Exploring affordances and hindrances when using Grade 8 Physical Science learners’ home language to mediate learning of chemical bonding
- Authors: Shilongo, Wilhelm Nghidiputate
- Date: 2021-10
- Subjects: Science Study and teaching (Secondary) Namibia , Code switching (Linguistics) , Chemical bonds , Education, Bilingual Namibia , Native language and education Namibia , Socio-cultural theory
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/191079 , vital:45056
- Description: It seems code-switching from English to learners’ home language is a regular practice in Namibian schools. That is, science teachers mediate specific challenging science topics such as chemical bonding through code-switching from English to learners’ home languages. Based on anecdotal evidence and on Grade 10 Examiners’ Reports for previous years, chemical bonding is one of the challenging key concepts in Physical Science, and yet it is an important concept in the study of chemistry. Therefore, the purpose of this interventionist study was to investigate how the use of learners’ home language enables and/or constrains Grade 8 Physical Science learners’ sense making of the topic, chemical bonding. The study is a convergent parallel mixed method case study and was underpinned by an interpretive paradigm. It was conducted with 17 Grade 8 learners in a rural school, where I teach, in the Oshana region. I used a diagnostic test to elicit learners’ prior knowledge on this topic, a post-intervention test, observation, reflections, focus group interview and stimulated recall interviews as my data collection methods. I used Vygotsky’s (1978) Socio-Cultural Theory as my theoretical framework to help explain how learners make sense of the concept of chemical bonding when learners’ home language is used in a Physical Science class. To analyse the quantitative data obtained, I used a descriptive statistics and inferential statistics method. In the descriptive statistics, data were compiled into graphs, tables, and other visual representations, while for the inferential statistics, a t-test was used to establish the significant difference of the data collected. On the other hand, a thematic approach to analyse the qualitative data was employed to come up with sub-themes and themes. The findings of the study revealed that learners’ home language stimulates learners’ interest to learn new concepts, and enhances learners’ understanding and participation during the science lessons. Another finding of the study revealed that learners’ prior knowledge in chemical bonding contained some misconceptions. Furthermore, the findings of the study also revealed that learners learn best when their prior knowledge are elicited before they are introduced to new concepts in their science classrooms. The study recommends that learners’ home language should be incorporated into Physical Science lessons, especially when the teachers are teaching challenging concepts such as chemical bonding. , Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, Education, 2021
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- Date Issued: 2021-10
Mobilising stories about cultural beliefs and practices on traditional foods to contextualise the topic on nutrition in a Grade 6 township class
- Authors: Nuntsu, Sipho Nimrod
- Date: 2021-10
- Subjects: Culturally relevant pedagogy South Africa , Science Study and teaching (Elementary) South Africa , Nutrition Study and teaching (Elementary) South Africa , Traditional ecological knowledge South Africa , Storytelling , Reasoning , Contiguity Argumentation Theory (CAT) , South African Curriculum Assessment and Policy Statement (CAPS) , Socio-cultural theory
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190940 , vital:45043
- Description: The South African Curriculum Assessment and Policy Statement (CAPS) document stipulates that science teachers should integrate indigenous knowledge (IK) into their science teaching. The rationale for this is to contextualise the content and make science accessible and relevant to learners. Despite these ideals, however, CAPS seems to be silent on how science teachers should go about doing this. Instead, it assumes that all teachers know how to integrate IK in their science teaching. As a result, many teachers are still not sure of how to integrate IK into their science classrooms. Such rhetoric and tension between curriculum formulation and implementation triggered my interest to do a study on how to mobilise stories about cultural beliefs and practices of traditional foods to mediate learning of nutrition in a Grade 6 Natural Sciences township class. The study was underpinned by an interprevist paradigm complemented with an Ubuntu paradigm to enhance explanations. Within these paradigms, a qualitative case study research design was adopted. It was conducted at Mdoko Primary school (pseudonym) in a semi-urban community in the Amathole West district of the Eastern Cape. The participants were 34 Grade 6 learners (15 boys and 19 girls), a Grade 6 Natural Sciences teacher who was my critical friend, and two expert community members. To generate data, I used a focus group discussion, group activities, classroom observations, and learners’ reflective journals. Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory and Ogunniyi’s Contiguity Argumentation Theory (CAT) were used as theoretical and analytical frameworks, respectively. A thematic approach to data analysis was employed. That is, data were analysed inductively to identify sub-themes and subsequently similar sub-themes were grouped together to form themes. The two expert community members’ presentations equipped my learners with stories on cultural beliefs and practices that were used in the olden days (past) and how such stories are used in our days (present). For instance, the findings of this study revealed that women during menstruation must not drink amasi as it is believed that it would prolong the menstruation time. The findings also revealed that eating of amaqanda and inside meat by youths should be minimised as it is believed that it can stimulate their sex hormones. It also revealed that there is no relevance to science that men eating imifino would be weak among other men who do not eat them. The implications for this study is that science teachers should make some efforts to integrate IK in their teaching to make science accessible and relevant to their learners. To achieve this, the study thus recommends that science teachers should find ways of tapping into the cultural heritage and wisdom that is possessed by the expert community members to enable learners to cross the bridge from home to school. , Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, Education, 2021
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- Date Issued: 2021-10
How selected Grade 7 participants develop conceptual understanding in solving algebraic problems as a result of participating in a screencast intervention
- Authors: Wienekus, George Renier
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Algebra -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- South Africa , Problem solving in children , Algebra -- Ability testing , Algebra -- Computer-assisted instruction
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/176833 , vital:42763
- Description: This research project is an interventionist case study, oriented in the interpretive paradigm, which aims to investigate how selected Grade 7 participants develop conceptual understanding in solving algebraic problems as a result of participating in screencast interventions. The aim of my screencast intervention programme, which lies at the heart of this study, is to develop practices, inter alia, of how such devices and software may be “used to develop conceptual rather than procedural or decorative knowledge” (Larkin & Calder, 2015:1) in solving linear equations. The planned intervention was delivered in the form of a series of screencasts: these take the form of audio-video lessons with an emphasis on the visual impact, and were recorded using an application called Explain Everything. The screencast interventions were delivered via Google Classroom and included animations supported by such conceptual explanations of early algebra as are relevant to Grade 7 students, and in line with the South African Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements - Department of Education, 2011. The fundamental components of an early algebraic equation that would be relevant to a Grade 7 student were considered and used to develop an analytic framework. This was based on a taxonomy designed according to four identified “clusters” in order to analyse the workings of the purposefully selected Grade 7 participants who were video recorded and questioned in a talk-aloud interview while they completed a post-intervention pencil-and-paper test. What emerges from this research project is that there is a significant need for specific and concentrated technology-based techniques, such as the interventions undertaken here, and that exploration and development in the field could benefit the delivery of a pedagogy for algebra. The pedagogical methods implemented and studied in the form of screencasts proved to be successful and were well received by the learners particularly in relation to the conceptualisation of “symbol sense” and transformation in early algebra. The structure and design of the screencast interventions were important in supporting the acquisition of these concepts and were demonstrated to be worthwhile tools for an epistemological application in a classroom or teaching context. , Thesis (MEd) -- Rhodes University, Faculty of Education, Education, 2021
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- Date Issued: 2021-04
Motivation to learn science and make sense of the concept of malleability through the traditional blast furnace in a grade 9 Physical Science class
- Authors: Kudumo, Wilfred Peter
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Science -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia -- Kavango West , Metals -- Effect of high temperatures on , Blast furnaces , Ethnoscience -- Namibia -- Kavango West , Ubuntu (Philosophy) , Culturally relevant pedagogy , Motivation in education -- Namibia -- Kavango West , Continuity Argumentative Theory (CAT)
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/177262 , vital:42804
- Description: The current situation of teaching and learning science in Namibia is of great concern since it does not seem to take into consideration learners’ socio-cultural backgrounds. As a result, learners are finding that science is not relevant to their everyday life experiences and hence are not motivated to learn it. This is compounded in part by the fact that the Namibian curriculum seems to be silent on how science teachers should include learners’ socio-cultural backgrounds, for example, local or indigenous knowledge in their teaching repertoires. It is against this background that in this study I explored how mobilising the cultural practice of a traditional blast furnace (mudukuto) as an approach enables and/or constrains learners’ motivation to learn science and make sense of the concept of malleability. This is a qualitative case study underpinned by a combination of interpretive and Ubuntu paradigms. It was carried out in a rural school in Namibia, Kavango West Region, where I am currently teaching. The participants in the study were grade 9 learners and one expert community member. Focus group interviews, participatory observation, learners’ reflections, and stimulated recall interviews were used to gather qualitative data. Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory was used as a theoretical framework and Ogunniyi`s Continuity Argumentative Theory (CAT) was used as analytical framework or lens to analyse the data. A thematic approach to analyse data was employed. That is, qualitative data were analysed inductively to come up with sub-themes and themes. The findings of the study revealed that the traditional furnace motivated the learners involved in this study to learn science and learners were able to extract science concepts on malleability from the traditional practice. The implication for this study is that when science is related to learners’ daily life or real-world experiences, they are enabled to bridge the gap from what they learn at home or in the community with school science. The study thus recommends that teachers should make an effort to integrate local or indigenous knowledge and practices to make science accessible and relevant in their classrooms. , Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, Education, 2021
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- Date Issued: 2021-04
Using the indigenous technology of dyeing and weaving African baskets as a cultural tool to mediate learning of chemical and physical changes
- Authors: Kakambi, William Mafelezo
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Science -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia , Chemistry -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia , Ethnoscience -- Namibia , Culturally relevant pedagogy , Traditional ecological knowledge -- Namibia , Basket making -- Namibia , Dyes and dyeing -- Namibia , Pedagogical content knowledge
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/177268 , vital:42805
- Description: Literature has revealed that indigenous learners, especially in many African nations are subjected to learning school science in unfamiliar contexts. Learners in Namibia where this study was conducted are no exception. In consequence, learners experience cognitive conflict between school science and the experiences learnt at home and in the community. This is exacerbated, in part, by the fact that science teachers do not seem to know how to integrate indigenous knowledge in their science teaching. As an attempt to address this problem, some scholars call for the integration of indigenous knowledge into the science curriculum to provide a much needed context for learning science. It is against this background that this study sought to use the indigenous technology of dyeing and weaving baskets as a cultural tool to mediate learning of chemical and physical changes. Underpinned by the interpretivist and Ubuntu paradigms, the study employed a qualitative case study research design. The study was conducted in the Zambezi region in Namibia. Four grade 8 Physical Science teachers, an expert community member, and a critical friend were involved as participants in this study. Data were gathered using semi-structured interviews, workshop discussions, participatory observation, and journal reflections. Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory and Mavhunga and Rollnick’s topic specific pedagogical content knowledge were used as theoretical and analytical frameworks, respectively. A thematic approach to data analysis was employed to come up with sub-themes and themes. The findings of the study revealed that all the participating teachers in this study had never been exposed to ideas on how to integrate indigenous knowledge in their science teaching. As a result, they all embraced and valued the indigenous technology of dyeing and weaving as relevant and useful in the teaching and learning of chemical and physical changes. This study recommends that there is a need to empower science teachers on how to integrate indigenous knowledge in their science teaching in order to make science accessible and relevant to their learners’ lived worlds. , Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, Education, 2021
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- Date Issued: 2021-04