Made available in DSpace on 2014-07-29T15:00:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao gislene.pdf: 810919 bytes, checksum: e2cee821938bd439786a2113b16fd32c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-05-04 / The aim of this study was to investigate the II cycle science s teacher s point of view about Ciclos de Formação (Formation Cycles) in the Teaching Municipal s Web in Goiânia. Since the role of teachers is to achieve any pedagogical proposal, it is important to identify what the teachers think about Ciclos de Formação (Formation Cycle) once they signified a very important change in the Teaching Municipal s Web in Goiânia. The research embraced all the formation II cycle s science s teachers of the Teaching Municipal s Web. The methodology used were the semi-organized interviews which had the purpose to comprehend and evaluate based on pedagogical aspects and the role of science teaching in this organization- the teachers about the implementation process of cycles in the Teaching Municipal s Web. The results of this work indicates that after eleven years of the Formation Cycles s implementation in Teaching Municipal s Web, there are, in the science s teacher s point of view progresses, equivocal, lack of comprehensions and great difficulties in the pedagogical conduction that shows the necessity to enlarge the study and to systematized the reflection about this teaching organization policy, their implications in the student daily classes and about the science teaching s role in the formation of the pupil. In this way, it is concluded that there are the necessity of offering, in the initial formation of science teachers, studying spaces and discussion about the nature of the scientific knowledge and the pedagogical politic aspects. / O presente estudo objetiva investigar a visão dos professores de ciências do ciclo II da Rede Municipal de Educação de Goiânia sobre os ciclos de formação. O papel do professor é determinante para a efetivação de qualquer proposta pedagógica. Assim, é preciso identificar o que os professores de Goiânia pensam sobre os ciclos de formação, visto que estes significaram uma mudança muito importante na Rede Municipal de Educação de Goiânia (RME). A pesquisa envolveu todos os professores de ciências do ciclo de formação II da RME. O instrumento metodológico foram entrevistas semi-estruturadas com as quais se procurou saber a compreensão e a avaliação dos professores sobre o processo de implantação da proposta de ciclos na RME, sobre os aspectos pedagógicos dessa organização e o papel que nela exerce o ensino de ciências. Os resultados indicaram que, após 11 anos da implantação dos ciclos de formação, existem, na visão dos professores da área de ciências, avanços, equívocos, incompreensões e grandes dificuldades na condução do trabalho pedagógico, o que aponta para a necessidade de ampliar o estudo e a reflexão sistematizados sobre essa política de organização do ensino, suas implicações no cotidiano escolar e o papel do ensino de ciências na formação do aluno. Da mesma forma, a pesquisa conclui pela necessidade de se propiciarem, na formação inicial dos professores de ciências, espaços para o estudo e a discussão da natureza do conhecimento científico e dos aspectos político-pedagógicos.

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Quality, Durban University of Technology, 2017. / The emergence of a highly competitive and integrated international economy, rapid technological innovation, and a growing knowledge base will continue to have a profound impact on the lives of communities. In recent years there has been an international movement towards educational reform, particularly in science education, to meet the need for a sustainable environment, economy, and society. Science education is a key element in developing scientific literacy among today’s and tomorrow’s youth. Recent decades have seen an exponential growth in scientific applications, and one would expect an accompanied increase in science interests in the classroom, as well as an increased understanding of basic science ideas and ways of thinking will follow. However, research has shown that this is not the case. In this study, the researcher, through the research methodology, took an in-depth look at whether the curriculum reform in the Life Science curriculum was forthcoming to lifelong learning. The key questions guiding this study are as follows: (a) What are the perceptions and expectations of grade 12 learners regarding the quality of the Life Sciences curriculum in respect of lifelong learning; (b) What are the perceptions and expectations of grade 12 learners regarding the their Life Sciences educators; (c) What are the perceptions of the grade 12 Life Sciences educators of the relevance of the grade 12 Life Sciences curriculum with a view to lifelong learning; (d) How does the grade 12 Life Sciences curriculum impact on lifelong learning of learners. This study falls within the realm of mixed methods study. Mixed methods encompass both a quantitative and a qualitative study. The study was conducted in the district of Pinetown because in 2013 this district produced the best results in Kwa-Zulu Natal in the National Senior Certificate Life Sciences examination. This study used simple random sampling to obtain the learner participants. The researcher conducted the study in 16 schools and 25 learners from each school were randomly selected. The educator sample comprised 75 grade 12 Life Sciences educators. The SERVQUAL questionnaire was administered to the 400 learners that were randomly selected while; the educator questionnaire was administered to the sample of 75 educators. The findings of the research revealed that educators experienced many challenges which hindered the successful implementation of the Life Sciences curriculum effectively. The quality of the Life Sciences curriculum itself did not that hinge on lifelong learning. It did not have very much relevance to the lives of the learners and as such the learners were learning about things that were abstract to them. Another finding was that educators found it challenging to relate the grade 12 Life Sciences curriculum to the everyday experiences of the learners because time was a limiting factor. The exam driven nature of Life Sciences had resulted in rote memorisation of scientific facts by the students without any or very little attention being paid to analysis and application of knowledge. The inability to evaluate the process of curriculum implementation by curriculum developers could have serious consequences for the learners and communities at large. For any qualitative change to occur in Life Sciences education, the curriculum must undergo a paradigm shift. To encourage schools and teachers to implement this paradigm shift, fundamentally there needs to be an overarching reform of teacher empowerment. In essence, what is needed from the national educational policy makers is a shift towards more evolutionary policy planning which aims to improve the fit between the intention of the curriculum and the conditions on the ground, to blend top-down policy initiative and bottom-up participation and to promote continuous interaction between all policy actors. / D

Fostering students’ creativity in school subjects has recently become a central focus of educational researchers, educators, and educational policymakers around the world. In Kuwait, educational researchers and teacher educators have supported the need to foster students’ creativity via a national curriculum. Yet, the Ministry of Education has conducted few studies to explore practitioners’ perspectives on how to foster creativity through the current curriculum. The overall aims of this study were to explore science teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and practices in fostering creativity in science classrooms as well as to investigate the influences of sociocultural factors on teachers’ beliefs and practices in fostering creativity. The study also examined the consistency and inconsistency levels between teachers’ beliefs and practices. The study has a qualitative nature that stands on an interpretive worldview. The methodology uses eight case studies, each of which consisted of a male science teacher and one of his classes. Multiple methods were used, including semi-structured interviews (pre- and post-observational interviews), student focus groups, unstructured observations, participants’ drawings, and field notes. The analysis was based on thematic analysis model proposed by Braun and Clarke (2006). Thematic findings and case studies findings were drawn from the analysis of the data collected. In general, the thematic findings indicated that science teachers are able to define the meaning of creativity and its main aspects. Professed pedagogical beliefs enforce four teaching approaches to foster creativity in the science classroom: the teaching of thinking skills, inquiry-based learning, cooperative learning, and practical investigation (experimentation). The teachers believe that these approaches could promote students’ creativity in science classroom when specific sociocultural factors facilitate the effectiveness of such approaches in terms of fostering creativity. Three interdependent categories represent these facilitating factors: (1) educational setting-related factors, (2) teacher-related factors, and (3) student-related factors. Differences and similarities appeared when these professed beliefs were compared to the applied classroom practices. The thematic analysis revealed several themes underlying the main categories. Extensive teacher-centred practices and modest student-centred practices were evident; more specifically, the observations revealed primarily teacher-centred approach inside the science classes. Meanwhile, student-centred approaches were modestly applied in comparison to teacher-centred activities. The teachers justified their practices in accordance with the sociocultural factors that mediate their beliefs and practices as well as the role of their goal orientation. The science teachers perceived the mediating factors as constraints that prevent them from applying their beliefs about fostering creativity in classroom practices. Multiple constraining factors emerged, and they were categorised into personal, external, and interpersonal constraints. Concerning the case study findings, consistencies and inconsistencies were identified using a cut-off point as an analytic technique to classify teachers’ beliefs and practices into traditional (non-creativity fostering), mixed, or progressive (creativity fostering). The case study findings identified four consistency and inconsistency levels characterizing teachers’ beliefs and practices: traditional (consistent level), mainly traditional (inconsistent level), mixed (consistent level), and mainly progressive (inconsistent level). Each level was represented by an exemplary case study. The exemplary case studies revealed that sociocultural contexts influence teacher’s belief-practice relationship with respect to fostering students’ creativity in science classroom. Further, the thematic and case study findings were discussed in relation to the existing body of knowledge, followed by an illustration of significant conclusions, including some implications, contributions, limitations, and future suggestions.

The primary purpose of this study was to capture Natural Science teachers’ perceptions of the national standardised achievement tests (SATs), with a view to illuminating whether or not they were able to interpret and use the SATs reports to inform their practice and for improvement purposes as envisaged in the standardised tests’ objectives. It further sought to investigate how the grade 7 Natural Science teachers were teaching the subject matter, with a view to understanding the performance of learners as illustrated in the 2010 SATs results. The study mainly used qualitative methods such as observations, interviews and document analysis. These were complemented by quantitative methods through the use of the questionnaires, which were used to capture the general perceptions and experiences of Natural Science teachers. Thirty-five questionnaires were sent out and ten responses were received. Quantitative data from the questionnaires were analysed by tabulation to ascertain the frequencies of responses regarding teachers’ perceptions and experiences of SATs, as indicated in different scales per indicator. Furthermore, data generated through video-taped lessons, analysis of learners’ written notes, interviews and open-ended questions from the questionnaires were inductively analyzed. The findings of the study revealed that teachers had positive perceptions towards the ideals of SATs. However, their use of the SATs reports in their teaching was inconclusive. The study also revealed that there were no policy imperatives on SATs, in particular, to guide their use in schools. It was also found that teachers were not teaching the syllabus competencies fully and their Natural Science content knowledge was inadequate. The principal recommendation is that teachers need to acquaint themselves sufficiently with the SATs reports to enable them to use the reports for their intended purposes. Furthermore, teachers need to engage in continuous professional development programmes to improve their Natural Science content knowledge, especially with regard to making information in the textbooks accessible to learners in terms of addressing competencies in the syllabus. Finally, there is a need for policy intervention from the Ministry of Education in Namibia so that the existing tensions between policy formulation and implementation are addressed.

Mathematics and science form an integral part people’s daily lives. South African people suddenly find themselves on a technological highway, where mathematical, scientific and creative thinking as well as problem solving skills take centre stage. However many people fear these, and believe that they are unable to tackle them. Mathematics and science educators therefore have need to have knowledge and understanding regarding 6 the foundation of the teaching of these subjects in the intermediate and senior phases at schools. This should enable them to contribute positively towards changing people’s perceptions about these subjects. Based on the above information I felt it imperative for me to investigate the impact of shortages of maths and science educators with special reference to the Buffalo City Area. Purpose of the study: 1 To determine whether schools are able to attract and retain qualified maths and science educators, 2 To identify the quantity of quality maths and science learners schools are able to produce for tertiary education, 3 To investigate the rate of turnover of maths and science educators, 4 To identify the number of maths and science learners who are willing to study maths and science at tertiary level and thereafter join the teaching fraternity.

Submitted by Nadir Basilio (nadirsb@uninove.br) on 2017-06-14T19:18:05Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Luciane da Silva Vicente.pdf: 2178567 bytes, checksum: 45a0a807aa08ef3ae8cf401aeae8d674 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-14T19:18:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Luciane da Silva Vicente.pdf: 2178567 bytes, checksum: 45a0a807aa08ef3ae8cf401aeae8d674 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-04-04 / The present paper aims to study the current Science Curriculum of São Paulo Education Department (SEESP). It was implemented in 2008 with the purpose to unify the school programmers taught and improve the quality of education of state public schools. The curriculum was developed by a group of experts chosen by SEE without teachers’ participation. In this regard, the goal of the survey is to figure out how teachers comprehend the official curriculum and how this comprehension has been impacting their work. In order to reach the goal, the survey was organized in two different moments. The first one has a bibliographical process, in which part of the literature about approaches and conceptions of the Science Curriculum over the past few years was mapped. During this process, national and state Science curricular purposes produced from the 1990s were analyzed. We see Science teachers’ statements as an important instrument therefore, for the second moment, they were interviewed about their experience, perception, and comprehension about the curriculum and how it has impacted their teaching practice. The interviews were analyzed through articulation between qualitative research and content analysis methodology. The results achieved indicate that the official curriculum of the State of São Paulo ignores the peculiarities of different school contexts and it doesn’t provide appropriate teaching resources and infrastructure. Moreover, the state official curriculum conception turns teachers into mere repeaters of a curriculum built without the participation of those directly involved in teaching process. / La presente investigación tiene como objeto de estudio el actual currículo de ciencias de la Secretaria de Educación del Estado de São Paulo (SEESP), que fue implementado en 2008 con el propósito de unificar los contenidos enseñados en toda la red y mejorar la calidad de la educación en las escuelas públicas estaduales. El currículo fue elaborado por un grupo de expertos seleccionados por la SEESP, pero, sin la participación de los profesores. En este contexto, el objetivo de la investigación es evaluar la comprensión que los profesores de ciencias tienen del currículo oficial y cómo esa comprensión se refleja en su trabajo. Para lograr hacerlo, inicialmente, mapeamos parte de la literatura que trata de los abordajes y de las concepciones del currículo de ciencias a lo largo de los últimos años. Luego analizamos las proposiciones curriculares para la disciplina de ciencias producidas en ámbito federal y por la SEESP a partir de la década de 1990. Entendemos que la declaración de los profesores es un instrumento importante de la investigación, así que, realizamos un conjunto de entrevistas semiestructuradas con profesores de ciencias que aborda la experiencia, la percepción y la comprensión que ellos tienen del currículo y de cómo estos factores impactan la práctica escolar. Las entrevistas fueron analizadas por medio de la articulación entre técnicas de investigación cualitativas y metodológicas de la analice del contenido. Los resultados de esta investigación indican que el currículo oficial para la red estadual de enseñanza del estado de São Paulo desconsidera las peculiaridades de cada contexto escolar: no oferta recursos didácticos ni siquiera una infraestructura correcta para que los profesores realicen su trabajo. Además, su concepción reduce los profesores a reproductores de un currículo construido sin la participación de los involucrados directamente en el proceso educativo de la red. / A presente investigação tem como objeto de estudo o atual currículo de ciências da Secretaria de Educação do Estado de São Paulo (SEESP). Ele é implementado em 2008 com o objetivo de unificar os conteúdos ensinados em toda a rede e para melhorar a qualidade da educação nas escolas públicas estaduais. O currículo foi elaborado por um grupo de especialistas definidos pela SEESP, sem a participação dos professores. Nesse contexto, o objetivo dessa pesquisa é compreender a compreensão que os professores de ciências possuem do currículo oficial e como esse entendimento tem impactado em seu trabalho. Para alcançar esse intento a pesquisa foi organizada em dois momentos. O primeiro, de caráter bibliográfico, mapeamos parte da literatura que trata das abordagens e concepções de currículo de Ciências ao longo dos últimos anos. Nesse mesmo processo, analisamos as proposições curriculares para a disciplina de Ciências produzidas em âmbito Federal e pela Secretaria de Educação do Estado de São Paulo a partir da década 1990. Entendemos que o depoimento dos professores se constitui em instrumento importante da pesquisa, assim, no segundo momento, realizamos um conjunto de entrevistas semiestruturadas com professores de Ciências, que tratou da experiência, percepção e compreensão que eles possuem do currículo e de como impactou a prática escolar. As entrevistas foram analisadas por meio da articulação entre técnicas de pesquisa qualitativa e metodologia da análise de conteúdo. Os resultados dessa investigação indicam que o Currículo Oficial para a Rede Estadual de Ensino do Estado de São Paulo desconsidera as peculiaridades dos contextos escolares, não disponibiliza recursos didáticos e infraestrutura adequada para que os professores realizem seu trabalho. Além disso, sua concepção, reduz os professores à meros reprodutores de um currículo construído sem a participação dos envolvidos diretamente no processo educativo da rede.

Abstracts in English, Xhosa and Zulu / The rationale behind this study was, to explore how unqualified natural science teachers in grade seven conduct practical work. Furthermore, the study explored an understanding of some of the experiences, beliefs and views of unqualified NS teachers. This was a qualitative study. Data was collected through classroom observations and semi-structured interviews. The three cases were interviewed and observed separately. This study was guided by main research question: How do unqualified grade seven natural science teachers facilitate practical work in the senior phase? Which was further unpacked into three sub-questions: How do unqualified NS teachers define practical work? What are the views, aims and objectives of unqualified NS teachers about practical work? How do unqualified NS teacher conduct practical work? The study revealed that in all three cases, practical work was conducted consecutively as poorly, outstandingly, and excellently. Moreover, an intensive professional pedagogical development is recommended for natural science teachers. / Isizathu emva kwesi sifundo sasiyihlolisise indlela abafundisi bezesayensi bezendalo abangafanelekanga ngayo kwiibakala ezisixhenxe ezenza umsebenzi osebenzayo. Ngaphezulu, uphando luhlolisise ukuqonda kwamanye amava, iinkolelo kunye neembono zabafundisi be-NS abangafanelekanga. Oku kwakufundwe ukufaneleka. Idatha yaqokelelwa kumagumbi okufundela kunye noonononongo olulungelelanisiweyo. Amatyala amathathu axoxwa ngumbutho kwaye athathwa ngokwahlukileyo. Olu pho nonongo lukhokelwa ngumbuzo ophambili wokuphanda: Ootitshala abangabalulekanga bakala be-sayensi bendalo abasixhenxe banceda njani umsebenzi osebenzayo kwisigaba esiphakamileyo? Yiyiphi enye eyayixhaswa kwimibandela engaphantsi kwemibuzo emithathu: Ootitshala abangenasigxina be-NS bachaza njani umsebenzi osebenzayo? Ziziphi iimbono, iinjongo kunye neenjongo zabafundisi be-NS abangafanelekanga malunga nomsebenzi osebenzayo? Umfundisi ongenagunyaziwe we-NS uqhuba njani umsebenzi osebenzayo? Uphononongo lubonakalise ukuba kuzo zonke iimeko ezintathu, umsebenzi osebenzayo wenziwa ngokulandelelanayo, ngokugqithiseleyo, nangokugqwesileyo. Ngaphezu koko, uphuhliso olunzulu lwezobugcisa lunconywa kubafundisi bezesayensi zendalo. / Isizathu esilandelayo kulolu cwaningo kwakuwukuhlolisisa ukuthi othisha bezesayensi engokwemvelo abangafaneleki yini ebangeni lesi-7 ukuqhuba umsebenzi osebenzayo. Ngaphezu kwalokho, lolu cwaningo luhlolisise ukuqonda okunye okuhlangenwe nakho, izinkolelo nokubukwa kwabafundisi be-NS abangafaneleki. Lokhu kwakuyi-study qualitative. Idatha yaqoqwa ngokusebenzisa ukuhlolwa kwamakilasi kanye nezingxoxo ezihleliwe. Amacala amathathu axoxwa futhi ahlonishwa ngokwehlukana. Lesi sifundo sasiqondiswa umbuzo oyinhloko wocwaningo: Abafundisi abangayifaneleki bangabafundi abayisikhombisa besayensi yemvelo benza kanjani umsebenzi osebenzayo esigabeni esiphakeme? Yikuphi okwakungeniswa phakathi kwemibuzo emithathu engaphansi: Abafundisi abangaqiniseki NS bachaza kanjani umsebenzi osebenzayo? Yiziphi imibono, izinhloso kanye nezinhloso ze-NS abangaqeqeshiwe mayelana nomsebenzi osebenzayo? Ngabe uthisha we-NS ongagunyaziwe uqhuba kanjani umsebenzi osebenzayo? Ucwaningo luveze ukuthi kuzo zonke izimo ezintathu, umsebenzi osebenzayo wenziwa ngokulandelana, ngokungafani, nangokugqamile. Ngaphezu kwalokho, ukuthuthukiswa okujulile kwezobuchwepheshe kunconywa othisha bezesayensi yemvelo. / Science and Technology Education / M. Ed. (Natural Sciences)

Learners’ Physical Science performance in South Africa has been under discussion for several years, the challenge being that it has been exacerbated by continuous changes in the curriculum. Systems that have been put in place have yielded insufficient satisfactory solutions to both underperformance in the subject and sustainable good performance. Although interventions by curriculum policymakers have been ineffective, the issue at hand remains that teachers need to implement good teaching practices in order to ensure that all learners receive quality education. Physical Science teachers are custodians of a subject that may address scarce skills in the education system, so the quality of teaching must be optimised. Teachers need to implement intervention processes put in place by other stakeholders to reduce the negative perceptions that most people have about Physical Science. This study investigates how various factors related to the quality of teachers may affect the performance of Grade 12 learners in this subject. Since past studies have presented a broad spectrum of these factors, this study has categorised them as those directly related to teaching and those indirectly related to teaching. As a basis for data collection the researcher first established the overall status of the Physical Science teachers and investigated how the factors identified affect teaching. A mixed method approach was followed, and given the breadth of the study, available raw data was collected through questionnaires, interviews and observations. Data collected on factors indirectly related to teaching showed that these factors affect factors directly related to teaching and both of them affect the performance of the teacher, and consequently those of learners. These findings revealed that the performance of Physical Science cannot be based on one factor only, but on a combination of factors that are interrelated and should be integrated for effective teaching practices. Recommendations have been made to the National and Provincial Department of Education, District offices, school management teams and Physical Science teachers to reinforce other strategies that have been in place in order to improve or sustain good performance of the subject and to close gaps that have not been identified as possible intervention strategies. They include upgrading qualifications with the current content and methodologies to match the changing curriculum, restructuring workshops so that they are informed by the teacher’s needs, stabilising the curriculum to avoid many changes in short periods of time, retraining of teachers, relevant appointment of Heads of Departments (HoDs) into subject management positions, utilisation of support groups by teachers, proper management of the subject, proper screening of Physical Science learners and provision of teaching and learning resources. / Science and Technology Education / M. Ed. (Natural Science Education)

Online learning is a rapidly growing phenomenon in post-secondary education. Institutions of higher learning have embraced online learning for its perceived merits, but without the consideration of how instructors deal with this different learning medium. Little is known of the extent to which different disciplines are suited to the online medium; this is pertinent to disciplines that rely on spontaneous in-person discussion. Furthermore, as colleges continue to invest heavily in online learning, instructors who only possess face-to-face teaching experience may begin teaching online. This poses a pedagogical challenge for instructors who are unfamiliar with the medium. This qualitative, in-depth interview study with ten social science instructors elucidates the process of transition from face-to-face teaching to online teaching. Through grounded analysis, a few key themes emerged. Respondents explain that teaching in the online classroom is qualitatively different from teaching in-person. The asynchronisity of the online classroom - which means students do not "meet", discuss, or learn at the same time - is a subtle yet significant difference between the two mediums. The asynchronous classroom means instructors relinquish control of when and where students will engage in study and discussion, and this requires students to have especially high self-regulatory skills. Respondents also explained that their online courses were several times larger than their in-person ones, with some courses allowing over twice as many students as an in-person course. Consequently, instructors must find new ways to approach teaching in the online medium. This pitfall of relying on old, obsolete methods in the online medium can be avoided if instructors are provided with the peer and pedagogical support of their professional peers, and access to teaching assistants to manage the greater time commitment of teaching online. In order to have a positive experience, online teachers must be willing to take on an intellectual challenge that may defy how they perceive themselves and their role in higher education. If instructors are open to a new intellectual challenge and possess the proper resources, they will become committed to teaching online and perceive the advantages of the medium to outweigh the disadvantages.

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