Connecting culture and science: Utilising Oshikundu and Ombidi in biology lessons on diffusion and osmosis
- Authors: Shilomboleni, Helena Ilena Ndilimeke
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/463636 , vital:76427
- Description: Various science curricula including that of Namibia recommend that teaching and learning should start with the knowledge and experiences of learners from their homes and communities. These experiences are the learners’ Indigenous Knowledge (IK) which should be integrated to make science accessible and relevant to learners from diverse sociocultural backgrounds. This suggests that science teachers are encouraged to integrate IK into their teaching to help learners grasp abstract concepts and construct their own understanding of phenomena. However, much literature has revealed that many teachers find it difficult to integrate IK into their science teaching. Some scholars further argue that teachers lack the pedagogical content knowledge to effectively integrate IK. I assume this could be because the science curriculum is not explicit on how IK should be integrated into science teaching. It is against this backdrop that in this study I mobilised the Indigenous technologies of making oshikundu and preserving ombidi to support Grade 10 Biology learners in talking and making sense of diffusion and osmosis. This study was underpinned by the interpretivist and Indigenous research paradigms. Within the Indigenous research paradigm, I focused on Ubuntu as a perspective. A qualitative case study was employed and conducted at a certain school in the northern part of Namibia, in the Ohangwena region. I worked with a group of 35 Grade 10 learners, two Indigenous Knowledge Custodians (KCs) who are the custodians of cultural heritage and one Biology teacher (critical friend) as participants in this study. Qualitative data were collected using a focus group interview (sharing circle), group activity, participatory observation, and learners’ journal reflections. Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory together with Ogunniyi’s Contiguity Argumentative Theory were used as lenses to analyse data. The findings of the study revealed that during the IKCs’ practical demonstrations learners were able to identify science concepts embedded in the cultural practices of making oshikundu and preserving ombidi. The findings further revealed that the practical demonstrations enhanced active participation and interactions among learners. I thus recommend that teachers should tap into IKCs’ cultural heritage by inviting them into their classrooms to make science relevant, accessible and meaningful to learners. , Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, Secondary and Post-School Education, 2024
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- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
Mediating learning of nutrition through using traditional food processing and preservation to grade 6 rural school learners
- Authors: Tyeda, Nomvume
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/463658 , vital:76429
- Description: Rural learners, especially those in the school where I teach, seem to grasp science in a disconnected manner, and hence struggle to understand it. This concern aligns with the findings of the Trends of International Mathematics and Science Studies, which notes poor performance in science among learners in South Africa. When examining these challenges, learners appear to inhabit a realm divided by a river, struggling to bridge the gap between what they learn at home and what is taught at school. Against this context, this research aimed to mediate the learning of nutrition for Grade 6 rural school learners by integrating traditional ways of food processing and preservation. The interpretivist and Indigenous research paradigms underpin the research. I used the Ubuntu perspective within the Indigenous research paradigm, which emphasises respect and humble togetherness. This qualitative case study took place at a rural school in the OR Tambo Coastal district in the Eastern Cape. It involved 14 Grade 6 Natural Sciences and Technology learners, a critical friend, and two Indigenous Knowledge Custodians. Various methods were used to collect data, including group activities by learners, participatory and lesson observation, focus group interviews (sharing circles), and learners’ journal reflections. The findings of the study revealed the significance of integrating Indigenous Knowledge with modern scientific principles, engaging in experiential and hands-on learning activities, involving Indigenous Knowledge Custodians, and using visual learning aids to enhance learners’ engagement and sense-making of nutrition. The study recommends that Indigenous Knowledge should be integrated with modern science to provide a comprehensive understanding of the topic of nutrition. , Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, Secondary and Post-School Education, 2024
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- Date Issued: 2024-10-11
Using the indigenous technology of organic crop farming to mediate learning in Grade 12 Agricultural Science classes
- Authors: Sheehama, Lydia Ndapandula
- Date: 2024-10-11
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/463614 , vital:76425
- Description: The Namibian Curriculum for Basic Education states clearly that Indigenous Knowledge (IK) should be integrated into science teaching. However, the irony is that it does not give clear pedagogical guidelines on how it should be integrated. The implication is that the curriculum assumes that all teachers are aware of how to integrate IK into their teaching. This assumption has therefore led to little or no integration of IK in many classrooms in Namibia, something which could be in part a contributing factor to poor learners’ academic performance in science subjects and Agricultural Science in particular. This tension in the curriculum plus the apparent gap in the literature regarding the integration of IK has triggered my interest to conduct this interventionist qualitative case study. Essentially, this study aimed to explore affordances and/or hindrances when using the indigenous technology of organic crop farming to mediate learning in Grade 12 Agricultural Science classes in peri-urban schools in the Oshana region in Namibia. The study was underpinned by the interpretivist and Ubuntu paradigms. Vygotsky’s (1978) socio-cultural theory and Shulman’s (1986) pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) framework were used as lenses to analyse my data. Within PCK, I also used Mavhunga and Rollnick’s (2013) Topic-Specific PCK as an analytical framework. The findings of the study revealed that the integration of Indigenous knowledge in Agricultural Science education has great potential in improving both the teaching and learnng of science. It also revealed that the Agricultural Science teachers were positive towards the integration of IK in their lessons. However, they conceded that they lacked pedagogical insights on how to integrate IK as they were never trained on how to integrate it. As a result, they found the presentations by the Indigenous Knowledge Custodians (IKCs) informative and shed light on how they could integrate IK during teaching and learning. That is, they became cultural knowledge brokers making science relevant and accessible to their learners. The study thus recommends that teacher training institutions should modify the curriculum to include a pedagogy course module on IK to equip students with the essential PCK on IK integration in science teaching. , Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, Secondary and Post-School Education, 2024
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- Date Issued: 2024-10-11