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Masters Degrees (Science and Technology Education)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10413/7148

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Browsing Masters Degrees (Science and Technology Education) by Subject "Academic achievement."

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    A case study of gender differences in 8th grade students’ performance in TIMSS 2011 science test in United Arab Emirates, Dubai schools.
    (2016) Jagesar, Nivesh.; Singh-Pillay, Asheena.; Mabaso, Bongeka Petunia.
    The UAE suffers from a serious shortage of professional scientists, mathematics and science teachers, engineers and technologists due to low levels of engagement and reduced enrollment in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines, also referred to as the STEM disciplines. Within the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the 1900s, women were not required by society, tradition or religion to contribute financially to the family. The responsibility of financially supporting a family was relegated to men, while females were given the primary role of care givers over that of career women (Sidani, 2005). However, since the 1990s, a concerted effort has been made by the Ministry of Education (MoE) of Dubai to increase females’ access to education and to enhance their participation in scientific fields. In the light of the aforementioned factors, this study sought, firstly, to explore if there was a gender difference in 8th Grade UAE learners’ performance in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) science test in 2011 in Dubai schools. The research questions that guided this study were: 1. What gender difference is evident in 8th grade learners’ performance in the TIMSS 2011 science tests with regard to: 1.1. The science content dimension (biology, chemistry, physics and earth sciences)? 1.2. The science cognitive dimension (knowing, applying, reasoning)? 2. What contextual factors in the TIMSS 2011 science test could possibly account for the observed gender difference, if any? This study made use of secondary data from the TIMSS test questionnaires to answer the research questions. Bourdieu’s (1977) Theory of Cultural Capital and Social Reproduction was used as a framework as it had a direct link to the research focus of this study. Bourdieu (1977) asserts that the major role of educational systems is the reproduction of power relationships and privilege between social classes or groups, where social inequality is reproduced and legitimated. Bourdieu’s concepts of capital and habitus were used during the comparative analysis of the data. The findings of this study indicate that the 8th grade female science students outperformed boys in both the content and cognitive domains of the 2011 TIMSS test. Furthermore, the findings raised questions about the quality of the science investigations being conducted in schools, as well as the type of professional development available to teachers as the vast majority of teachers teaching science in the UAE are foreign qualified teachers.
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    A case study of the relationship between students' home backgrounds and their mathematics performance.
    (2006) Salakoff, Barak Tom.; Vithal, Renuka.
    This is an investigation explaining the relationship between the home environment and mathematics performance of 12 grade eight students from a high school in Durban, South Africa. One of the data collection methods was a 25-question test, based on the TIMSS test, namely a TIMSS equivalent mathematics test. The test was analysed and its relation to the South African syllabus, the students' familiarity with the type of questions and the multiple-choice mode of answer used in the TIMSS study, was investigated. The test scores were also used to identify high performing and low performing students to be interviewed about their mathematical, personal and home backgrounds. A student questionnaire was administered to these selected students as a basis for the interviews. An in depth one on one interview and records of the students' achievements in grade 7 and grade 8 in languages and mathematics, as well as school family records were used for the analysis. The life stories of the six high performing and six low performing students were then constructed and analysed with respect to: their achievements in mathematics and language; their home backgrounds; how their mathematics performance is affected by their home environments; and the effect of parental involvement in their lives. Finally research findings from the interviews on the home lives and experiences of the 12 grade 8 students from a high school in Durban are presented. Implications are put forward and recommendations made.
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    Exploring the relationship between policy and practice : a study of continuous assessment.
    (1997) Ramsuran, Anitha.; Jansen, Jonathan David.
    Research reveals that policy intentions seldom define classroom practice. This research study uses continuous assessment as the 'case' to explore the policy-practice relationship. The research approach adopted involved a critical review of policy documents on continuous assessment; interviews with Department officials; a survey questionnaire on continuous assessment distributed to teachers in ten secondary schools; and a detailed exploration of continuous assessment practice in three institutional settings. The findings show that continuous assessment is rarely implemented as policy intended; teachers at the classroom level have transformed the aims of policy-makers to the extent that implementation proceeds at some distance from the original policy intentions; and teachers are experiencing numerous problems in attempting to implement continuous assessment.