A research project submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science. November 1995. / Bacon’s ideas have been modified and improved by some and contested by others over the centuries. Logical positivism, which evolved from empiricism, has two important tenets, namely, observation and deductive logic in reasoning. As with empiricism, knowledge is considered as objective and reliable (Chalmers, 1983). [Abbreviated Abstract. Open document to view full version] / GR 2016

A research project submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Education in the Faculty of Science. The University of the Witwatersrand. February 2016 / In South Africa, the new Curriculum Statement and Policy Statement (CAPS) Grades 10- 12 for Physical Sciences emphasizes learners’ use of science process skills. The aim of this study was to evaluate the extent of the use of science process skills by Grade 11 Physical Science learners. It also sought to explore some of the factors associated with poor utilization of SPS by Grade 11 Physical Science learners. The participants were Grade 11 Physical Science learners (n=50) and teachers (n=4) from two schools in the Johannesburg area of the Gauteng Province, South Africa. Quantitative and qualitative data used to evaluate Grade 11 Physical Science learners’ use of science process skills was obtained through use of: a learner Likert questionnaire; teacher and learners’ interviews; and analysis of classroom lesson observations. Quantitative data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Qualitative data was analyzed using a combination of content and interpretive analysis. It was found that for both schools basic science process skills were relatively more frequently utilized compared to integrated skills; with the lower fee paying school showing a poorer utilization of both types of skills. The most utilized basic science process skills were found to be communication, observation, identification, classification, comparison, description and calculation. It was found that the following integrated process skills are poorly utilized by the Grade 11 Physical Science leaners- prediction, constructing hypothesis, relationship between variables, constructing diagrams, and experimentation. Some of the factors found to hamper utilization of science process skills were identified as teacher incompetency, lack of learner interest, poor availability of curriculum resources, and poor teaching practices and learning strategies. It was recommended that the South African CAPS curriculum needs to be revised to put greater emphasis on teaching and assessment of science process skill utilization. Furthermore, it was suggested that teachers need to be professional developed to enhance their capabilities of teaching science process skill utilization. Implications for further studies were fleshed out and discussed.

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The introduction of Science Education Standards for the K-12 education system of the United States and those of Bhutan is aimed at providing students with equitable access to quality science instruction and to promote a scientifically literate society. These reforms in education systems require teachers who are well prepared to translate the reform documents, (i.e., Science Standards and curriculum goals) into effective daily classroom instruction. Reform efforts by the states or the federal government involve significant investment of financial and other resources. But all too often the teachers are not prepared to implement reforms in their classroom professional practices due to lack of proper (and timely) professional development and necessary support. To design professional development and educative materials to enable teachers’ implementation of these reform ideas, we need research into the current practices and challenges in implementing reform ideas by pre-service science teachers and in-service science teachers. Science education programs and research has increasingly placed emphasis on the need for sound theoretical models to support educational program development and implementation. This is a case study based on a multi-compartment network model designed to examine aspects of current practices in implementing reform ideas, and furthermore to identify areas of best practices and areas of improvement (e.g., professional practices and interpretation of theories of teaching and learning). The core of the model is grounded in the principles of social constructivism, and the relevant theories and practices guiding teacher education forms the multi-compartments of a network box model that focuses on how the components interact with each other in a teacher education program. It is intended to provide a holistic picture of how the teacher education practices and reform implementation goals interact. This model was initially applied in an investigation of practices of a cohort of pre-service science teachers in a teacher education program in the U.S. This constituted phase one of this research. Subsequently, it also was applied to a pre-service science teacher education in Bhutan. There, the course involved translation of reform ideas into the pre-service teacher’s professional practices, in this latter case science Standards (referred to as Bhutan Goals of Science Education) in Bhutan. In parallel to the U.S.-based study, a cohort of pre-service science teachers in a science education course and relevant expert science teacher educators participated in the Bhutan study. The study was carried out in two separate case studies with distinct contextual characteristics. The U.S. case study part one was designed in some ways to pilot the analytical model. The Bhutan case study part two is an extension of the first study. In both the U.S. and Bhutan study, the pre-service science teachers and expert science teacher educators showed strong degree of coherence in terms of their ranking of the science Standards and their rationale behind the ranking, indicating a certain degree of evidence for a community of practice. However, further inquiry revealed that pre-service science teachers struggled to effectively incorporate Standards in their lesson plans. Furthermore, the findings from the two-part study provide some insights into how this analytical model can be applied to science teacher education engaged in reform implementation, across different institutional and cultural contexts. Both quantitative and qualitative evidence were obtained and analyzed using descriptive statistical analysis methods and qualitative data analysis techniques.

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Many efforts to reform science educational standards and structure have placed an emphasis on directing learners to communicate about concepts using external representations (ERs). Techniques to develop competencies with ERs often ask learners to develop understanding outside of a physical context while concurrently making connections back to the context—a very challenging task that often results in incomplete learning. This dissertation work is presented in part as a journal article and presents a study that compared the effectiveness of a computer simulation to an augmented reality (AR) simulation for developing magnetic field conceptual and representational knowledge. The AR technology provides a feature called a dynamic overlay that can present ERs in a real-world context. The study was done with six classes of ninth grade physics students and evaluated learning, proficiency of exploration, and intrinsic motivation to engage with the activity and technology. Results from this study show that contrary to expectations, students who used AR performed similarly to students who used the computer simulation conceptual and representational knowledge assessment. However, students who engaged with AR demonstrated worse exploration on average and had lower levels of intrinsic motivation. These outcomes provide evidence to the difficulty of using AR for teaching the ERs of challenging concepts and the complexities of implementing novel technologies into a standard classroom environment.

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After searching periodicals and getting the views of science teachers, it was found that the minority religious groups and individuals in larger religious groups had these three main objections to the teaching of science in the public schools. 1. The schools should not teach that the earth is round since the Bible states that it has four corners. 2. No scientific facts that relate to resistance to disease, health and sanitation problems, spread of disease or transmission of disease by bacteria or insects should be taught in the public schools. 3. No phase of evolution should be taught in the schools, how the earth plants, animals, or man evolved. In order to meet these objections, material has been compiled for the use of science teachers. No effort has been made to suggest methods of teaching such material since the teaching situations of science teachers appear to be varied and each individual can best select his own method. / M.S.

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