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Teacher thinking and interconnectedness: teachers' thinking about students' experiences and science concepts during classroom teachingUpadhyay, Bhaskar Raj 28 August 2008 (has links)
Not available / text
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The effects of collaborative learning on students' attitude and academic achievement in learning computer programmingWong, Wing-man., 黃永民. January 2001 (has links)
published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education
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Collaborative learning in science project among primary 5 students using Knowledge Forum (KF)Yang, Shun-shing., 楊順成. January 2004 (has links)
published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Education / Master / Master of Science in Information Technology in Education
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Internal assessment in science at the junior secondary school level: an investigationChan, Kwok-man., 陳國民. January 1987 (has links)
published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Philosophy
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The presentation and interpretation of arrow symbolism in biology diagrams at secondary-level.Du Plessis, Lynn. January 2006 (has links)
The literature contains conflicting ideas about the effectiveness of diagrams, and their constituent
symbolism as teaching and learning tools. In addition, only limited research has been specifically
conducted on the presentation and interpretation of arrow symbolism used in biology diagrams, let
alone on the nature, source and remediation of student difficulties caused by arrows. On the basis
of this limited research and 30 years of experience of teaching biology at secondary-level, the
author suspected that students might have difficulties interpreting arrow symbolism in diagrams
used as explanatory tools and decided to thoroughly investigate this issue. The hypothesis,
'Secondary-level students have difficulty with the use of arrow symbolism in biology diagrams' was
formulated and the following broad research questions defined to address the hypothesis:
1. How much of a problem is arrow symbolism in diagrams?
2. How effectively is arrow symbolism used in diagrams to promote the communication of intended
ideas?
3. To what extent does the design of arrow symbolism in diagrams influence students '
interpretation and difficulties?
4. How can the emerging empirical data and ideas from literature be combined to illustrate the
process of interpretation of arrow symbolism?
5. What measures can be suggested for improving the presentation and interpretation of arrow
symbolism in biology diagrams at secondary-level?
To address Research question 1, a content analysis of all arrow symbolism in seven popular
secondary-level biology textbooks was undertaken. This revealed a wide diversity of arrow styles,
spatial organisations, purposes and meanings that could be confusing to students. These results
suggested the need for an evaluation of the effectiveness of arrow symbolism (Research question
2). As there was no definitive set of guidelines available for specifically evaluating arrows, general
guidelines from the literature on diagrams were used to develop a set of 10 criteria, to evaluate the
syntactic, semantic and pragmatic dimensions of arrow symbolism, which were validated by
selected educators, students and a graphic design expert. Application of the criteria (which
constituted expert opinion) to the arrow symbolism used in 614 realistic, stylised and abstract
diagram types, revealed a relatively high incidence (30%) of inappropriately presented arrow
designs that could mislead students. To establish whether this problem could be the cause of
student difficulties, and to thereby address Research question 3, a stylised and an abstract diagram
were selected and evaluated according to the criteria. The results of the evaluation were compared
to the responses given by 174 students to a range of written and interview probes and student modified
diagrams. In this way, student performance was correlated with expert opinion. The
results confirmed that students experience a wide range of difficulties (26 categories) when
interpreting arrow symbolism, with some (12 categories) being attributable to inappropriately
presented arrow symbolism and others (14 categories) to student-related processing skills and
strategies at both surface- and deeper-levels of reasoning. To address question 4, the emerging
empirical data from the evaluation and student studies was combined with a wide range of
literature, to inform the development of a 3-level, non-tiered model of the process of interpretation
of arrow symbolism in diagrams. As this model emphasised the importance of both arrow
presentation in diagrams and arrow interpretation by students, it could be used as an effective
explanatory tool as well as a predictive tool to identify sources of difficulty with the use of arrow
symbolism. This model was, in turn, used to inform the compilation of a range of guidelines for
improving the presentation and interpretation of arrow symbolism, and so target Research question
5. These, and other guidelines grounded in the data and relevant literature, were suggested for all
role players, including students, educators, textbook writers, graphic artists and researchers, to use
as remedial tools. Future research should focus on the implementation of these guidelines and
studying their effectiveness for improving the presentation and interpretation of diagrams with
arrow and other types of symbolism. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.
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Identification and remediation of student difficulties with quantitative genetics.Hancock, Carolyn Elizabeth. January 2006 (has links)
Genetics has been identified as a subject area which many students find difficult to
comprehend. The researcher, who is also a lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal,
had noted over a number of years that students find the field of quantitative genetics
particularly challenging. The aim of this investigation was two-fold. Firstly, during the
diagnostic phase of the investigation, to obtain empirical evidence on the nature of
difficulties and alternative conceptions that may be experienced by some students in the
context of quantitative genetics. Secondly, to develop, implement and assess an
intervention during the remediation phase of the study which could address the identified
difficulties and alternative conceptions.
The research was conducted from a human constructivist perspective using an action
research approach. A mixed-method, pragmatic paradigm was employed. The study was
conducted at the University of KwaZulu-Natal over four years and involved third-year
students studying introductory modules in quantitative genetics. Empirical evidence of
students' conceptual frameworks, student difficulties and alternative conceptions was
obtained during the diagnostic phase using five research instruments. These included:
free-response probes, multiple-choice diagnostic tests, student-generated concept maps,
a word association study and student interviews. Data were collected, at the start and
completion of the modules, to ascertain the status of students' prior knowledge (prior
knowledge concepts), and what they had learnt during the teaching of the module
(quantitative genetics concepts).
Student-generated concept maps and student interviews were used to determine whether
students were able to integrate their knowledge and link key concepts of quantitative
genetics. This initial analysis indicated that many students had difficulty integrating their
knowledge of variance and heritability, and could not apply their knowledge of quantitative
genetics to the solution of practical problems.
Multiple-choice diagnostic tests and interviews with selected students were used to gather
data on student difficulties and alternative conceptions. The results suggested that
students held five primary difficulties or alternative conceptions with respect to prior
knowledge concepts: (1) confusion between the terms variation and variance; (2)
inappropriate association of heterozygosity with variation in a population; (3) inappropriate
association of variation with change; (4) inappropriate association of equilibrium with
inbred populations and with values of zero and one; and, (5) difficulty relating descriptive
statistics to graphs of a normal distribution. Furthermore, three major difficulties were
detected with respect to students understanding of quantitative genetics concepts: (1)
students frequently confused individual and population measures such as breeding value
and heritability; (2) students confused the terms heritability and inheritance; and, (3)
students were not able to link descriptive statistics such as variance and heritability to histograms. Students found the concepts of variance and heritability to be particularly
challenging. A synthesis of the results obtained from the diagnostic phase indicated that
many of the difficulties and alternative conceptions noted were due to confusion between
certain terms and topics and that students had difficulty with the construction and
interpretation of histograms. These results were used to develop a model of the possible
source of students' difficulties. It was hypothesized and found that the sequence in which
concepts are introduced to students at many South African universities could be
responsible for difficulties and alternative conceptions identified during the study,
particularly the inappropriate association of terms or topics.
An intervention was developed to address the identified difficulties and alternative
conceptions. This intervention consisted of a series of computer-based tutorials and
concept mapping exercises. The intervention was then implemented throughout a third year
introductory module in quantitative genetics. The effectiveness of the intervention
was assessed using the multiple-choice diagnostic tests and interview protocols
developed during the diagnostic phase. The knowledge of the student group who
participated in the intervention (test group) was compared against a student group from
the previous year that had only been exposed to conventional teaching strategies (control
group). t-tests, an analysis of covariance and a regression analysis all indicated that the
intervention had been effective. Furthermore, an inductive analysis of the student
responses indicted that most students understanding of the concepts of variance,
heritability and histograms was greatly improved.
The concept maps generated by students during the remediation phase, and data from the
student interviews, provided an indication of the nature and extent of the conceptual
change which had occurred during the teaching of the module. The results showed that
most of the conceptual change could be classified as conceptual development or
conceptual capture and not conceptual exchange. Furthermore, it seemed that conceptual
change had occurred when considered from an epistemological, ontological and affective
perspective, with most students indicating that they felt they had benefited from all aspects
of the intervention.
The findings of this research strongly suggest an urgent need to redesign quantitative
genetics course curricula. Cognisance should be taken of both the sequence and the
manner in which key concepts are taught in order to enhance students' understanding of
this highly cognitively demanding area of genetics. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.
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The meaning of relevant science in townships in Cape Town.Stears, Michele. January 2005 (has links)
This study explores the meaning of relevant science in two townships in Cape Town. Reform in science education, both nationally and internationally has placed much emphasis on the fact that science education should be relevant. The research conducted in this study attempts to interpret different dimensions of relevance. This study explores not only how learners make meaning of their everyday lives, but what 'science' they deem to be relevant and worth learning within this context. It acknowledges the important role of teachers in establishing what learners perceive to be relevant. The theory of social constructivism is suited to this investigation, in its recognition of the roles of children's knowledge, purposes, social groups and interactions in learning. The children in this study often have personal lives steeped in poverty, abuse and violence. The curriculum design is also guided by social constructivist theories. However, a second version of constructivism, critical constructivism, is used to frame the second phase of the study. A critical constructivist approach raises questions about the type of knowledge learners interact with. In critical constructivism, science and its methods, the curriculum and the classroom are opened up to critical inquiry. Teachers' knowledge of their learners is used to design science lessons that are more meaningful, relevant and personalised. The individual lessons, as well as the lesson series that are used in this study are designed as examples of relevant science, while the lesson series also serves as a tool to elicit deeper understandings of what learners in this particular context experience as relevant to their lives. Although the main focus of this research is the relevance of using everyday knowledge in the classroom, bringing everyday knowledge into the classroom allows for the inclusion of a number of dimensions of relevance. The different ways in which learners respond to the science lessons in both phases are discussed as five outcomes. The findings of the research show that the essence of a relevant science curriculum lies in a particular design. This design accommodates many dimensions of relevance, such as relevant content, context and purposes. Such as design helps learners to negotiate the difficult border between the formal school environment and the informal home environment. A relevant curriculum acknowledges that science education is more than only science, but also recognises the implications for science curriculum development. This study is part of a larger project which is a comprehensive evaluation of the Primary Science Programme (PSP). The PSP gave the research its full support as the investigation of relevance may have an influence on curriculum design. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.
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Evaluation of educational computer programmes as a change agent in science classrooms.Muwanga-Zake, Johnnie Wycliffe Frank. January 2004 (has links)
This evaluation started with preliminary research into the situations and problems in
science classrooms and computer laboratories. The preliminary research identified
teacher-centred lessons, learner and teacher conceptualisations, large numbers of
learners per classroom, assessment, and a lack of interest in biology as some of the major problems in South African classrooms. The current research (because it is
continuing) uses two Educational Computer Programmes (ECPs); a Computer-Aided Assessment (CAA) programme which is designed to alleviate problems in
assessment, and Zadarh (a constructivist adventure game) designed to solve
problems in biology classrooms, to further investigate some of the identified problems
and find out the learners' and teachers' views on the utility of these two ECPs. The
use of these two ECPs had not previously been investigated appropriately, especially in disadvantaged communities where teachers had little knowledge of the use and of
evaluating ECPs.
Therefore, a major concern for this study is that previous ECP evaluations excluded
teachers and were not comprehensive enough especially for deploying ECPs in disadvantaged communities. A review of the methods that had hitherto been used,
indicated that quantitative, mostly, behavioural and cognitive, pre-test post-test
methods were prominently used, despite the shift in instructional design to
constructional design, which embrace qualitative aspects of learning. Also,
instructional design has evolved from behavioural models to include constructivist
microworlds, which were unfairly evaluated by excluding qualitative benefits.
Thus, this study seeks a more comprehensive evaluation strategy, in which teachers play the role of co-evaluators and which captures the qualitative and quantitative
changes that software programs impart upon teachers' classroom practices, with
sensitivity to the multiple disciplines in a program, as well as to the value systems of teachers.
Comprehensive evaluation processes were facilitated during which 26 teachers in 23 schools in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu Natal and Mpumalanga Provinces embarked
upon the evaluation of the two ECPs. Evaluations were based upon a developmental,
constructivist and interpretative approaches, by which teachers took ownership of these evaluations.
Comprehensive evaluations revealed benefits from CAA and Zadarh, as well as
benefits from direct teacher participations in the evaluations. CAA (Question Mark in this case) instantly provided diagnostic data. However, it was evident that the quality of diagnosis and remediation depended upon the quality of the test items, and the
learning as well as the teaching strategies. Factors that could militate against the use
and full utilisation of CAA in the schools where the study was done included the cost of software for CAA, teachers' capacity to set diagnostic test items particularly in a multiple-choice format, teachers' ability to interpret data produced by CAA, and
teachers' skills in remedying their classroom problems as well as learners' problems.
This study found that by playing Zadarh learners were able to construct knowledge
through discovery and were attracted to the enjoyable aspects of this educational tool. Learners remembered most of those moments in the game during which they
were both stuck and trying to solve problems on their way through Zadarh. Therefore, Zadarh can provide useful learning experiences with fun, and can improve motivation
towards learning. Debilitating factors against the use of Zadarh and CAA include school curricula, which do not accommodate innovations, inflexible timetables, and classroom approaches that are teacher-centred.
It was clear that the success of using computers in education would depend upon the
ability of teachers to evaluate the ECPs, and to integrate ECPs into school curricula.
drive these interactions played an important role in the successful integration of
ECPs into classroom. One way of achieving such success is to include teachers as
evaluators and co-designers of ECPs. Evaluations of ECPs therefore should: i) allow the teachers and learners, through social dialog, to identify how software could solve
problems; ii) establish the compatibility of the software with the school curriculum; iii)
ascertain the capacity of school computers to execute the software; and iv) provide support to the teachers in the use the software. Evaluations should benefit teachers
and learners. The study concluded that a post-modern, developmental, and constructivist
evaluation process might be one of the ways of enhancing training teachers in the use of the ECPs, in the concepts that the software deal with, and in evaluation. In that way, a socially contracted evaluation is comprehensive and can serve as a change agent through which teachers reflect and act upon improving their classroom practices. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2004.
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Changes in science teachers' practice of learner-centred education as a result of action research in Lesotho.Khoboli, Benedict Mapere. January 2005 (has links)
The study looks at Lesotho Science teachers' understanding, practice and explanation of learner-centred education (LCE) prior to, during and after different activities. Six Physics teachers from Maseru were selected from 20 who attended an initial meeting and workshop. The selected teachers participated in the research for two years, completing a Baseline Study, then 3 cycles of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting in the action research on LCE. During the Baseline Study and each of the action research cycles, the teachers' explanations, understandings and practices of learner-centred education were determined through analyses of discussions and meetings, lesson plans, classroom practices, responses to the literature and other support activities, and interviews with the teachers. The process was collaborative, with the teachers and the researcher working as a team in the planning, observations of classrooms, reflections and analyses. The teachers changed their understanding and practices significantly in the course of the study. Consistent with the Concerns-based Adoption Model (CBAM), their primary concerns shifted from classroom management issues and impediments to learner-centred education in their schools at the start, to adaptation, innovation, and conducting teacher-workshops at the end. Early in the project, they opted for a model of learner-centred education comprised of three levels: caring for learners and their learning; adopting learner-centred teaching methods and allowing learners to influence the content and desired outcomes of the learning. During the research, within the team and in classrooms, the teachers developed each of these levels, though they applied the third level more in their own learning as part of the action research, than in their classrooms. At the end, the teachers co-constructed a model of LCE which they felt was doable under the conditions in Lesotho (including school constraints and competing demands on teachers and curriculum), and which would meet the expectations of principals, parents and learners. The teachers changed not only in their professional knowledge and skills, but in social-professional and self-professional aspects. For example, they began inviting other teachers to observe their classes, they conducted workshops in their schools, and enrolled for higher degrees. The teachers persisted with the study for two years, not because of school expectations or pressures, but because they wanted to participate. Their motivation was high, arising from a mix of personal, professional, career and school factors. Their motivations shifted during the research, as their knowledge and concerns changed, and they came to see different opportunities from what they had imagined at the start. Through participation and collaboration, they extended the objectives and outcomes of the study beyond its initial focus on learner-centred education in classrooms: they defined and addressed their own personal, social and professional interests. The data demonstrated that teachers' engagement with in-service activities that provide for long-term project-based learning, critical collaboration, support and reflection, can bring personal and group change more significantly than in conventional district and national workshops. / Theses (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu Natal, 2005.
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A critical analysis of research done to identify conceptual difficulties in acid-base chemistry.Halstead, Sheelagh Edith. January 2009 (has links)
The literature review shows that student alternative conceptions or misconceptions are important for teaching and learning. Causes of such student difficulties may include the counter-intuitive nature of some chemistry concepts or to instruction itself. However, over 30 years research into student conceptual difficulties has had little impact on teaching and learning chemistry. In this study, a critical analysis and synthesis of published research into student conceptions in acid-base chemistry was carried out in the naturalist nomothetic paradigm using a constructivist framework. Historical models which were included were an operational macroscopic model and the theoretical Arrhenius and Brønsted models. Firstly, a comprehensive search strategy with defined inclusion/exclusion criteria identified 42 suitable reports which were mostly peer-reviewed. The identified research was not limited to Anglophone countries although Africa and South America were underrepresented and research among secondary students predominated. Then a critique of the research showed it was of variable quality and often poorly reported. An outcome was a set of guidelines for research into student conceptions. The variable quality and reporting of research then also necessitated a four-level framework to reflect the stability of descriptions of student difficulties. A new method for synthesis of descriptions of student conceptual difficulties was developed which entailed mapping qualitative data on the difficulties, which had been extracted from research publications, to propositional knowledge statements derived in this study. This was an iterative process which simultaneously honed descriptions of difficulties and illuminated propositional knowledge implicated in them. The second major outcome was synthesized descriptions of 10 student difficulties with acid-base species, 26 difficulties with acid-base properties and 17 difficulties concerning terminology and symbolism particular to acid-base chemistry. Some conceptions were also found to have been mis-reported as ‘misconceptions’. The difficulties could be broadly due to student conceptions concerning acid-base models, or students not relating empirical observations to theoretical models or their poor understanding of underlying chemical principles. Some difficulties were found to have been over-researched, while further work was needed to clarify the nature some difficulties with conceptions of bases, acid-base reactions, and symbolism used in acid-base chemistry. The third major outcome from the synthesis was 218 propositional knowledge statements which were shown to be suitable for teaching high-school students, avoided hybrid historical models and were acceptable to expert chemists. These propositional statements were integrated as a set of 11 concept maps. The maps showed the hierarchy and interconnectedness of concepts as well as the propositional links which had been implicated in the difficulties. Furthermore the concept maps indicated critical concepts where teaching in each topic should focus as well as cross-linked concepts that can be used to integrate different aspects of the topic. Accordingly they contribute to PCK in the acidbase topic as they represent the fine-grained yet well integrated conceptual knowledge characteristic of a teacher with highly developed PCK. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.
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