Browsing by Author "!Gaoseb, Noah"

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    The impact of Mastep on the use of practical work in Namibian science classes
    (University of Namibia and University of York, 2006) Kandjeo-Marenga, Hedwig U.; Kapenda, Hileni M.; Lubben, Fred; Campbell, Bob; !Gaoseb, Noah; Kasanda, Choshi D.
    This article presents an investigation into the changes in the Teaching practices of practical work in senior science classes in Namibia. The teachers in this study are involved in training Programme, the Mathematics and Science Teacher Extension Programme (MASTEP). Pre- and post-intervention data were Collected from eight Biology teachers and four Physical Science teachers Lesson plans, worksheets and other documentation were Used to characterise practical activities using m1 established Taxonomy classroom interactions were audio-taped and Transcribed verbatim the findings i11dicate an increased focus on Practical activities aimed more at qualitative rather than Quantitative understanding of science concepts. In addition, the Post-MASTEP teachers favoured small group work and demonstrations. The changes in teaching practices arc attributed To the improved PCK that has enabled teachers to align their Practice with the assessment system
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    Proceedings of the 14th Annual SAARMSTE Conference. University of Pretoria , 2006
    (University of Pretoria, 2006) !Gaoseb, Noah; Campbell, Bob; Kasanda, Choshi D.; Kapenda, Hileni M.; Lubben, Fred; Kandjeo-Marenga, Hedwig U.
    The MASTEP professional development intervention programme set out to improve the teaching of science and mathemancs in senior secondary schools Namibia. This paper demonstrates that teachen who participated in MASTEP (science, i.e. biology and physical science) changed their practice in ways that embraced the use of everyday contexts and reflected a more learner centred approach to science education The nature of the change and the stimulus for change are discuss
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    The role of everyday contexts in Learner-centered teaching
    (Routledge Publisher, 2005) Kasanda, Choshi D.; Lubben, Fred; !Gaoseb, Noah; Kandjeo-Marenga, Utji; Kapenda, Hileni M.; Campbell, Bob
    This paper reports on the usc of out-of-school everyday contexts in Namibian science classrooms. This usc is portrayed against the backdrop of an explicit educational philosophy of learner centred teaching. Data were collt:cted through audio-taped teacher-learner interactions and non-participant field notes in 29 junior and senior science classes taught by 12 teachers in six schools. An existing typology was applied to classify episodes of use of everyday contexts and identify teachers' pedagogic strategies for their use. The results show that more everyday contexts are used in junior secondary than in senior secondary classes, that only a limited range of types of everyday contexts are used at both levels, and that their usc often follows theoretical exposition or teacher questioning. These findings are related to three interpretations of learner centered teaching. Recommendations for a fuller implementation of learner-centred teaching are made.
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    The role of practical work in science teaching in Namibia
    (SAARMSTE, 2001) Kapenda, Hileni M.; Kandjeo-Marenga, Hedwig U.; !Gaoseb, Noah; Kasanda, Choshi D.
    This paper presents a study into science practical work conducted in Namibian classrooms. Lesson plans, task sheets and student work are used to identify the intended learning outcomes. In addition, aspects of task design (inductive-deductive; open-closed,ยท nature of student involvement) and the context of the practical task (duration; interaction patterns; types of task information and apparatus; nature of the student record) are explored. Millar's Profile Form is used to analyse twelve practical tasks. Findings show an emphasis on conceptual instead of procedural objectives, and a frequent change from an inductive to a deductive approach during the execution of the tasks. The practical activity is rarely consolidated in a laboratmy report but functions as an enjoyable introduction to a set of unrelated consolidation questions. Suggestions are made for the modification of the analysis scheme, and for in-service activities to support teachers to use practical work more effectively.
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    Teachers' Use of textbooks: Practice in Namibian science classrooms
    (Carfax Publishing, 2003) Kasanda, Choshi D.; Kapenda, Hileni M.; !Gaoseb, Noah; Kandjeo-Marenga, Utji
    Incidences of prescribed textbook usage in science classrooms in Namibia have been analysed using an approach adapted from linguistic analysis. Aspects of pedagogic purpose, text genre, and the social interactions between teachers and learners were used to characterise teacher and learner engagement with textbooks, and thus categorise their usage in relation to a national policy of learner-centred education. Results indicate a reacher dominated textbook use and a low frequency and restricted range of texrbook references per lesson with some 40% of the Senior Secondary classes observed making no use of their textbooks in class. The major uses of textbooks in class were for diagrams and data, and to verify factual information Occasionally, questions in textbooks were used as homework to test and/or consolidate knowledge. Pupils rarely initiated a reference to a textbook. It is suggested that if learners are to benefit fully from the investment in textbooks then their teachers need to be helped to use the resource in more constructive ways.
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    Use of Nonstandardised Measurements To Enhance Student Learning of Units
    (University of Namibia, 2007) !Gaoseb, Noah; Kasanda, Choshi D.
    Measurement is described in the directives of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM, 1989: 51) as "of central importance to the curriculum because of its power to help children see that mathematics is useful in everyday life and to help them develop many mathematical concepts and skills." At primary level, the instruction emphasized the importance of establishing a firm foundation in the basic concepts and skills of measurement. For example, understand the attributes of length, capacity, mass, weight, area, volume, time, temperature, and angle. However, when learners reach secondary level, still many do not have the sense of estimating one centimeter, one centimeter square, or hectare. This can be attributed to the way measurements are introduced and used in the schools. In fact metric units are just taken for granted. We need to inculcate into our learners the sense of ownership of the units of measurements, even the metric units. This is only possible if we revisit the nonstandard units our ancestors used to measure objects as the basis of known (contextualizing) and move to the unknown, the metric units. The metric systems of units have evolved since the adoption of the first well-defined system in France in 1791 (Wikipedia, 2007). Learners need to see the necessity of using the metric systems and this can only be done if they work with nonstandard units and see the inconsistency in their measurements.