Stoichiometry is proven to be one of the difficult topics for learners in the NSSC Physical Science syllabus due to its abstract nature. Over the years the Examiner’s reports reveal that learners' performance is very poor in this topic. In addition, learners fear the topic and have developed a negative attitude toward it. It is against this background that I decided to carry out a qualitative case study; investigating how teachers mediate the learning of stoichiometry. The study was conducted at two schools in the Oshikoto Region, Namibia and it involved two grade 11 Physical Science teachers. The study is located within the interpretive paradigm and made use of interviews, document analysis and lesson observations (which were video-taped and transcribed) followed by stimulated recall interviews to generate data. The generated data were analyzed using the inductive approach whereby themes were identified. The themes were later used to develop analytical statements in relation to my research questions and these were used to interpret the data. Moreover, the study adopted the notion of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) proposed by Shulman (1986, 1987) as well as Vygotsky's (1978) mediation of learning and social constructivism as the theoretical frameworks. The data were validated by triangulation, member checking as well as using the stimulated recall interviews while watching the videos with each participant. The findings of the study show that teachers use several tools to mediate the learning process and this includes the use of language, learners' prior knowledge and analogies. In addition, it emerged in this study that teachers are faced with a number of challenges when mediating learning of this topic. Hence, the study recommends that teachers should develop their pedagogical content knowledge for them to effectively eliminate the challenges faced as well as to come up with the best teaching strategies which they can use to mediate learning and help learners make sense of the topic stoichiometry.

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This study was conducted in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape, South Mrica. Triggered by the demands of South Mrican post-apartheid curriculum transformation, the study focused on establishing a sustainable science teachers' trans formative and continuous professional development (TTCPD) network with the view to improving their practice. It is premised on the assumption that teachers are capable of taking responsibility for their own professional development. It is a case study carried over a period offour years with a group of eight teachers. Rooted in the socially critical-emancipatory orientation in conjunction with the participatory action research approach, and located in the qualitative and interpretive research paradigms, it focuses on doing research in democratic and egalitarian ways through working with teachers rather than on them. Such a stance supposes a collaborative partnership and a dialogic relationship viewed as being both reciprocal and mutually enriching for the teachers who were seen as co-learners and co-researchers in this study. Two main goals of the study may be identified. For the first goal, the actors in this study established a sustainable and participative approach to professional development. This was explored through the formation of a TTCPD network which was informed by the actor-network theory framework. Our focus was on co-construction of scientific knowledge utilising the development and adaptation of learning and teaching support materials (LTSMs) as a catalyst to drive the process. The second goal was to examine how the TTCPD network enhanced the teachers' subject-content knowledge, pedagogical-content knowledge as well as individual and collaborative reflections. The research process evolved into three mam phases: The initial phase involved adapting and modifying LTSMs which were initially used in conjunction with microscale science kits and pilot tested with a group of Grade 10 students. This led to the second phase of the research project, which was aimed at gaining insights into the science teachers' capabilities in developing teaching and learning units of work. ii \ The second phase focused on the development of a collaborative orientation to the development of LTSMs and culminated in the formation of sub-networks responsible for certain tasks within the broader network. AB common ground, we focused on developing teaching and learning units of work on the following science topics: electrostatics, electricity, and electrochemistry, to illuminate and foster integration within science. The third phase was concerned with gaining insights into the science teachers' practice in their classrooms. This phase focused on putting theory into practice through the collaborative implementation of teaching and learning units of work. Feedback on the lessons was discussed during our workshops as an attempt to further enhance collaborative reflections. Data was generated usmg workshop discussions with reflective notes; active interviews; focus group discussions; co-teaching, participant observation and videotaped lessons with reflective notes; and a research journal. A variety of data generation techniques were employed to enhance validity and quality of the research. Techniques for validation and trustworthiness of data included triangulation; member checks orface validity; prolonged engagement; catalytic validity and peer validation. The study exposed the underlying historical, ideological and epistemological contradictions of the teachers' past educational backgrounds. It emerged that the ways in which they were taught were at times an inhibitor to innovativeness, perpetuating transmissive approaches to teaching and learning. Lack of professional development and support, and the tensions between policy formulation and implementation exacerbated this. Reflections from the teachers' experiences further revealed that, for teachers to be effective agents of change in the reform process, empowerment opportunities are vital. AB a result, exposure to the TTCPD network was useful in capacitating the teachers with the development of LTSMs, which led to the enhancement of their pedagogical, and science content knowledge conceptual development as well as collaborative reflections.The main findings of this study is that, science teachers' transformative and continuous professional development based on participative approaches and mutual collegial support are indispensable, and that teachers' socio-cultural contexts and experiences should be taken into consideration during this process. Teachers should be regarded as central in the process, and mutual respect and dialogical relationships are pivotal. A further recommendation of this study is that capacity-building is critical for quality teaching and learning, and there is a need to move beyond the rhetoric of complacency to pro-activism, supporting ongoing development of teachers in professional transformative networks. / KMBT_363 / Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in

The constructivist world view is advocated in the Namibian National Curriculum for Basic Education (NNCBE, 2010) since it encourages teachers to use different knowledge sources. This perspective embraces a multicultural approach to science teaching and learning. Indigenous knowledge (IK) and western science (WS) are some of the knowledge sources that are advocated. Yet, it has been noted that some science textbooks used in school science curricula do not consider IK. It is often diminished and considered of lesser value. The sole use of WS in teaching and learning is often distant from IK sources which can be used as prior knowledge. In this study, I therefore endeavoured to minimize this gap in the science curriculum. Essentially, the study focused on investigating trainee teachers’ engagement with prior everyday knowledge and experiences of natural phenomena in teaching physical science concepts. The rationale behind the study emerged while I was supervising twelve trainee teachers on school based studies (SBS) in the Caprivi Region. Observations revealed that learners frequently asked trainee teachers to relate their IK to WS to contextualize what they were learning. However, most trainee teachers seemed to experience challenges. This pedagogical gap and challenge was investigated using the instruments below. An analysis was done on the Namibian National Curriculum for Basic Education (NNCBE, 2010), extracts of research papers and a chapters on pressure in physical science textbooks. A worksheet was used to orientate trainee teachers with suggestions on how IK could be fused with WS to contextualize teaching and learning. Thereafter, this was followed by the simultaneous use of brainstorming and audio-visual techniques. Base line instruments paved the way for the main data generating techniques; namely, microteaching, audio-visual techniques, critical partners’ observation and focus group interview. There was triangulation of data collection instruments which enhanced validation followed by tabulation and data collation to develop themes. Analysis entailed checking theme repetition, indigenous categories and key words in context techniques. Themes enabled the construction of analytical statements which were discussed with reference to the relevant literature, theory and subsequently aligned to the research questions. Findings from this study include the suggestions that IK can be incorporated into teaching and learning of science concepts through the use of models or practical activities, science language used in the community and some cultural artifacts. The relevance of incorporating such type of knowledge is to contextualize science teaching and learning. The study therefore concluded that the incorporation of IK into teaching and learning of science concepts; (a) broadens the curriculum as it addresses conceptual progression and cohesion; (b) contextualizes concepts taught; (c) empowers teachers to use a practical curriculum and (d) it also creates space for misconceptions that come with IK to be identified and corrected. The study thus recommends that cultural artifacts and the social science jargon used in the community of the trainee teachers can be used to incorporate IK with WS as these types of knowledge are not mutually exclusive but in fact complement one another.

The multiple case study investigated levels and types of transfer observed in a K-8 STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) academy in a project-based learning (PBL) environment. The academy was constructed two years prior to the study and conducive to PBL instruction. The students and teachers were in the second year of using PBL in the subject of science at the time of the study. The grade levels observed were second, fourth, and sixth grade and each grade level had three PBL units examined from the beginning to the end of the unit. The nine case studies, from the three different grade levels, were observed to identify Haskell's levels and types of transfer as determined by project requirements, observation of students, completed projects, and student interviews. The findings from this study showed that while projects moved the students beyond knowledge acquisition to application of knowledge in completed projects such as books, films, dances, etc., higher levels of transfer and more types of transfer were not evident. Therefore, based on the results of this study, the evidence of lower levels of transfer suggests that the PBL units, though inventive and potentially valuable to student learning, were not designed for higher levels of transfer.

This study investigated the effects of chemical concept understanding level on students’ achievement in biochemical topics (photosynthesis, respiration, diffusion and osmosis, carbohydrates, protein, fats and enzymes) in some selected secondary schools in Delta State of Nigeria. The study made use of mixed method research approach. Quantitatively, the design of the study was quasi experimental non-randomized pre-test and post-test control group design. A case study Embedded Design was adopted to take care of the qualitative aspect of the mixed method study. Kuder-Richardson formula 20 (K-R20) was used to calculate the reliability coefficient of the test. The internal consistency of reliability co-efficient was calculated to be 0.76 that made the instrument to be accepted as reliable for the study. The population of this study consisted of all senior secondary (II) biology students in the twenty (25) local government areas of Delta State of Nigeria. Six secondary schools randomly selected from the three senatorial districts of the State were used for the study, with three (3) schools for experiments specially taught with emphasis on both ideas (concepts) and skills, problem-based interactive learning ensuring concept connections and the other three (3) for control groups. Intact classes were used for both groups. The intact sample was made up of five hundred and ninety two (592) students for the quantitative study; while two teachers and four students were purposively sampled for the qualitative aspect of the study. Four (4) research questions were raised and answered and four (4) null hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The research instruments used were the Test of Students Understanding of Chemical Concepts (TOSUCC), Biology Achievement Test (BAT) which measured achievement in biochemical topics and Interview Schedules for both teachers and students. The quantitative data collected were analysed using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) for the hypotheses and mean ratings for the research questions; and the qualitative data were analysed by coding and themes generation and interpretations. Findings show that the experimental group performed better than the control group in the biochemical topics. An effect size of Cohen`s d equal to 0.996 was determined from the mean scores and standard deviations of the experimental and control samples for the study. Therefore, the experimental group had better achievement because determined effect size seemed large enough in favour of the treatment group. No significant interaction effects of gender and location on students` level of achievement in both experimental and control groups were established by the study. The teachers in particular should use the outcome of this study to improve on their teaching, emphasizing on concept understanding in their teaching and prior learning/knowledge or pre – requisite concepts. This is because certain chemical concepts are required before the teaching of the main topics (Biochemical topics in this case). In other words, this study recommends that secondary school biology and chemistry teachers should teach for concept understanding, topics that are related to the new topics before teaching the topics. / Science Education / Ph. D. (Science Education)

Whole language philosophy

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