A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, 2014. / Prior to democracy in South Africa, education was used as a means to achieve segregation, privileging a minority of the population in both economic and worldview domination. With the attainment of democracy in 1994, educational reform was aimed at getting rid of both apartheid content and method. The aims and principles of the new curricula (the Revised National Curriculum Statement Grades R-9, the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12, and later on, the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements) were aligned to those of the national constitution, which include the establishment of human rights, inclusivity, environmental and social justice, and valuing of Indigenous knowledge systems. In the science subjects, teaching and learning are expected to acknowledge the existence of different knowledge systems. In the absence of clear guidelines as to which Indigenous knowledge to include and how, the recognition of IKS in science classroom has largely been left to the teachers’ discretion. The purpose of this interpretive research study, carried out in collaboration with a rural community in KwaZulu-Natal Province, was three-fold. The first was to identify the Indigenous knowledge held by the community and the worldview underpinning that knowledge. The second was to find out what knowledge could be integrated with classroom science, and explore ways in which such integration could be done, considering students’ and community worldviews. The third was for the research to contribute to transformation in Indigenous knowledge research by following methods that recognised Indigenous knowledges, practices and languages as valuable. The findings from this study underscore the importance of extending the thinking about IKSscience integration beyond aspects that suit science content, to considering methods of teaching and learning science, as well as considering relevance to community needs.

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Science students often bring naive models of the natural world to the classroom which can be resistant to traditional methods of teaching. If both the teacher and the student are unable to detect and change these conceptions, the student's ability to learn may be seriously impeded. A solution to this instructional dilemma would be to devise a method which a teacher could use to determine whether such naive models, or alternative conceptions, are held by a student and, if so, help the student to develop a plausible conception more in line with the current scientific viewpoint to replace each alternative conception. This is a report on the investigation of such a method: a microcomputer-based system for the diagnosis and remediation of three Aristotelian alternative conceptions of force and motion held by 8th-grade physical science students. The present investigation employed a microcomputer-displayed, graphics-based system to select students for possession of alternative conceptions and to posttest following remedial instruction. When alternative conceptions were detected, the system presented two simulations which were designed to facilitate the student's alteration of one or more of these naive conceptions. The instructional strategies incorporated into the computer simulations were consistent with a theory of instructionally-elicited conceptual change which: a) facilitated the student's recognition and discovery of a phenomenon which was anomalous to his or her conceptual framework and which epitomized the relevant scientific concept, and b) allowed the student to manipulate the objects and relationships of the phenomenon, experiencing the consequences of that action, so that the student would gradually adjust his or her conceptual categories until the phenomenon became anticipated. Students who had completed the study of force and motion (completed students) exhibited a very different pattern of non-scientific answers on the computer diagnostic test than did students currently studying that topic (in-process students). The completed students who were selected for possession of alternative conceptions were facilitated by the computer simulations in altering their naive conceptions to a significant degree. The computer posttest supplied evidence of the students' short-term conceptual change, and the Retention Test 1.5 months later supplied evidence of robustness of the change. / Ed. D.

No description available.

Recent studies on human cognition have presented credible evidence that learners are not tabula rasa as previously conceived by traditional theorists, rather they enter new lessons with some preconceptions, most of which are resistant to change in spite of teachers' efforts to assuage them. As such the challenges confronting science educators and educational psychologists are to understand the nature of learners' preconceptions, designing and implement appropriate instructional interventions that would enable the learners become aware of and reconcile their conceptions that are inconsistent with accepted views of science. Several perspectives have been advocated on how learners' preconceptions can be modified through instructions. While traditional theorists subscribe to substitution of inaccurate conceptions with accurate ones, the constructivists identify with giving the learners autonomy to inquire and re-evaluate their own ideas. The former has been confronted with widespread criticism and is becoming less and less tenable. This research identifies with the latter. Conceptual change entails restructuring of ideas. It is a cognitive process that involves change in attitude toward learning. Based on the theoretical assumption that learning is facilitated through teaching that give the learners autonomy search to new ideas, verify them, and restructure existing ideas, I developed a model of conceptual change from where I deduced the four sub variables of the conceptual change that this study explored. The sub variables include formulation of ideas, search for new ideas, review of meaning, and transfer of knowledge. My assumption was that conceptual change can be facilitated through instructions that engage learners in experiences relevant to the four sub variables that I have mentioned. This conceptual framework served as my reference point for the designing of the Constructivist Teaching Model that consists of four instructional phases. Judging that I was resident and working in Seychelles as a teacher trainer at a time I developed the Constructivist Teaching Model, I chose to implement and evaluate it first in Seychelles. Hence this study is titled `The implementation and evaluation of a constructivist intervention in secondary school science teaching in Seychelles'. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of the constructivist teaching model as an intervention to facilitate conceptual change. Basically, there are two main aims of this study. First, to investigate to what extent the constructivist teaching model facilitates conceptual change. Secondly, to investigate if the paradigms shift from the traditional method to the constructivist method of science teaching is welcomed in Seychelles. This study was carried out in two phases Pretest and Evaluation. Pretest was aimed at identifying the weaknesses of the initial version of my model of constructivist teaching with a view to eliminate those weaknesses to further strengthen the model. In a nutshell pretest was a step taken to enhance the validity of the model. Evaluation on the other hand was aimed at making a judgment whether a difference actually exists between the learners that received constructivist instruction and those that received traditional lecture instruction in terms of the four sub variables of conceptual change. To enable for this judgment necessitated an experiment. The experiment was conducted with a total of six secondary schools selected from the ten secondary schools on the island. The participants included 178 learners, 6 science teachers and 8 independent persons. The learners were constituted into three Bands; 1, 2 and 3. Each Band consisted of a Control group and an Experimental group. Altogether six groups were formed, with 3 Control groups and 3 Experimental groups. There were 59 learners in Band 1, comprising of 29 learners in the Control group and 30 learners in the Experimental group; Band 2 comprised a Control group of 25 learners and an Experimental group of 28 learners; and Band 3 consisted of 33 learners in each group. The learners in Band 1 were used for pretest that lasted for five week. The learners in Bands 2 and 3 were used in the evaluation that lasted for thirteen weeks. The groups were non-equivalent, suggesting that randomisation was not possible as the learners were in intact classes. Learners in the experimental groups received constructivist instruction while their counterparts in the control groups received traditional lecture instruction. Both groups were exposed to the same experimental conditions except in the methods of teaching. Data was collected through teacher interviews, independent observation, measurement of learners' achievement, and analysis of documents. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Qualitative data was analysed on the basis of content or meaning of the information given by the respondents. Following the design of this study the performance and achievements of learners that received constructivist instruction were compared with their counterparts who received traditional instruction. Guiding this study are two main assumptions. The first is the assumption of equality of the variance, and the second is the assumption of normality of the distribution. The results of Levene's test of equality of variances indicated a violation of the assumption of homogeneity of the variances of TI and CI groups while the results of test of skewness and kurtosis give the indication of normality of distribution of scores in both groups. The results of descriptive statistics analysis showed that the learners who received constructivist instruction performed better than the learners that received traditional instruction in terms of formulation of ideas, search for new ideas, review of meaning, and transfer of knowledge. The results of inferential statistics showed that the difference in the means of the two groups on each of the sub variables of conceptual change is significant. This evidence indicates that my model of constructivist teaching produced an effect measuring 0.86 and a power of 0.85 based on Cohen's Blueprint, and a reliability of 0.72 based on Cronbach's test of internal consistency. Besides statistical evidence, analysis of the opinions of science teachers who implemented the Constructivist Teaching Model in their respective classes and the independent persons who observed teaching and learning in both the experimental and control groups showed a preference for the constructivist approach over the traditional approach. On the grounds of the evidence gathered through observation and measurement this study concludes that the constructivist approach to science teaching is more effective than traditional lecture approach in facilitating the ability of secondary school learners in Seychelles to reconstruct ideas. This study also found that science educationists in Seychelles welcome the paradigm shift from the traditional approach to the constructivist approach. / Educational Studies / D. Educ. (Psychology of Education)

Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This research study investigated the use of a practical activities-based approach to Physical Sciences teaching using TRAC equipment to address learner conceptual difficulties in Electricity and Magnetism (E&M). TRAC uses practical activities based on the school curriculum to complement the theory through the utilisation of data logging equipment linked to a computer. The participants in this study were a group of black Grade 11 learners (n=47) from a township school in the province of the Western Cape, South Africa. Their ages range from 16 to 21, with isiXhosa the home language of most of them. A mixed methods approach was utilized to gather the research data. Quantitative data was collected, using pre- and post-testing of learners to determine their conceptual difficulties in E&M, as well as to measure the effect of the practical activities-based approach in addressing learner conceptual difficulties in E&M. Null hypotheses were formulated for the six concepts and t-tests were used to find any statistically significant difference between the pre- and post-test. Qualitative data was obtained from the learner transcripts, as well as from the questionnaires and observation schedules. The results indicated significant improvements in learner understanding of the concepts in five out of the six tests as well as reducing commonly held misconceptions in E&M. It is recommended that careful scaffolding should be done during a practical activity in order for learners to make the connection between the domains of observables and ideas. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie navorsingstudie het die gebruik van ‘n praktiese aktiwiteitsgebaseerde benadering tot Fisiese Wetenskappe onderrig met behulp van TRAC apparaat ondersoek. Die doel was om leerders se konseptuele haakplekke in Elektrisiteit en Magnitisme (E&M) aan te spreek. TRAC maak gebruik van ‘data logging’ apparaat om die teorie deur middel van praktiese aktiwiteite wat op die skoolkurriulum gebaseer is, te komplementeer. Die deelnemers in die studie was ‘n groep swart Graad-11 leerders (n=47) uit ‘n swart woongebied in die Westelike Provinsie, Suid Afrika. Hulle ouderdomme strek van 16 tot 21 met isiXhosa as die huistaal vir die meerderheid van hulle. ‘n Gemengde metode benadering was gebruik om die navorsingsdata te versamel. Kwantitatiewe data was deur ‘n voor- en natoets van die leerders versamel om hulle konseptuele haakplekke in E&M te bepaal. Die effek van die praktiese aktiwiteitsgebaseerde benadering om die leerders se konseptuele haakplekke in E&M aan te spreek was ook gemeet. Nul hipotese was vir die ses konsepte geformuleer en t-toetse was gebruik om statisties-beduidende verskille tussen die voor- en natoets te bepaal. Kwalitatiewe data was van die leerders se oorgeskryfde onderhoude sowel as vraelyste en observasieskedules verkry. Die resultate toon ‘n beduidende verbetering in leerders se begrip van die konsepte in vyf van die ses toetse sowel as ‘n afname in algemene wanbegrippe in E&M. Dit word aanbeveel dat versigtige opbouing gedurende die praktiese aktiwiteit gedoen moet word sodat die leerders ‘n verband tussen die domein van waarneembares en idees kan maak.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether statistically significant differences existed between high school Honors Physics websites and those of Advanced Placement (AP) Physics in terms of web-design, National Science Education Standards (NSES) Physics content, and NSES Science Process standards. The procedure began with the selection of 152 sites comprising two groups with equal sample sizes of 76 for Honors Physics and for Advanced Placement Physics. The websites used in the study were accumulated using the Google[TM] search engine. To find Honors Physics websites, the search words "honors physics high school" were entered as the query into the search engine. To find sites for Advanced Placement Physics, the query, "advanced placement physics high school," was entered into the search engine. The evaluation of each website was performed using an instrument developed by the researcher based on three attributes: Web-design, NSES Physics content, and NSES Science Process standards. A "1" was scored if the website was found to have each attribute, otherwise a "0" was given. This process continued until all 76 websites were evaluated for each of the two types of physics websites, Honors and Advanced Placement. Subsequently the data were processed using Excel functions and the SPSS statistical software program. The mean and standard deviation were computed individually for the three attributes under consideration. Three, 2-tailed, independent samples t tests were performed to compare the two groups of physics websites separately on the basis of Web Design, Physics Content, and Science Process. The results of the study indicated that there was only one statistically significant difference between high school Honors Physics websites and those of AP Physics. / The only difference detected was in terms of National Science Education Standards Physics content. It was found that Advanced Placement Physics websites contained more NSES physics content than Honors Physics websites. There was no significant difference found between the two types of high school physics websites in regards to web-design, and NSES science process standards. It is hoped that the results of this study may serve as a guide for researchers to explore the role of Web-Assisted Instruction (WAI) as an enhancement to traditional instruction in physics. With the first generation to grow up in the digital age now in high school, WAI may prove to be useful as method to improve critical thinking skills and provide opportunities for inquiry beyond the classroom. / by Ronald C. Persin. / Vita. / Thesis (Ed.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2009. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2009. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

by Siu Lai Ping, Teresa. / Thesis (M.A. Ed)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1983 / Bibliography: leaves 60-64

影印稿本. / Thesis (M.A.)--香港中文大學敎育學院. / Ying yin gao ben. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 105-110). / Thesis (M.A.)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue jiao yu xue yuan. / Chapter 第一章 --- 導言 --- p.1 / 問題說明 --- p.1 / 研究動機與目的 --- p.21 / 有關文獻 --- p.24 / 假設 --- p.36 / 定義 --- p.38 / Chapter 第二章 --- 研究方法 --- p.42 / 研究對象 --- p.42 / 研究工具 --- p.45 / 研究設計 --- p.48 / 研究程序 --- p.50 / 資料分析 --- p.51 / Chapter 第三章 --- 結果與討論 --- p.53 / Chapter 第四章 --- 摘要、結論及建議 --- p.92 / 參攷文獻 / 中文 --- p.105 / 英文 --- p.108 / 附錄 --- p.111