A research report submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in fulfilment of the partial requirement of the degree of Master of Science. Johannesburg, 2012 / Campaigns to educate people on how to use and manage energy responsibly are on the agenda of energy producers, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) and the government of South Africa. Until recently, publications on energy conservation programmes to inform these groups on best practice have been non-existent. This paper reports on an energy conservation programme, “Energy Dialogues” primarily aimed at offering information as well as influencing pro-environmental attitudes and consequently the behaviour of grade 11 learners in the Gauteng province of South Africa. The Energy Dialogues was conducted in a non-formal learning environment. Learners on the programme were challenged to propose various forms of ‘action taking’ to promote Energy Dialogues amongst their peers, in their school, at home, and in their community. Seven out of twenty schools met the challenge. The research project captured the social interaction among learners during the “Energy Dialogues” programme. A survey confirmed that learners still possess alternative ideas with regards to energy use and management after classroom instruction. While learners have significant knowledge of the causes and consequences of poor energy usage, this does not translate into change in behaviour. Creating an environment of group learning may influence the learners’ lifestyle choices. Learners are more inclined to align themselves with the values of a group. An active learning framework of the Energy Dialogues gave learners an opportunity to take personal responsibility for the environment. They redefined their culture, physically engaged in activity and spoke the language of the educator. While the learners’ visit to DEC was a one-time occurrence, and the findings cannot be generalised, this study may inform future longitudinal research which would offer information of the causal relationships of the components influencing sustainable practices.

by Wong Ka-Ming. / Thesis (M.A.Ed.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1989. / Bibliography: leaves 164-173.

The aim of this study is to identify a teaching strategy which can enable Further Education and Training learners to enquire creative problem solving skills. A programme was formulated to this effect. Four sessions were conducted to the subject of study using facilitation as teaching method. Facilitation engages learners actively in learning activities when compared to traditional and old teaching methods. Participants were engaged in different activities which enable the participants to use creative problem solving skills. At the beginning of the programme, the participants were not as active as towards the end. Based on the creativity that the participants displayed towards the end of the programme, the researcher concludes that the participants were able to acquire creative problem solving skills. / Dissertation (MEd (Guidance and Counselling))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted

Purpose of the Investigation. The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether a treatment of design-related heuristics would affect the judged value of student design products. Procedures. Subjects consisted of 38 foundation-level design students at Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana. Following five weeks of basic design instruction, a pretest, constructed to measure design problem-solving performance in relation to two problem-types (a Baseline Problem and a Conceptual Problem), was issued to two groups. Thereafter, a treatment of design-related heuristics was administered to one group; the other group served as a control. After a period of four weeks, in which both groups worked an identical series of problems, a post-test was issued.Evaluation of pre-test and post-test designs was performed by five designer/educators using a Design Evaluation Rating Scale, an instrument used to quantify judgments regarding six discrete evaluative criteria (i.e., General Impression, Completion, Figural Originality, Conceptual Originality, Aesthetic Value, and Functionalness). Two null hypotheses were tested which maintained that no significant interaction effects would occur for either the Baseline Problem or the Conceptual Problem between factors of (a) time-of-test (pre-test, post-test) and (b) group (experimental, control) for seven dependent variables (i.e., Overall Score, General Impression, Completion, Figural Originality, Conceptual Originality, Aesthetic Value, Functionalness). The .05 level of confidence was set as the critical level for rejection of hypotheses. Inter-rater reliability was computed, and found to be high for three of the four test problems.Results and'Conclusions1. Null Hypothesis Number one was rejected, suggesting that the heuristics treatment aided the experimental group in their performance on the Baseline Problem. Null Hypothesis Number Two was not rejected, suggesting that the treatment failed to aid the experimental group in their performance on the Conceptual Problem.2. Problem structure apparently affected the design problem-solving behavior and performance of the foundation-level design students, suggesting that highly complex or abstract problems are best reserved for more advanced design courses.3. A measured construct of "design value" can be operationally defined and expert judgments thereby quantified to validly measure the real-world value of design products

This work set out to investigate two questions: 1) what is the state of qualitative understanding of magnetism at various stages of expertise? 2) What approaches to problem-solving are used across the spectrum of expertise? I studied three groups: ten novices (university students who had completed one introductory course in electricity and magnetism), ten experts-in-training (upper division and graduate students) and 11 experts (physics professors and researchers). Data collection involved structured interviews during which participants solved a series of non-standard problems in magnetism while thinking out loud. The problems were designed to test for conceptual understanding. The interviews were audio taped, transcribed, and analyzed using a grounded theory approach. None of the novices and only a few of the experts in training showed a strong understanding of inductance, magnetic energy, and magnetic pressure; and for the most part they tended not to approach problems visually. Novices frequently described gist memories of demonstrations, text book problems, and rules (heuristics). However, these fragmentary mental models were not complete enough to allow them to reason productively. Experts-in-training were able to solve problems that the novices were not able to solve, many times simply because they had greater recall of the material, and therefore more confidence in their facts. Much of their thinking was concrete, based on mentally manipulating objects. Three, however, exhibited traits of experts, albeit not consistently. The experts solved most of the problems in ways that were both effective and efficient. Part of the efficiency derived from their ability to visualize and thus reason in terms of field lines. / text

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The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate critical thinking development in an introductory computer programming course in which problem-solving was a key component of the course, compared with another college level computing course in which problem-solving is not a key component. There were two hypotheses in this study. The first was that students would show a greater increase in critical thinking skills after they participate in CINS 113 than CINS 101. The second hypothesis was that students’ critical thinking skills at the beginning of CINS 113 would predict the final grade in the course. Prior to conducting the study, approval was received from both institutions’ review boards and all guidelines were followed. A control group was recruited from students enrolled in a course that was determined to not have problem-solving as a key component of the course and an experimental group was recruited from students enrolled in an introductory computer programming course. Both courses were from a Midwestern community college. Program chairs from various regions throughout the state volunteered their faculty and students to participate in the study. Students were administered the Cornell Critical Thinking Test on the first day of the semester and again at the end of the semester. At the end of the semester, faculty submitted final semester grades for all students participating in the program. A comparison of the pretest was made against the posttest using a repeating ANOVA test to see if there was a significant change between the two scores and if there was a difference in the change in scores between the two groups. In addition, the pretest was analyzed against the final grade for the course to determine if a relationship existed between the critical thinking score at the beginning of the course and the student’s success in the course. A correlational analysis, as well as regression analysis, was conducted. There were a total of 213 students who completed the study. The results of the study supported both hypotheses. / Department of Educational Studies

According to recent research a focus in teaching mathematics to children is the development of problem solving abilities. Problem solving means the process of applying mathematical knowledge and skills to unfamiliar situations. A case study was done using a problem solving approach to the learning and teaching of mathematics with a sample of teachers registered at the Umlazi College For Further Education. These teachers were familiar with the traditional approach of teaching mathematics through drill and practice methods. The new syllabus that is to be implemented emphasises a problem solving approach to the teaching of mathematics. This study set out to implement a problem solving approach with primary school mathematics teachers so that they would be someway prepared for the innovations of the new syllabus. Workshops were conducted using an action research approach with discourse and practice leading to reconstruction with improvements. Early theorists like Piaget and Bruner offered ways of understanding children's learning, to help the teacher develop his teaching. Dienes introduced an element of play and Dewey spoke of the importance of experience. Dienes and Dewey show the first positive signs of recognising the importance of social interaction in the learning situation. Social interaction lays emphasis on language and discussion in the mathematics classroom. A social constructivist model of teaching and learning was used for the research. This research includes a study of the established ideas on developing a problem solving approach to mathematics teaching. These ideas were incorporated into the workshops that the group of teachers attended. During the workshops teachers were gradually exposed to the essence of problem solving techniques through much group discussion and doing practical exercises, which they could then implement in their classes. The teachers reported back at each subsequent workshop. A non-participant observer evaluated the development at the workshops. The workshops' success was evident from the change in the teachers' attitudes and behaviour as well as their feedback of what transpired in the classroom. They reported on the change in their roles as information suppliers to facilitators where the thinking process was focused on, rather than the importance of a correct answer. In the workshops the teachers themselves moved from passive listeners to active participants. It would appear from this preliminary investigation that through using a problem solving approach in workshops, inservice teachers can benefit constructively from this approach and will attempt to use it in their own teaching.

M.Ed. (Curriculum Studies) / Problem solving is potentially one of the most valuable skills that can be acquired in the primary school. In spite of it's value problem solving was not successful implemented in overseas countries. Schools in South-Africa have just started to implement problem solving techniques in the primary school. To ensure successful implementation of problem solving in South-Africa this study examines possible reasons for it's failure in the primary school. Success in Problem solving depends on the correct perspectives to problem solving and the feeling of success by the teachers and pupils. This implies that the teachers and pupils must see progress by using problem solving in the mathematics class. A new teaching model was designed to prevent or eliminate the failure of problem solving in the classroom. This model was developed from a problem solving perspective and can be described as a Social Constructivistic model. This model includes lesson structures, worksheets and a proposed teaching style. The.basis of the model is real world problems. It was found that after nine weeks of implementation the children were positive toward problem solving and mathematics. An empirical investigation showed that children. can become beter problemsolvers in a relative short time span. This study suggests a holistic approach to implementing problem solving in mathematics. This approach includes a change in the whole educational situation. The teacher needs maximum assistance through tutorial programs, worksheets and staff supervision.

Computational thinking (CT) is gaining recognition as an important skill for students, both in computer science and other disciplines. Although there has been much focus on this field in recent years, it is rarely taught as a formal course, and there is little consensus on what exactly CT entails and how to teach and evaluate it. This research addresses the lack of resources for integrating CT into the introductory computer science curriculum. The question that we aim to answer is whether CT can be evaluated in a meaningful way. A CT framework that outlines the skills and techniques comprising CT and describes the nature of student engagement was developed; this is used as the basis for this research. An assessment (CT test) was then created to gauge the ability of incoming students, and a CT-specfic computer game was developed based on the analysis of an existing game. A set of problem solving strategies and practice activities were then recommended based on criteria defined in the framework. The results revealed that the CT abilities of first year university students are relatively poor, but that the students' scores for the CT test could be used as a predictor for their future success in computer science courses. The framework developed for this research proved successful when applied to the test, computer game evaluation, and classification of strategies and activities. Through this research, we established that CT is a skill that first year computer science students are lacking, and that using CT exercises alongside traditional programming instruction can improve students' learning experiences.