In this study I attempt to develop a rationale for the role of student writing in advancing learning in Zoology. To this end, I use the informed and insightful voices of five academics from the University of Cape Town's Department of Zoology to present a picture of the goals of the discipline, how they view the role that student writing plays in advan~ing these goals, a sense of the tensions they face in dealing with student diversity, and the promise and challenges of innovative approaches. My interest in how staff view student writing stems from a belief that staff make use of student writing in different ways, depending on their assumptions about writing. I explore these assumptions by means of interviews with members of staff, in which I ask about how they understand the pursuit of science, the qualities a scientist needs to develop, the best ways to develop these qualities in students, and the part that student writing plays in this development. What emerges in this study is the understanding that the kinds of writing we ask students to do reflect the forms of educational practice that we sustain. On the one hand, certain forms of writing may support forms of transmission pedagogy that are viewed as being at odds with progressive science education. On the other hand, if we are to develop alternative teaching approaches which are in keeping with contemporary views of science and learning, then we need to develop new genres of student writing that give expression to these goals and methods. The study concludes with suggested avenues into curriculum review that would operationalise the insights developed by this study.

A Research Project Submitted to the Faculty of Education, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in Part Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Education Johannesburg, 1986 / This investigation looks at the appearance of the high-risk student, and the compensatory education programmes which developed to try and help cope with this problem. It examines the issues and findings of almost three decades of American research into the matter, a, well as the more recent South African investigations. Factors affecting evaluations of education programmes, and which could contribute to the lack of concensus about the worth of these programmes, are discussed. Finally attention is focussed on the evaluation of a specific Zoology Academic Support Programme. The evaluation, based on Patton's paradigm of choices, includes both summative and formative aspects, It Is hoped >.ha^ e former will assist the reader to make an informed decision about the worth of this programme. The lat.er illuminate some of the issues affecting the program..,, s success, in the hope that a better understanding of these will allow for modifications to improve the effectiveness of this programme.

Thematic units--Frogs, spiders, butterflies--Cuing systems (graphic, syntactic, semantic, pragmatic).

A guide for the training of presenters of the NatureScope series -- Correlations between California's Science Framework..., NatureScope, Project WILD, Project WILD Aquatic, & Project Learning Tree.