Thesis (PhD (Educational Psychology))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / It is evident that many students admitted to higher education in South Africa are ill-prepared for tertiary study. The predominantly behaviorist school system encourages learner dependency and superficial understanding and fails to encourage reflection and self-direction. Changing times and a more diverse student population have heightened the need for a broader range of teaching and learning approaches at tertiary level. As a result, many departments, faculties and institutes such as SciMathUS have explored the merits of problem-based learning (PBL) which supports students as self-directed, independent learners. Problem-based learning is a different philosophical approach to the whole notion of teaching and learning where problems drive the learning and is one of the best examples of a constructivist learning environment. Thus far, problem-based learning has mainly been implemented in long-term medical curricula, so research findings focus mainly on the development of PBL for longer programmes. The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether introducing a Hybrid PBL approach in a shorter one-year foundation programme can create conditions for learners to develop and sustain self-directed learning skills and gain more control of the learning process. This interpretive-constructivist study may be broadly termed evaluation research. A mixedmethod approach that involved collecting and analyzing both qualitative and quantitative data was chosen. Evaluation findings indicate that introducing students to a Hybrid PBL approach does promote more meaningful learning patterns, typified by processing the subject matter critically and self-regulating learning processes. However the sustainability of the meaningdirected learning activities is questionable if student beliefs do not support the activities employed. Findings also reveal that the Hybrid PBL approach contributes to overall programme improvement by promoting understanding in mathematics and science and improved staff relationships and subject knowledge. PBL helps to establish a learner-centered learning environment that emphasizes relations in mathematics and science, promotes deep approaches to learning which may lead to higher levels of achievement and success in Higher Education.

Thesis (MEd (Curriculum Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / The research was done in a period of curriculum transformation and reform in South Africa, a period during which teachers attended many interventions by service providers other than the education department to sharpen their skills. In this study, I investigate teacher professional development and professional development programmes using two case studies, MTN-SUNSTEP (Mobile Telecommunications Network – Stellenbosch University Schools Technology in Electronics Programme) and SWAP (Schools Water Project). These INSET programmes were intended to assist with the improvement of science teaching in terms of the new curricula suggested for the country. The study proceeds by way of two case studies within an interpretive paradigm. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the two programmes based on the criteria developed through a literature review and to understand and give meaning to the process of teacher professional development that might have occurred in the programmes. This process is framed by my research question, “can resource kits enable professional development in science teaching”. Data was collected at various stages by way of field notes, questionnaires, interviews and observations at workshops. Teachers generally found the processes useful but do indicate dissatisfaction with certain areas of the programmes. Issues that emerged from the study were that teacher development processes need to be organized over a long period, the development of teacher networks needs to be nurtured, and support at school level was essential to ensure implementation. An important insight was that the research, once again, emphasized a key aspect of effective teacher development programmes. Effective programmes require a team consisting of three agents that bring their own expertise to the process namely, teachers, district officials and university staff. This team has to take into account the factors that ensure effective teacher professional development and should occur within the parameters of accepted professional development practices and learning support materials play an important role in supporting this process.

The public sector project is particularly a demanding undertaking, with the requirement to meet diverse demands. Despite huge investment, public sector projects tend to complete behind schedule, indicating shortfall in various project factors. This research was grounded on an empirical study of the Malaysian School Computer Laboratory Programme (SCLP) to examine the project success factors throughout the project life span. The extensive SCLP was divided into six zones, spanning urban and remote environment throughout Malaysia. Its implementation was staggered into several phases, two of which covered in this study, namely phase-1 and phase-2. This research aimed to fulfil three research objectives: i) to discover the project management’s success factors; ii) to determine the product’s success factors that encompass various stakeholders; and iii) to identify project characteristics that influenced the project success. A comprehensive review of literature suggested 20 relevant project success factors to be investigated. Those factors were examined using a newly constructed framework, whereby the project life span was clustered into two segments – project process and project product. The study adopted a qualitative paradigm; nevertheless it utilised both qualitative and quantitative approaches of data collection, which were triangulated to provide a wider scope of interpretation. The quantitative data for a total sample of 357 projects were sourced from Likert-type questionnaire and secondary resources, while qualitative data were sourced from combination of semi-structured interviews with 38 respondents representing 10 groups of project stakeholders and secondary data from various documents. The results demonstrated that the project management of the SCLP was improperly administered. Out of five success factors investigated to verify the project conceptualization, only two namely project goal and project scope, were reasonably defined. One factor, stakeholder participation, was inadequately defined, while the other two factors, resources assessment and risk management, were not even taken into consideration by the project decision-making committee. There were also some deficiencies in the project planning. From six success factors tested, two were acceptably planned, i.e. project design and project costing. The other four, namely distribution of authority and responsibility, contractor selection, project scheduling, and project documentation, were insufficiently planned. The inadequacies in the project definition and project planning were reflected in the project execution as only two out of six factors, i.e. administrator effectiveness and communication, contributed to the project success. The other four, known as supervising team efficiency, contractor competence, integrity and external influences were negatively affected the project. Despite some deficiencies in the project management, the outcome or product of the project was found to be successful particularly in the judgement of the target group, the users; they were satisfied with the SCLP deliverables. They also appreciated the benefit from the utilisation of the products, which greatly changed the approaches of teaching and learning. However, the SCLP completion time was not as successful as planned, believed to be a result of unrealistic scheduling during the planning stage. Nonetheless, there were cases of genuine delays due to various factors in the earlier stages. The results also suggested that some of the project success factors were particularly influenced by project characteristics explored in this studied. The influences of these two characteristics, geographical zone and the project award method, could be seen in both the project management process and the project’s product. Overall, this thesis contributed to extant body of knowledge in various ways. A newly constructed research framework, with the concept of duality of project process and product, added depth to the longstanding idea of project success and expanded premises of the existing theory. This framework offered a better platform to identify when particular factors take place and affect the project along the project life span. This study also added a new insight to the Malaysian public sector projects management strategies in particular and to the other countries with the similar situations in general. A new paradigm in project decision-making by adopting a bottom-up concept rather than traditionally top-down alone during the project conceptualisation and a more realistic resource-based approach during the project planning, is suggested. In addition, this research proposed an ideal way to deal with various critical success factors in a huge programme.

Outdoor School is a cherished educational tradition in the Portland, OR region. This program's success is attributed to its presumed ability to positively impact affective and cognitive student outcomes. Residential programs such as Outdoor School are considered to be an important supplement to the classroom model of learning because they offer an authentic, contextually rich learning environment. References to relevant literature support the idea that student gains in affective and cognitive domains occur as a result of the multi-sensory, enjoyable, hands-on nature of outdoor learning. The sample population for this study was 115 sixth graders from a demographically diverse Portland, OR school district. This study used an instrument developed by the Common Measures System that was administered to students as part of Outdoor School's professional and program development project. The affective student outcome data measured by the Common Measures instrument was complemented by a formative assessment probe ascertaining prior knowledge of the definition of plants and field notes detailing Field Study instructor lesson content. This first part of this study examined the changes that take place in students' attitudes toward science as a result of attending Outdoor School. The second part took a look at how Outdoor School instruction in the Plants field study aligned with NGSS MS-LS Disciplinary Core Ideas and Practices. The third section of the study compared how Outdoor School instruction in the Plants Field Study and students' prior knowledge of what defines a plant aligned with NGSS MS-LS DCIs. The intent of the research was to arrive at a more nuanced understanding of how students' attitudes toward science are influenced by participating in an outdoor education program and contribute to the development of a continuum between classroom and outdoor school learning using Next Generation Science Standards Disciplinary Core Ideas and Practices as a framework. Results of this study were intended to inform outdoor education program development, add to the existing body of research, and inform future research projects.

Many teachers lack the confidence and knowledge to transition their classroom science lessons to an outdoor setting. Very few teacher professional development (PD) programs focus on improving teachers' self-efficacy and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) that is needed to enhance their science curriculum with outdoor lessons. This study examined an exception: The Connect2Science workshops, which provided elementary teachers the opportunity to experience nature-based science lessons. My research question for this study is: In what ways does a professional development workshop focused around the Next Generation Science Standards influence teachers': a) self-efficacy in teaching science outdoors and b) science pedagogical content knowledge? Data was collected using a retrospective pre and post survey, a reflection piece on participants’ pedagogical content knowledge and semi-structured interviews. The results showed that participants’ self-efficacy was positively affected by the Connect2Science workshops. As for pedagogical content knowledge, the results give a small insight into how participants viewed and thought about student misconceptions and how the instructional strategies presented in the workshops equipped them to better address science content in an outdoor setting.

Programs that engage middle students in participatory, real-world, and hands-on field based instruction can be a powerful asset to the educational experiences for students; motivating and inspiring some to appreciate and value school in a different way. Overnight environmental science programs have a unique opportunity to support students by creating experiences where students can participate in learning in vastly different ways from what they may engage with in the traditional 4-walled classroom, while concurrently developing a relationship with the natural world. Decreasing educational budgets and increased need to substantiate educational programs in terms of their impact on students has added pressure for overnight environmental science programs to validate their impact through quantitative means. Utilizing overnight environmental science education program attendance records and merging them with school district data relating to attendance, this study investigates the impact of one such overnight environmental science program on students' attendance rate change. Analyzing the secondary data using multiple linear regressions modeling, researchers explored how the overnight environmental program impacted student attendance rate change and how it varied by demographic characteristics to understand if and how the program addresses school district and educational policy reform targets.

The main aim of this study is to determine what factors limit Natural Science, Grade 7 teachers from engaging learners in practical work or performing experiments. This study is conducted in the Ogongo circuit of the Omusati Region. A qualitative case study approach was adopted for the study. The sample includes two (2) Grade 7 Natural Science teachers and six (6) Grade 7 Natural Science learners. Semi-structured interviews and observations were used to collect data. Data from interviews and observations were analyzed using thematic analysis. All interview and observation transcriptions were categorized into codes, categories, and themes. Themes and subthemes were grouped into tables and linked to literature to strengthen the findings of this study. The main themes were lack of pedagogical know-how, time, laboratory materials, and training to update and practice appropriate teaching strategies/approaches. The results of the study recommend training to prepare teachers on the use of appropriate teaching to improve the teaching and learning of Natural Science. The study recommends that Natural Science teachers should share knowledge and facts concerning Natural Science to understand teaching and learning concepts better. The learners are afforded enough opportunities to judge, analyze, and draw conclusions from the supplied content based on their level of understanding of tasks. The study exposed factors limiting teachers practice and informs stakeholders on ways to improve Grade 7 science teaching and learning to overcome the challenges of the field. / Science and Technology Education / M. Ed. (Natural Science Education)

Analiso nesta dissertação as representações sobre o ciclo de vida das plantas de onze coleções de livros didáticos de ciências aprovados pelo Programa Nacional de Livros Didático (PNLD) referente ao ano de 2011 para, em um segundo momento, focar nas mensagens visivas das representações de cada uma das divisões de plantas briófitas, pteridófitas, gimnospermas e angiospermas. As mensagens visivas permitir-me-iam caracterizar as transformações ocorridas tanto na forma de representar o ciclo quanto nas linguagens utilizadas nas estruturas representacionais que, na maioria das vezes, não condizem com os títulos empregados para nomeá-las. Lançando mão dos pressupostos da tríade pierciana (ícone-objeto-símbolo) a análise semiótica empreendida forneceu-me subsídios para, em uma terceira etapa da pesquisa, coletar desenhos junto aos sujeitos da pesquisa no que tange ao ciclo de vida das plantas, cujos ícones apresentaram os indícios que caracterizam o objeto, ou seja, o ciclo de vida das plantas - encerrado em simbologias com significados que reverberam em contextos históricos específicos, como uma lei própria das estruturas iconográficas. Nos ciclos de vida das plantas essas simbologias se encerram no círculo, envolvendo a vida das plantas como algo ininterrupto, isto é, a planta germina, cresce, desenvolve-se, reproduz e volta a germinar. Baseada nas premissas piercianas constatei que embora as imagens no ensino de ciências sejam de fundamental importância, elas interferem sobremaneira na aprendizagem dos fenômenos naturais, modificando percepções entre os ícones e o objeto real, fato este evidenciado quando comparei as representações imagéticas dos sujeitos desta pesquisa com as representações dos livros didáticos de ciências nos quais não há indícios da finalização do ciclo vital das plantas: a representação da senescência e da morte das plantas. / The object of this essay is the analysis of the representations about vegetables life cycle included in eleven science didactic books approved by PNLD related to the year of 2011. The intention is to focus on the visual messages delivered by the representations of each one of the vegetables division bryophytes, pteridophytes, gymnosperms and angiosperms. Those visual messages would allow me to identify the changes occurred both in the way to represent the cycle as well the language used to perform it. Most of the time these representations do not match with the titles used to designate them. In light of the pierciana triad (icon-object-symbol) the semiotics analysis used during the third phase of this study provided me subsidies to collect drawings from the research subjects regarding the vegetable life cycle. Such icons showed evidences that the feature of the object (vegetables life cycle) is enclosed in symbols linked to specific historic contexts like a particular law applied in iconographic structures. These symbols used to show the vegetables life cycle like something uninterrupted. In other words, the vegetables would germinate, grow, develop, breed and back to germinate in an endless cycle. Even though images are fundamental in the science teaching process I was able to conclude (Based on the PIERCIANAS premises) that the images may induce relevant misunderstandings between Icons and real objects. The perception of the natural phenomenon may be strongly corrupted. The evidences of this statement became crystal clear when I compared the image representations of the subjects of this research with the images of the science didactic books that dont clearly show the end of the life cycle of the vegetables: A senescence representation of the vegetables death.

Analiso nesta dissertação as representações sobre o ciclo de vida das plantas de onze coleções de livros didáticos de ciências aprovados pelo Programa Nacional de Livros Didático (PNLD) referente ao ano de 2011 para, em um segundo momento, focar nas mensagens visivas das representações de cada uma das divisões de plantas briófitas, pteridófitas, gimnospermas e angiospermas. As mensagens visivas permitir-me-iam caracterizar as transformações ocorridas tanto na forma de representar o ciclo quanto nas linguagens utilizadas nas estruturas representacionais que, na maioria das vezes, não condizem com os títulos empregados para nomeá-las. Lançando mão dos pressupostos da tríade pierciana (ícone-objeto-símbolo) a análise semiótica empreendida forneceu-me subsídios para, em uma terceira etapa da pesquisa, coletar desenhos junto aos sujeitos da pesquisa no que tange ao ciclo de vida das plantas, cujos ícones apresentaram os indícios que caracterizam o objeto, ou seja, o ciclo de vida das plantas - encerrado em simbologias com significados que reverberam em contextos históricos específicos, como uma lei própria das estruturas iconográficas. Nos ciclos de vida das plantas essas simbologias se encerram no círculo, envolvendo a vida das plantas como algo ininterrupto, isto é, a planta germina, cresce, desenvolve-se, reproduz e volta a germinar. Baseada nas premissas piercianas constatei que embora as imagens no ensino de ciências sejam de fundamental importância, elas interferem sobremaneira na aprendizagem dos fenômenos naturais, modificando percepções entre os ícones e o objeto real, fato este evidenciado quando comparei as representações imagéticas dos sujeitos desta pesquisa com as representações dos livros didáticos de ciências nos quais não há indícios da finalização do ciclo vital das plantas: a representação da senescência e da morte das plantas. / The object of this essay is the analysis of the representations about vegetables life cycle included in eleven science didactic books approved by PNLD related to the year of 2011. The intention is to focus on the visual messages delivered by the representations of each one of the vegetables division bryophytes, pteridophytes, gymnosperms and angiosperms. Those visual messages would allow me to identify the changes occurred both in the way to represent the cycle as well the language used to perform it. Most of the time these representations do not match with the titles used to designate them. In light of the pierciana triad (icon-object-symbol) the semiotics analysis used during the third phase of this study provided me subsidies to collect drawings from the research subjects regarding the vegetable life cycle. Such icons showed evidences that the feature of the object (vegetables life cycle) is enclosed in symbols linked to specific historic contexts like a particular law applied in iconographic structures. These symbols used to show the vegetables life cycle like something uninterrupted. In other words, the vegetables would germinate, grow, develop, breed and back to germinate in an endless cycle. Even though images are fundamental in the science teaching process I was able to conclude (Based on the PIERCIANAS premises) that the images may induce relevant misunderstandings between Icons and real objects. The perception of the natural phenomenon may be strongly corrupted. The evidences of this statement became crystal clear when I compared the image representations of the subjects of this research with the images of the science didactic books that dont clearly show the end of the life cycle of the vegetables: A senescence representation of the vegetables death.

The purpose of this research was to determine what type of correlations existed between student and parent attitudes towards using smartphones in school and the resulting impact on achievement, specifically for low-achieving students. Participants in the study were third-grade students and their parents from a primary school in Singapore. The study employed a quantitative analysis to understand the correlations among the different participant groups. The instruments used were Likert-based surveys, along with scores from mid-year and end-of-year achievement exams in English and science. The three most relevant major findings showed that (a) low-achieving students show a positive attitude toward completing science activities, which correlates with an increase in science achievement; (b) the parents of low-achieving students appear to provide their children with autonomy in using their smartphones, which correlates with an increase in science achievement; and (c) having a smartphone and using the smartphone to complete school work is important to low-achieving students and their parents.