência didática para obter dados relativos à aprendizagem dos conceitos, analisando se foram, ou não, facilitadores significativos. Utilizou-se a gravação de áudio das aulas e um questionário, aplicado no início e no fim da sequência, para que se possa analisar o antes e depois, além do diário de campo, registrado pelo autor. A sequência foi composta por seis aulas de quarenta e cinco minútos. A análise dos dados obtidos aponta para uma facilitação da aprendizagem significativa de Acústica. Entretanto, seria importante dar continuidade à aplicação dos instrumentos de coleta de dados a um público mais numeroso e com perfis de turmas mais diversificados, para que os resultados propiciem resultados mais conclusivos e abrangentes. / The present work consists of a research in physics teaching, more specifically in acoustic teaching. A didactic sequence was applied in a first year high school class, contextualizing the concepts of acoustics in listening to music and living with noise pollution and using as theoretical framework the theory of meaningful learning developed by Ausubel. The objective was to apply the didactic sequence to obtain data regarding the learning of the concepts, analyzing whether or not they were significant facilitators. The audio recording of the classes and a questionnaire, applied at the beginning and at the end of the sequence, were used to analyze the before and after, besides the field diary, recorded by the author. The sequence consisted of six forty-five minute classes. The analysis of the data points to a facilitation of the significant learning of Acoustics. However, it would be important to continue the application of the data collection instruments to a larger audience and with more diverse class profiles, so that the results can lead to more conclusive and comprehensive results.