School of Science & Mathematics Education

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Browsing by Author "Faculty of Education"

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    A comparison of grade 8 to10 urban and peri-urban learners context preferences for mathematical literacy
    (University of the Western Cape, 2009) Blaauw, Christopher; Julie, Cyril; Mbekwa, Monde; NULL; Faculty of Education
    The study explored the comparison of grade 8 to 10 urban and peri-urban learners' contexts preferences in mathematical literacy. There is currently a strong emphasis on the use of contexts for school mathematics. This has been also the case for South Africa when grade 10 learners have to make a choice between mathematics and mathematical literacy as one of their compulsory subjects for grade 10. This study focused more on the use of mathematics in real life situations. Data was collected by using questionnaires developed as part of the Relevance of School Mathematics Education (ROSME) project. The questionnaire dealt with contexts preferred by grade 10 learners from urban and peri-urban areas. The data were analysed using non-parametric statistical techniques. The findings radicate that there were contexts highly preferred by learners from both urban and peri-urban areas; least preferred by learners from both areas, highly preferred by learners from periurban areas but not by learners from urban areas and least preferred by learners from urban areas but not by those from peri-urban areas and vice versa. It is recommended that contexts highly preferred by learners should be incorporated in the learning experiences of learners.
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    Effects of a Dialogical Argumentation Instructional Model on Grade 10 Learners' Conception of Fermentation
    (University of the Western Cape, 2010) Diwu, Christopher; Ogunniyi, Meshach B.; Langenhoven, Keith R.; Faculty of Education
    The study catered for empirical and metaphysical dimensions of science and IKS. The study employed a quasi-experimental design as well as a qualitative research design. Two cohorts of students from a fictitiously named Culture Secondary School have been used in this study. The list of instruments for data collection were as follows: Conceptions of Fermentation (COF) questionnaire which was used to elicit learnerss pre- and post-test conceptions of fermentation with special reference to traditional beer or Umqombothi an Attitudes to Science (ATS) questionnaire which was used to find out the learners' worldviews, a Science Achievement Test (SAT) which was used to assess the learners' generalised knowledge of fermentation, a classroom observation schedule as well as a focus group interview schedule to gather additional qualitative data. All the instruments were in English with all technical and difficult terms in both English and isiXhosa (the learners’ home language). Both groups were exposed to Science/IKS-based lessons. The only difference between the two groups was that, the experimental group (E group) was exposed to a Dialogical Argumentation Teaching Model (DAIM) and the comparison group (C group) to a traditional teaching approach. The data gathered were both analyzed in terms of qualitative and quantitative descriptions.
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    Malawian secondary school students' learning of science: historical background, performance and beliefs
    (University of the Western Cape, 2006) Dzama, Emmanuel Nafe Novel; Kolstoe, Stein Dankert; Holtman, Lorna; Mikalsen, Oyvind; School of Science and Mathematics Education; Faculty of Education
    This study explored the problem of poor performance in science among students who are provided secondary school places on merit in Malawi. Existing studies of the problem are inconsistent suggesting that these studies may have shed light on some parts of a complex problem. Questionnaires, interviews and analysis of documents were used to obtain information concerning students’ conceptions of science, science learning and events that eventuated into the problem in the past. The population for this study was 89 government and governmentassisted secondary schools. From that population eighteen schools were randomly selected from each of the six education divisions in the country. One thousand five hundred secondary class 3 students drawn from randomly selected schools participated. The participating students completed a 31item learning beliefs and practices  questionnaire with items drawn from the science education literature and adapted to the local situation and a selfefficacy and attribution of failure questionnaire. Forty students were interviewed about their concepts of science and science learning. Relevant documents found in the Malawi National Archives were analyzed to determine the origin of the problem.
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    Prospective Zimbabwean "A" level mathematics teacher's knowledge of the concept of a function
    (University of the Western Cape, 2006) Nyikahadzoyi, Maroni Runesu; Mtetwa, David K.; Julie, Cyril; Torkildsen, Ole Einar; School of Science and Mathematics Education; Faculty of Education
    The purpose of the study was to investigate prospective 'A' level mathematics teachers’ knowledge of the concept of a function. The study was a case study of six prospective Zimbabwean teachers who were majoring in mathematics with the intention of completing a programme leading to certification as secondary mathematics teachers. At the time of the study the six prospective teachers were in their final year of study. Prospective teachers' knowledge of the concept of a function was assessed through task-based interviews and reflective interviews. These interviews, which were done over a period of three months, were structured to capture the prospective teachers' subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge for teaching the concept of a function. The interviews were also meant to capture the prospective teachers' underlining pedagogical reasons for their choices of the examples, representations and teaching approaches when planning to teach the concept. As part of the study a theoretical framework for understanding prospective teachers' knowledge of the concept of a function was developed. The framework, which was developed, was used as an analytical tool in analyzing prospective teacher’s knowledge of the concept of a function. The results of the study indicated that the prospective teachers had a process conception of a function although some of them had given a set-theoretic definition of a function in which a function is perceived as a mathematical object. They also confined the notion of a function to sets of real numbers. Functions defined on other mathematical objects (for example, the differential operator and the determinant function) were not considered as functions by five of the six prospective teachers.
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    The relevance of science education: as seen by pupils in Ghanaian junior secondary schools
    (University of the Western Cape, 2006) Anderson, Ishmael Kwesi; Sjøberg, Svein; Mikalsen, Øyvind; Julie, Cyril; School of Science and Mathematics Education; Faculty of Education
    This thesis was based on a larger international comparative study called the ROSE (Relevance of Science Education) project. The study investigated the affective factors pupils perceive might be of relevance for the learning of science and technology using the ROSE survey questionnaire, and was aimed at providing data that might form part of an empirical basis for local adaptation of the science curriculum.