D.Ed. (Education) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

A RESEARCH REPORT submitted to the School of Science Education in the Faculty of Science of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. South Africa in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE / The purpose of the research was to investigate South African teachers' understandings of Newton's third law of motion, and their perceptions regarding the teaching of it. The treatment of the law by South African, British and American textbooks was also examined. Teachers' ideas were investigated qualitatively by interviewing sixteen teachers and teachers-in-training. Alternative ideas found by other researchers were evident in some of the interviewees. and further alternative ideas were uncovered The research showed that the form in which a teacher stated the law correlated to their understanding of the law, Furthermore, experience in teaching the law can result in improvement in the understanding and/or teaching methods of a teacher. American textbooks contain the best presentation of the law; South African textbooks are adequate in their treatment. though containing errors. Recommendations have been made regarding teacher training. textbooks and education department policy. / Andrew Chakane 2019

A research report submitted to the faculty of commerce, law and management, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master of management (ENVC) Johannesburg, June 2017 / Entrepreneurship has come to be an essential subject in recent years.The primary objective of this research paper was to assess the entrepreneurial intent and perseverance for secondary school learners in Ka-Nymazane township [Abbreviated Abstract. Open document to view full version] / MT 2017

This quantitative study examined the differential effectiveness of inquiry and expository methods of instruction in terms of pupils' understanding of 'the human circulatory system and pupils' attitudes towards biology as a subject at school. The sample used in the study consisted of 64 Standard Eight Biology pupils from a Pretoria high schooL The "inquiry group" comprised 35 pupils and the "expository group' 29 pupils. The research procedure included the development of an inquiry "teaching package" dealing with the human circulatory system, designing a Test of Understanding and selecting an appropriate Attitude Towards School Biology Test. The "package" and the testing instruments were pilot tested before being used in the main study. Two research designs were used in this study. To compare the levels of pupils' understanding of the inquiry and expository groups a Posttest-only with Nonequivalent groups was used, whilst an Untreated Control Group Design with Pretest and Posttest was used for the comparison of pupils' attitudes towards biology as a school subject. An Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) revealed no significant differences in pupils' understanding of the circulatory system between the inquiry and expository groups. There were also no significant differences between the two groups in terms of pupils' understanding when comparing Higher Grade and Standard Grade pupils separately. ANCOVA revealed no significant differences between the inquiry and expository groups in pupils' attitudes towards biology as a school subject. A Chi-square test revealed that a significantly larger number of pupils in the inquiry group responded favourably to the statement "Biology is fascinating and fun". A Chi-square test, however, revealed no significant differences between the two groups in terms of responses to the statements "During Biology class, I usually am interested", and "Biology is interesting to me and I enjoy it". / Andrew Chakane 2018

Thesis (DEd)--University of Stellenbosch,1995. / Education (and training) for the tourism industry has been available at formal and nonformal educational institutions in South Africa for many years. Very little co-operation between the various institutions has taken place on establishing the educational needs of the industry, and, consequently, courses which range from a few days to three years, have been established with little cognisance of what is available from other sources. As a result of this insular approach to curriculum development, and an inherent sense of superiority by the institutions towards one another, almost no recognition is afforded to students wishing to continue with the studies at another institution, despite similarities in course content. Because of the (some say inspite of) past political policy of this country, only about 0,025 % of the world travelling public visit South Africa. Perhaps because of this isolation, the service offered to the travelling population has been criticised and, compared to world standards, found to be alarmingly poor. The reason for the poor service was perceived to be the fragmented and unco-ordinated education offered by more than 36 educational institutions. A comparative investigation was therefore conducted in five first world and developing countries, into criteria for tourism course development, and subsequent evaluation and accreditation. It was hoped to identify material and approaches which could be incorporated into local tourism courses, leading to an improvement in the service offered by tourism industry employees following international level instruction. A literature study into the importance of the tourism industry for South Africa, particularly the social, cultural, political and economic impacts, was also undertaken, as well as a factual survey on the state of tourism education in South Africa, to assess the relevance of these impacts on tourism.

From introduction: The main purpose of the present study is to give a detailed critical survey of possible teaching approaches to fundamental physical ooncepts and principles which could reasonably be taught at sohool, and to consider the implications of this survey for the teaching of physical science in South Africa

D.Ed. / The era of change in which the Republic of South Africa presently finds itself requires that its past be reconciled with the present as well as future expectations. This situation has a direct bearing on the teaching of history as a subject. History is locked in a battle regarding a true presentation of South Africa's past. It is essential that a new basic motive or "leitmotiv" be identified, which can serve as a nucleous for an historical consciousness and produce a new image of history. A "leitmotiv", such as the one which was operative during the apartheid era, and which not only produced a politically manipulated and ideologically biased version of historical events, but also endeavoured to enforce a singular identity upon the South African population, is presently unacceptable. Research clearly indicates that an alternative historical image, which is acceptable to the entire South African nation, as well as the various population' groups, has become a neccessity. Such new historical image must clothe South African citizenship with a new quality and serve as a thrust for the new democratic dispensation. Communication and consensus are required in order to reconcile the various existing historical images. A charter of human rights in conjunction with a communal value system, should serve as the basis for a new national identity. The effect of the existing obsolete historical image is that sillabus content has thus far not been selected in accordance with accepted curriculum principles. This resulted in a unidimensional approach to syllabus content, and a one-directional teaching orientation which created the opportunity for indoctrination. The development of an historical consciousness in the true sense of the word in the minds of pupils, has also been sacrificed for political objectives. Synopsis 2 It is also clear that a new "leitmotiv" must be chosen with sensitivity to the needs and demands of the South African population as a whole. It must also be synchronised with the shift in the country's future perspective. This perspective is often verbalised by the new leadership as a quest for the establishment of one truly democratic nation in South Africa - a perspective which will not only accommodate the totality but also the diversity of the population. As a result of this study, a "leitmotiv" with a product (content) component on the one hand, and a process (skill) component on the other hand, is proposed for the teaching of history. The process component will act as a continuous internal corrective for the product component. Furthermore, a teaching approach, which will serve as an external corrective for the "leitmotiv" as a whole, is being suggested. It is proposed that democratic nation building constitute the main theme for the teaching of history future South Africa, or serve as the product component new "leitmotiv". This proposed "leitmotiv" implies a purging action on three levels. In addition to the purging action of the process component as internal corrective, and the new teaching approach as external corrective, democratic nation building, as product component, will act as a purgative in itself. In conjunction with its purging qualities, the proposed "leitmotiv" will, for the first time, accommodate the essential nature of history as a subject; in its totality. with such "leitmotiv", history could in future be elevated to a true "magistra vitae".

This study explores the integration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) into teaching and learning within one Higher Education institution. The main question driving the study was: How is ICT integrated in the teaching and learning of mathematics, science and technology education (MSTE) in a Bachelor of Education programme? This is a case study of lecturers and students in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education. It makes use of questionnaires, interviews, field notes and document analyses to collect data. MSTE lecturers and students were assumed to be well versed in ICT usage and, therefore, well placed to assess its integration into teaching and learning. There were five main findings: First, that Mathematics, Science and Technology Education lecturers showed some ambivalence in their ontological and epistemological orientation to using ICT. Some leaned towards the instruction paradigm and used ICT as a tool for the transmission of knowledge; others leaned towards the learning paradigm, showing an awareness of the need to elicit discovery through ICT. Secondly, that lecturers’ understanding of ICT integration was oriented towards teaching and learning from technologies rather than with technologies. Thirdly, that processes of ‘pedagogical evolution’ were taking place, in terms of which there was a gradual but perceptible shift in the teaching and learning practice of both students and lecturers. Fourthly, there was no evidence to show that lecturers used ICT to promote innovative and creative teaching; in fact, students appeared to be more creative in using ICT resources, than lecturers. Fifthly, and finally, lecturers did not assign ICT-based tasks that promote conceptual understanding. They assigned tasks that asked students to extract and reproduce information from computers, without demonstrating understanding. When used in this way, ICT can, in fact, be de-skilling. From these findings, it can be concluded that ICT integration cannot be understood without exploring the ontological and epistemological orientations, as well as the theoretical orientations, at play in the teaching and learning situation. It is on the basis of these that people, that is, lecturers and students, make use of, ICTs to achieve desired goals. It is therefore recommended that, for the improvement of integration, there should be a greater emphasis on developing and sharing pedagogical expertise concerning ICT use in teaching and learning. It is recommended that a country-wide research survey should be undertaken, based on probability sampling and focussing on pedagogical issues in ICT integration in teaching and learning.

The first cases of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) were reported in 1981 and in 1983 the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) was identified. Today, over 40 million individuals globally are living with HIV/AIDS. As there is currently no cure for the disease, it is projected to reach pandemic proportions in the 21st century. In South Africa at the end of 2006, over 5.3 million individuals were living with HIV/AIDS, with affluent and educated South Africans showing the highest HIVprevalence growth rate. The HIV prevalence amongst 15 to 24 year old South Africans is 10.4 percent. It has become vital that youth receive education about HIV/AIDS as early as possible, to ensure that they do not contract the virus. Psycho-education seeks to teach psychological knowledge and skills to individuals. This is also known as life skills teaching. The National Departments of Health and Education have developed a life skills programme for schools. This programme aims to, amongst others; educate young people about HIV/AIDS. The effectiveness of this programme will be assessed in two schools in the Port Elizabeth area. In this exploratory descriptive, triangulation research study, a quasiexperimental, one group pre- and post-test design was used to assess the effectiveness of the life skills programme amongst 211 Grade nine middle to upper socio-economic group learners. Four focus groups were conducted after the programme to explore the learner’s attitudes and perceptions of HIV/AIDS and their experiences of the programme. Tesch’s model of content analysis and Guba’s model of trustworthiness were used to analyse the data obtained from the focus groups.

M.Phil. (Business Economics) / Please refer to full text to view abstract