No description available.

No description available.

Thesis advisor: Robert E. Yager. Includes bibliographic references (p. 190-197).

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- Mississippi State University. Department of Curriculum and Instruction. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Science Resource Centres (SRCs) were initiated by an educational non-governmental organisation in various districts of the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. These SRCs were intended to assist with professional development of Physical Sciences and Mathematics teachers, and to assist the under-resourced schools of KwaZulu-Natal with science resources, including Physical Sciences experiment kits, physics and chemistry apparatus and other educational resources. Science resources encompassed specialists, objects, policies and facilities to enhance the teaching of Physical Sciences. These science resources were usually coupled with professional development programmes that addressed content knowledge and effective use of science equipment through workshops on specific science topics and classroom support to teachers. Workshops were funded by the SRCs, and the focus was on physics and chemistry topics that teachers found challenging to teach. This study explored the use of the SRC by Physical Sciences teachers of the Empangeni education district in KwaZulu-Natal, and also aimed to determine whether the SRC was serving its intended purpose. In gathering data this qualitative study utilised individual interviews with Physical Sciences teachers whose schools were affiliated to the SRC. Document analysis produced data with regard to the frequency of loaning of science equipment by Physical Sciences teachers. The findings of this study revealed that the level of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) development of Physical Sciences teachers was one of the key factors that influenced the use of science resources in science teaching. This emerged through an analysis of teachers’ PCK, specifically using the frames of Content Representations (CoRes) and Pedagogical and Professional experience Repertoires (PaP-eRs). Lack of support from school management, lack of funding for affiliation and shortage of resources at the SRC were some of the factors that had an impact on use of the SRC by Physical Sciences teachers. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

Most South African township science teachers’ subject matter knowledge is not sufficient when compared to their counterparts in well developed countries. This disadvantages many Physical Science learners because teachers find it difficult to use their subject matter knowledge flexibly so that learners can understand basic concepts within the learning area. Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) is a term used to label the knowledge that is used by teachers to make learning concepts easier. This study sought to investigate teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge of the mole in two high school township schools of teachers in Gauteng. This was done by interviewing two high school teachers in Katlehong, a township south of Gauteng near Johannesburg, and observing their classroom practice and thus analyzing the role played by their content knowledge in developing their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). The teachers were also exposed to a three hour workshop in conceptual approaches to teaching the mole. The study drew on the literature on PCK which helped to (1) analyse the responses obtained from the teachers, and (2) develop Professional and Pedagogical Representations (PaPe-Rs) and Content Representation (CoRe) of the two teachers who participated in the study. The CoRe is about representing the educators’ understanding of PCK, namely, the different aspects that educators consider when preparing and presenting a particular content in their field of teaching, whilst PaPeRs are like a window into a teaching and learning situation wherein it is the content iii that shapes the pedagogy. This was achieved by employing a case study approach. Findings in this study indicate that both teachers preferred to use prescribed and study manuals that are examination orientated which promote algorithmic approach; both teachers’ subject knowledge of the mole was insufficient and described the mole as a number; that they preferred methods that promote memorization of definition and to use algorithmic rather than conceptual approach when teaching the mole. Some traces of elements of PCK could be identified although not well developed. One of teachers attempted to teach for conceptual understanding, a strategy that was suggested in a workshop, but was unable to link it to algorithmic approach, an approach that she was comfortable to use. The findings of this study imply that algorithmic approaches to the teaching of chemistry abound in South African schools. There is a need to move from algorithmic to conceptual approach. However, moves to conceptual approaches will involve far more than short presentation of packages using conceptual approaches. Teachers need to come to understand the importance of conceptual approaches to a meaningful understanding of chemistry and this can be achieved by long term exposure of teachers to such practices.

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Education. / This thesis reports on the development and testing of a framework for making sense of the collective professional learning of primary Science and Technology teachers in an elearning mediated context. Web-based networks and collaboratories are playing an increasingly prominent role in private and public sector knowledge building and innovation. In Education, online communities now frequently support teachers’ professional learning. However, despite the pervasiveness of this network zeitgeist, such studies rarely describe or analyse (let alone theorise) teachers’ collective learning, focusing paradoxically instead on the learning of individuals, albeit in group contexts. Without a clear understanding of collectivity, the design of initiatives for systemic professional renewal is significantly impeded. This investigation addresses this urgent need to describe, analyse and theorise teachers’ collective learning. Serendipitously, an Australian Research Council Linkage Project, DESCANT (SciTech), provided a context that confronted those ethical, theoretical and pragmatic challenges necessary to make collective learning both possible and likely. Cohorts of primary Science and Technology teachers, supported by consultants, Education Department officers and University researchers, worked together, in networked ways, to conceive, prototype and trial an e-learning environment for the professional development of cohorts of their peer teachers. Democratic participation was assured, a generative theory of learning adopted and pragmatic steps taken so as to establish a principled, yet experimental, trial for studying collective learning. Group learning at every stage of this process was documented, and examined for ethical, theoretical and pragmatic evidence of collectivity. That is, judgements were made as to whether the learning that occurred at each stage of the project could be understood as a complex, dynamic learning ecology. The study’s findings reveal that collective professional learning did occur, to a greater or lesser extent, at every stage of the DESCANT process. Furthermore, the collective learning of these teachers could be well described and explained by considering how those ethical, theoretical and pragmatic challenges - the pillars of the learning ecology framework developed here - were met. The account makes clear just how complex, dynamic, highly nuanced and ecological in nature collective learning is. It was then a small step to theorise systemic professional renewal in terms of collective conceptual movements on an adaptive (learning) landscape and, in the light of what occurred, to extrapolate, speculatively, from the generative theoretical pillar with which the study began. Of course, this study has acknowledged limitations. Nevertheless, its successful small-scale piloting of a learning ecology framework for making sense of collective, networked professional learning demonstrates that the framework has a range of epistemic benefits - not least, internal and external coherence. As well, it provokes thinking about key characteristics of networked approaches to collective professional learning. Above all, this study suggests the worth of continuing to test and refine this learning ecology framework in those diverse settings where systemic renewal is critical.

Given the high probability of national and federal research laboratories continuing to sponsor science education partnerships between their staff and classroom science teachers and the dearth of research in this area, this study set out to delineate best practices associated with such partnerships for the purpose of increasing the effectiveness of future partnerships. This investigation critically examined two science education partnerships at selected federal research laboratories over the course of summer workshops and the subsequent academic year. Sources of data included interviews, workshop observations, electronic mail communication, written program evaluations, and casual conversation. A unique feature of this research was the inclusion of all representative groups including program administrators, laboratory scientists, and the participating classroom teachers. By capturing the perspectives of all participant groups, this research was able to present a complete portrayal of science education partnerships at two national research laboratories. The longitudinal nature of this investigation allowed for all components of each program (e.g. planning, organization, implementation, evaluation, and follow-up) to be included in the research. The determination of best practices in science education partnerships provided the framework for this research which clearly showed the underlying importance of the need for all participants to understand the goals and what is expected of them before the program gets underway. To be achievable, individual and programmatic expectations must be in alignment with the overall goals of a program. To be attainable, the goals must be understood by all and provide a framework for the expectations. Without a clear and shared vision of a programs direction, goals and expectations are not likely to be fulfilled. The common thread for each of these components is communication and its importance during all stages of a program cannot be overstated. Additional findings suggest a variety of areas that should be considered important in science education partnerships. Insight into effective classroom transfer, the role of lead teachers, the role of scientists and science content, and program evaluation was developed as a result of this study. / Graduation date: 2002

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 306-321).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Kent State University, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Oct. 29, 2009). Advisor: Wendy Sherman Heckler. Keywords: Science-Technology-Society; STS; Pre-service Science Teachers; Socio-scientific Issues; Science and Society. Includes bibliographical references (p. 209-224).