PST202G/201/3/2013
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
Department of Science and Technology Education
TEACHING NATURAL SCIENCES
SEMESTER 1&2
TUTORIAL LETTER 201/3/2013
EXAMINATION GUIDELINES
PST202G/201/3/2013
TABLE OF CONTENT
1
1.1
Admission to the exam
1.2
The exam paper –, duration, marks and format
1.3
Exam preparation
1.4
In the examination hall
2
The exam - success or failure
3
Assignments
4
2
The examination
Conclusion
Dear Student
Thank you for the hard work that you put into the assignments. I hope that you will do well in the examinations. 1
The examination
1.1
Admission to the examination
If there are any problems with regard to your admission to the exam you should contact the Examination
Department immediately
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The denigration of memorisation is in fact a denigration of knowledge, and ultimately a defeat of the educational ideal of stimulating problem solving and independent critical thinking. As Hirsch (1996:247) points out:
“Independent-mindedness is always predicated on relevant knowledge: one cannot think critically unless one has a lot of knowledge of the issue at hand. Critical thinking is not merely giving one’s opinion.” In fact, common sense tells one that the person who can think critically and who can solve problems is, without exception, one who has sufficient knowledge of the relevant issue or problem.
Thus, to attain success in an exam, both in questions that are straightforward and questions that require independent critical thinking and problem solving one must, first, understand the subject content and, second, one must commit the subject content to memory.
4
3
The assignments
NB: Before studying the following information concerning the assignments, study the study units
1 to 8 in the study guide thoroughly.
3.1
The nature of natural science and scientific theorising.
To understand what a scientific theory is and what the difference between a valid and a speculative theory is, one must understand exactly what natural science involves, as well as its purpose and its limits. Study the explanations in the study guide.
Scientific theories are explanations of observed facts. Such theories tie the observed facts
17. Explain what is meant by a scientific theory by giving the three ways your text separates a theory from a
Think deeply! Think and keep thinking. Still, not everyone who thinks or thinks deeply is actually critical thinking. You can be highly intelligent or have vast knowledge but that doesn’t mean that you can think critically. Using intelligence and knowledge to reach one’s rationale viewpoint and objective in what a critical thinker does. The opinions and beliefs of a critical thinker stand on firmer ground. Better decisions and problems solving are more credible and supported by reasons and facts instead of false information and statements.
As citizens, it is essential to be “Critical thinkers who seek to draw intelligent conclusions” (pg. 3) whether as jurists, voters, parents, students, teachers, workers, managers, attorney. It is important to be able to discern between opinion, propaganda, facts, truth, error, and purposeful deceit. We elect people to speak for us at many levels. We need to be able to comprehend what we are hearing and be willing to utilize all the skills of critical
To survive in such a multifaceted and diverse world we as people must possess the ability to think critically in highly complex situations. The world is an extremely challenging place, all of us are forced to adapt by constantly challenging existing principles and performing certain methods to ensure our growth both physically and mentally. Many claim that contemporary society needs a skill called critical thinking to adapt and survive. Critical thinking is a higher level of intellectual progression that makes use of diverse information, skills and attitudes in interpreting situations and confronting problems. Critical thinking is done
Simpson and Courtney (2002) state "an important step in problem solving and decision-making is the need to utilize critical-thinking abilities to reframe a problem or situation." Critical thinking involves questioning all the features of a situation and analyzing solutions.
A theory is a set of systematic informed hunches about the way things work. A good theory goes beyond accepted wisdom and offers explanations and speculations about phenomena. Additionally, a good theory consists of a system of concepts which means that the theorist were able to make connections among his ideas. A theory tends to shape our perception of reality and behaviour and guides us through unknown areas.
To me the definition of critical thinking means that one must take into consideration life’s moments before reacting with a
years of experience, I found critical thinking as a way of judging and responding the issue, and it
The Scientific Method is the standardized procedure that scientists are supposed to follow when conducting experiments, in order to try to construct a reliable, consistent, and non-arbitrary representation of our surroundings. To follow the Scientific Method is to stick very tightly to a order of experimentation. First, the scientist must observe the phenomenon of interest. Next, the scientist must propose a hypothesis, or idea in which the experiments will be based around. Then, through repeated experimentation, the hypothesis can either be proven false or become a theory. If the hypothesis is proven to be false, the scientist must reformulate his or her ideas and come up with another hypothesis, and the experimentation begins again. This
In 1990, the American Philosophical Association defined critical thinking as “purposeful, self-regulatory process that results in reasoned judgment”. Critical thinking can be defined in a number of similar phrases that all seem to focus on the importance of conscious analysis. Our text starts off with the working phases of critical thinking as analyzing thinking, evaluating thinking, and improving thinking. The process of critical thought is cyclical and not linear. Being a “fair-minded critical thinker” is not a permanent attribute, and it must be consistently worked at as applying intellectual standards and elements of reasoning instead of emotion can be difficult. Overall, to be a strong critical thinker you must work toward strong intellectual traits such humility, courage, and integrity to better represent issues and or arguments.
The main concepts presented in the article are the varying definitions of each author on the concept of critical thinking. The information the author uses are definitions which are the opinions of varied authors and are similar in foundation in that to apply critical thinking one must be able to identify a problem, pose a question(s), provide valid supporting evidence, and come to a conclusion. Although the author’s definitions do not identify a problem, questions, evidence, or conclusions, the relationship Petress (2004) shows is that the reader must apply this process themselves as it is not always given. The information used does appear to be relevant, significant, and valid. The references the author listed does provide enough information for me to come to this conclusion. Since this work is a literature review and not a case study, numerical data are not necessary to determine validity of the information.
3. In the end, a theory is nothing more than a theory until proven accurately evident, such as the theory of Intelligent Design is though it may not be considered scientific to some.
Theory explains how individual act toward things on the basis of the meanings they ascribe to those things. The meaning comes
To challenge this idea, I would like to argue that exams have caused many students to lose integrity and motivation in their learning. This is evident in the habitual procrastination in schoolwork. Rather than pursuing their work in an academically inquisitive, comprehensive style, they choose to memorise and study purely for the sake of getting good grades. This shows that students can achieve good grades even by studying for short term remembrance – thereby defeating the whole purpose of an examination. Albert Einstein also
According to Haralambos and Holborn (2008), a theory is a set of ideas which attempts to explain how something works.