In the plan Mishka described how she had used six samples of different brands of milk.
Through a chemical analysis she compared the composition of each brand of milk.
Mishka explained in the interview that the idea for the project was her own and came from her observation that different milk brands had a different pricing:
Milk is used by millions of people everyday. The prices of milk vary but I wanted to know if quality also varied. The idea was to determine whether there was a relationship between cost and quality of milk. So many different brands of milk had different prices. (Mishka, interview)
The learner received substantial out-of-school support on the project. The scientific knowledge of the chemical tests that would to be conducted on the different samples of milk was acquired by accessing the internet and reading encyclopaedias and journals on biochemistry. The following excerpt from the interview describes the extent of support that the learner received from a laboratory assistant at Durban Metro Laboratories in
conducting these tests:
My father is a doctor and he works for the Ethekwini municipality and he introduced me to a friend who is a lab assistant at the Durbam Metro Laboratories. She gave me a booklet telling my about the different tests and how to go about doing them. She also told me how to use certain pieces of equipment for the tests. (Mishka, interview)
While doing the project the Mishka did not go to the teacher for any help. The learner merely made a suggestion about the poster for the project. The learner described this as follows:
The teacher told us at the beginning that this was our project. She looked at the chart for the project after I had done it. She wanted all the information on the chart, so I changed it.
( Mishka, interview)
The learner once again had autonomy over all stages of the investigation. The idea for the project was also her own. She received much support in conducting the tests for the investigation from an expert in the field. There was little support from the teacher.
typical of an open investigation where learners has autonomy over all investigation stages.
The investigations in Mr Botha's , Mr Pillay's and Mrs Reuben's classes were described as guided as the teacher in these cases provided the investigation question. The investigation in Mrs Naidoo's class was structured and reflected less learner autonomy than the other two as here the teacher also provided the plan to be followed. This illustrates a range of different types of investigations, providing different levels of autonomy which actually take place in schools.
Four science expo projects were described. The four cases reflected that learners have complete autonomy over the investigation stages when doing expo projects. The initial idea for the project came from the learner and appeared to be stimulated by a certain interest that the learner had in a particular field of science. The support was derived mainly from family members. This out-of- school support learners received from their parents was also highlighted in a study conducted by Syer and Shore (2001) which showed that high school students who participated in a science fair, used their parents as a resource for a wide variety of activities, including help with the idea, editing, connections to labs or mentors, purchasing materials, setting up the project, transportation, advice, designing the experiment or display board, gathering information, and creating graphs and charts. In doing the expo projects that were described, learners received only limited support from their teachers. Once learners decided what they wanted to do, they sought the opinion of the teacher on it. The teacher made suggestions when necessary. After the projects had been done, the teachers commented on them, and where necessary changes were made.
Two points stand out which make expo projects different from classroom investigations.
Firstly, where teacher support was provided, it was limited to making suggestions. The learners were in complete control of the investigations. Secondly, alternative resources to the teacher were consulted, in particular the internet and help from family members.
CHAPTER 5
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS
The previous chapter provided a detailed description of five investigations at school. These investigations were classified as either open, guided or structured and were described in terms of the autonomy learners had and the extent and nature of teacher support. Science expo projects were used to describe cases where learners in addition to having autonomy in all stages of the investigation also chose their own topics. The fine-grained descriptions of these investigations have therefore illustrated the different degrees of autonomy learners experience in doing investigations.
This chapter presents the findings of questionnaires administered to and interviews
conducted with a larger group of teachers and learners. It presents the findings which have emerged as a result of the analysis of data collected from questionnaires and interviews conducted with teachers and learners. Sections 5.1 to 5.4 are devoted to each of the four research questions. In each case, an assertion is made in addressing the question and then supporting and counter-evidence is provided and discussed. The research questions were addressed by analyzing and interpreting the data collected from the teacher questionnaires filled in by 55 teachers in 2004, and the 126 learner questionnaires. These learner
questionnaires were administered at the five schools where investigations were observed.
The data from the learner science expo questionnaires were excluded from this analysis as it represented an extreme case of learner autonomy. The teacher sample although not representative of the population does represent teachers who actually carried out investigations. In addition to the teacher questionnaire, excerpts from the teacher
interviews were quoted in order to elaborate and clarify these findings. Data collected from the pilot questionnaires were not generally included in the statistical and descriptive
analysis. However, where respondents made comments which were significant, these have been used.
The sample is made up of teachers from both state and independent schools, small schools and large schools, experienced and inexperienced teachers. The majority of the teachers (67%) who responded to the questionnaire had more than ten years' experience teaching science (Figure 5.1).
In general teachers were confident in their ability to teach science according to the new curriculum (80% indicated they felt confident) and in particular investigations (78%
indicated they felt confident).
Years of teaching
D 0 to 5 6 to 10 o 11 to 15
❑ 16 to 20 20+
Figure 5.1 Percentage of respondents for each category of teaching experience
Most teachers had attended some form of training for the new science curriculum.
A small number of teachers (9%) had not attended any OBE workshops but others had attended from one to ten workshops (Table 5.1).
Table 5.1 Frequency with which teachers attended OBE workshops
Number of workshops attended Frequency Percent
( %)
No workshops attended 5 9
1 to 5 workshops attended 38 69
6 to 10 workshops attended 12 22
Table 5.2 Responses to the place where learners do the investigations
The place where learners do most of the work Frequency Percent ( %)
Mostly in school during science lessons 24 43,6
Mostly at school after hours 4 7,3
About equally at school and at home 20 36,4
Mostly at home 7 12,7
The teachers were mainly from well resourced schools, as about 78% indicated their schools had resources for science teaching. It is interesting to note that although the schools were well resourced a significant number of investigations were done at home or partly at home (Table 5.2)
Of the four investigation types carried out, 35 % were explorations, 30% explanations, 23 % comparisons and 12% constructions. This shows that most investigations are
explorations and explanations. Although there is a significant number of comparisons, the number of constructions is relatively small.
The average class size in Grade 9 at schools who responded to the questionnaire was 31 learners. A small number of teachers (about 13%) indicated that the average class size in Grade 9 at their school exceed 40 learners (Figure 5.2).
Class size
10 to 20 21 to 30
❑31 to 40
❑41 to 50 to more than 50
Figure 5.2 Percentage of respondents for each category of class size
5.1 LEARNER AUTONOMY IN SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS