3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item Factors that affect the use of constructivist approaches when teaching the new biology curriculum in Malawi(2011-02-25) Mdolo, Margaret MalizganiIn Malawi, the new Biology curriculum draws from constructivist approaches. The Biology teaching syllabus emphasises the use of students’ experiences as a resource and the use of active student involvement strategies when teaching the curriculum to enhance conceptual understanding. However, inspection reports show that students are less actively involved in the lessons and the teachers rarely draw from their students’ prior experiences to enhance conceptual understanding. In this study, I investigated some factors affecting four teachers’ use of constructivist approaches when teaching the new biology curriculum in Malawi. Information was collected on the four teachers’ understandings of active student involvement in lessons and students’ experiences, the extent to which the four teachers involved students and built on students’ experiences to enable comprehension of science concepts in the Biology lessons and the factors that promoted/ hindered the use of these practices. Data was collected through lesson observations and interviews with teachers using an observation guide and an interview schedule respectively. Four Biology teachers, two from community secondary schools and two from conventional secondary schools were observed and interviewed. I found that all the four teachers understood students’ experiences as prior knowledge from previous school learning. The teachers understood active student involvement in relation to the type of schools they were teaching. For the teachers in community schools, involving students meant engaging them in group discussion while to the teachers in conventional schools it meant students doing experiments / practical work. Their teaching focused on giving information and little was done to develop students’ metacognitive abilities. According to the four teachers, pressure to cover the syllabus before the national examinations; lack of text books and laboratory equipment; lack of motivation among students; students’ backgrounds; and inadequate students’ fluency in the English language are some of the factors that affect their implementation of the constructivist approaches. Based on the lessons I observed, the teachers’ knowledge of subject matter and teachers’ understandings of the constructivism concept also affect the use of constructivist approaches when teaching Biology in Malawi.Item Investigating Lesotho junior secondary science teachers' perceptions and use of laboratory work.(2010-11-09) Monare, Thulo JuliusThis study investigated Lesotho junior secondary science teachers’ perceptions and use of laboratory work in teaching. Teaching is described as engagement in a relationship between a person called a teacher and another person called a student with the purpose of facilitating the student’s acquisition of content which the student previously lacked (Fenstermacher, 1986). Using the constructs of scientific inquiry and inquiry-based instruction and constructivism as theoretical lenses the study empirically explored the Junior School Science teachers’ perceptions of the aims of laboratory work and how the teachers used laboratory work in their teaching. At the centre, the investigation sought to understand whether there was any relationship between teachers’ perceptions of the aims of laboratory work and their use of laboratory work. The sample of the study consisted of fifty science teachers (n=50) conveniently selected from 12 schools in the Butha-Buthe district of Lesotho. Data were collected through closed and open ended questionnaires (n=50), semi-structured interviews (n=5), and laboratory lesson observations (n=2). Data were analyzed quantitatively using descriptive statistics and qualitatively using a combination of typological and interpretational analysis. The results show that as a group the sampled teachers held the view that the most important aim of laboratory work was to promote conceptual understanding. In their teaching, most of the sampled teachers use laboratory work to verify theory through largely verificationist, expository and non-inquiry laboratory instructional practices and strategies. The following barriers were reported by the teachers as limiting their use of inquiry oriented and student centered teaching strategies: limitations of resources; time constraints; large classes; pressure to complete the prescribed curriculum; safety issues; and preparations for external examinations. The results also suggest that the teachers’ seeing laboratory work as important for developing conceptual understanding is associated with their use of verificationistic teaching approaches. It is recommended that; Lesotho science curriculum be reviewed, and that teachers should participate in curriculum development to enhance successful implementation of inquiry instruction, professional development programmes be established, and the enactment of inquiry instruction be systematically monitored and evaluated. It is recommended that curriculum developers facilitate teachers’ transformation from expository to inquiry instruction.Item "Let's think together!" (a review of dialogue in the workplace).(2010-08-18) Marais, JohnThis thesis explores a conceptual understanding of dialogue within a community of practice. It argues that meaningful conversations are at the core of critical, reflective, and analytical praxis, and that a critical understanding holds transformative possibilities for teaching and learning. Aspects of western and ethnic paradigms and their theoretical constructs, which may either enhance or hinder current practices, are identified, as are elements that arise from several case studies drawn from a large banking organisation operating out of South Africa. It is hoped that an evaluation of the research findings will provide a basis for an understanding of dialogue within a local context and that, further, it will provide a platform for extended dialogical exploration and research.