Full Text Available

Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.

A comparison of science teachers' and engineering students' rankings of science and technology related global problems

Bibliography: pages 73-82.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ndodana, Cynthia Bulelwa
Other Authors: Rochford, Kevin
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: School of Education 2016
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1867613337830817792
access_status_str Open Access
author Ndodana, Cynthia Bulelwa
author2 Rochford, Kevin
author_browse Ndodana, Cynthia Bulelwa
Rochford, Kevin
author_facet Rochford, Kevin
Ndodana, Cynthia Bulelwa
author_sort Ndodana, Cynthia Bulelwa
collection Thesis
description Bibliography: pages 73-82.
format Thesis
id oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/17501
institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:34:32.198Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2016
publishDateRange 2016
publishDateSort 2016
publisher School of Education
publisherStr School of Education
record_format dspace
source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/17501 A comparison of science teachers' and engineering students' rankings of science and technology related global problems Ndodana, Cynthia Bulelwa Rochford, Kevin Science Education Science - Study and teaching - Social aspects Technology - Study and teaching - Social aspects Science teachers - South Africa - Attitudes Engineering students - South Africa - Attitudes Bibliography: pages 73-82. Using 262 acknowledged science educators from 41 countries, Bybee developed a scale for measuring the ranked priorities of scientists, and others, with respect to twelve major global problems related to science and technology in 1984. In 1993 this scale was re-administered to samples of 76 Cape Town science educators, 55 Transkei science educators and 129 chemical engineering undergraduates at the University of Cape Town. High correlations ranging from r = 0.68 to r = 0.90 were obtained among the four samples' mean ranked priorities on the scale as a whole, over the ten year period. Among the top six global problems in 1984, five still received consistently high overall prioritisation in 1993, namely: population growth; world hunger and food resources; human health and disease; air quality and atmosphere; and water resources. The mean ranking of war technology as a priority declined by seven places over the ten year period. Educators surveyed in follow-up studies in 1993 made numerous recommendations for teaching these global problems. These included the use of the science-technology-society (STS) approach in science education; the introduction of a core school curriculum on environmental education; the encouragement of student participation in projects which help to reduce or eliminate such global problems; and the re-allocation of money spent on nuclear arms towards the satisfaction of human basic needs such as food, housing, health and water services. In a follow-up survey of twenty lecturers in engineering at the University of Cape Town in 1993 and 1994 important goals and issues singled out by individuals included the provision of mass housing and infrastructure; sanitation; urbanisation; job creation; the abuse of high technology in communications; technological illiteracy among decision makers; abuse and reduction of oceanic resources; photochemical smog; the prediction and possible control of droughts and floods; demands on the human race of the information explosion; electromagnetic wave hazards and pollution; resource depletion education and the dissemination of knowledge; the emergence and separation of C.P. Snow's "Two cultures"; and the myth of the peace dividend. Several of these issues were then subsequently included in 1995 in an updated, modified and extended form of the Bybee Scale. Currently a reliable and validated 15-item Scale -emerging from the findings of this dissertation - is being employed by other research workers in various parts of the new South Africa. During 1995 its chief use has been offering relevant input into, and providing empirical justification for, fundamental aspects of the policy of the current Reconstruction and Development Programme, as set out in the 1995 White Paper of the Government of National Unity. 2016-03-04T16:49:52Z 2016-03-04T16:49:52Z 1996 Master Thesis Masters MEd http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17501 eng application/pdf School of Education Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Science Education
Science - Study and teaching - Social aspects
Technology - Study and teaching - Social aspects
Science teachers - South Africa - Attitudes
Engineering students - South Africa - Attitudes
Ndodana, Cynthia Bulelwa
A comparison of science teachers' and engineering students' rankings of science and technology related global problems
thesis_degree_str Master's
title A comparison of science teachers' and engineering students' rankings of science and technology related global problems
title_full A comparison of science teachers' and engineering students' rankings of science and technology related global problems
title_fullStr A comparison of science teachers' and engineering students' rankings of science and technology related global problems
title_full_unstemmed A comparison of science teachers' and engineering students' rankings of science and technology related global problems
title_short A comparison of science teachers' and engineering students' rankings of science and technology related global problems
title_sort comparison of science teachers and engineering students rankings of science and technology related global problems
topic Science Education
Science - Study and teaching - Social aspects
Technology - Study and teaching - Social aspects
Science teachers - South Africa - Attitudes
Engineering students - South Africa - Attitudes
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17501
work_keys_str_mv AT ndodanacynthiabulelwa acomparisonofscienceteachersandengineeringstudentsrankingsofscienceandtechnologyrelatedglobalproblems
AT ndodanacynthiabulelwa comparisonofscienceteachersandengineeringstudentsrankingsofscienceandtechnologyrelatedglobalproblems