The Namibian Physical Science Higher Level Syllabus requires students to study the topic on chemical equilibrium. This section has proven to be one of the most difficult for Namibian learners as reflected by their poor responses to questions in the Grade 12 NSSC ‘H’ examinations. Triggered by these discoveries, I decided to conduct a research on how teachers mediate learning of the topic on chemical equilibrium in a Namibian context. Conducted at a private school in Windhoek, the study involved two experienced Grade 11 Physical Science teachers renowned for good results. I adopted a qualitative case study underpinned by an interpretive paradigm. Sense making of concepts on chemical equilibrium was my unit of analysis. To generate data, I used document analysis, semi-structured interviews, lesson observations, which were videotaped as well as stimulated recall interviews. Vygotsky’s mediation of learning and social constructivism blended with Shulman’s pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) were the theoretical frameworks adopted in the study. During the analysis process, there was grouping of data into categories. These included teacher-learner interactions as emphasized by Vygotsky’s mediation of learning and learners’ challenges according to PCK. I used an inductive approach to identify emerging themes from my data. The themes were colour coded and the developed into analytical statements. Data triangulation, member checking, and peer review ensured data validity and trustworthiness. Stimulated recall interviews conducted while watching the videos with the two teachers, complemented these approaches. My findings were that teachers extensively used various meditational tools such as prior knowledge, language, analogies and an equilibrium game to mediate learning. The teachers experienced numerous challenges during mediation of learning, including language difficulties and learners’ failure to comprehend complex chemical equilibrium concepts. Notwithstanding, the teachers in this study managed to some extent to overcome the challenges by exhibiting facets of advanced PCK.

This study reports research on how student teachers in Science at Mutare Teachers' College in Zimbabwe worked with indigenous knowledge practices in relation to science concepts in the secondary school syllabus. The study was conducted among first-year science students and involved them in developing science learning activities for a peer-teaching process that was part of their course. The research was undertaken during a review ofthe college syllabus and as a study to inform the Secondary Teacher Training Environmental Education Programme (ST²EEP). The research design involved the researcher in participant observations and interviews with rural people to document indigenous knowledge practices and to develop materials for the students to work with in the lessons design part of the study. The student teachers used the documented practices to generate learning activities and lesson plans to teach the science concepts they had identified. A peer review session and focus group interviews followed the lesson presentations. Findings from the research point to the rural community being a repository of diverse indigenous knowledge practices. Student teachers showed that they had prior knowledge of both indigenous knowledge practices and science concepts when they come to class. Student teachers were able to relate indigenous knowledge practices and science concepts in ways that have the potential to enhance the learning of science in rural school contexts that lack laboratories and science equipment. The scope of the study does not allow for anything beyond tentative conclusions that point to the need for further work to be undertaken with student teachers and for the research to be extended to teaching and learning interactions in schools. Recommendations are also made for further resource-based work to be undertaken within the forthcoming St²eep implementation phase in 2007.

This study took place at a private high school in the Kavango region with my 32 grade 10B learners as the research participants. Its objective was to investigate how the grade 10 learners make sense of concepts on refraction of light through exploring their cultural beliefs/everyday experiences about the rainbow. This research study was essentially triggered by my own classroom experience of teaching the topic on refraction of light. In order to achieve the goal of this research, a qualitative case study located within an interpretive paradigm was adopted. To gather data I used multiple data gathering techniques such as brainstorming session, learners conducting interviews in the community, practical activities and focus group interviews. This resulted in descriptive data that qualified to be analyzed in a qualitative way. The themes that emerged from the generated data were coded using upper letter cases and various colours. A methodological triangulation was employed by using multiple data generation techniques. Member checking during focus group interviews also ensured validity in this case study. The findings of this study revealed that the use of learners’ cultural beliefs/everyday experiences can be used to enhance learner engagement, meaning making and conceptual development during the science lessons. In addition, the ways in which practical activities are designed and presented to learners in the science classroom determine learners’ participation and conceptual attainment. Therefore, based on my research findings, I recommend that teachers need to be trained to be able to elicit and integrate learners’ cultural beliefs/everyday experiences in conjunction with hands-on practical activities which focus on conceptual development during their science lessons. However, although this study had many benefits, it also showed that it is not easy to close the gap between learners’ prior everyday knowledge and school science. This warrants further research.

In her newsletter “Curriculum News, Improving the Quality of Learning and Teaching: Planning for 2010 and Beyond”, Mrs Angie Motshekga, MP, Minister of Basic Education, positions the textbook very definitely as central to the curriculum and states that it is one of the most effective tools through which to deliver the curriculum and support assessment. Acknowledging the importance of the accessibility of textbooks for the South African classroom audience, this study has sought to investigate the readability of the chemistry section of grade 10 science textbooks. Readability research is concerned with the relationship between the textbook, the reader and the context in which the book is read; research supports the use of both classical quantitative measures and a qualitative cognitive-structural form of analysis to investigate this relationship. The research design is a mixed method one where quantitative and qualitative data were collected simultaneously: the methodical application of selected readability formulae gave rise to quantitative data while the line-by-line textual analysis, tracing cognitive-structural aspects, and focus-group discussions with teachers gave rise to the qualitative data. The results of the merged data analysis were then interpreted together to provide a better understanding of the readability of the texts for a South African audience. The results of the investigation reveal that readability is greatly impaired for a number of reasons, the primary one being a lack of articulation between the textbook writers/editors and the audience for which they are writing and preparing the texts. This is particularly reflected in the inadequate preparation of the material for the English Second Language reader, as certain textbooks are completely out of their reach. Furthermore, this lack of articulation can be traced to the lack of time available for piloting the textbooks: an invaluable intervention in the process of textbook production.

M.Ed. (Curriculum Studies) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Concept mapping is a metacognitive learning strategy which often improves a learner's ability to construct new knowledge. This action research project was intended to determine the level of effectiveness of concept mapping as a student learning intervention. Students in two high school science classes constructed concept maps before and after instruction during a unit of study about volcanoes. The maps were analyzed for increases in complexity and indications of learning. The concept maps were then compared for differences by groups based on volcano unit test scores. Based on the analysis of the matched pairs of concept maps, those maps which contained a higher amount of prior knowledge of the subject matter were associated with maps which showed greatest amount of increase in knowledge after instruction. These results are supported by the many researchers who contend that the most important factor in learning new information and gaining new knowledge is the amount of prior knowledge a learner brings into the learning situation. The results of this action research project will be applied to the development of future science courses by this researcher.

Traditional views on science education focus solely on content learning in the classroom, however more contemporary perspectives harness science content to help students become active citizens and lifelong learners outside of the classroom (Daher & Saifi, 2018; Vedder-Weiss & Fortus, 2011; Yacoubian, 2018). Project-based science is a reform pedagogy that emphasizes real-world utilization of science to solve problems that are personally relevant to students’ everyday lives (Kanter & Konstantopoulos, 2010). Unfortunately, there is no uniform theory or approach to project-based science. The diversity that exists in the interpretation and implementation of the project-based learning theory and model has resulted in a variety of research and developmental issues across disciplines, often resulting in confusion about what counts as being project-based and what does not (Kokotsaki et al., 2016; McNeill & Krajcik, 2007; Yu et al., 2018). While the goal of project-based science is to positively impact all students’ motivation for and achievement in science learning, there has been little research on its use as an instructional strategy with diverse students in urban schools (Kanter et al., 2001; Krajcik et al., 2006; Panasan & Nuangchalerm, 2010; Scheneider et al., 2002; Shwartz et al., 2008). Even as newer studies are published (Fitzgerald, 2020; Nainggolan et al., 2020; Wang, 2020), the field is stagnant, and research is still needed that looks into the ways in which culture influences the way American secondary students learn science (Brown, 2020). One of the characteristics of project-based science that makes it appealing, is its ability to drawing on the lived experiences of students, but most of the work done to date has not included or reflected the lived experiences of urban students of color. The goal of this mixed methods instrumental case study was to provide a glimpse into what it would look like to use a reconceptualized approach to project-based science that was more inclusive of urban students’ identities and lived experiences, while also being intentional about the nature of science and science epistemology. This involved the creation and use of a project-based science unit that included both implicit and explicit design features of the nature of science and science epistemology, along with pedagogical practices that were aligned with the theoretical underpinnings of project-based science (active learning, sociocultural theory, constructionist theory, constructivist theory, and situated cognition); along with the frameworks of Black feminist thought and reality pedagogy, which have not yet been considered in project-based science settings. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected and analyzed for trends and emergent themes. Quantitative data were collected from a diverse sample of fifty urban 9th grade New York City Living Environment students ranging in age from 13 to 15 years old. Ninety eight percent of participants had ethnic backgrounds other than White. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) repeated measures statistical tests and mixed between-within ANOVA statistical tests were used to examine quantitative data. The findings revealed that 96% of participants developed understandings of the local, state, and national level science standards and learning outcomes, aligned to the unit used in this study; and made significant gains on pre, midterm, and post multiple-choice and free response exams. While both genders made significant improvements, the male participants in this study outperformed the female participants. Qualitative data were collected from a total of 13 students, ranging in age from 13 to 15 years old, who participated in two gender-specific cogenerative dialogues. One hundred percent of cogenerative dialogue participants had ethnic backgrounds other than White. Thick descriptions and analysis were used to make sense of students’ experience with the project-based science unit. All cogenerative dialogue participants seemed to developed understandings of the nature of science and science epistemology. Implications for practice and future research are considered.

MEd / Department of Curriculum Studies and Educational Management

This study analyzed representations of Nature of Science (NOS) and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) in three South Africa Grade 9 Natural Science textbooks. The textbooks were purposefully selected from a possibility of ten textbooks available on the public market and used in science classrooms in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. The aim of the analysis was to determine the extent to which both NOS and IKS were represented and to ascertain whether the representations were: naïve or informed; and implicit or explicit. The content analysis of the textbooks was based on adaptations of analytical frameworks developed by Akerson, Abd-El-Khalick and Lederman (2000) for NOS and Ninnes (2000) for IKS, respectively. For NOS the analysis focused on seven tenets, which are; science is empirical, the difference between observation and inference, functions and relations between theories and laws, the role of creativity and imagination in science, the tentativeness of scientific knowledge, the social and cultural embeddedness of the scientific process, and subjectivity of science. The analysis for IKS representations focused on four pillars of IKS which are; indigenous legends and myths, indigenous technology, indigenous knowledge of the natural world, and indigenous social life. It was found that, for the NOS, in all the three textbooks, only the empirical nature of science and observation and inference are represented to a considerable extent and mainly in a naïve and implicit manner. The other investigated tenets are either minimally represented or not represented at all. Representations of IKS in the three textbooks were also found to be very minimal and mainly naïve and implicit. It is concluded the selected science textbooks do not respond well to the NCS mandate of integrating NOS and IKS into mainstream science education. Recommendations for improving integration of NOS and IKS into the school science curriculum are suggested for textbooks authors, curriculum developers and science educators. Key words nature of science, indigenous knowledge systems, textbooks, natural science, naive, informed, implicit, explicit, positivism, constructivism

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. Johannesburg, 2017. / The potential for South African science teachers to become powerful agents of transformation needs to be explored. Speaking of Fensham's (2002) term “educo-politics” Aikenhead (2010) argues that, "all science teachers are constantly engaged in ‘educo-politics'” (Aikenhead, 2010:615). In this study I attempted to uncover some of the socially critical aspects of science and society related themes. This study investigated how science and society themes outlined in the Natural Sciences Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) (Department of Basic Education [DBE], 2011) are understood and valued by teachers. The study provides an account of how science teachers under the direction of the curriculum statement conceptualise the pedagogical use, and social value, of Specific Aim 3 in their regular teaching of Grade 9 Natural Sciences. The Science-Technology-Society- Environment (STSE) currents presented by Pedretti & Nazir (2011) provided a theoretical framework from which this inquiry was conducted and structured. This was a qualitative, small-scale study limited to 32 participants. The theoretical foundation of this study was influenced by the ideology and pedagogical frameworks which underpin science and society philosophies and movements in science education. An evaluation of the Natural Sciences CAPS (DBE, 2011) using such frameworks informed the development of the two research instruments used. A questionnaire was administered to 32 Grade 9 Natural Sciences teachers from government schools in the Johannesburg-West and Johannesburg-North districts in Gauteng. Three of the questionnaire participants were then interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule. The participants varied in age, race demographics, distribution of home languages, professional qualifications and years of teaching experience. The schools where participants teach were varied in terms of demographics and available resources. The study found that participants did not communicate a clear understanding of the principles which form science and society in the Natural Sciences CAPS. Time constraints, deviation from science content and limited usefulness for science learning were commonly cited to justify limited science and society practices. Furthermore, participants regularly made statements which communicated their belief in the superiority of science in terms of its explanatory value. In this regard participants showed insensitivity to the cultural barriers students may experience when learning science. This study has contributed to our understanding of how South African science teachers conceptualise and use science as society themes as outlined in the Grade 9 Natural Sciences CAPS. The findings of this study confirmed that the effects and consequences of the prescriptive elements and nature of the Natural Sciences CAPS (DBE, 2011) need to be critically evaluated. Although curriculum reform in South Africa was intended to empower teachers in their decision-making about what and how to teach, over-reliance on work schedules and Learning Support Materials (LSMs) results in the constriction of teacher agency (Stoffels, 2008). Such tendencies were observed in this study and hence it is suggested that this aspect of teacher agency be explored in further research. KEY WORDS Science and Society Scientific literacy Humanistic science education Curriculum Teachers Science-Society-Technology Science-Society-Technology-Environment Socioscientific Issues / EM2018