Thesis (M.Ed. (Science Education)) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / This study investigated Grade 11 learners’ misconceptions about force. An exploratory design was used with six schools. A purposive sample of 190 learners studying Physical Sciences was tested for common misconceptions using the Force Concept Inventory (FCI). Furthermore, the prevalence of the misconceptions was also determined. Focus group discussions were used to determine the origin of learners’ misconceptions. Descriptive analysis of the FCI revealed extensive misconceptions about Newtonian physics amongst Grade 11 learners with a prevalence range of 70% to 90%. The researcher surmised that the origins of these prevalent misconceptions are inherent of the sources of misconceptions that learners encounter in the formal physics classrooms: teachers and textbooks. Textbooks used by learners do not take into account possible misconceptions that learners might have. Thus, it might be difficult for teachers to identify possible misconceptions-prone topics based on their own background. The researcher recommends interactive teaching strategies.

No description available.

No description available.

This study involved a comparative analysis of reforms in the organization and structure of curricula and instruction in science education in the United States during the last decades of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. A review of literature of these periods revealed similar concerns and goals for science instructional reform in schools. With the use of primary and secondary sources from these decades, a comparison of the conditions surrounding the reform movements was made. The author explored such concerns as educational norms, aims, values, customs, curricula content, instructional methods, psychological bases and their relationships with the technological and scientific cultures of the times. This comparison characterized common factors associated with the two reform movements. A historical characterization of the two reform periods identified relationships and responses of science education reform to social, educational, scientific, technological, and economic influences. These relationships and responses represent some of the common factors that late-nineteenth century and late-twentieth century reform movements in science education share. The author determined that although the terms, phrases, and jargon used by late-nineteenth century science education reformers sound similar to those used today, the reform efforts are not as similar as they seem. Different meanings of reform terminology used by educators of the two time periods resulted in science education means and goals that are distinct for each period, although the terminology used to describe these ideals sounds and appears very similar. This study shows how science education reforms in the late-nineteenth and late-twentieth centuries responded to the world of which they were a part, and how under apparent similar conditions, responses of reformers appear similar, but in reality are different. / Ph. D.

The problem in this study is to determine the worth of natural science as an incentive to the learning of the retarded pupils in the group, and as a means of orienting the new pupils in the group.

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 qualitative study uses intersectionality as a theoretical framework to examine the experiences of first-generation Black female doctoral graduates of science education who immigrated to the United States. The study uses narrative and intersectionality approaches to answer the following questions: (1) How did immigrant, first-generation Black female doctoral graduates of science education negotiate their multiple identities pre-graduation? (2) How do immigrant, first-generation Black female doctoral graduates of science education negotiate their multiple identities post-graduation? And (3) How do their multiple identities influence these women’s short and long-term career goals? Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were used to gather qualitative data from the participants. The responses to the questionnaires were analyzed using Qualtrics Survey Software. The interview responses were analyzed using two narrative analysis approaches: the deductive (confirmatory) approach and the inductive (exploratory) approach. The deductive approach was used to understand the effect(s) of each of the interpersonal and structural domains of power on each of the multiple identities (racial, gender, science, first-generation, and immigrant) of each participant. Emergent themes common to the participants’ stories on their doctoral journeys were noted using the inductive approach. The study addressed issues of racism and gender discrimination, in addition to the first-generation and immigration statuses. Findings from the study can be used to understand the positionalities of the participants and to inform the formulation of educational policies to encourage individuals with marginalized intersectional identities to participate and persist in STEM doctoral programs, and ultimately add to faculty of color in the educational pipeline.

From the very beginning, library education has been a mixture of theory and practice. Dewey required apprenticeships to be part of the first library school at the University of Chicago as a method to indoctrinate new professional. Today, acculturation is incorporated into the professional education through a large variety of experiential learning techniques, including internships, practicum, field work, and service learning projects, all of which are designed to develop some level of professional skills within an information organization. But, what is done for understanding library culture? It is said that one cannot truly recognize the extent of one's own cultural assumptions, until they have experienced another. This study followed a group of LIS graduate students that took that next step – going to Russia. By employing a critical hermeneutic methodology, this study sought to understand what value students gain by from working on an assessment project in an international school library. Using a horizon analysis, the researcher established the worldview of participants prior to their departure, analyzed their experience through post-experience interviews, and constructed an understanding of value. Among other concepts, the researcher looked specifically to see whether "library cultural competency", understanding library culture in global context, was developed through working on a service learning project within an international school library. This dissertation provides feedback for the program leaders and ideas for future research.

The assumption of the present study is that teachers should possess an adequate understanding of the nature of science and scientific method and hence this aspect was investigated. The empirical research carried out with Secondary School teacher trainees at Botswana colleges of education showed the following: Subjects possess an adequate understanding of some aspects of the nature of science and several aspects of the scientific method. They however do not have an adequate understanding on certain aspects of the nature of science. An association was found between the nature of science, type of educational institution attended, years of study and majoring in science. A positive association was found between scientific method and years spent studying. The present study recommended the inclusion of history, philosophy and sociology of science in the curriculum of teacher education. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (with specialisation in Natural Science Education)

Acompanha: Proposta pedagógica crítica: articulação entre o teatro do oprimido e o ensino de ciência / Este estudo foi motivado em torno da seguinte inquietação, como o ensino de ciências, em uma perspectiva crítico-problematizadora, no serviço de acolhimento institucional, pode contribuir para a formação científica e educacional de adolescentes em condição de vulnerabilidade? Essa questão tem por objetivo geral analisar a contribuição do ensino de ciências desenvolvido em ambiente de acolhimento institucional, em uma perspectiva crítico-problematizadora freireana, para a promoção do conhecimento científico às adolescentes acolhidas e identificando como o processo de significação conscientizadora, do qual as acolhidas são autoras, colabora para a sua transformação individual e social. A presente investigação busca auxiliar significativamente na preparação e na formação das adolescentes para sua autonomia ao chegarem aos dezoito anos, essa ação educacional vem promover o conhecimento científico, a partir do acesso ao ensino de ciências no acolhimento institucional, como também, apoiá-las no processo de ruptura do ciclo de violência na história de suas vidas. Nessa perspectiva, a pesquisa é embasada na educação problematizadora e transformadora com pressupostos freireanos, com as contribuições da Pedagogia do Oprimido. Como procedimentos metodológicos da pesquisa-ação, utiliza-se o desenvolvimento de duas das técnicas, sendo o Teatro Imagem e o Teatro Fórum, do método teatral conhecido por Teatro do Oprimido, criado por Augusto Boal. Posteriormente, articula-se a promoção do conhecimento científico pautado nos Momentos Pedagógicos, referenciados por Delizoicov, Angotti e Pernambuco. Para analisar os dados e informações trazidos pela pesquisa de campo se recorre à Análise Textual Discursiva, considerando a audiogravação realizada em cada encontro com as adolescentes, destacando-se as categorias a priori e as emergentes manifestadas no estudo. Concluindo com a apresentação dos resultados, nos quais foi possível verificar a contribuição do ensino de ciências, em espaço de educação não formal, como também identificar o processo de significação conscientizadora, em que notou-se a presença da consciência crítica ao final do percurso da pesquisa de campo. / This study was motivated by the following disquiet, how can teaching science, in a critical-problematizing perspective, in the institutional reception service, contribute to the scientific and educational formation of vulnerable adolescents? The general objective of this question is to analyze the contribution of science education developed in an institutional reception environment, in a Freirean critical-problematizing perspective, for the promotion of scientific knowledge to the adolescents and identifying as the process of meaningful awareness, of which the receptions Are authors, collaborates for their individual and social transformation. The present research seeks to help significantly in the preparation and training of adolescents for their autonomy when they reach the age of eighteen, this educational action promotes scientific knowledge, based on access to science education in the institutional reception, as well as support them in the Process of breaking the cycle of violence in the history of their lives. From this perspective, the research is based on problematizing and transformative education with Freirean presuppositions, with the contributions of the Pedagogy of the Oppressed. As methodological procedures of the action research, the development of two of the techniques, being the Image Theater and the Theater Forum, of the theatrical method known as Theater of the Oppressed, created by Augusto Boal. Subsequently, articulates the promotion of scientific knowledge based on the Pedagogical Moments, referenced by Delizoicov, Angotti and Pernambuco. In order to analyze the data and information brought by the field research, we use the Discursive Textual Analysis, considering the audio-recording performed in each encounter with the adolescents, highlighting the a priori and emerging categories manifested in the study. Concluding with the presentation of the results, in which it was possible to verify the contribution of science teaching in a non-formal education space, as well as to identify the process of awareness-raising meaning, in which the presence of critical awareness was noticed at the end of the course field research.