11613 research outputs found
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Controversial topics in the school curriculum: a case study on the teaching of evolution in South Africa
No full textThesis (Ph.D.(Education))--University of the Free State, 2022This study sought to explore how Life Science teachers in South Africa deal with challenges of teaching evolution in a country where Christianity remains dominant and is celebrated through public and/or national holidays. The theoretical framework underpinning this study is a cognitive framework of implementation, enabling the exploration of how teachers can construct understandings of the policy message; construct an interpretation of their own practice and how they integrated the policy signals in their practice. A qualitative approach was employed using an in-depth case study design in order to explore how three Life Sciences teachers in South Africa negotiate controversial topics like evolution within the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement, and what the challenges and opportunities are for teaching about evolution. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and classroom observations.
Five major findings emerged from this cross-case analysis. First, it could be observed that two of the teachers did not study evolution when they trained to become teachers, whilst the topic of evolution was part of the third teacher’s training programme. The second finding speaks to the influence of teachers’ beliefs and perspectives on evolution during the lesson. The third finding shows that teachers demonstrated that they could use both teacher-centred and learner-centred approaches when teaching evolution. However, teacher-centred instructional strategies were dominant. The fourth major finding indicates that the teachers experienced challenges that stood in the way of teaching the topic of evolution effectively, which includes the notion that evolution stands as a competing worldview to the learners’ and teachers’ beliefs on the origins of the earth and its people. The fifth major finding shows that the teaching and learning of evolution exposed learners to critical thinking. The study recommends that decision makers, policy makers and educational authorities responsible for the education system in Gauteng and similar school contexts provide clear policy guidelines on the teaching and learning of evolution as a controversial topic and, where possible, provide continuous professional development programmes at various educational levels to equip teachers’ pedagogical practices
The teaching of Euclidean geometry: a universal design for learning approach
No full textDissertation (M.Ed.(Mathematics Education))--University of the Free State, 2022Numerous studies have shown the effectiveness of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in supporting learners with extensive needs, disabilities and planning inclusive mathematics curricula. However, little has been documented about the effects of implementing UDL in the teaching Euclidean geometry. Hence the focus of this study was to explore the implementation of UDL to enhance the teaching of Euclidean geometry. Learners’ performance in Euclidean geometry had been a concern to all stakeholders in the education system locally and internationally. Several studies affirmed that the root cause of the poor performance in Euclidean geometry were the ineffective teaching strategies which resulted in teachers not meeting the needs of the learners in their classrooms. UDL is a curriculum framework designed to address diverse learners’ needs and create a conducive and enabling learning environment for all learners.
The study was qualitative in nature, underpinned by social constructivism and adopted a participatory action research (PAR) as a research design. Data were collected from a team of five mathematics teachers with experience of more than ten years of teaching from Grades 8-10, the Mathematics HOD, the subject advisor, Mathematics coordinator for the senior phase, the Curriculum Education Specialist, and the UDL coach. The coach raised awareness about the diversity in classrooms and how the principles of UDL could be implemented to teach Euclidean geometry effectively. The lesson observations and focus group discussions were used as the primary data collection instruments. Data were generated through active engagement and discussion among the co-researchers using free attitude interview technique (FAI). The findings revealed that implementing UDL principles in teaching Euclidean geometry could make geometry content accessible and perceptible to all learners. This study could add to the body of knowledge as there was little documented about how UDL could be implemented to create inclusive and flexible teaching strategies for teaching Euclidean geometry and making the content accessible to the society of diverse learners
Effects of COVID-19 on learners’ wellbeing in a rural high school district
No full textDissertation (M.Ed.(Educational Psychology))--University of the Free State, 2022In December 2019, COVID-19 appeared in Wuhan, China. As it quickly spread across various regions, its devastating effects had global political and socioeconomic repercussions. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effects of COVID-19 on learner wellbeing in a rural high school. It sought to establish the effects of COVID-19, challenges encountered and strategies that the learners think could be helpful in the context of COVID-19. The well-being of learners has been linked to various aspects of their lives, such as their satisfaction, mental health and academic performance. Drawing from John Rawls’ (1971) Classical Liberalism of Equal Opportunities, every learner possesses certain abilities and can learn and better their lives if everyone could be afforded the same equal opportunities. Using the qualitative approach and phenomenology research design, the study was conducted within the confines of the interpretive paradigm. Data were generated using in-depth interviews, and the WhatsApp social media platform was used to conduct interviews to safeguard the participants from the virus. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Six learners and two teachers from one high school in the rural area of Kestell in the Thabo Mofutsanyane District of the Free State province constituted the study sample. The findings revealed that the learners encountered many challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. The effects include poor academic performance, loss of loved ones, learners developing mental health issues, and the new normal. The challenges revealed are food scarcity, lack of resources as the COVID-19 pandemic mandated a new mode of teaching and learning and lockdown (confinement). The participants suggested strategies that include providing resources such as laptops, smartphones, and data and equipping learners with skills to learn using online platforms. Recommendations based on the findings were made to train teachers and learners to gain the digital skills and knowledge needed for successful teaching and learning on online platforms in cases such as the COVID-19 pandemic
Archi Mation: an animation production centre in Bloemfontein as appoint of convergence between architecture and animation
No full textDissertation (M.Arch. (Architecture))--University of the Free State, 2022Despite their differences, animation and architecture have similar conceptual and practical approaches to the design and construction of framed areas and spatial organization. The common ground between theoretical and practical methods in both domains with regard to frames and space is the subject of the thesis. A problem arises when a closed off urban scape which allows no easy access becomes a no man’s land, and the thesis project sets itself to resolve the problem through research, design and critical solutions. The following research question guides the study and design process:
Which architectural mechanisms can serve as tools to address the inaccessibility of the urban scape, allowing urban dwellers more ease of access? This focus aims to lead towards an architectural and critical response and hopes to unearth the necessary steps to unveil the above mechanisms.
The study analyses not only theoretical and practicalities of both the architectural and the animation domains but exhibits and magnifies the spaces which is created when they meet and evidently create hybridity between the two. The merging of spaces creates architectural opportunities through the translation of animation and architecture while conceptual approaches and site analysis aids in forming spatial qualities. These spatial qualities are products of hybrid elements, linking to the research question and answering it with specific and substantiated relevant elements
Youths' perceptions and aspiration towards participating in the agricultural sector: a South African case study
No full textAgriculture is considered as a leading source of employment while ensuring food security to the world and especially rural communities. However, the youth do not appear to be interested in the agricultural sector due to various reasons such as their perceptions and aspirations towards the sector. This research intends to explore whether perceptions, aspirations and access to resources affect youth participation in agriculture and related economic activities, under rain-fed production in two regions of the Free State province of South Africa. Principal component analysis was used to determine perception dimensions, while a probit model was used to investigate the effect of capital (human, social, physical, financial and natural), the perception dimensions and the respondents’ agricultural aspirations on agricultural participation. The results showed that the aspirations of youth do not affect their decision to participate in the agricultural sector. However, exposure to agriculture and support systems can increase youth participation in the industry. Results also show that grants, which are an easy source of income, and the uneducated and comfort perception dimension hinders youth participation in agriculture.Publisher's versio
The career construction of performing artists
No full textThesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology))--University of the Free State, 2022Performing artists continuously face challenges of non-traditional, flexible, and protean career trajectories. Applying Career Construction Theory and Life Design Intervention to Performing Artists can shed light on their experiences, perceptions, and sense-making processes as they navigate their life and career stages, especially against the unique backdrop of the challenging South African artistic environment. The novel perspective can be applied to various protean career trajectories and the training of Performing Artists. To this end, a qualitative, exploratory, descriptive case study design was adopted. Convenience sampling was used to select 19 performing artists to participate in the study. Data-gathering instruments included various narrative data-gathering techniques, and Thematic Analysis was utilised to analyse the data. The findings revealed that being a performing artist emerged as a core value that advances their self- and career identity. Furthermore, performing artists experience rejection on intrapersonal, micro-, and macro-societal levels and employ different strategies, such as adaptability, spirituality, and creativity, to deal with hardships throughout their lives. Additionally, participants' experiences and interactions with external influences shaped their decision to choose a performing arts career. Importantly, participants reported receiving support and encouragement from at least one significant person in their life to follow their dream, irrespective of the career field. Creativity permeates every aspect of their being and is drawn on to convert their pain into purpose and enable them to make social contributions within and outside the artistic sphere. Further research is needed on how performing artists' creativity can be harnessed to bolster their participation in entrepreneurial endeavours
A place of healing with water: ritual of reconnecting
No full textDissertation (M.Arch. (Architecture))--University of the Free State, 2022Healing was identified as the focus of this project by considering the advantages of water, light and nature, and using architecture to create a therapeutic setting through the theory of phenomenology. How can architecture help to re-engage man with his environment and spark a dialogue between the human body and the constructed world for a therapeutic experience? The options for a therapeutic atmosphere of a bathhouse in South African architecture are limited to hospitals and spas. Research indicates that this therapeutic environment is thriving in first-world countries. Most South Africans are, however, unfamiliar with the term “bathhouse” and the therapeutic value of such an environment. The proposal is therefore a Healing and Wellness Sanctuary concentrated around a bathhouse. A restaurant, relaxing pools, baths, and therapeutic gardens were all designed after researching what would be feasible in the South African context. After analysing several precedent studies of bathhouses from various cultures, the common denominator of these theoretical approaches was phenomenology. Further studies of architects’ design philosophies were applied, and featured in the design of the bathhouse in Vanderbijlpark. A bathhouse is characterised by social connections and therapeutic value, and provides the opportunity for the re-engagement of man and the environment
The impact of customary law and its constitutional protection on the social status and political participation of women in Lesotho
No full textThesis (LL.D. (Law))--University of the Free State, 2022Lesotho has been experiencing a progressive decline in women’s political participation, despite the existence of numerous interventions that have been aimed towards combating this status quo. With a goal towards understanding the causes for this progressive decline as well as why interventions fail to yield positive results, I examine the possible relationship between custom, customary law, the Constitution and women’s social status and political participation in Lesotho. Towards this objective, I adopt a postcolonial and African feminist perspective to examine custom, customary law and the Constitutional protection afforded customary law in Lesotho. As a starting point, I explore the meaning and origins of custom from a general stance, and then go on to investigate the particular meaning of custom to the people who practice customs. This exploration affords a better understanding of not only custom, but also the value attributed to it by those who practice it, which value in turn enables it to exercise a form of authority over the overall being of such people. This authority, I find, makes custom instrumental in the formation and sustenance of social and political stereotypes as well as personal and communal beliefs and perspectives. I move on to customary law, particularly Lesotho’s customary law. I trace the history of Basotho’s customary law pre-colonialism into its codification during the colonial era. I argue in this discussion that the laws were instrumental in the formation and sustenance of women’s subordination under men as well as in the modelling of the hegemony, episteme and power dynamics in men’s favour, which have proven to negatively impact both women’s social status and political participation. In discussing the Constitution of Lesotho, from its inception and its final state following a number of amendments, I highlight how it contains a number of issues that signal a lack of desire to promote women’s empowerment or equality with men. I analyse the negative impact that the Constitution’s adoption of a dual legal system, the inclusion of claw back clauses, as well as the umbrella protection it affords customary law have on Basotho women’s social status and political participation. In centring women in the discussion, it becomes clear that there exists a link between custom, customary law, the Constitution of Lesotho and women’s social status and political participation. For one, I find that patriarchy is so deeply entrenched in the fabric of Lesotho, that all spheres of society exude it - whether this is evidenced through the stereotypical shaping of the social view of women, their exclusion from the public sphere and relegation to the domestic sphere, or even the denial of women’s access to the economic space of activity. The instrumental role played by law in the establishment of hegemony and episteme, which perpetuated women’s marginalization vis-à-vis power relations, citizenship and political participation is also brought to the fore. I underscore how custom and law then jointly shaped and portrayed man as the standard, while simultaneously ‘othering’ women. This then reveals how custom and law were, and still are, weaponised against women. My conclusion in this thesis is then that custom, customary law and the Constitution of Lesotho negatively impact both Basotho women’s social status and their political participation
Teacher educators' perceptions and practices of teaching in a blended learning mode in Ghana
No full textThesis (Ph.D.(Education Studies))--University of the Free State, 2022The teaching and learning approach for higher education institutions all over the world has been transformed as a result of the emergence of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) in March 2020. The pandemic necessitated the shift from face-to-face teaching to a blended learning mode by higher educational institutions in Ghana. Despite the effectiveness of blended learning in the delivery of instruction and learning, the scenarios created by Covid-19 forced teacher educators to accept the transformation of their teaching practice from residential classes to partly or full virtual programmes. This mixed-methods explanatory sequential study investigated the perceptions of teacher educators in their practices of blended learning in Ghana. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was employed as a theoretical framework for the study. Data collected from the quantitative study was analysed using SPSS (R-Package) and inductive thematic analysis was employed to analyse the qualitative data. Results indicated that teacher educators have positive perceptions about the blended learning approach being effective and efficient for teaching and learning. That is, the perceptions of teacher educators have an influence on the blended learning approach; hence, the blended learning method should be practised for effective and creative teaching. However, educators revealed certain challenges such as lack of internet resources, disturbances (such as technical problems, lack of office space and recording studio) in the blended learning environments, students’ poor attendance and participation in teaching sessions, inadequate and continuous training workshops for educators and poor functionality of technological gadgets. This study concludes by making philosophical recommendations to strengthen teacher educators’ application of the blended learning approach in their teaching and student learning practices in Ghana
Fine-scale classification of urban land use and land cover with PlanetScope imagery and machine-learning strategies in the City of Cape Town, South Africa
No full textUrban land use and land cover (LULC) change can be efficiently monitored with high-resolution satellite products for a variety of purposes, including sustainable planning. These, together with machine learning strategies, have great potential to detect even subtle changes with satisfactory accuracy. In this study, we used PlaneScope Imagery and machine learning strategies (Random Forests, Support Vector Machines, Naïve Bayes and K-Nearest Neighbour) to classify and detect LULC changes over the City of Cape Town between 2016 and 2021. Our results showed that K-Nearest Neighbour outperformed other classifiers by achieving the highest overall classification of accuracy (96.54% with 0.95 kappa), followed by Random Forests (94.8% with 0.92 kappa), Naïve Bayes (93.71% with 0.91 kappa) and Support Vector Machines classifiers with relatively low accuracy values (92.28% with 0.88 kappa). However, the performance of all classifiers was acceptable, exceeding the overall accuracy of more than 90%. Furthermore, the results of change detection from 2016 to 2021 showed that the high-resolution PlanetScope imagery could be used to track changes in LULC over a desired period accurately.Publisher's versio