Since the South African government decided in 1997 to replace traditional education
with outcomes-based education, curriculum transformation has as yet for various
reasons not realised in the Physical Sciences classroom, thus resulting in poor marks in
Physical Sciences. This study was prompted by the above realities and the fact that
education reform in South Africa cannot occur in isolation from globalisation and the
demands of 21st-century teaching-and-learning.
The overarching aim of the study thus was to propose guidelines for an ICT-integrated
approach to teaching and for a learning environment that can lead to the successful
implementation of the Physical Sciences curriculum in the classroom. In order to
achieve this aim, the research had, on the one hand, to focus on those aspects against
which successful curriculum implementation can be measured and, on the other, be
directed at the contribution which the use of digital technology could make in curriculum
implementation.
The above led to a comprehensive literature study during which Physical Sciences
curriculum documents and other teaching-and-learning literature were investigated
within the context of UGO, constructivism as well as effective principles of learning.
Ultimately eleven so-called âimplementation principlesâ were identified (see 2.7.1).
Thereafter it was established how different ICT usages can be practically and feasibly
used in order to contribute to the realisation of the implementation principles in the
Physical Sciences classroom.
Due to the fact that todayâs learners belong to the Y generation, with their unique needs,
as well as the fact that over 80% of all South African learners are taught Science in a
language that is not their home language (see 1.2.2.2), much attention was paid to
these aspects in this study. A quantitative research design was used and data were collected by means of a
questionnaire, as measuring instrument. Although multi-choice and binary-type
questions were also used, the questionnaire mainly consisted of five-point Likert-type
questions (see 4.10). The questions in the various sections of the questionnaire dealt
with âdaily ICT applicationsâ, learnersâ home environment, language of teaching-andlearning,
the availability and use of ICT in the school environment, learnersâ experience
of the ICT Laboratory (see 1.2.3) as learning environment as well as their experience of
ICT applications in the Laboratory. The test sample consisted of 110 Physical Sciences
learners who visited the ICT Laboratory regularly. The Statistical Processing unit of the
ICT services at the University of the Free State processed the questionnaires by means
of the SPSS computer package.
The information gleaned from the literature study as well as the empirical research
enabled the researcher, from a didactical perspective, to propose guidelines for an e-
Education-based approach to the implementation of the National Curriculum Statement
for Physical Sciences (see 6.4).
The study emphasises the essential role of the teacher in identifying suitable ICT
applications that can be used to the benefit of teaching-and-learning within a 21stcentury
learning environment and in service of the implementation of a Physical
Sciences curriculum.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufs/oai:etd.uovs.ac.za:etd-11112011-123406 |
| Date | 11 November 2011 |
| Creators | van Breda, Jacobus |
| Contributors | Dr ER du Toit |
| Publisher | University of the Free State |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en-uk |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.uovs.ac.za//theses/available/etd-11112011-123406/restricted/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University Free State or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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