Reclaiming Knowledge at SAARMSTE 2009

Rhodes University Clock Tower

“At the start of each new year, as the Grade 12 external examination results are released to anxiously awaiting students, analysed by earnest academics and crafted into sensational stories by often over-zealous journalists, we are reminded that Mathematics, Science and Technology (MST) education in Southern Africa is not in order,” says Professor Marc Schafer, Head of the Education Department at Rhodes University. “Despite pockets of excellence, innovation and productive energy, the overwhelmingly poor results create the impression that many of our mathematics and science classrooms are characterised by an inertia that is not conducive to effective teaching and learning in these fields.”

Professor Schafer is the conference organiser of the 17th Annual General Meeting of the Southern African Association for Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education which takes place at Rhodes University, Grahamstown from 19 – 22 January. The theme of the 2009 SAARMSTE Conference, Reclaiming Knowledge, makes us mindful of the need to foreground knowledge in the MST education fields. “It can be argued that MST education research in Southern Africa in the past decade or so has largely focussed on transformation, reformation and policy,” says Prof Schafer. “Although one cannot disentangle these from issues around knowledge, the imperatives of change have, at times, displaced knowledge at the centre of MST education concerns.”

The 2009 SAARMSTE Conference aims to re-emphasise the centrality of MST education knowledge in our teaching and research. Delegates will deliberate around the theme of Reclaiming Knowledge in the MST education fields in their continued contribution to an effective and exciting MST education paradigm in the region.

Attended by a community of dedicated academics and researchers since its inception in Grahamstown in 1993, the SAARMSTE Conference is a place where expertise in the fields of MST education is not simply shared, it is pro-actively mobilised to energise research and development in these fields. SAARMSTE delegates are actively involved in research and development in classroom practice, aspects of teaching and learning, policy, philosophy, sociology and community engagement.

This year’s keynote speakers cover the fields of design and technology, environmental education and sustainability, science and maths education. Dr Richard Kimbell’s address “Design Performance (Into) Web Portfolios (For) Reliable Assessment” discusses his e-scape project at Goldsmiths University of London where they have developed a system that enables learners to build real-time web portfolios direct from design activity in the studio or workshop. The completed portfolios can be assessed with a new methodology that ensures high reliability. Dr Kimbell directs the Technology Education Research Unit at Goldsmiths University of London.

Professor Martha Munroe-Carrie will deliver her address on “Using Educational Research to Help Learners Make Sustainability Their Choice”. Prof Munroe-Carrie is a professor and extension specialist at the University of Florida’s School of Forest Resources and Conservation in the USA. Her research focuses on understanding public perceptions and exploring how to engage communities and individuals in responsible environmental behaviours. Her work in environmental education spans over 30 years of teaching youngsters, facilitating teacher workshops, developing curriculum, evaluating programs, and designing opportunities to promote conservation activities.

Professor Tebello Nyokong will talk about the importance of demystifying science and making scientific research relevant to society so that its results might influence decision makers on policy. Her keynote address is entitled “Is the relevance of science in development shared by decision makers?” Professor Nyokong, of the Rhodes University Chemistry Department, is currently DST/NRF Research Professor of medical chemistry and nanotechnology and adjunct professor of chemistry at the University of Tromso, Norway. She was awarded the L’Oreal-UNESCO award for Women in Science as a Laureate representing Africa and the Arab States 2009, the City Press/Rapport Prestige Awards for Inspirational Women Achievers 2008, and is recognised as one of the top three publishing scientists in South Africa.

Dr Nick Taylor will deliver a keynote address entitled “Knowledge and Teachers’ Work” in which he will argue that deficient in-service training programmes and deficient knowledge of teaching subjects reflect a national culture which favours criteria other than expert knowledge as the primary distributors of opportunity in the South African civil service. He argues that this is a major factor inhibiting the development of self-confident and skilled citizens, and of the nation as a whole. Dr Taylor is currently the CEO of JET Educational Services.

For further information visit http://oldwwwru.ac.za/conference/saarmste

The conference programme is temporarily available at:

https://www.ru.ac.za/documents/Education/SAAMSTE%202009%20Conference%20Final%20Programme.pdf

until such time as the Rhodes Webmaster has uploaded it onto the SAARMSTE conference website, then it will be available via the webpage: http://oldwww.ru.ac.za/conference/saarmste as a link