http://repository.tml.nul.ls:80/handle/123456789/182 Tue, 03 Jan 2006 20:04:46 GMT 2006-01-03T20:04:46Z http://repository.tml.nul.ls:80/handle/123456789/134 Secondary school teachers' pedagogical content knowledge of some common students' errors and misconceptions in sets Moru, E. K.; Qhobela, M. The study investigated teachers' pedagogical content knowledge of common students' errors and misconceptions in sets. Five mathematics teachers from one Lesotho secondary school were the sample of the study. Questionnaires and interviews were used for data collection. The results show that teachers were able to identify the following students' errors: (i) writing an empty set as {0} instead of { }; (ii) treating the repeating elements of the union of two sets as distinct and (iii) treating an infinite set as a finite set. Teachers were not able to identify the errors where students (i) treated infinity as a number; (ii) said that the members of countable infinite sets cannot be compared and (iii) that curly brackets are used only when listing the members of a set. The identified errors were associated with some misconceptions. Depending on the nature of the students' tasks teachers' strategies and explanations of dealing with the errors and misconceptions were inclined towards calling on procedural knowledge. Only a few cases of conceptual knowledge were noted. Implications for teaching are proposed. Tue, 01 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://repository.tml.nul.ls:80/handle/123456789/134 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z http://repository.tml.nul.ls:80/handle/123456789/131 Examining secondary school Physics teachers� belief about teaching and classroom practices in Lesotho as foundation for professional development Qhobela, M.; Moru, E. K. The classroom practices of science teachers are indicative of their beliefs and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). PCK is an amalgam of knowledge about subject matter, pedagogy, and contextual issues. This article identifies areas where physics teachers in Lesotho may need professional development support by addressing the research question: How do secondary school physics teachers in Lesotho describe the teaching of science and their actual practice? A mixed-methods approach involving a survey and follow-up interviews of secondary school physics teachers was used to collect information about this research question. The results show that there is a disjuncture between the teachers� pedagogic knowledge and the teachers� contextual knowledge, indicating that their PCK was not well formed and could serve as a central focus for their professional development. Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT http://repository.tml.nul.ls:80/handle/123456789/131 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z http://repository.tml.nul.ls:80/handle/123456789/128 Traditional assessment as a subjective tool in schools in Lesotho Khalanyane, T.; Halahala, A. M. The aim of the study on which this paper is based was to develop guidelines for the support of newly qualified nurses to ease their transition from student to professional practitioners in Lesotho; and to get their first-hand experience of their transition from student to professional practitioners in a public hospital in Lesotho. An explorative, descriptive, contextual, qualitative research design was chosen. The sample included all newly qualified professional nurses who worked in a public hospital in Lesotho for a period of one year or less. Data was collected by means of semi-structured individual interviews with ten (10) participants and a focus group interview with eight (8) of the original participants. Content analysis of the data in the qualitative tradition was independently done by two coders who identified four (4) themes and ten (10) sub-themes. The first theme was described as reality shock, including the sub-themes emotional reactions and limited resources. The second theme, competence, includes the sub-themes of knowledge, skills and attitude. A third theme describes the participants experience of the support from management, colleagues, the Ministry of Health and Social welfare, nursing educational institutions and the community. The fourth theme describes the participants? vision for the future. Each of the themes was discussed together with relevant data obtained from literature and reduced to a conclusive statement which served as basis for the formulation of guidelines to ease the transition from student to professional practitioner in Lesotho. The paper concluded with the researcher?s evaluation of the study and recommendations for nursing education, nursing management and further research. Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT http://repository.tml.nul.ls:80/handle/123456789/128 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z http://repository.tml.nul.ls:80/handle/123456789/130 The evaluation of community resource profiling process at one school in Khayelitsha Matsie, N. Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT http://repository.tml.nul.ls:80/handle/123456789/130 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z