Enriching my teaching around the inverse order relationship in unit fractions at the Grade 5 level through the inclusion of musical activities: an action research case study
- Authors: Lovemore, Tarryn Shirley
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- South Africa -- Case studies , Interdisciplinary approach in education -- South Africa -- Case studies , Music -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- South Africa -- Case studies , Music -- Mathematics , Musical notation -- Study and teaching (Elementary)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/142431 , vital:38079
- Description: This research study explored how the use of musical activities, specifically based on note values, might enrich my teaching around the inverse order relation of unit fractions in my Grade 5 mathematics classroom. Much research has identified fractions as a problematic concept to teach in primary schools. Curriculum expectations of mathematics and music, as well as prior research, recognise a link between these two subject areas. Based on these connections between mathematics and music, I make the case for further research into practical ways in which music and mathematics can be integrated to support teaching and learning in the South African context. This study is located within a qualitative and interpretive framework. The concepts of integration, learning style theory, Gardner’s multiple intelligences and Bresler’s styles of arts integration guide the research. I made use of practical and theoretical activities relating to note values in music. I explored these strategies and the use of learning support materials through an action research case study, in which I engaged in cycles of trialing, reflecting, adjusting and re-trialing within the ‘case’ of my own mathematics class. Data sources comprised of my reflective journal, learner feedback, video- and audio-recorded lessons, examples of learners’ work and interviews with critical peers who observed critical moments from the video recordings. I was guided through the analysis phase by two analytical frameworks: Karsenty and Arcavi’s Six Lense Framework (SLF) and Adler and Ronda’s Mathematics Discourse in Instruction (MDI) framework which I adapted. Using three key lessons, I provide detailed descriptions of how the lessons progressed and then identify and discuss some of the key findings and recurring themes in relation to my study’s research question and goals. Through this process, I show that my integration of mathematics and musical activities helped promote active engagement amongst learners and provided them with co-equivalent opportunities to appreciate the importance of note values in music, and relate this back to understandings around the inverse order relation of unit fractions.
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- Date Issued: 2020
A design experiment exploring the influence of visual and kinesthetic tools in learning Grade 8 linear algebra in a Namibian secondary school
- Authors: Kalua, Enos
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Algebra -- Study and teaching (Secondary)-- Namibia , Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Secondary)-- Namibia , Information visualization , Visual learning -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92683 , vital:30724
- Description: Based on a broad literature review, understanding algebra is a challenge among learners in middle schools around the world. Early researches also indicated that algebra is often taught through inherent symbols and procedures. This does not exclude Namibian learners in secondary schools whom I have worked with for over 10 years. Examination reports (2014, 2016 and 2017) serve as evidence that learners performed poorly (below 45%) in the area of algebra, with these reports indicating that teachers need to strongly emphasise the issue of solving linear equations. Therefore, this study presents a proposed design research in an attempt to help learners develop meaningful understanding of linear algebra at Grade 8 level. Eight learners whose ages ranged from 13 - 14 years from one Namibian secondary school in Oshikoto region, in northern Namibia, were the participants in this study. The learners represented different groups of learning abilities, ranging from low learning abilities to high learning abilities. The designed programme for this intervention consisting of eight lessons was planned for three weeks and the lessons were conducted in the afternoon to avoid any interruption with normal learning hours. The study used four tools for data collection, namely, benchmark tests (pre-test and post-test), observation, focus groups and unstructured interviews. The data collected for this study was inductively analysed. The purpose of this study was to determine whether and how the specific visual and kinaesthetic teaching tools (diagrams, expansion box and balance method) used may have contributed to learners’ understanding of algebraic concepts and techniques (variables, expressions and equations). The study used diagrams (geometrical plane shapes) for separating terms, an expansion box for expanding brackets and the balance method for solving linear equations. The study revealed the use of diagrams helped the learners in understanding the separation of variable and constant terms when simplifying expressions through addition and/or subtraction. Moreover, the study also revealed that the use of an expansion box was useful for the learners in understanding expansion of brackets in expressions with more than one term. Regarding the use of the balance method, the study showed that learners were already able to solve linear equations by the transfer method, hence, the balance method was not necessary.
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- Date Issued: 2019
Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) population ecology in citrus orchards: the influence of orchard age
- Authors: Albertyn, Sonnica
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Cryptophlebia leucotreta , Population biology , Insect populations , Orchards , Insect nematodes , Entomopathogenic fungi
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62615 , vital:28213
- Description: Anecdotal reports in the South African citrus industry claim higher populations of false codling moth (FCM), Thaumatotibia (Cryptophlebia) leucotreta (Meyr) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), in orchards during the first three to five harvesting years of citrus planted in virgin soil, after which, FCM numbers seem to decrease and remain consistent. Various laboratory studies and field surveys were conducted to determine if, and why juvenile orchards (four to eight years old) experience higher FCM infestation than mature orchards (nine years and older). In laboratory trials, Washington Navel oranges and Nova Mandarins from juvenile trees were shown to be significantly more susceptible to FCM damage and significantly more attractive for oviposition in both choice and no-choice trials, than fruit from mature trees. Although fruit from juvenile Cambria Navel trees were significantly more attractive than mature orchards for oviposition, they were not more susceptible to FCM damage. In contrast, fruit from juvenile and mature Midnight Valencia orchards were equally attractive for oviposition, but fruit from juvenile trees were significantly more susceptible to FCM damage than fruit from mature trees. Artificial diets were augmented with powder from fruit from juvenile or mature Washington Navel orchards at 5%, 10%, 15% or 30%. Higher larval survival of 76%, 63%, 50% and 34%, respectively, was recorded on diets containing fruit powder from the juvenile trees than on diets containing fruit powder from the mature trees, at 69%, 57%, 44% and 27% larval survival, respectively. Bioassays were conducted to determine if differences in plant chemistry between fruit from juvenile and mature trees will have an impact on the susceptibility FCM to entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN), entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) and Cryptophlebia leucotreta granulovirus (CrleGV). No significant differences in the susceptibility of larvae reared on diets containing 15% fruit powder from juvenile and mature trees to EPN and EPF were recorded. Mortality of neonate larvae was significantly lower when placed on diets containing 15% fruit powder from mature trees (45% mortality) than diets containing 15% fruit powder from juvenile trees (61% mortality), after larvae ingested the lowest virus concentration tested, being 2 x104 OBs/ml. Data collected from field surveys showed significantly lower egg parasitism, virus infection of larvae and EPF occurrence in juvenile orchards than mature orchards. Egg parasitism was between 11% and 54% higher in mature orchards than juvenile orchards, with the exception of Mandarins during 2015, where egg parasitism was slightly higher in juvenile orchards, but not significantly so. A significantly higher proportion of larvae retrieved from mature orchards (7% of larvae) were infected with CrleGV than larvae retrieved from juvenile orchards (4% of larvae). A significantly higher occurrence of EPF was recorded in non-bearing and mature orchards, with 40% and 37% occurrence respectively, than in juvenile orchards, with 25% occurrence recorded. EPF occurrence in juvenile orchards increased significantly by 16% to 32% from the first to the third year of sampling. In contrast to results recorded in laboratory trials, similar or higher pest pressure in juvenile orchards than mature orchards did not always result in significantly higher levels of FCM damage under field conditions. FCM damage in juvenile orchards may have been lower than expected, as greater extremes of temperature and lower humidity were recorded in juvenile orchards, which would increase larval mortality. Results of this study showed that juvenile and mature orchards are significantly different and should be managed differently.
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- Date Issued: 2018
The rupture in the Rainbow: an exploration of Joburg Pride’s fragmentation, 1990 to 2013
- Authors: McLean, Nyx Nicolene Cindy
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Gay pride celebrations -- South Africa -- Johannesburg , Sexual minorities -- South Africa , Sexual minorities -- Crimes against -- South Africa , Hate crimes -- South Africa , Group identity -- South Africa -- Johannesburg , Identity politics -- South Africa -- Johannesburg , Racism -- South Africa , One in Nine Campaign
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63822 , vital:28492
- Description: In 2012 Joburg Pride was disrupted by the One in Nine Campaign who asked for a moment of silence to honour the lives of victims of hate crimes1 and violence. This interruption of the parade was met with violence from Joburg Pride organisers, marshals and participants, who explicitly told the campaign’s activists that they “had no right to be at the parade.” The activists were predominantly black lesbians and gender non-conforming people. This response suggested that there was no place within Joburg Pride for honouring and mourning the lives of LGBTIAQ people of colour that had been lost to hate crimes. In addition to the call for one minute of silence, the One in Nine Campaign argued that Joburg Pride had become depoliticised as a result of its increased commercialisation. This study is motivated by a need to understand this rupture that occurred in 2012, and to situate it within the history of the LGBTIAQ movement in South Africa. In particular, it investigates the argument made by the One in Nine Campaign that Joburg Pride had become depoliticised and commercialised. The tensions that were facilitated by the 2012 clash and the subsequent formation of alternative Pride events in 2013 are interesting in light of current conversations circulating in broader South African discourse around what it means to be a South African citizen. The study applies a poststructuralist, anti-racist queer feminist lens informed by queer theory, critical theory, critical race theory, and whiteness studies to the historical and current fractures within Joburg Pride. The study analyses Exit newspaper articles from 1990 to 2013, alongside interviews with key stakeholders involved in the 2012 clash. The analysis, informed by both thematic and discursive approaches, interrogates the following themes: depoliticisation, commercialisation, “community”, assimilation, whiteness, racism, rainbowism and rainbow-washing. In this thesis I argue that the commercial interests and apolitical stance of predominantly white Joburg Pride organisers came to exclude LGBTIAQ people of colour’s experiences, at a time when political organising around hate crimes was most necessary. The analysis further highlights a politics of assimilation rooted in rights-based discourse informed by the Rainbow Nation rhetoric of post-apartheid South Africa. Further, this study problematises the notion of “community”, and discusses its strategic use in assimilationist politics within the LGBTIAQ “community”. This study shows that the rupture in the rainbow that occurred at Joburg Pride 2012 was constituted by multiple ruptures that exist in South African society. The issues explored in this thesis are therefore not only useful for constructing more inclusive spaces for LGBTIAQ people, but also for the nation building project of South Africa.
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- Date Issued: 2018
The morality play as prelude to Elizabethan drama
- Authors: Oosthuizen, Ann
- Date: 1966
- Subjects: Moralities, English , English drama -- Early modern and Elizabethan, 1500-1600 -- Classical influences
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2309 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012990
- Description: Although it is generally accepted that the Morality Plays greatly influenced Elizabethan drama, this statement is often followed by the rider that they are dull and lifeless and that their chief legacy is a sense of moral earnestness which also characterises the best Elizabethan drama. The aim of this thesis has been to read the Morality Plays closely and in an appreciative spirit in order to find out what significant contribution they do make to the techniques of Elizabethan drama and to a proper understanding of it. Chapter I discusses the earliest complete Morality, The Castle of Perseverance, which is the longest and most comprehensive of all the Moralities. The chapter tries to show what a Morality is about and how it differs from the great mediaeval cyclus, the Mystery Plays. It is also an attempt to relate the early Morality Play to other mediaeval literature and to show that it is closely linked to the homeletic literature of the period. Chapter II is a study of three Moralities of the period 1500- 1520. There are fewer Moralities in this period and the plays chosen show a marked similarity to The Castle of Perserverance in their structure, although they differ from the earlier Moralities in their attitude to their subject matter and in their portrayal of the different allegorical characters. The plays under discussion are Nature, Mundus et Infans and Magnyfycence Chapter III; the period after 1535 was a period of great political and religious upheaval and this chapter discusses the plays written for propaganda purposes in the strife between Catholic and Protestant. John Bale's Three Laws, an anti-Catholic play, was chosen because Bale is a startlingly original dramatist who makes use of techniques derived from the liturgy and from emblematic devices, and because he tries to mould the Mystery Plays and the History Plays into a Morality framework. The other plays The Conflict of Conscience was chosen because of its affinity to Dr Faustus and also because it tries to show the psychomachia in psychological, personal terms rather than in a general allegorical manner. Chapter IV discusses three later Moralities, Cambyses, Horestes and Appius Virginia, which portray historical or fictional characters in situations of conflict. They were chosen because they seem to show that the Morality Plays laid the bases for the Elizabethan tragic situation and the Elizabethan tragic hero. With such diverse material, it is difficult to trace a clear line of development from one play to the next, but each group of plays has its own contribution to make to our understanding of Elizabethan drama.
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- Date Issued: 1966