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School of Education

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Browsing School of Education by Subject "Ability--Testing."

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    An analysis of differential tests as a predictor for learner performance in first year biosciences.
    (2004) Finnie, Jeffrey Franklin.; Luckett, Kathleen Margaret.
    This research project aims to establish the predictive validity of a set of aptitude tests for the first year Biosciences programme at a merging South African University. The study aims to address the problem of selection and placement to higher education and also to suggest how the results of aptitude tests might be used to inform curriculum development at first year level. The Differential Aptitude Test (DAT-L) was conducted on the 2004 Biosciences student cohort (228 students). The instructions that were given to the students followed the instructions laid out in Owen and Vosloo (1999). Normally there are ten tests in this battery of tests, however only eight of the tests were given to the students. The tests included; Vocabulary, Verbal reasoning, Non-Verbal reasoning: Figures, Calculations, Reading Comprehension, Comparisons, Price Controlling and Memory. Exam results of the participating students were collected. These included; Final Biosciences101 mark, Class mark (Biosciences101), Practical exam mark (Biosciences101) and Theory exam mark (Biosciences101). The final marks for Physics (mixed modules), Mathematics (mixed modules) Computer Sciences (CSCI 103) and Chemistry (CHEM131) were also collected. The indicator for the concept of academic potential in the Biosciences was taken as the marks achieved during the course of the first semester. Biographical information from the Student Management System (SMS) was also recorded this included; Race, Gender, Home language and Matric points. These various categories were compared against the students' performance in DAT-L tests. The average for the stanine points for a student of university "quality' is seven, according to Owen et al. (2000), while the average of this cohort of students is 5.16. The correlation for the different DAT tests when compared with the final result for Biosciences shows that the best correlation is with test 1 at r = .47292 (Vocabulary) while the worst correlation is with test 6 at r=.24722 (Comparison). The sequence of correlation is from Vocabulary through Reading Comprehension, Verbal Reasoning, Calculation, Memory, Price Controlling, Non-Verbal Reasoning: Figures, and finally Comparisons. The correlation of the average of all tests and the final result is a reasonable r = .50396. The best correlation with DAT and other subjects is Computer Science with r = .41165, with a declining correlation between Physics and the mark of r = .34085 followed by extremely poor correlations for Chemistry and Mathematics of r = .20313 and r = .08700 respectively. The best correlation that was obtained during this research was with the correlation between matric points and the average of all the DAT tests. While the correlation with DAT and the Final mark for Biosciences is r = .50396 that for the matric points is r = .57150. Females attained a significantly higher average on the DAT tests but the difference between female and male on their final results in Biosciences is not significant. White students perform significantly better than the other race designations when it comes to the final result. Within the categories African, Indian and Coloured there is no significant difference. When it comes to the different DAT tests, Africans perform significantly worse than the other three groupings and the Indian grouping did significantly worse when compared to Whites. If we were to use the DAT as a means of selecting students it would be fairly effective for biology but not for the other basic science subjects. The fact that the test would have to be administered to all applicants applying to do first year in the Science and Agriculture Faculty makes the choice of this set of tests questionable. Should the Faculty require a means of determining election into biological subjects then the tests show great promise. The pursuit of greater fairness, validity and reliability in selection is an ongoing quest.
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    The nature of child participation in reception year (Grade R) in the Western Cape.
    (2013) Shaik, Naseema.; Ebrahim, Hasina Banu.
    The aim of this thesis was to explore the nature of child participation in Grade R through focusing on five Grade R teachers and fifteen children (eight girls and seven boys) in three Grade R contexts in the urban area of the Western Cape, South Africa. The importance of this study is noted from the dimension of using early childhood education to address inequities of the past and shape a new citizenry through democratic practices. A qualitative approach was undertaken to study how child participation was understood and enacted by teachers in their practice. The children's voices and actions were also studied to make sense of child participation. A mix of theoretical ideas from Hart (1997), Lansdown (2004) and Vygotsky (1978) was used to study child participation whilst the ideas of Perry (1970) and Rokeach (1960) were used to study teacher beliefs. The agency view of the child stemming from the sociology of childhood helped with understanding child participation from child initiated learning spaces. Notions of power and voice which emanate from the works of Freire (1970; 1994) and Foucault (1977) helped to understand how participation can be realized through a social justice agenda in Grade R. In order to produce the data for this study, semi-structured interviews were used to examine teacher beliefs. Observations through videos were used to observe the teachers’ practices and the children's voices and actions. The findings of this study show that the nature of child participation is socially constructed and context bound. The tightly controlled curriculum reform environment restricts possibilities for organising Grade R as a space for democratic practices where high levels of child participation take place. The study showed that teachers’ beliefs are complex and that it is important for teachers to interrogate the images they hold of childhood, their training and how they define child participation and engage with categories of difference. These aspects complicate child participation. In focusing on the teachers' practice, it was evident that child participation was strongly influenced by the outcomes they were trying to achieve. The teachers positioning also affected child participation. Where teachers took strong control over shaping the learning outcomes by focusing on learning as the acquisition of knowledge and skills, children's participation as agents was compromised. In these instances teachers played the roles of tellers, instructors and transmitters of knowledge, skills and values. When they made attempts to create shared understandings, child participation became stronger. When children's voices and actions were examined, they displayed high levels of participation in order to make sense of the Grade R programme and beyond. As agents they were able to assert themselves in different ways to make their agendas matter. The arena of free play allowed the children to make decisions and to make their views and opinions matter. This escaped the teachers' attention as play was seen as a hands-off session on the timetable. This study fills the gap in literature for understanding the nature of child participation in Grade R as the entry point for formal schooling through South African examples. It shows how the Grade R system and the practices emanating from it goes against the need for democratic practices to shape a new citizenry through the early years. This study has implications for children’s learning, pedagogy, leadership and teacher education.