A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Education, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, for the degree of Master of Education. / Three-dimensional visualisation is an important skill in chemistry but one in which many students experience difficulty. The main aims of this research were to identify the nature, extent and particularly the reasons for university students' difficulties in three-dimensional thinking and to devise teaching strategies for overcoming them. The research was restricted to the simpler aspects of three-dimensional thinking; it dealt only with rotation and reflection of simple molecules. The component steps required for the solution of three-dimensional problems were identified, and students' competence in these steps was tested. Pretest results showed that the students initially had poor visuaIisation skills. The main reasons for their difficulties were identified to be: (a) inability to visualise the three-dimensional structures of molecules, using the depth cues; (b) lack of precise understanding of the meaning of the phrases used in the questions (such as rotation about the X-axis; reflection in the XY plane); (c) inability to visualise the orientation of the axes and planes and of the positions of the atoms after an operation. A ninety minute remedial instruction programme on those aspects which caused difficulty was found to be enough, as shown by an analysis of covariance, to improve the students' visualisation skills very significantly (p < 0,01). / AC 2018

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This study investigated possible alternative Chemistry teaching methods to improve the learning and thus the pass rate of the learners of access programmes at the Port Elizabeth Technikon. The study traced Chemistry learning from the Pre-Technician course to the present Science Foundation Certificate. Since the latter programme is a new course with new criteria, only implemented since the beginning of 2003, it provided a suitable platform for the evaluation and updating, if necessary, of new teaching methods. The study was limited to the subject of Chemistry. The participating learners in this qualitative research were fully informed of the objectives of this research and, for ethical reasons, their identities were protected. The methodology chosen was action research, which will include discussions regarding the choice, necessity and value of the research method. The following tools were used to collect data to determine approaches to learning and how the examination results were influenced: Questionnaires; Journal entries of students; Interviews; Data of examination results.

M.Tech. / Course evaluation and student feedback forms an important part of any quality assurance programme in education. Since the Master of Technology Degree in Homoeopathy (M Tech Hom) commenced at the Technikon Witwatersrand (TWR) in 1993, no formal evaluation process with regard to programme quality has been conducted. The aim of this study was to conduct a formative student evaluation of the individual courses constituting the Master of Technology Degree in Homoeopathy offered through the Department of Homeopathy at the University of Johannesburg. The sample group consisted of the 2006 homoeopathy students registered for the following subjects offered through the Department of Homoeopathy: First Year: The Philosophy of Homoeopathy; Third year: Diagnostics, Psychopathology, Materia Medica, General Pathology, Systemic Pathology, Radiographic Anatomy, Auxiliary Therapeutics; Fourth year (B Tech): Diagnostics, Clinical Homoeopathy, Homoeopharmaceutics, Materia Medica, Research Methods & Techniques; Fifth year (M Tech): Practice Management and Jurisprudence, Clinical Homoeopathy, Materia Medica This was a descriptive study with both qualitative and quantitative aspects. For each subject, a survey was conducted using a questionnaire. The research proved to be very useful in highlighting the problem areas within the subjects offered through the Department of Homoeopathy as part of the M Tech Hom Degree. Several general themes have emerged across all the years of the programme. These general themes were: a lack of helpful feedback from assessment tasks, inadequate learning guides, lack of well planned and organised practical sessions and a lack of co-ordination between lecturers offering various components of a subject .

Purpose of the study: The study explored an approach to analysing and evaluating strategies for teaching science concepts at the first-year university level based on B.O. Smith and co-workers conceptual framework of teaching. As such, the study represents an attempt to bridge the gap between a recently developed theoretical view of teaching and practical problems of classroom science teaching. A basic assumption made in the study was that teaching is a type of goal-directed activity. The major goal of science teaching was taken to be the acquisition of scientific paradigms. According to T.S. Kuhn, scientific paradigms constitute what a "scientific community thinks it knows". Since science concepts (i.e. rules governing the use of a term) are inextricably bound to scientific paradigms, the teaching of science concepts was seen as an essential aspect of science teaching strategies. It was pointed out, moreover, that teaching strategies used to teach science concepts are rarely, if ever, firmly based on systematized knowledge of teaching. Procedure: Development of the methodology was carried forward in four phases: identifying aspects of Smith and co-workers’ theoretical work potentially useful for analysing and evaluating the teaching of science concepts; characterizing records of actual teaching strategies; analyzing and evaluating actual teaching strategies for goodness-of-fit with ideal teaching strategies; and suggesting specific problems arising from the study requiring further investigation. The methodology was developed and illustrated using actual teaching strategies employed by an instructor in a first-year university physics course. The teaching strategies utilized covered a time span of eleven lectures and were directed toward an understanding of eight different science concepts. The eight concepts taught were: "Mass", "Law in Physics", "Electricity", "Electric Field", "Number of Field Lines", "Feedback", "Wave Superposition", and "Nuclear Binding Energy". Findings of the study: A general conclusion of the study was that the theoretical framework used in the study appeared to be potentially useful for analysing and evaluating certain aspects of classroom teaching. The "venture" and "move" categorizations of the framework proved tractable for analysing and evaluating actual teaching strategies performed in a lecture-type teaching situation. Difficulty, however, is likely to be encountered if the "play" categorizations; at the present stage of development, were to be included in the methodology. Classifying and organizing the information introduced by the various "moves" in a teaching strategy, in terms of the "functions to be accomplished in teaching a concept", appeared useful not only for deducing "rule-formulations" (i.e. rules governing the use of a term naming the concept) but also for evaluation purposes. In the evaluation process teaching functions which appear to be inadequately performed, because the appropriate information was not presented or because the "moves" were defective in some way, were identified. It was pointed out that suggestions for altering; a particular teaching strategy in order to include the necessary information or to modify particular "moves" would require experimental investigations into the most advantageous teaching strategy for producing specified learning outcomes for a particular group of students. The results of analysing and evaluating teaching strategies aimed at teaching concepts as illustrated in the study was seen as potentially useful information for a classroom teacher. However, it was emphasized that identifying the "intended product" of a teaching strategy (i.e. expected rule-formulations deducible from information presented in teaching a concept) is most difficult. Although the methodology developed was only applied to concept teaching it would appear to be generalizable to other kinds of teaching. Finally, four problems arising from the study and deserving further investigation were identified and described. The problems, viewed as ranging along a hypothetical-practical continuum, were: difficulties encountered in employing the "play" categorizations; a suggested expansion of the "conceptual venture" idea; devising teaching strategies for concept teaching by considering "teaching functions" in terms of the "point-at-ability" of a concept; and a suggested use of the methodology for devising a "Handbook of Teaching Strategies for Selected Science Concepts." / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

This single case study investigated the implementation of a modularized mathematics course designed to eliminate the usage of remedial mathematics courses from post-secondary mathematics curricula. The literature review revealed that introductory college level mathematics success and student retention rates in post-secondary schools was chronically problematic due in large part to the number of students unable to advance past remedial courses. According to the findings of this study, the modularized curriculum provided the necessary remediation tools embedded within course essential to student learning and development without the psychosocial pitfalls and financial burdens that follow remedial mathematics courses. The conclusion drawn from the findings is that enrolling post-secondary students in a modularized introductory college level mathematics course with embedded remedial support can be effective in increasing student confidence in successfully completing an introductory level mathematics course

A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Student and pupil difficulties relating to the qualitative interpretation of microscopic processes which take place in operating electrochemical cells were determined. The subjects were studying electrochemistry at either high school, college of education or University. The investigation followed a stage process which involved the identification of misconceptions, further inquiry into the nature and possible causes of these as well as the development and evaluation of a teaching method aimed at alleviating the identified problems. The interview and the pencil and paper methods were employed to elicit the misunderstandings and simple experiments provided the focus of discussion. From the relatively broad base of the initial stages in which open-ended questions were used, the problem areas narrowed progressively as the stud difficulties became clarified. The tape recorded interviews as well as the responses from the pencil and paper test were analysed for apparent misconceptions. Four areas emerged as problematic among the majority of the subjects. (Abbreviation abstract) / Andrew Chakane 2019