This article considers the prevalence of what have been termed "training discourses" as dominant practices within a particular University of Technology, and discusses the implications of such discourses for teaching and learning. The rapid emergence of this training or skills discourse in Universities of Technology in South Africa, in…

Seeks to identify some of the issues associated with the role of models in scientific explanations. Discusses factors which may influence the way that those explanations are understood and the judgment of their appropriateness by the various audiences involved. Contains 55 references. (DDR)

The "ISSS Annual Conference Proceedings" is a peer-reviewed professional publication published once a year following the annual conference. The following papers are included in the 2013 proceedings: (1) Teaching About Asia in a Social Science Education Program (Cyndi Mottola Poole and Joshua L. Kenna); (2) Teaching Students about…

Analyses the ways in which university-entrant science students carry out and communicate experimental activities, and identifies a model to explain characteristic communication practices. Observes the investigative strategies of participant students who have a lack of experience with laboratory work and scientific writing. Uses laboratory reports…

Drawing on experience in South Africa, college-student learning difficulties are approached as problems in accessing and mastering the cognitive processes needed to develop the specific academic literacy required for the disciplines. Based on this theory, the article argues for integration of such academic development into mainstream…

This document characterizes South African education as resulting in large numbers of students who are poorly equipped to meet academic requirements of first-year university courses, especially in science related disciplines. It reports on a study designed to investigate the learning problems of disadvantaged South Africans in an attempt to…

Described is an approach to the teaching of thinking and problem-solving for gifted and regular education students, based on R.J. Sternberg's "Suggested Criteria for the Development of Thinking Skills Programmes." The program provides specific skills training and ample practice, emphasizes cooperative learning and motivation, and…

The construction of cognitive tests is largely based on a Thurstonian model of the structure of the intellect, with test content described in terms of loadings on broad constructs called factors. Knowledge of factorial content of a test does not necessarily correspond to knowledge of mental activities elicited by test performance. Modern cognitive…

These teaching guides are meant to supplement the seventh season (1996-97) of the PBS Series "Scientific American Frontiers". Episode 701 is entitled "Inventing the Future: A Tour of the MIT Media Lab" and the teaching guide contains information and activities on a virtual pet dog, computers of the future, a smart car designed…

The teaching and learning of a complex section in "Theoretical Computer Science 1" in a distance-education context at the University of South Africa (UNISA) has been enhanced by a supplementary e-learning application called "Relations," which interactively teaches mathematical skills in a cognitive domain. It has tutorial and…

Investigates the procedural understanding of first-year university science students in South Africa. Explores ideas related to the reliability of experimental data and discusses the types of reasoning underlying the responses. (DDR)

Reports on a study of 120 (60 boys, 60 girls) middle school students in Bophuthatswana on the relation of academic achievement to self-concept and locus of control. Finds that measures of extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism are related negatively to school achievement. (CFR)

Reports on a study which tested eight categories of logical fallacies with secondary students, student teachers, and teachers from Australia, South Africa, and Israel. Results indicate that logical fallacies were exhibited by all the groups. Implications are discussed. (ML)

Primary school learners' first encounters with mathematics in a traditional learning environment often create lifelong "math phobia."(Papert 1980) The situation in a country emerging from an oppressive education system designed to educationally disempower the majority of the population is much worse. The typical scenario in a previously…

This paper, presented at the "Ingenium 2000" conference, reports an attempt by the Natal Education Department in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, to design, develop, and implement a curriculum extension program to meet the intellectual and/or other needs of the exceptionally able, with no additional provision of staff or facilities. The…