The University of South Africa (Unisa) as comprehensive open distance learning institution (ODL institution) in South Africa is fulfilling a critical social mandate to serve people who would otherwise not have access to education, either for financial reasons, being employed, living in remote areas, or because they cannot access residential universities owing to disability (Unisa, 2008[a]: 15). In facilitating the entrée of the previously identified groups into tertiary education, Unisa has an open admission policy where students mostly have unlimited access to the system. The policy aims to cross the time, geographical, economic, social, educational, and communication distance between students, academics, courseware, and their peers and to accommodate these prospective students from diverse backgrounds (Unisa, 2008: 2). Unisa’s self-evaluation portfolio for the Commonwealth Audit during 2008 mentioned that this policy leads to the revolving door syndrome where students have unlimited access to the system but then often without success (Unisa, 2008[a]: 27). Open access poses a challenge for the training of student social workers within an ODL context. The Department of Social Work at Unisa, currently trains 70% of all social workers in South Africa (Department of Social Work - Unisa, 2008: 5). Coupled with the former, is the fact that Unisa is regarded in the tertiary landscape of South Africa as the most affordable university with the result that it attracts large number of students who have come straight from school (Kilfoil cited in Schenck, 2009: 299). In coping with the large student numbers the Department of Social Work at Unisa is challenged, apart from addressing the theoretical social work programme, to also meet the practical work requirements as set out by the Standard Generating Body of Social Work, in that it needs to provide practical placements for students to conduct their social work practical work training in completion of their Bachelor’s degree in Social Work (BSW) (Lawlor, 2008: 19). The current state of affairs is that the numbers of students requiring practical placements for social work practical work training outnumber the number of practical placements available. In responding to and addressing these challenges, the Bright Site of Sunnyside Service-learning Centre (hereafter called “Bright Site” or the Bright Site”) was established in October 2008 as a strategic project by Unisa’s Department of Social Work. The Bright Site was developed in accordance with the service-learning model proposed by the Council for Higher Education (CHE) with the emphasis on service through learning, and learning through service (Department of Social Work Unisa, 2008:6). / Social Work / M.A. (Social Science)

Esta investigação desenvolveu-se a partir do questionamento da prática da arquitetura em relação a elaboração do projeto arquitetônico e a construção da obra. A escolha do estudo de caso da obra de Renzo Piano (1937 -), arquiteto italiano e João Filgueiras Lima, (1934 - 2014) arquiteto brasileiro, o Lelé, definiu-se por apresentarem, ambos, soluções de interesse estético e técnico que pareciam ter se extinguido. A documentação motivou um esforço teórico e histórico para ampliar os conceitos usados na analise da arquitetura. A partir da escolha de um recorte histórico, qual seja as décadas de 1960 a 90, período de debates sobre a validade dos preceitos modernos na arquitetura e de uma produção plural ligada à economia pós-industrial e à cultura de massa, analisou-se um conjunto selecionado de obras e seu diálogo, pela prática, com este debate. Sem a pretensão de fazer um trabalho comparativo, deu-se ênfase à análise de cada arquiteto em seu contexto sociotécnico particular, consolidando um modo de análise de obra que se desprende dos fatos documentados e se debruça sobre as motivações mais profundas do fabricar arquitetura. Ao compreender a poética que nasce deste processo orgânico entre pensar e fazer, definem-se valores técnicos e sociais fundamentais para o entendimento da dimensão cultural do trabalho do arquiteto. Nesta edição, a primeira parte do texto, assim, aborda os conceitos de arte, técnica e trabalho prático frente a cultura arquitetônica destes anos entre 1960 e 1990. E a segunda parte é a análise de obra, propriamente dita, com um capítulo destinado a cada arquiteto. O exame da inter-relação de processos criativos e técnicos da arquitetura teve o propósito de definir o conceito de Laboratório de Projeto e Construção. / This investigation was developed from architecture practice questioning in relation to the elaboration of architectural design and work construction. The case study choice of the work from Renzo Piano (1937 -), Italian architect, and João Filgueiras Lima, (1934 - 2014) Brazilian architect, also known as Lelé, was defined due to the fact that both feature solutions of aesthetic and technical interest which seemed to have been extinguished. The documentation motivated a theoretical and historical effort to broaden concepts used in architecture analysis. Taking as a reference the historical view from the 1960s to the 1990s, period of debates about the validity of modern precepts in architecture and of an intense production linked to post-industrial economy and mass culture, a selection of works and their dialogue, through practice, with this very debate, was analyzed. With no pretension of preparing a comparative thesis, the analysis of each architect in their own social technical context was emphasized, consolidating a work analysis mode which detaches itself from documented facts, rather leaning over deeper motivations to produce architecture. Through the understanding of the poetry which is born from this organic process between thinking and doing, fundamental technical and social values are defined for the understanding of the social dimension of the architects work. In this edition, the first part of the text addresses the art concepts, technique and practical work in comparison to the architectural culture during these years between 1960 and 1990. The second part is the work analysis itself, with a chapter dedicated to each architect. The study of the interrelation between architecture creative and technical processes had the goal of defining the concept of Project and Construction Lab.

Esta investigação desenvolveu-se a partir do questionamento da prática da arquitetura em relação a elaboração do projeto arquitetônico e a construção da obra. A escolha do estudo de caso da obra de Renzo Piano (1937 -), arquiteto italiano e João Filgueiras Lima, (1934 - 2014) arquiteto brasileiro, o Lelé, definiu-se por apresentarem, ambos, soluções de interesse estético e técnico que pareciam ter se extinguido. A documentação motivou um esforço teórico e histórico para ampliar os conceitos usados na analise da arquitetura. A partir da escolha de um recorte histórico, qual seja as décadas de 1960 a 90, período de debates sobre a validade dos preceitos modernos na arquitetura e de uma produção plural ligada à economia pós-industrial e à cultura de massa, analisou-se um conjunto selecionado de obras e seu diálogo, pela prática, com este debate. Sem a pretensão de fazer um trabalho comparativo, deu-se ênfase à análise de cada arquiteto em seu contexto sociotécnico particular, consolidando um modo de análise de obra que se desprende dos fatos documentados e se debruça sobre as motivações mais profundas do fabricar arquitetura. Ao compreender a poética que nasce deste processo orgânico entre pensar e fazer, definem-se valores técnicos e sociais fundamentais para o entendimento da dimensão cultural do trabalho do arquiteto. Nesta edição, a primeira parte do texto, assim, aborda os conceitos de arte, técnica e trabalho prático frente a cultura arquitetônica destes anos entre 1960 e 1990. E a segunda parte é a análise de obra, propriamente dita, com um capítulo destinado a cada arquiteto. O exame da inter-relação de processos criativos e técnicos da arquitetura teve o propósito de definir o conceito de Laboratório de Projeto e Construção. / This investigation was developed from architecture practice questioning in relation to the elaboration of architectural design and work construction. The case study choice of the work from Renzo Piano (1937 -), Italian architect, and João Filgueiras Lima, (1934 - 2014) Brazilian architect, also known as Lelé, was defined due to the fact that both feature solutions of aesthetic and technical interest which seemed to have been extinguished. The documentation motivated a theoretical and historical effort to broaden concepts used in architecture analysis. Taking as a reference the historical view from the 1960s to the 1990s, period of debates about the validity of modern precepts in architecture and of an intense production linked to post-industrial economy and mass culture, a selection of works and their dialogue, through practice, with this very debate, was analyzed. With no pretension of preparing a comparative thesis, the analysis of each architect in their own social technical context was emphasized, consolidating a work analysis mode which detaches itself from documented facts, rather leaning over deeper motivations to produce architecture. Through the understanding of the poetry which is born from this organic process between thinking and doing, fundamental technical and social values are defined for the understanding of the social dimension of the architects work. In this edition, the first part of the text addresses the art concepts, technique and practical work in comparison to the architectural culture during these years between 1960 and 1990. The second part is the work analysis itself, with a chapter dedicated to each architect. The study of the interrelation between architecture creative and technical processes had the goal of defining the concept of Project and Construction Lab.

This qualitative study focused on four secondary school physics teachers in Bangladesh using semi-structured interviews and observations to explore their understanding about the relationship between practical work and developing students’ conceptual knowledge of physics. Recent studies indicate that practical work helps secondary science students easily and effectively learn the concepts and theories of physics. However, the secondary school physics teachers in Bangladesh in this study did not provide students with practical work during classroom teaching. Rather, they provided practical work in separate practical classes. Although the teachers believed that practical work made their teaching and also students’ learning easier and effective, they did not offer frequent practical demonstrations in teaching the contents of physics. The major findings of the study include that teachers used mostly transmissive pedagogy to assist students to understand physics concepts and theories. Even though there are clear and specific instructions for the teachers to do demonstrations in the secondary physics curriculum, there were constraints on teachers and on students trying to conduct practical work. Constraints included: a lack of sufficient equipment. Teachers and students in non-government schools faced comparatively more difficulties than those in government schools. Low teacher/student ratios and no positions for laboratory assistants were reasons given for teachers’ intense workloads. This study implies a need to provide government and non-government schools with necessary equipment for doing practical work; to appoint sufficient teachers with higher studies and training that includes practical work in physics; to create positions for laboratory assistants; to set up classrooms with a smaller number of students; and to develop awareness of the value of practical work among school administration and among physics teachers.

The purpose of this study was to find out how Primary school teachers work and think about the practical teaching in physics. Primary school teachers who work with a teacher support in science and technology, and Primary school teachers who do not work after any program have been interviewed. The method chosen in this study is semi-structured interview with sound recording. A total of seven interviews have been conducted and each interview took about 30 minutes to complete. The study addresses what research today says about practical activities in school and how the children learn the best way. Therefore, teachers are also asked about how they experience physics and practical work and how they choose to put an investigative approach. The result shows that the teachers experience physics as difficult and abstract. Teachers who work with a support program experience that the program helped them teach physics on a deeper level. The study also shows that most teachers uses closed and given labs. / Syftet med studien är att ta reda på hur lågstadielärare arbetar och tänker kring den praktiska undervisningen i fysikämnet. Lågstadielärare som arbetar med lärarstöd i naturkunskap och teknik samt lågstadielärare som inte arbetar efter något program har intervjuats. Metoden som valts vid denna studie är semistrukturerad intervju som spelats in med ljudupptagning. Totalt har sju intervjuer verkställts och varje intervju tog cirka 30 minuters att genomföra. Studien tar upp vad forskning idag säger om praktiska aktiviteter i skolan och hur barnen på bästa sätt lär sig. Därför frågas också lärarna om hur de upplever fysikämnet och praktiskt arbete samt om hur de väljer att lägga upp undervisningen. Resultatet visar att lärarna upplever fysikämnet som svårt och abstrakt. Lärare som arbetar med ett stödprogram upplever att programmet hjälpt dem undervisa i fysik på en djupare nivå. Studien visar också att de flesta lärarna arbetar efter arbetssättet slutna laborationer.

In the form of teacher didactical design research, this work addresses a didactical issue encountered during physics teaching in a Swedish upper secondary school. A need for renewed practical laboratory work related to Newtonian mechanics is met by proposing and designing an activity based on high- speed photography using the nowadays omnipresent smartphone, thus bringing new technology into the classroom. The activity – video analysis of the collision physics of football kicks – is designed and evaluated by following a didactical design cycle. The work elaborates on how the proposed laboratory activity relates to the potential and complications of experimental activities in science education, as described in the vast literature on the topic. It is argued that the use of smartphones constitutes an interesting use of new technology for addressing known problems of practical work. Of particular interest is that smartphones offer a way to bridge the gap between the everyday life of students and the world of physics experiments (smartphones are powerful pocket laboratories). The use of smartphones also avoids using unfamiliar laboratory equipment that is known to hinder focus on intended content, while at the same time exploring a powerful tool for data acquisition and analysis. Overall, the use of smartphones (and computers) in this manner can be seen as the result of applying Occam’s razor to didactics: only familiar and readily available instrumentation is used, and skills learned (movie handling and image analysis) are all educationally worthwhile. Although the activity was judged successful, a systematic investigation of learning outcome was out of scope. This means that no strong conclusions can be drawn based on this limited work. Nonetheless, the smartphone activity was well received by the students and should constitute a useful addition to the set of instructional approaches, especially since variation is known to benefit learning. The main failure of the design was an overestimation of student prior knowledge on motion physics (and its application to image data). As a consequence, the activity took required more time and effort than originally anticipated. No severe pitfalls of smartphone usage were identified, but it should be noted that the proposed activity – with its lack of well-defined results due to variations in kick strength – requires that the teacher is capable of efficiently analysing multiple student films (avoiding the feedback process to become overwhelmingly time consuming). If not all student films are evaluated, the feedback to the students may become of low quality, and misconceptions may pass under the radar. On the other hand, given that programming from 2018 will become compulsory, an interesting development of the activity would be to include handling of images and videos using a high-level programming language like Python.

The University of South Africa (Unisa) as comprehensive open distance learning institution (ODL institution) in South Africa is fulfilling a critical social mandate to serve people who would otherwise not have access to education, either for financial reasons, being employed, living in remote areas, or because they cannot access residential universities owing to disability (Unisa, 2008[a]: 15). In facilitating the entrée of the previously identified groups into tertiary education, Unisa has an open admission policy where students mostly have unlimited access to the system. The policy aims to cross the time, geographical, economic, social, educational, and communication distance between students, academics, courseware, and their peers and to accommodate these prospective students from diverse backgrounds (Unisa, 2008: 2). Unisa’s self-evaluation portfolio for the Commonwealth Audit during 2008 mentioned that this policy leads to the revolving door syndrome where students have unlimited access to the system but then often without success (Unisa, 2008[a]: 27). Open access poses a challenge for the training of student social workers within an ODL context. The Department of Social Work at Unisa, currently trains 70% of all social workers in South Africa (Department of Social Work - Unisa, 2008: 5). Coupled with the former, is the fact that Unisa is regarded in the tertiary landscape of South Africa as the most affordable university with the result that it attracts large number of students who have come straight from school (Kilfoil cited in Schenck, 2009: 299). In coping with the large student numbers the Department of Social Work at Unisa is challenged, apart from addressing the theoretical social work programme, to also meet the practical work requirements as set out by the Standard Generating Body of Social Work, in that it needs to provide practical placements for students to conduct their social work practical work training in completion of their Bachelor’s degree in Social Work (BSW) (Lawlor, 2008: 19). The current state of affairs is that the numbers of students requiring practical placements for social work practical work training outnumber the number of practical placements available. In responding to and addressing these challenges, the Bright Site of Sunnyside Service-learning Centre (hereafter called “Bright Site” or the Bright Site”) was established in October 2008 as a strategic project by Unisa’s Department of Social Work. The Bright Site was developed in accordance with the service-learning model proposed by the Council for Higher Education (CHE) with the emphasis on service through learning, and learning through service (Department of Social Work Unisa, 2008:6). / Social Work / M.A. (Social Science)

Although the merits of practical work in physics are often questioned, it remains part of physics curricula world-wide. In distance education the incorporation of practical work into the curriculum is considerably complicated by the unique logistics of the setting and the high cost involved. The research reported in this thesis emanated from the need to improve the practical work module for first year physics at the University of South Africa, one of the largest distance education universities in the world. Specifically, the home-based component which, up to the commencement of the research had been entirely text-based, needed to be addressed. To this end it was necessary to identify a valid and attainable set of objectives and to determine the characteristics, abilities and needs of the students in the target group. A survey polling the viewpoints of South African physics lecturers and students about the objectives of practical work was conducted and an extensive student profile comprising a biographic, cognitive and affective component was compiled. Biographically, the target group is unique in the sense that it consists mainly of adult learners, a large percentage of whom study in a second language. The cognitive component of the profile covered aptitude, proficiency in English, mathematics and the integrated science process skills and level of cognitive development, all of which were investigated for possible influence on performance in practical work. On an affective level, students displayed a very positive attitude towards practical work, seated mainly in their need for concrete exploration of the theory. A practical work module structured around an experiential learning cycle adapted to the distance education environment was subsequently designed. The study material developed for the module comprised an interactive study guide on data processing and experimental procedure, a home experiment kit with accompanying workbook and a laboratory manual. From the pilot study forming part of the development process, it was found that students performed significantly better in an assignment based on home-experimentation than in any of the pen- and paper assignments preceding it. Based on the results of the pilot study, a full home experiment kit was designed, evaluated, refined and implemented. / Physics / D.Phil. (Physics)

Practical work is regarded as an essential part of learning; hence most tertiary institutions have included a practical component in their physics courses. There is a concern about the effectiveness of the practical work in most universities. The present study is a case study that assessed the contributions of simulations on Foundation Physics students’ practical work. In assessing the contribution of simulations, two tests, Determining and Interpreting Resistive Electric Circuits Concepts Test (DIRECT) and the Test of Integrated Science Process Skills (TISP) were used. A class test, observations and worksheets from students’ practical work were analyzed and interviews with a selected group were conducted. There were 20 Foundation Physics students participating from the University of Limpopo. Results indicated that the simulations contributed positively on students’ understanding of electric circuits. However the study revealed that the students who did simulations do not differ from those who did not do the simulations with regards to the development of process skills. / Institute of Science and Technology Education / M.Sc. (Physics Education)

The main aim of this study is to determine what factors limit Natural Science, Grade 7 teachers from engaging learners in practical work or performing experiments. This study is conducted in the Ogongo circuit of the Omusati Region. A qualitative case study approach was adopted for the study. The sample includes two (2) Grade 7 Natural Science teachers and six (6) Grade 7 Natural Science learners. Semi-structured interviews and observations were used to collect data. Data from interviews and observations were analyzed using thematic analysis. All interview and observation transcriptions were categorized into codes, categories, and themes. Themes and subthemes were grouped into tables and linked to literature to strengthen the findings of this study. The main themes were lack of pedagogical know-how, time, laboratory materials, and training to update and practice appropriate teaching strategies/approaches. The results of the study recommend training to prepare teachers on the use of appropriate teaching to improve the teaching and learning of Natural Science. The study recommends that Natural Science teachers should share knowledge and facts concerning Natural Science to understand teaching and learning concepts better. The learners are afforded enough opportunities to judge, analyze, and draw conclusions from the supplied content based on their level of understanding of tasks. The study exposed factors limiting teachers practice and informs stakeholders on ways to improve Grade 7 science teaching and learning to overcome the challenges of the field. / Science and Technology Education / M. Ed. (Natural Science Education)