Browsing by Author "Hattingh, Annemarie"

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    The effect of alternative assessments in natural science on attitudes towards science in grade 8 girls in South Africa
    (2013) Wallace, Nicole N; Hattingh, Annemarie
    Attitudes towards science and school science have long been studied because of a desire to keep students in science-related subjects and science-related careers. In South Africa, little research has been done to identify what interventions would encourage students, especially girls, to continue in the sciences. This study focused on the implementation of an alternative assessment in Natural Science in Grade 8 at an all-girls independent school. Students were given an open-ended questionnaire at the beginning and end of the school year to determine their choices for their favourite and hardest parts of Natural Science. These choices acted as a proxy of their attitude towards science. They also completed three sections of the Relevance of Science Education (ROSE) questionnaire in June after the alternative assessment was completed. From this data, three conclusions were made. First, the students had a positive attitude toward the alternative assessment. Second, the students had a positive attitude toward science and showed evidence of the impact of alternative assessments on this attitude. Third, the alternative assessment did not show long term effects on the students' attitude toward science.
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    Learner performance in integrated science process skills and attitudes in hands-on practical work versus virtual practical work
    (2017) Ndoro, Mugove Chawapiwa; Hattingh, Annemarie
    This research study was conducted in an urban high school in Western Cape province of South Africa. The research study investigated the effect of virtual practical work on learner performance in science process skills and attitude, working with a non-random sample group of grade 10 physical sciences learners. In this experimental design research, the treatment group of 22 learners was taught the concept of 'phase change in matter' through virtual practical work. On the other hand, the control group was taught the same concept through hands-on practical. A pre- and post-test instrument of 30 multiple choice items on integrated science process skills was used to measure learners' performance. The test scores were statistically analysed using Quickcalcs, to compare the overall learner performance in the two groups, and also to compare learner performance in different categories of science process skills. A 12-item questionnaire was designed to test the learner s' attitude towards virtual and hands-on practical. The statistical t test analysis on the average scores indicated insignificant difference between the performance of the two groups, with a p value greater than 0,05. When learners' performance in different process skills categories were compared, t test scores revealed significant differences in some categories and non-significant differences in some categories. The questionnaire results indicated that the learners' attitude was biased towards hands-on practical work. The significance of this research study is that virtual practical can be used to develop some science process skills.