In this thesis the students' experiences of science classroom discussions are examined as well as the nature of their discussions and their ability to take different perspectives while working with socio-scientific issues (SSI). Student questionnaires concerning their attitudes towards school science and science in society, a paper-and-pencil test and focus group discussions have been analysed. The results show that students get to discuss during science lessons, and that they learn a lot from doing so. They also show that the SSI work has brought about a lot of discussions, to which students have a positive attitude. When investigating students' written and oral demonstrationsfewexamplesof argument-based discussions or ofperspective-taking ability were found. Based on these results I argue that in-service teacher training should be carried out, focusing how to organise SSI discussions so that they support students' development of concepts and of generic skills.

Student Number : 0107553H - MSc research report - School of Science Education - Faculty of Science / One of the most important challenges of the secondary school science teacher is to help learners to obtain, analyze and evaluate evidence using experimental and investigative methods. The understanding and application of concepts of evidence play a central role in setting up valid experiment and is usually ignored in the secondary school science curriculum. Recognizing the significance and value of an understanding of evidence in developing learners’ ability to carry out appropriate experimental work in science, the question arises of learners’ understanding of ‘concepts of evidence’ in experimental design. In this study the researcher endeavored to answer some of the questions concerning learners’ understanding of evidence: What understanding do learners entering the Further Education and Training (FET) band have of the concepts of validity in experimental design? What is the effect of an intervention on their understanding of concepts of validity? How well do learners show their ability to apply concepts of evidence to an assessment task? The study investigated the ability of a sample of grade 10 Physical Science learners, in one Gauteng Province secondary school to use and understand the concepts of evidence before and after an intervention, and their ability apply these ideas about evidence in an assessment sheet task. First, a survey of learners’ understanding of the concepts of validity was conducted using a written diagnostic test, consisting of three probes that had been previously used to diagnose learners’ understanding of validity in experimental design. Second, an evaluation of changes in such understanding due to a specific teaching intervention was completed using the same diagnostic test. Finally, the 2004 Grade 9 Common Tasks for Assessment (CTA) investigation task was administered to the same subjects in order to investigate whether or not their understanding of concepts of evidence would be apparent in this CTA investigation task. Several key findings emerged from the data. The major findings of this study were that the sample investigated began the study with a level of understanding equal to a group of Foundation University students tested in a previous study and that their understanding did not change much during the intervention. In fact, analysis of the results from the probes in the diagnostic test revealed that learners had little problem choosing the independent variable and controlling variables. However, the findings from the probes indicated that the intervention did not seem to have had a major effect since the difference in the number of responses between the pre-test and post- test was relatively small. Moreover, the results also revealed that it was possible to analyze learners’ responses using the existing model of learners’ understanding of validity, and that the majority of learners fell into Level C in the model which refers to the application of previous understanding in a new situation. The results from the CTA investigation task revealed that learners’ understanding of concepts of evidence could be demonstrated in new science context. In fact, the results revealed that learners showed ability to apply their understanding of concepts of evidence in experimental design to the assessment task. Moreover, the CTA results indicated that the understanding of identifying variables, constructing graphs; describing the relationship between variables in a graph; formulating the investigative questions were the most applied concepts of evidence by learners. Finally, the results of this study highlight the need for providing secondary science learners with opportunities to practice and develop concepts of evidence. In the light of these findings it is recommended that children need to be explicitly taught about the purpose of science investigations and introduced to important ideas about evidence if their ability to perform investigation tasks is to be improved.

This thesis describes a study of the attitudes towards science and learning environments among junior secondary school science students in New Zealand, focussing particularly on Maori and Pacific Island students. The rationale for the research was that ethnic minority group students often experience difficulties in adapting to modern science education. The study was restricted to forms three, four and five of the New Zealand education system in order to focus attention primarily on the development of recommendations for enhancement of science education outcomes which relate to the early years of science education.The study aimed to investigate student attitudes towards science and their perceptions of their learning environments by using questionnaire surveys and interviews in order to produce complementary information about students' attitudes and perceptions. The study produced some unexpected findings. For example, Maori and Pacific Island students displayed more positive attitudes towards science than others, and female students displayed more positive attitudes than males. These findings contradict those of many previous studies.The findings of the study are used to provide input to the development of recommendations for the enhancement of educational outcomes for all students, but especially for ethnic minority students in science.

Socioscientific issues, SSI, can briefly be described as societal issues in which science plays a role. Dealing with SSI in science education is a means to prepare and empower students for active and responsible participation in a complex, democratic society. The implementation of SSI-based teaching calls for classroom practices in which scientific evidence alongside for example social and ethical perspectives are considered. Discourse-based teaching activities are emphasized as a means to provide opportunities for students to practice negotiations of SSI and explore diverse viewpoints on the issues. Dealing with SSI in science teaching is recognized as a challenging task for science teachers. This thesis aims to provide knowledge to support the implementation of SSI-based science teaching. Three studies involving two upper secondary school science teachers are performed to achieve this aim. The first study makes use of video-stimulated discussions to investigate the two teachers’reflections on their classroom practices while they implement SSI throughout an academic year. The second study utilizes the concept positioning as a tool to identify and describe the ways in which one teacher’s interactions with students during group work make available different parts for the students to play as participants, when dealing with SSI in the classroom. The third study makes use of the concept communicative approach to investigate how the two teachers’ management of classroom discussions sets conditions for the consideration of multiple perspectives relevant to SSI, including the students’ viewpoints. The results provide knowledge useful when making considerations about the design and enactment of teaching activities in relation to specific educational goals. The results suggest that a specific challenge with designing and enacting SSI-based teaching activities is to balance between controlling and directing the teaching activities to promote specific learning goals and providing space for students’ participation and perspectives. The results of employing the analytical tools elucidate how this challenge can play out in classroom practice and contribute with knowledge of the ways in which teachers’ discursive practices play a role in addressing this challenge. Strategies to support teachers’ implementation of SSI-based teaching that take account of teachers’ existing practices are discussed.

This self-study examined the learning that emerged from a change in teaching assignment coupled with self-initiated, teacher-led professional development in order to understand a high school science teacher's development as a teacher. The two participants in the study were the teacher/researcher, an experienced high school biology teacher who was taking up a new assignment teaching biotechnology, an advanced science course; and a first-year teacher assigned to teach biotechnology, who served as collaborator in the professional development and critical friend in the study. In order to uncover the teacher/researcher's learning and thinking, self-study of teaching practice methodology most clearly met the demands of the study. Data emerged from three research conversations and included transcripts of the conversations, artifacts from the participants' practices, notes from meetings, and memos. Data were analyzed using constant comparative methods and the understandings generated are grounded in the data. The study reveals shifts in teacher identity as the expert teacher takes up novice roles, the challenges encountered when teacher knowledge is insufficient for the teaching task, and the experienced teacher's need to return to a place of expertise when faced with a new teaching context. The study finds that (a) teacher identity shifts and develops in new teaching contexts, and teaching expertise facilitates expert identity development in such contexts; (b) expert teacher knowledge mediates novice-ness when experiencing new teaching contexts such as new teaching assignments; and (c) teacher-led professional development is a viable model for professional development experiences and can lead to increased teacher knowledge. The author suggests that (a) teachers are capable of determining what they need to learn and how they might best learn it in a professional development setting; (b) teachers' specific contexts should be honored when designing professional development, which should be practice-centered, and special attention should be given to developing specific subject matter knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and science knowledge for teaching; and (c) capable others should be included in collaborative professional development teams.

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