The conceptualisation principles of an academic literacy course: an interpretive study of the English for academic purposes module at a Namibian University
- Authors: Onomo, Angelina Medzo
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Academic writing -- Study and teaching -- Namibia , Information literacy -- Study and teaching -- Namibia , Information literacy -- Social aspects -- Namibia , Academic language -- Namibia , Qualitative research -- Methodology
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62862 , vital:28304
- Description: This thesis reports on an investigation into the features of an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course that may promote or constrain students’ success at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST). Work by the New Literacy Studies has problematised what it means to be academically literate and has critiqued the notion of skills training in Higher Education. This study sought to develop an understanding of what the coursework writers’ and lecturers’ priorities were in designing and assessing academic literacy as expressed in the English for Academic Purposes (EAP) module, and to explain contradictions. As part of this process, it sought to identify the module’s strengths and weaknesses in terms of an understanding of literacy as a social practice, and to recommend changes if necessary. My interest in this module is a result of two interrelated factors. Firstly, as a novice part-time lecturer at NUST, I became concerned at the prevailing high EAP failure rate, which suggested that the course was not in fact promoting the academic literacy of the students. At the same time, my own attempts at ‘equipping’ students with the required academic literacy skills were frustrating. Both these factors suggested that the design and assessment of the course might be misaligned with its purported aims. To carry out this research, I employed an interpretive paradigm using a qualitative approach. I draw on theories in the field of academic literacies by Gee, Street and Lea. The methodology for the study was a document analysis of coursework materials and assessments, supplemented by interviews with available course designers. The key finding of the research is that the aims of the module are undercut by its structure and presentation. The design and assessment tasks of this module, while they aim at giving epistemological access through the development of students’ academic literacy skills, are unlikely to achieve it. This finding explains to some extent the poor throughput rate of the course.
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- Date Issued: 2018
The nature of postgraduate student-supervisor relationship in the completion of doctoral studies in education: an exploration in two African universities
- Authors: Rugut, Cornelius Kipleting
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Universities and colleges -- Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/17955 , vital:28545
- Description: Postgraduate supervision and particularly the student-supervisor relationship in doctoral studies has recently become a topic of great discussion in the academic arena. The relationship between the student and the supervisor is central to the successful completion of doctoral studies. Production of more PhDs in Africa is of great significance, seeing that there is a growing need for highly trained researchers to support the national social, economic and environmental goals of African countries. However, statistics show that the completion rate of doctoral studies in Africa is still very low. As such, the focus of this study was to explore the nature of the student-supervisor relationship in the completion of educational doctoral studies in two African universities, namely, Nelson Mandela University in South Africa and Moi University in Kenya. In order to answer the main research question: “What is the nature of the student-supervisor relationship as experienced by graduates who recently completed their educational doctoral studies in two African universities?” a qualitative approach was used, located within an interpretivist paradigm and positioned as an intrinsic interpretive case study. Convenient and purposive sampling was utilised to select participants who had recently completed their doctoral studies in education within the last five years. An individual semi-structured interview and drawings were used to generate the data with ten participants, five from each of the two Universities. The data was analysed thematically and the model for interpersonal supervisor behaviour of Mainhard, Roeland, Tarkwijk and Wubbels (2009), was used to make meaning of the findings. The findings were discussed under four areas, namely, expectations of the student-supervisor relationship, experiences of the student-supervisor relationship, negotiating the student-supervisor relationship and perceptions of the student-supervisor relationship in the successful completion of doctoral studies. These findings revealed that there were moments of cooperation or opposition, as well as instances of dominance or submission in the student-supervisor relationship. However, it appeared that negotiation was at the centre of the relationship, as it was evident that it strengthened the affiliation between the student and the supervisor and thus created a harmonious working relationship, while the lack of proper negotiation created discontent and opposition between the student and the supervisor. The conclusions from the findings were used to generate implications which could be helpful to university management in improving postgraduate supervision and in so doing, promote the success rate of doctoral studies in African universities.
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- Date Issued: 2018
The teaching practice component of initial teacher education: a social justice approach
- Authors: Long, Kelly Ann
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Educational change -- South Africa , Teachers -- Training of -- South Africa , Education -- South Africa -- History , Education – South Africa -- Evaluation , Education -- Standards -- South Africa , Teacher effectiveness -- South Africa , Social justice and education , Education -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/60200 , vital:27746
- Description: Research asserts that learner performance in South African schools is in a state of crisis. While many more learners’ post-1994 in South Africa have physical access to education, very few have epistemological access. The quality of the education learners receive is polarised along socio economic lines. This crisis has its roots in the legacy of colonialism and apartheid, and as such, there is a need to transform the education system to ensure equal opportunity for all learners, and ultimately economic growth and security for the country. One of the explanations offered for the crisis in learner performance is the poor teacher education system. However, there is a paucity of research in teacher education generally in South Africa, and specifically in relation to pre-service teachers. Furthermore, little attention has been given to how initial teacher education could contribute to the promotion of a social justice agenda with the intention of transforming the South African schooling system. This research seeks to understand how the expectations, scaffolding and assessment of preservice teachers’ teaching practices can be utilised to promote social justice during the Teaching Practice (TP) component of initial teacher education. In answering the research question, I analyse data and literature to identify a set of key valued functionings of quality praxis that preservice teachers ought to be provided the capability to realise, at the level of achieved functioning. This is a qualitative case study located in the interpretive paradigm. The case under study is: quality teaching practices of pre-service teachers. This case is bound by context (initial teacher education in South Africa) and setting (the pre-service teacher in the classroom). Two South African Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) were selected through purposive sampling and their respective Teaching Practice (TP) documentation was analysed. Focus group interviews were conducted with five lecturers involved in TP at one of the HEIs. The theoretical framework of the study used to guide the analysis of the data was underpinned by a social justice perspective on quality education. Given that a social justice perspective does not have analytic tools, I view quality pre-service teachers’ teaching practices as praxis and utilise the capability approach as a mechanism for identification and description of valued functionings and capabilities that contribute to quality praxis. There are four significant findings in my research. Firstly, there is consistency with regards to the valued functionings and capabilities across the TP documentation of the two participating HEIs. In other words, the conceptions of a capable pre-service teacher are similar. Secondly, if social justice goals are to be realised, greater clarity of the valued functionings needs to be evident in the TP documentation. Thirdly, the valued functionings can be categorised into those that are foundational and those that promote a social justice agenda. Finally, in promoting a social justice agenda, there are functionings that ought to be valued by the HEIs that are seemingly not currently valued.
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- Date Issued: 2018
Transformation through engagement: developing Grade 9 leadership opportunities through activity system using change laboratory intervention in a secondary school in Omusati region of Namibia
- Authors: Vaino, Loide Mwasheka
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: School management and organization Namibia Omusati , Student participation in administration Namibia Omusati , Educational leadership Namibia Omusati , Student government Namibia Omusati
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61569 , vital:28038
- Description: The evolution of traditional educational leadership theory to contemporary leadership theory came as a response to an increased demand for better services in schools by creating platforms for learner leadership such as distributed leadership where learner leadership is located. This study of learner leadership is conducted in a secondary school in Omusati region of Namibia. Drawing on distributed leadership theory, the study sought to promote the distribution of leadership opportunities amongst all educational stakeholders, including learners, as provided for by policy and projected by educational leadership theory. The motivation of this study was the need to understand the problems associated with learner leadership as identified by past research. In addition, this study hoped to address the gap in the literature by exploring learner leadership development opportunities developing agency in learners through a Change Laboratory (CL) intervention. This study was as a transformative case study, how the grade 9s in the case study school were involved in leadership, the constraining factors that hindered the involvement of grade 9 learners in leadership, the enhancement of learner leadership at school, the positive contributions of CL workshops to participants and the leadership growth brought about by an intervention. This study generated data through observation, questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews, and Change Laboratory Workshops. The findings revealed that the grade 9 learners were marginally involved in leadership at the school. The most substantial challenge relates to traditional and outdated views of leadership on the part of teachers and educational managers. Additionally, the findings from the Change Laboratory workshops revealed that despite grade 9 learners being the youngest at school, they have the potential to be learner leaders. Hence in addition to several practical recommendations, the study recommends a change of mindset towards learner leadership so that opportunities are provided to contribute to the growth and development of learners. Finally, these research study findings will help my professional colleagues and policy makers in education to better understand the significance role of learner leadership involvements in schools.
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- Date Issued: 2018
Understanding the contribution of third space theory in the Masikhulisane reading programme
- Authors: Janse van Rensburg, Monique
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Literacy programs -- South Africa , Literacy -- Social aspects -- South Africa , Language arts -- South Africa , Reading promotion
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/18652 , vital:28699
- Description: The focus of this study is to understand the contribution third space theory makes to literacy practices in the Masikhulisane Reading Programme. The Masikhulisane Reading Programme is an in-school reading club involving reading stories for enjoyment. This study concentrated on the Grade Six participants in term three of the programme, where cross-age reading receives emphasis in service of cultivating reading for pleasure. An older (or more experienced) learner was paired with a younger (less competent) learner for the purpose of nurturing quality reading competencies and reading for enjoyment. The challenges of bilingual reading and developing reading practices without sufficient resources informed this study. The Masikhulisane Reading Programme seems to provide a solution to some of these challenges, offering reading material to learners and affording them agency in terms of their buddy system. Multiple data generation methods were used in order to gain a real understanding of what the Masikhulisane Reading Programme meant to the Grade Six learners, namely: observation of classroom practice, drawings with written and verbal descriptions, and two teacher interviews. The teachers corroborated what the learners said, supporting the idea that learners benefit from an abundance of opportunities to read, while taking ownership in their paired reading. The framework designed for data analysis provided a type of coding, and a way of recognising themes. The designed framework provided an overview and was applied to all the data as a means of drawing out patters to provide explanatory potential. One way to understanding this programme is through the, Third Space Theory, which recognises that in different spaces, participants can take up different positions, allowing for different ways of being. Each Grade Six learners became the teachers with one buddy, teaching and establishing a reading practice with their younger buddy. This gave them the chance to be responsible for developing a love for reading, which was empowering for both them and their buddy.
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- Date Issued: 2018
A baseline study of teacher and learner perspectives of language demands in science classrooms in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropole
- Authors: Woods, Tracey
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Language arts -- Correlation with content subjects -- South Africa -- Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality , Interpersonal communication -- South Africa -- Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Communication in education -- South Africa -- Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Communicative competence -- South Africa -- Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21153 , vital:29451
- Description: Globally, one of the challenges in science education is providing equitable access to increasingly diverse learners in equally diverse learning contexts. In South Africa, science is taught to learners by means of English, which is the preferred language of instruction even if it is only spoken by 9.6% of the South African population. In the Eastern Cape, the majority of the population speak isiXhosa and the minority speak English. Parents of isiXhosa-speaking children often choose schools where English is the language of learning and teaching (LoLT) as they feel their children will have better career opportunities as English is considered to be the language of economic power. The aim of this study was to determine teachers’ and learners’ perspectives of language in science classrooms. To this end, a baseline study was conducted. A quantitative research method was used and data were collected through questionnaires. The research found that English is the preferred language for teaching and learning, even though the majority of the participants were isiXhosa home-language speakers. In addition, learners in South African whose home language is not English do not have the necessary language skills to cope with the switch to English as LoLT. Science teachers are therefore faced with two distinct challenges: firstly teaching content and secondly teaching the LoLT, if it is not the learners’ home language. The major difficulty experienced by learners when learning science is learning the language of science, as science is regarded as having a language of its own, with its own specific register and discourse. Thus, for many learners, learning the language of science is a challenge as it contains unfamiliar technical words and everyday words that have specialised scientific meanings (e.g. diagrams, procedures, table, current and force). English is seen as the language in which to explore these concepts. A conclusion that can be drawn is that English is regarded as the language in which to learn science thus reflecting the continued hegemony of English.
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- Date Issued: 2017
A critical review of the response of the Environmental Literacy Skills Programme to learner capabilities, and to the demands of the Working for Water training setting in an emerging Green Economy
- Authors: Fourie, Kathryn
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Working for Water Programme , Environmental Literacy Skills Programme , Environmental education -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7879 , vital:21317
- Description: This case study is guided by a social realist research approach. It is an investigation into if and how the Environmental Literacy Skills Programme (ESLP) responds to Working for Water learners' capabilities and the enabling and constraining factors that shape these, and to the demands of the WfW training setting in an emerging Green Economy. The context for the study is that of the Working for Water programme, an Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) run under the auspices of the Department of Environmental Affairs in South Africa. The study took place while piloting the newly created ELSP materials with a group of beneficiaries and contractors in Uitenhage, a town in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province. The study provides insights into the application of accredited training in an EPWP training environment, and critically considers the academic and practical suitability of the ELSP in the WfW context. It achieves this by considering how the ELSP seeks to respond to the education levels and experiences of contractors and beneficiaries, and the demands of the WfW training setting. To understand what underpins learner capabilities and experiences, it was necessary to investigate the conversion factors and enabling and constraining factors that influence WfW contractor and beneficiary capabilities and involvement in the ELSP training in the context of an emerging Green Economy. To develop these insights, data was gathered through participant observation, questionnaires, structured and semi-structured interviews, as well as document analysis. The theoretical framework of Amartya Sen's (1999) Capability Approach supports the study, which provides an alternative way of understanding the freedoms that people enjoy, or the lack of freedom they experience, in being able to live the kind of life they have reason to value. The Capability Approach provides the key concept of resource conversion, which is used in the study to discern the social, personal and environmental constraints and enablers that people experience in their lives. These either assist or dis-enable a person in converting a resource such as education, into a functioning such as desired employment. Through a social realist causal analysis model, key structures are identified that underpin the actions of beneficiaries and contractors in relation to their learning and career pathways. The study shows that while the ELSP does support the development of green skills and in part responds to learner capabilities (and enabling and constraining conversion factors), there is a lack of information as to where those skills can be applied in elementary green occupations, in part due to South Africa's focus on high-skills development linked to Green Economy objectives. The study makes recommendations for aligning environmental education with career guidance, as well as a recommendation for further detailed research into identifying elementary green occupations and associated learning pathways.
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- Date Issued: 2017
A review of how teachers are using the renewable energy materials in their lessons
- Authors: Lambrechts, Therese
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Renewable energy sources -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , Renewable energy sources -- Study and teaching -- South Africa -- South Africa , Curriculum evaluation -- South Africa , Environmental education -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/13888 , vital:21864
- Description: Climate change and renewable energy have recently become part of the school curriculum in South Africa. Many teachers at the secondary school level thus have to teach topics with which they are not (necessarily) familiar. The Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies at Stellenbosch University has established a schools' programme to provide materials to aid the educators in the teaching of renewable energy topics. A research-based set of Learning Teaching Support Material (LTSM) was developed for high school educators. The learning material includes a DVD, PowerPoint presentations, posters, a teacher's manual, and assignments that can be used in different subjects. This study reports and reviews how teachers are currently using the material. Teacher accounts of materials use and evidence of learning in students work were solicited using an appreciative inquiry review process. The data reflected the value being created through patterns of materials use. A Vygotskian based task sequencing framework of Anne Edwards was used to examine the patterns of use which support learning. The use of the task sequencing as an analytical lens allowed the review to probe how knowledge representation was the primary use by teachers. Here they introduced learners to key concepts and to broaden their knowledge on renewable energy. The activities served to scaffold a clear learning progression but the activities were not strongly enough orientated towards ESD as learner-led processes of enquiry and action. The outcomes of the study will be used to update and better align the materials with a need for teachers to strengthen important ESD outcomes in the current curriculum.
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- Date Issued: 2017
A review of the development and enactment of a radio programme on rainwater harvesting in expanding social learning interactions: a case of the Imvotho Bubomi Learning Network in the Nkonkobe Municipality, Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Lupele, Chisala
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Imvotho Bubomi Learning Network , Amanzi for Food , Radio in education -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Educational broadcasting -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Radio stations -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Community radio -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Environmental education -- South Africa , Water conservation -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , Rhodes University. Environmental Learning Research Centre
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/12991 , vital:21786
- Description: The use of radio and associated information and communications technologies (ICTs) has not been widely explored as a process of environmental education over the years. If environmental education is to involve many people, the use of radio and associated ICTs, particularly in community radio, needs to be researched because radio has multilayered functions. This study examines how practitioners in an agricultural Community of Practice (CoP), namely the Imvotho Bubomi Learning Network in the Nkonkobe Municipality, Eastern Cape, South Africa developed a radio programme on rainwater harvesting for the promotion of food security. The study probes the expansion and social learning of the network and into the public sphere after broadcasts. The study draws on research data generated in the Amanzi for Food project which was funded by the Water Research Commission of South Africa and was led by the Rhodes University Environmental Learning Research Centre. Using interviews, radio programme transcripts and observations, the study found that through using their prior knowledge from a training of trainers’ course on rain water harvesting and drawing on everyday experience of rainwater harvesting the CoP members had an expansion in their mutual engagement, joint enterprise, diversity, shared repertoire and identity into a knowledge community. This learning process developed through a successive elaboration of social ecological and social articulations related to the expansive functioning of the CoP; and experience of the benefits of rainwater harvesting as radio programme listeners deliberated how the different practices related to their existing knowledge and experience. The study also found that these expansive processes of social learning occurred across the spectrum of smallholder farmers and homestead food growers in a stimulated radio listening focus group discussion. The study concludes that agriculture practitioners involved in education for sustainable development could expand their knowledge sharing platforms by giving more attention to community radio as a means of both involving participants and engaging learning communities in local environment and sustainability concerns.
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- Date Issued: 2017
A teacher collective as a professional development approach to promote foundation phase mathematics teaching
- Authors: Hlam, Thandiwe Lillian
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- South Africa Teachers -- Development -- South Africa , Teachers -- Education (Primary) -- South Africa Early childhood education -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/15071 , vital:28119
- Description: This qualitative study is a response to a request for help from a group of Grade 3 (year 3) teachers who were disheartened with the poor performance of their learners in Mathematics. In an attempt to address their challenge, they resolved to form a Teacher Collective (TC) amongst themselves. Their main objective was to support each other in their development of Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (MKT). The participants, being frustrated by what they perceived as an inefficient and unhelpful cluster approach to professional development used by the Department of Basic Education initiated their own teacher collective strategy. I was approached by this TC to assist them in developing a strategy to make this TC suit the needs of the participants. A Lesson Study (LS) approach was used as an alternative Teacher Professional Development strategy within the TC. In studies conducted by Ono and Ferreira (2010) and Jita and Mokhele (2014), a LS approach is regarded as an essential tool desirable for enhancement of teacher collaboration and participant’s MKT. However, both studies reported on challenges related to contextual issues. Those contextual issues revealed themselves as similar to the challenges that threatened to weaken the collaborative structure initiated by the participants in this current study. To overcome these challenges, participants felt a need for some sort of adaptation for a LS approach to work in their context. In the application of the revised adapted version of a LS approach, participants experienced a Teacher Collective (TC) in action using real and useful experiences (Ono & Ferreira, 2010). The aim of this study was to examine the effects of a Teacher Collective for improving participating teachers’ pedagogical and disciplinary content knowledge in Foundation Phase (FP) Mathematics. As this study targeted a small group of teachers, it adopted a case-study methodology. The participants were five Grade 3 teachers purposefully self-selected from two Port Elizabeth township schools. Semi-structured interviews were used to determine participating teachers’ perceptions of a Teacher Collective as a Teacher Professional Development strategy necessary to promote Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching. Descriptive methodologies which concern inter alia practices that prevail, relationships that exists, point of views that were held, processes that are going on and effects that are felt by participants were used (Creswell, 2013). The following major findings emerged from the data analysis: For the TC to be a successful alternative TPD, it requires that: (1) Teachers must regard themselves as being responsible for the own professional growth and own the TPD programme. (2) Participants of the TC must adopt flexible strategies to allow for active participation of the participants in building meaning for themselves. (4) A TPD strategy should be sensitive to contextual issues and be addressed accordingly. (5) A TPD programme should seek to improve classroom instruction but this must be based on the needs of the participants. It is primarily the following structural features that affected teacher learning within the TC: (a) the form of the activity (joint lesson planning, observed lesson presentation, post lesson feedback, etc.), (b) collective participation of teachers within and across the schools and (c) the duration of the activity. In this study the LS approach worked well as it sought to address the needs of the participants.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Adaptation of the mathematics recovery programme to facilitate progression in the early arithmetic strategies of Grade 2 learners in Zambia
- Authors: Young, Catherine
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- Zambia Arithmetic -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- Zambia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4977 , vital:20749
- Description: Research indicates that many children finish primary school in Southern Africa still reliant on inefficient counting strategies. This study extends the research of the South African Numeracy Chair project to early mathematics intervention with Grade 2 learners. It investigated the possible adaptation of the Mathematics Recovery programme to facilitate learner progression in early arithmetic strategies. This study aimed to investigate the possibility of adapting the Mathematics Recovery programme for use in a whole class setting, and to research the effectiveness of such an adapted programme. This study also aimed to investigate the extent of the phenomenon of unit counting and other early arithmetic strategies used in the early years in Zambia. This study was conducted from an emergent perspective. A review of the literature indicated that children who become stuck using unit counting face later mathematical difficulties, and that teacher over-emphasis on unit counting in the early years of schooling may be a contributing factor. This study used a qualitative design research methodology that consisted of a preparation phase, teaching experiment and retrospective analysis. The context of this teaching experiment was a seven week after-school intervention with a class of Grade 2 learners aged seven to eight in a rural Zambian primary school. Data collection and analysis focused on video recordings of a sample of 6 learners. The experimental teaching content focused on the Early Arithmetic Strategies aspect of the Mathematics Recovery programme. Although limited by time and research focus, this study found that all learners made some progress in early arithmetic strategies, and indicates that the Mathematics Recovery programme has potential for adaptation for early intervention in whole class teaching to address the mathematical education challenges in Zambia and beyond. This study also found that unit counting predominated in the sample learners, but that strategies were not yet entrenched, indicating this was a suitable age for early intervention. This study makes methodological contributions to a growing body of research into the adaptation of the Mathematics Recovery in Southern African contexts and suggests avenues for possible further research.
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- Date Issued: 2017
An analysis of how geogebra can be used as a visualisation tool by selected teachers to develop conceptual understanding of the properties of geometric shapes in grade 9 learners: a case study in Namibia
- Authors: Mwiikeni, Eramus
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6989 , vital:21207
- Description: According to Rosken & Rolka (2006), learning mathematics through visualisations can be a powerful tool to explore mathematical problems and give meaning to mathematical concepts and relationships between them. “Visualisation can reduce the complexity of mathematical problems when dealing with a multitude of information” (p.458). This case study focused on using GeoGebra as a visualisation tool to teach angle properties in Grade 9 geometry. This study set out to analyse how GeoGebra visualisations can be used by selected teachers to teach for conceptual understanding. The research is based on a constructivist view of learning and is oriented within an interpretive paradigm. The methodology used is a qualitative case study. The study was conducted in one school and involved 3 mathematics teachers who were purposefully selected because they showed willingness to use technology in their teaching. I used classroom observations and interviews to collect the data. The study identified a number of factors from the participants that related to using GeoGebra in teaching for conceptual understanding. These include the effective use of dynamic visuals to build on prior knowledge, using multiple representations through image generation and image transformation to make connections and using visuals to justify mathematics ideas. The results from this study indicated that GeoGebra can indeed be used effectively as a teaching tool to teach for conceptual understanding in mathematics.
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- Date Issued: 2017
An analysis of selected grade 11 learners’ interactions with geometry tasks using visualization processes: a case study in Namibia
- Authors: Kabuku, Brian S
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Mathematics -- Study and teaching -- Activity programs , Geometry -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia , Geometry -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia -- Cast studies , Visualization
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5949 , vital:20997
- Description: This case study was conducted at a secondary school where I teach, situated in the semi-rural setting of Bukalo village in Namibia, and sought to gain insights into the nature and role of visualisation processes employed when selected grade 11 learners interacted with selected geometry problems. According to Mariotti and Pensci (1994), visualisation takes place when "thinking is spontaneously accompanied and supported by images”, and helps students to understand the problem at hand. Visualisation is regarded as "making the unseen visible and imagery as the power to imagine the possible and the impossible” (Mason 1992). The study is located within an interpretive research paradigm in order to obtain in-depth understanding of the participants’ visualisation processes. Within this paradigm, both quantitative and qualitative approaches were adopted. The eight Grade 11 participants engaged with 12 items of the Geometry Visualisation Tasks (GVT) worksheets. Data was collected using video-recorded learners’ interactions with the GVT, observations, stimulated recall interviews and post-GVT interviews with the learners. During the data analysis stage, I used inductive analysis to determine patterns evident in learners ‘thinking processes’. My analytical framework consisted of indicators that were used to identify and classify visualisation processes for each task of the GVT for each participant. I adapted this framework from Ho (2010) and Ho, Ramful and Lowrie’s (2015) clarification of the representations. The findings from this study revealed that the use of visualisations facilitated meaningful learning when learners made use of these to develop and scaffold their conceptual understanding. The findings revealed that most learners used visualisation processes fairly to very accurately when solving geometry problems. They used visualisation processes by using sketches and diagrams that transformed a mathematical problem pictorially, connected their thinking to previous knowledge and experience, clarified the algebraic task and assisted them to understand the spatial relationships within each task.
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- Date Issued: 2017
An analysis of the nature of visualisation objects in three Namibian grade 9 mathematics textbooks: a case study in Namibia
- Authors: Nghifimule, Selma Ndilipomwene
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6334 , vital:21090
- Description: Textbooks are a universal and central element of teaching and learning mathematics (Namibia. Ministry of Education [MoE], 2008). Steenpaß and Steinbring (2014) state that diagrams in mathematics textbooks are often used as Visualisation Objects (VOs) to enhance learning of mathematical concepts. VOs in textbooks are thus important teaching and learning tools (Fotakopoulou and Spiliotopoulou, 2008). This Namibian interpretive case study analysed the nature of VOs used in the three approved grade 9 Namibian mathematics textbooks namely: y=mx+c to success, Maths for Life 9 and Discover Mathematics 9. The VOs were analysed by using an analytical framework adapted from Fotakopoulou and Spiliotopoulou (2008). This analytic tool was specifically used to interrogate the following categories: the type of VOs, the roles of VOs, the relation of VOs to mathematical content, the relation of VOs to reality, and their properties. The 266 VOs under study were collected from the Algebra and Geometry chapters of each book. This study also included survey questionnaires with the 50 selected mathematics teachers, which sought their views and perceptions on the use of the identified VOs. In addition, the authors’ rationale in selecting the identified VOs used in their textbooks was sought through interviews. This research study is part of the “Visualisation in Namibia and Zambia” (VISNAMZA) project which seeks to research the effective use of visualisation processes in the mathematics classroom in Namibia and Zambia (Schäfer, 2015). It is hoped that this study contributes towards improving the quality of textbook evaluations, and design of suitable and more comprehensive assessment procedures in Namibia. It is also hoped that it creates a critical awareness of the roles of VOs in textbooks amongst teachers, inspiring them to help their learners interpret VOs effectively. It should also inspire potential authors to use suitable and appropriate VOs that enhance conceptual teaching and learning of mathematics. The study discovered that most of the VOs used in the selected textbooks align well with the mathematical content. The VOs can help make abstract ideas concrete, stimulate learning, simplify and clarify written texts. In addition, VOs can also be used as a tool for reasoning and an instrument for problem solving. The findings however also indicate that some of the VOs used are not self-explanatory; they are vague, unfamiliar and confusing, leading to misinterpretations by some learners. Another interesting finding was that some of the learners found it difficult to interpret VOs on their own without the help of the teacher.
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- Date Issued: 2017
An analysis of visualization processes used by selected Grade 11 and 12 learners when solving algebraic problems: a Namibian case study
- Authors: Josef, Joseane
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Visualization , Mathematics -- Study and teaching -- Namibia -- Case studies , Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Activity programs , Algebra -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7843 , vital:21309
- Description: Visualisation is gaining visibility in mathematics education research. It is a powerful tool for solving different types of problems in many areas of mathematics, including Algebra - the mathematical domain of this study. The aim of this case study was to analyse the visualisation processes that selected senior secondary school learners used to solve a set of ten algebraic problems.The research was conducted at a secondary school in the Erongo region of Namibia. This is the school where the researcher is teaching. The sample consisted of six selected learners, three from Grade 11 and three from Grade 12. The learners were purposefully selected to participate in this study based on their mathematics performance in class and their willingness to participate. The participants were video recorded as they worked through the ten items of an Algebraic Visualisation Tasks (AVT) worksheet. They were also interviewed about the visualisation processes they employed when solving each of the tasks. The AVT, the videos and the interviews were analysed with the aid of an adapted visualisation template. The findings of the study show that learners used visualisations in all their problem-solving processes. These visualisations were used for different purposes such as starting points, for illustrative purposes, as organizational tools and as simplification tools. Visualisations as starting points were used when the problem was wordy and had lengthy descriptions and explanations. Illustrative visualisations enabled learners to articulate in their own way mathematical notations, mathematical equations and expressions that they then used to solve the problem. Organizational pictures provided a useful structural framework for solving the problems.This research suggests that the selected participants indeed used visualisation processes to solve algebraic problems. It is thus important for teachers to harness this aid and make the most use of these visualisation processes when teaching Algebra.
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- Date Issued: 2017
An arts based comparative study of pre-service teachers' perceptions of lecturers' engagement with a humanizing pedagogy
- Authors: Wafula, Josphat Gamba
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Teacher-student relationships -- South Africa , Teacher-student relationships -- Kenya Teachers college graduates -- South Africa Teachers college graduates -- Kenya Teachers -- Training of -- South Africa Teachers -- Training of -- Kenya
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20162 , vital:29148
- Description: The tenet of this study was to elicit pre-service teachers’ insights, thoughts and opinions on their perceptions of lecturers’ engagement with a humanizing pedagogy through the analysis of the participants’ role plays, focused group interviews and written narratives. For the purposes of this study a qualitative approach was adopted employing a multiple case study design that focused on two African institutions; one in Kenya (University M) and one in South Africa (University N), involving 3rd year pre-service teachers in the intermediate phase programme of study. The accumulated data were coded, integrated and analyzed thematically. The findings revealed that although there are lectures who make concerted efforts to embrace humanizing pedagogy in their teaching and create opportunities for interactive learning, most of the teaching is concerned with the issuing of communiqués prepared by others with little input from students thereby leading to a one-way communication process, which denies students of a voice. One-way dialogue excludes the students from critical participation as highlighted by the participants in the study. Furthermore, the findings emerging from the study revealed that the participants perceived the humanizing pedagogy as key to facilitating a safe and friendly learning environment; a strategy that affirms interactive engagement and one which favors a learner-centered approach inclusive of positive pedagogical practices and approaches. The findings of the study also revealed that the dehumanizing experiences that participants had to contend with focused predominantly on the teachers’ obsession with banking education which the participants believed stifled the development of critical consciousness. It is hoped that the findings emerging from this study will inform an understanding and need for dialogue since the study provides valuable insights into the personal and professional transformation which can take place in the lecture rooms. Furthermore, the study has the potential to inform Kenyan and South African teacher education programs with a view to improving teaching practices and approaches that have the potential to stimulate critical and creative thinking through active participation, dialogue and interactive meaning-making.
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- Date Issued: 2017
An exploration of the processes that encourage HIV and AIDS affected Basotho female adolescent resilience in Sedibeng West in the Vaal Triangle area of the Gauteng Province
- Authors: De Lange, Une
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Resilience (Personality trait) in adolescence -- South Africa -- Gauteng Teenage girls -- South Africa -- Gauteng
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/22220 , vital:29875
- Description: This study aimed to explore processes encouraging resilience in HIV and AIDS affected Basotho female adolescents in Sedibeng West in the Vaal Triangle area of the Gauteng province; and to identify guidelines to help these individuals to get through their adversities in constructive ways. By using purposive sampling (a non-probability sampling method), 61 high risk, high resilient HIV and AIDS affected Basotho female adolescents in Sedibeng West were identified to participate in the research An extensive literature review revealed the following gaps with regard to the topic of this study: • Shortage of literature regarding the effects that HIV and AIDS have on Basotho female adolescents and how these adolescents cope with these challenges; • Lack of focus on resilience of specific cultural adolescent groups; • Lack of focus on processes that encourage resilience in adolescents; • Need for qualitative studies of resilience and visual qualitative studies in particular. Consequently, a qualitative, visual phenomenological study was done where data was collected by a multi-dimensional data gathering method consisting of open-ended questionnaires, drawings and semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that HIV and AIDS affected all participants in a substantial way. The following three main processes encourage resilience in Basotho female adolescents: Benefitting from constructive bonds; Making meaning; and Acting constructively. Furthermore, Spiritual beings and Mothers were primarily identified as figures of strength and support during adolescents’ adversity. Based on the findings, the researcher recommends that: • The Department of Education include all aspects concerning HIV and AIDS, as well as aspects concerning Religion and Spirituality in the Life Skills curriculum without making any preference of religion; • a mother figure should be established in every child’s life at a very young age, preferably as early as birth; • young people be taught skills and strategies to build interpersonal relationships and attachment bonds to significant others; • families and schools empower individuals with skills to find meaning in adversity • parents and family members model constructive regulation of behaviour to adolescents.
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- Date Issued: 2017
An intervention on how using easily accessible resources to carry out hands-on practical activities in science influences science teachers’ conceptual development and dispositions
- Authors: Asheela, Eva Ndagwedha
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Science teachers -- In-service training -- Namibia , Science teachers -- Namibia -- Case studies , Science -- Study and teaching -- Activity programs -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/8330 , vital:21385
- Description: The reform and transformation of education systems in terms of enhancing Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education in the schooling systems is gaining momentum in different parts of the world. It is argued that there is a need to enhance science education, particularly in Africa, because science education is considered to be the main vehicle through which the greater objectives such as national development and improvement in the quality of life can be realised. Namibia as a country is no exception. A key way through which science education can be enhanced is through carrying out practical activities during teaching and learning. Despite the crucial role that practical activities play in science subjects, it appears that they are not carried out in most of the Namibian science classrooms. It is against this background that this study explored an intervention on how easily accessible resources to carry out hands-on practical activities in science, influenced science teachers’ conceptual development and dispositions towards the use of practical activities in science. In this study, a mixed methods case study approach underpinned by an interpretive paradigm was adopted. The research was conducted with 21 in-service science teachers from schools in Namibia who were all on a two year part-time BEd (Honours) program delivered in Namibia by a South African university from the Eastern Cape. To generate data, document analysis, questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, an intervention in the form of workshops on practical activities, lesson observations, which were videotaped, as well as teacher reflections were used. Conceptual development, disposition and professional development served as the conceptual lenses. Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory in conjunction with Shulman’s pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) were the theoretical frameworks adopted in the study.The findings showed that there was a general perception among the participants before the intervention that in order to carry out practical activities, well-equipped laboratories, conventional chemicals and equipment are needed. Some teachers had never used practical activities in their science classes with a range of constraints or hindrances provided as reasons. The findings additionally showed that for teachers to use easily accessible resources to carry out practical activities in their science classrooms, they need the knowledge and exposure on how to use these resources. The findings thus showed that this professional development approach raised motivation, knowledge and the skills of the science teacher participants to include practical activities in their science lessons using easily accessible resources. A recommendation is that if teachers are given opportunities, through professional development platforms to engage in hands- on practical activities using easily accessible resources, they can be enabled and motivated to implement these in their science classrooms.
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- Date Issued: 2017
An investigation into Science teachers’ conceptions of and dispositions towards the implementation of ‘assessment for learning’ (formative assessment) during science practical activities
- Authors: Sheehama, Felisia Nauyele
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/50166 , vital:25964
- Description: Assessment is an integral part of the teaching and learning process. Research by the Assessment Reform Group (ARG) (1999) and others has shown that assessment for learning, or formative assessment, is one of the most powerful educational tools for promoting effective learning and improving performance. Assessment for learning (formative assessment) and summative assessment form part of most national education policies and is advocated in the Namibian curricula. However, most of the focus of official programs in Namibia has been on summative assessment resulting in assessment for learning being neglected. It is against this backdrop that this study investigated science teachers’ conceptions of, and dispositions towards, the implementation of assessment for learning during science practical lessons. In this study, a mixed methods case study approach underpinned by an interpretive paradigm was adopted. The research was conducted with 25 in-service science teachers from schools in Namibia who were all on a two year part-time BEd (Honours) program delivered at NIED in Namibia by a South African university from the Eastern Cape. To generate data, document analysis, questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, an intervention in the form of workshops on assessment for learning, practical activities, lesson observations (which were videotaped), as well as teacher reflections were used. The lesson observations were conducted in two schools in the Omusati region of Namibia. The theoretical frameworks guiding the study were Vygotsky’s social constructivist theory and Shulman’s pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). The findings of the study revealed that teachers held different notions toward assessment for learning before the intervention in the form of a workshop. However, after the workshop the teachers demonstrated understanding of what assessment for learning entails and how it can be implemented during hands-on practical activities using easily accessible resources. A recommendation is that if teachers are given opportunities, through professional development platforms, to engage in hands-on practical activities using easily accessible resources and an appropriate orientation towards assessment for learning that includes model strategies they can be enabled and motivated to research and begin to implement assessment for learning in their science classrooms.
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- Date Issued: 2017
An investigation into the causes of disparities in literacy readiness of learners: perceptions of pre-primary teachers
- Authors: Haingura, Hildefonsia
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Early childhood education -- South Africa , Language arts (Early childhood) -- South Africa , Literacy -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7854 , vital:21311
- Description: This study investigated pre-primary teachers’ perceptions of the causes of disparities in the literacy readiness of pre-primary learners. The aim was to understand the reasons that teachers ascribe to differences in literacy readiness; ways in which teachers’ understanding of the causes may relate to their practices and to learners’ literacy readiness levels. The study drew from Bernstein’s pedagogic discourse as the theoretical framing and analytical tool for engaging with the data. The participants in the study were three pre-primary teachers practising in a variety of schooling contexts. In a quest for a deeper understanding of the causes, data for the study was generated using multiple sources. Structured interviews were employed to get the teachers perceptions, while classroom observations were aimed at discovering ways in which the teachers’ points of view related to their practices in the actual classroom. An analysis of documentary evidence was carried out to understand ways in which teachers’ practices adhered to the curriculum intentions, as well as ways in which their plans and curriculum documents supported the development of the emerging literacy skills of the learners. Findings of this study indicated that teachers attributed disparities in the literacy readiness of learners to factors external to the classroom and it was found that their pedagogic practices, as a result of these perceptions, were not supportive to the development of literacy skills that are pivotal for transitioning to Grade 1. The study has implications for curriculum reform, sensitization of stakeholders and teacher training in order to ensure a solid and promising academic foundation, and consequently, a successful academic future for all pre-primary learners.
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- Date Issued: 2017