After the introduction of Learner Centred Education in Namibia, a number of studies were conducted on how teachers either perceived learner centred education or implemented it. However, very few studies investigated the teachers' understanding of both subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge; primarily, how they understand and develop key concepts. The purpose of this study was to investigate how Grade 5 teachers' understand and develop key concepts in Social Studies in selected schools in Namibia. The study focused on three teachers in three primary schools in the Caprivi educational region of Namibia. These teachers were purposefully selected as graduates of the teacher education programme instituted at the time of the Namibian education reform process. As a teacher educator, my main motive of conducting this study was to gain a better understanding of some of the issues that have been raised about these graduates' lack of content knowledge. The study adopts a qualitative approach and seeks to investigate (a) how the three teachers in this study understand key concepts and (b) the strategies they use to develop such concepts. Three data collection instruments were employed: interviews, document analysis and class observations. The findings indicate that despite the training that all three teachers in this study received, their understanding of the concepts they taught is problematic. Furthermore, some of the strategies that the teachers used did not bring about learning with understanding. The results of the study revealed how these teachers' problems with concepts and the development of conceptual understanding are related to specific issues and can be attributed to a number of factors. Because of this, the study has provided valuable insights into aspects of teacher education that need to be addressed both in terms of in-service and pre-service programmes to support teachers in teaching for understanding, a key idea underpinning the reform process.

The effects of instruction integrating pictorial and textual components in a fifth and a seventh grade Social Studies lesson were investigated. Measures of recall were examined both immediately after the lesson and after a two week delay. Experimental instruction focusing on the integration of illustrations with the expository text was compared to the more conventional classroom procedure of focusing on the written text through guided silent reading. The fifth grade experimental group outperformed the conventional group on all measures of immediate and delayed recall. The seventh grade experimental group had higher scores than the conventional group on one delayed measure of recall, a short answer test. No particular reading ability level was benefited more than another by the experimental treatment in either grade. An examination of gender differences revealed that fifth grade females in the experimental group outscored males on one immediate measure of recall, a short answer test. Implications for instruction and further research are discussed. / Education, Faculty of / Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of / Graduate

The study examined student perceptions of global issues when introduced through their Logarithms unit in the Principles of Math 12 course and student opinions regarding the suitability of the issues within the course. Through journal books, the students expressed thoughts, ideas, and concerns related to the mathematics and the global issues. With our global environment being threatened in numerous ways, a need to educate through 'responsibility' is essential. In mathematics, students require relevancy when expected to learn increasingly difficult material. The study addresses the questions of: do students concerns for global issues increase when viewed through a mathematical lens and do the students believe that the global issues have a place in the math class? The findings were varied based on individual experiences of students within the study. In summary, the majority of the students gave positive feedback towards the use of the global issues within the math class. However, there were concerns from weak and strong students and from students currently studying similar topics in Geography. As well, several ESL students expressed concerns surrounding their difficulties with the written language, and anxiety regarding their emergent academic standing. The students favoured global exposures in the math class when they were able to actively participate with a solution, and when direct links to the mathematics being studied at the time was relevant to the global issue. Conclusively, more accessible resources are required for instructors, and more time is needed in the classroom to effectively implement, for all learners, global issues in the mathematics course. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this study is to examine courses of study for social studies in the fourth grade, and after analyzing the objectives, methods, and the materials of each, to decide whether they meet the criteria prescribed in educational literature.

The problem is to determine how a philosophy of democracy can be translated into democratic action in teaching social studies in the senior high school.

The purpose of this study is to develop and to evaluate a community social science program for the seventh grade. The control group was taught in the traditional method, while the experimental group was taught with the community as the basis of all activities.

The general purpose of this problem is to set forth needed information necessary to the progress of the social studies program in the junior high school.

The purpose of this study is to determine as accurately as possible the needs of adolescents in the junior high school and the extent to which these needs are being met by certain social-studies programs.

The purpose of the study is to determine the extent to which elementary school social-studies programs are meeting the needs of children in the present emergency and to what extent present trends may function in the world of tomorrow.

The purpose of the present investigation is to make a study of the growth and trends of the social studies curriculum in the schools of Texas from pioneer days up to the present time, 1948.