Primary science education is a key area in the curriculum, yet primary science education is still less than adequate, both in the number of teachers implementing a primary science syllabus and the quality of primary science teaching. Mentoring may support both teachers in their roles as mentors and preservice teachers as mentees to develop their primary science teaching practices. This research investigated mentoring for developing preservice teachers of primary science, which was divided into two stages. Stage 1 was concerned with the development of an instrument aimed at measuring preservice teachers' perceptions of their mentoring in primary science teaching. Stage 2 involved developing a mentoring intervention based on the literature and the instrument developed from Stage 1 of this research, and further investigated the influence of the intervention on mentoring practices. Stage 1 involved a survey instrument developed from the literature and a small qualitative study. This instrument was refined after pilot testing and then administered to 331 final year preservice teachers. Stage 2 involved pilot testing a mentoring intervention, which was then implemented with 12 final year preservice teachers and their mentors over a four-week professional experience (practicum). Using a two-group posttest only design, these 12 final year preservice teachers (intervention group) and 60 final year preservice teachers (control group) from the same university were compared after their four-week professional experience program. The survey instrument developed from Stage 1 was used to measure both the control group's and intervention group's perceptions of their mentoring in primary science teaching. Stage 1 results indicated that five factors characterised effective mentoring practices in primary science teaching and were supported by Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The final CFA model was theoretically and statistically significant, that is, X2(513) = 1335, p < .001, CMIDF = 2.60, IFI = .922, CFI = .921, RMR = .066, RMSEA = .070. These factors were Personal Attributes, System Requirements, Pedagogical Knowledge, Modelling, and Feedback, and had Cronbach alpha reliability coefficients of .93, .76, .94, .95, and .92, respectively. Stage 2 findings indicated that mentees involved in the intervention received statistically significant more mentoring experiences in primary science teaching on each of the 5 factors and on 31 of the 34 survey items. It was concluded that the mentoring intervention provided mentors and mentees with opportunities for developing their primary science teaching practices. Additionally, this approach simultaneously targets mentors and mentees' teaching practices and was considered economically viable.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-11-25Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:33:11Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 costa_rmmc_me_prud.pdf: 812535 bytes, checksum: 2d16c60725d2ed3527c88e8ecc24cc36 (MD5) / O principal objetivo desta pesquisa foi compreender os processos de ensino e de aprendizagem em Ciências, através de análises da produção escrita de alunos do sétimo ano do ensino fundamental. Duas turmas de sétimo ano do Colégio de Aplicação João XXIII/ UFJF participaram da pesquisa, desenvolvendo atividades em aulas, a princípio consideradas mais contextualizadas. O tema ensinado foi a Teoria da Evolução, escolhido em consonância com os conteúdos previstos para o ano e em comemoração aos 150 anos de publicação do livro A Origem das Espécies, de Charles Darwin. As atividades de ensino tiveram os objetivos de despertar os alunos para um aprendizado que transcendesse os temas curriculares do ano e de desenvolver competências para o entendimento de temas mais complexos, previstos para os anos seguintes. Além das aulas expositivas, foram realizadas atividades com diferentes recursos, como filmes, histórias em quadrinhos, folhetos publicitários, notícias e pesquisas na internet, seguidas de debates e discussões entre os alunos. Foram analisados os textos produzidos por dezoito alunos. Da produção escrita, foram selecionados fragmentos relevantes para a análise. Nas análises, procuramos compreender se os alunos expressavam corretamente as ideias do ponto de vista científico, mas, além disso, distinguir os gestos de interpretação que constituem os sentidos, bem como o entendimento e a evolução das palavras que materializam os conceitos. As análises tiveram como referencial a Teoria da Enunciação de Mikhail Bakhtin, pautada principalmente nos conceitos de gêneros do discurso, réplica, palavra alheia, palavra própria. A pesquisa contou com apoio da Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora e do Colégio de Aplicação João XXIII e se inscreve na linha 2 do Programa de Pós-Graduação da Unesp de Presidente Prudente: Práticas e Processos Formativos em Educação / The main objective of this research has been to comprehend the teaching and learning processes in Sciences by the analysis of the written production from the students belonging from the seventh grade in Elementary School. Two groups of students from the 7th grade at “Colégio de Aplicação João XXIII” from UFJF have participated of the research, developing activities in classes, at first considered more contextualized. The learning theme was the Theory of Evolution, chosen in consonance to the contents previewed for the grade and in commemoration to the 150 years old of the publication of the book The Origin of the Species, by Charles Darwin. The activities for learning had as objectives to awaken the students for a learning that overcomes the curricular themes from this grade and to develop the competences to understand more complex themes, which will be studied in the coming years. In addition to lectures, it was realized some activities with different resources, such as films, cartoons, advertising leaflets, news and Internet research, followed by debates and discussions among students. It was analyzed the texts produced by eighteen students. From the written production, relevant fragments were selected for the analysis. In the analysis, we have looked forward to comprehend if the students express correctly the ideas using a scientific point of view, but besides this, to distinguish the gestures of interpretation that constitute the senses, as well as the understanding of the evolution of the words that materialize the concepts. The analysis had as theoretical reference the Theory of Enunciation by Mikhail Bakhtin, based mainly on the concept of gender of the discourse, replies, words... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:31:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2008-03-28Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:02:40Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 silva_pgp_dr_bauru.pdf: 1443273 bytes, checksum: e9c4606959d320c45930b364c5b1c3ad (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / São freqüentes os textos que consideram que a botãnica apresenta grande dificuldade no seu processo de ensino e aprendizagem, gerando pouco interesse e baixo rendimento. Mas, por quê? Quais situações contribuem para reforçar esta afirmação? A partir de uma revisão teórica e histórica sobre o desenvolvimento do estudo dos vegetais, é possível dizer que uma delas seria a falta de atualização do professor em relação ao conhecimento botânico, cada vez mais específico. Outra situação, conseqüentemente, seria a forma como a botânica vem sendo ensinada: muito teórica, desestimulante, fundamentada na reprodução, repetição e fragmentação e distante da realidade dos alunos e dos problemas ambientais atuais. Percebe-se, enfim, a questão metodológica como central no processo de ensino e aprendizagem de botânica, dificultando, o entendimento e criando aversões quando não adequada. Segundo estudos recentes, é importante que os alunos tenham contato com os vegetais na natureza, aproximando-se do ambiente natural. / Many papers hold the view that botany poses great challenge in its teaching and learning process, arising little interest and resulting in poor productivity. What factors account for this? Based on a historical and theoretical review on the development of the study of plants, it is possible to say that one of these factors is the lack of teachers with an updated Knowledge in this increasingly specific field. Another factor is the method applied in the teaching/learning process: too theoretical, unexciting, based on reproduction, repetition and fragmentation, distant from tody's reality and environmental problems. This inadequate method makes difficult for students to understand Botany, in some cases leading to aversion. Therefore, the methodological matter becomes the center of debate concerning the theaching/learning process of the study of plants. According to recent research, it is essential that students come into contact with plants within their natural environment.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:24:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2012-03-31Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:21:20Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 gucao_mfb_me_bauru.pdf: 634387 bytes, checksum: fae3ae34245bd12a6f7d7442ae8cac1a (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / A inclusão da história da ciência no ensino é hoje alvo de intensa discussão no meio acadêmico, haja vista os inúmeros estudos realizados que apontam para a real contribuição que esta abordagem pode ter no entendimento do conhecimento científico. A ciência galileana é, para nós, um exemplo que pode ser explorado de maneira frutífera neste âmbito e dá subsídios para diferentes discussões. No presente trabalho analisamos o Diálogo sobre os dois máximos sistemas de mundo ptolomaico e copernicano, de Galileu Galilei, sob a perspectiva científica e filosófica com o objetivo de discutir as suas possíveis contribuições para o entendimento de ciência e de historiografia da ciência, mais especificamente, de movimento e de referencial de movimento por meio da discussão sobre os modelos de sistema de mundo proposto deste a antiguidade até o sec. XVII. Além disso, apresentamos parte da historiografia galileana com as leituras de Alexandre Koyré, Paul Feyerabend e Maurice Clavelin. Focamos nossa discussão no ensino superior, pensando em sua relevância para a formação do futuro professor de física / The inclusion of history of science in teaching today is the subject of intense debate in the academy, given the numerous studies that point to the real contribution that this approach may have the understanding of scientific knowledge. The Galilean science is for us an example that can be fruitfully explored this area and given rants to various discussions. In this paper we analyze the Dialogue on the Two World Systems Ptolemaic and Copernican, Galileo Galilei, in the philosophical and scientifc perspective in order to discuss their possible contributions to the understanding of science and historiography of science, more specifically, movement referential through the discussion on standardized system propostos world from antiquy to the sec. XVII. In addition, we present part of historiography with the Galilean readings Alexandre Koyré, Maurice and Paul Feyerabend Clavelin. We focus our discussion on higher education, considering its relavance to the education of future teachers of physics

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfilment of the requirements for the Doctoral Degree in the Department of Curriculum and Instructional Studies at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2013. / This study sets out to investigate the teaching of social sciences learning area in the context of curriculum change in the Senior Phase of the GET band. The main purpose of this study is to investigate educators’ experience and competence in the teaching of social sciences. The study targeted Senior Phase educators in the GET band because they had significant experience in teaching the new broad-field curriculum. This study is located within the interpretative paradigm using the methodology of critical analysis. It uses the mixed-mode approach, combining both qualitative and quantitative methods. Sampling of the participants was random owing to the poor accessibility of some schools in the circuit. The first research instrument was administered to Senior Phase educators to solicit their experiences of teaching learning areas since the implementation of NCS introduced the interdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning in schools. The second research instrument was the interview, followed by observation, to collect information on educators’ perception on a broad-field curriculum which advocates an integrated approach to the teaching of history and geography in schools. The third instrument was an in-depth interview which was used together with focus groups to solicit information about educators’ disciplinary and pedagogical knowledge, both of which are necessary for teaching history and geography as one discipline. The results showed that social science educators are still facing challenges with regard to the integrated teaching of history and geography. The results of the study have revealed that social science teachers in the Senior Phase are still teaching history and geography as distinct fields of knowledge. The critical analysis of findings has indicated that teachers’ ability to understand the broad-field nature of social science is still weak and its implementation is in conflict with the policy guidelines of integration.

The department of computer science, across many schools in the US, have been seeing a constant increase in enrollments over the last decade. This particularly impacts class sizes of introductory courses, as they are usually listed as required prerequisites courses. The students in these courses typically have very little or zero prior experience with programming. In such course settings, it is not an exaggeration to state that most students in these courses spend more one-on-one time with the course teaching assistants than they do with their course instructors. This implies that the kind of individual attention provided by the TAs of such courses to their students has a very high impact on the students’ learning and the quality of the TAs would greatly impact the quality of the course and directly or indirectly also impact the student retention rate and their interest in computer science for their academic/industry careers. We wanted to take a closer look at what it is that these TAs do, and how they do it. We observed TAs from two introductory courses for almost about two semesters, and conducted a focus group meeting each with TAs and students enrolled in these course. We found that the TAs felt responsible for instilling an interest in computer science in the students, apart from helping them to learn by themselves. We also found that the students see teaching assistants as a very valuable resource, when it comes to actually applying the concepts that they learn in lecture. Our findings tells us that there is a gap between what the TAs think they need to give as help to the students and what the students tend to expect from their TAs. We also discuss the implications of our findings and possible future work. / Master of Science

Ciência e Tecnologia são considerados empreendimentos culturalmente referenciados, p ira além de históricos e sociais. A categoria dual Fragmentos e Totalidades é contemplada tanto na criação científica quanto no seu ensinar-aprender. Diante das prevalências do conhecimento fragmentado e do componente inercial que resiste ao novo na educação científica dos vários níveis de escolarização, é proposta a adoção de conceitos supradisciplinares e unificadores para ancorar o tratamento didático-pedagógico desse conhecimento. As possibilidades de conquistas de ganhos culturais pelos educandos na estruturação de unidades interligadas de saber são discutidas e avaliadas. / Science and Technology are determined by cultural relations, besides their constraints with historical and societal process. The dualistic category Fragments & Wholeness is considered in epistemological and pedagogical references. In opposition to the fragmentation process and the inercial component to the new knowledge that still remains in all the Science Education levels, the adoption of unifying concepts as anchors for the didatic treatment of this knowledge is proposed. The possibilities of cultural acquirements conquered by the students during the construction of knowledge structures in the perspective of linkages and unities are discussed and evaluated.

Ciência e Tecnologia são considerados empreendimentos culturalmente referenciados, p ira além de históricos e sociais. A categoria dual Fragmentos e Totalidades é contemplada tanto na criação científica quanto no seu ensinar-aprender. Diante das prevalências do conhecimento fragmentado e do componente inercial que resiste ao novo na educação científica dos vários níveis de escolarização, é proposta a adoção de conceitos supradisciplinares e unificadores para ancorar o tratamento didático-pedagógico desse conhecimento. As possibilidades de conquistas de ganhos culturais pelos educandos na estruturação de unidades interligadas de saber são discutidas e avaliadas. / Science and Technology are determined by cultural relations, besides their constraints with historical and societal process. The dualistic category Fragments & Wholeness is considered in epistemological and pedagogical references. In opposition to the fragmentation process and the inercial component to the new knowledge that still remains in all the Science Education levels, the adoption of unifying concepts as anchors for the didatic treatment of this knowledge is proposed. The possibilities of cultural acquirements conquered by the students during the construction of knowledge structures in the perspective of linkages and unities are discussed and evaluated.

Teaching is a dynamic process involving teachers and learners in meaningful and collaborative efforts. Therefore, interacting with learners in the classroom is of vital importance to the teacher in order to enhance the teaching and learning process. The purpose of this research is to determine the factors influencing the participation of secondary school science learners in classroom communication (CC). The study was conducted in all the secondary schools in the Potchefstroom area, A questionnaire was compiled to investigate learners' level of participation in science CC, An interview guide for teachers was also compiled. A total of 235 Grade B learners were randomly selected from twelve (12) schools. The analysis showed that the teachers used primarily teaching-learning procedures that did not conform to the requirements of OBE. The reason is not necessarily that they are not well-informed on OBE principles, but the practicality of their leaching situations necessitated it In the process, learners do not acquire enough knowledge and skills needed for science classroom learning activities. This fails the main aim of enabling learners to participate in classroom communication, The limited use of communicative strategies in science teaching-learning can be attributed to a number of possible reasons, amongst which are: communication apprehension, poor language development, culture/heredity, and the types of classroom reinforcements and teaching styles. This study also focused on the factors that can positively influence classroom communication. An interview was conducted with teachers with the help of an interview guide. The results indicated that teachers, although generally warm and accepting, seem to be inflexible and lack dynamism when presenting the lesson, which in tum affects learners' participation in the classroom / Thesis (M.Ed.)--Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, 2002

Orientador: Jair Lopes Júnior / Banca: Ana Maria de Andrade Caldeira / Banca: Sérgio Vasconcelos de Luna / Resumo: Os Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais da área de Ciências Naturais para as séries iniciais do ensino fundamental preconizam, como objetivos de ensino, a aquisição e o desenvolvimento de distintas capacidades que, em última instância, são inferidas a partir de "fazeres" dos alunos. Contudo, propor orientações didáticas consistentes com o tratamento curricular desses "fazeres" (saber fazer como conteúdo curricular) mostra-se insuficiente para induzir mudanças em práticas de ensino comprometidas com a transmissão de conteúdos conceituais no ensino de Ciências. Esse estudo avaliou se interações planejadas entre o pesquisador e professoras das séries iniciais para o planejamento e a execução de duas unidades didáticas contribuiriam para a construção de conhecimentos sobre saberes docentes associados com a seleção de objetivos de ensino, com a escolha de práticas de ensino e de avaliação compatíveis com tais objetivos e com a interpretação das medidas de aprendizagem. Participaram quatro professoras do 2º ciclo (3ª e 4ª séries) do ensino fundamental da rede estadual de ensino. Todas as atividades de coleta de dados foram realizadas na própria escola. Na Fase I ocorreu a caracterização das práticas educativas, por meio de entrevistas e de atividades de observação das aulas ministradas pelas participantes. Na Fase II ocorreram interações entre o pesquisador e cada professora individualmente para o planejamento, a elaboração e a execução de uma unidade didática (UD1) sobre tema da área de Ciências Naturais selecionado pela professora. Em entrevistas realizadas na Fase III foram comparadas as aulas ministradas antes e após a UD1. Em seguida, nas Fases IV, V e VI ocorreram o planejamento, a execução e a avaliação da segunda unidade didática... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: This work investigated educational practice about science teaching in primary school, regarding the different curricular contents modalities. The aim was evaluated if planned intervention between researcher and four in-service public primary teachers to elaborate and to carry out a didactic unit could support the development of skills related with procedural content teaching and assessment. The data were gathered in teachers' school in the following sequence: a) interviews and class observations; b) planning, performing and observing two didactic units; c) didactic units evaluation. The didactic units performed showed larger teaching acts diversity than previous teachers' practices. Also, educational practices about didactic units allowed the development and emission of different behavioral measures concerned to selected teaching purposes. To search for procedures that could promote primary teachers' autonomy in selection and performance of these educational practices connected with teaching professional qualification programs about conceptual knowledge or content (facts, principles and concepts) in natural science domain justify the continuance of related studies. / Mestre