Lydia Mavuru

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Verified

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• PhD
• Professor of Science Education at University of Johannesburg

Teaching genetics makes learners understand the inheritance of characteristics and genetic disorders in organisms, as well as the impact of genetic engineering in human daily lives. Traditional methods of teaching genetics are ineffective in improving learners’ understanding. The paper reports a study that investigated teachers’ utilisation of smar...

This study explored the pedagogical strategies employed by grade 12, life-sciences teachers in township schools to teach complex concepts, such as genetics and meiosis, using improvised teaching resources. Resource constraints in South African township schools often limit learners' access to traditional teaching materials and technologies. In respo...

Values education is value formation through education that is conveyed through educational goals usually set by curricular documents. Consistent with this, the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) Grades R–12, comprising the Curriculum Assessment and Policy Statement (CAPS), which is the currently used policy statement in South African schools, is u...

Language is a crucial cultural tool in the teaching and learning of science. Different perspectives have presented arguments on how poor language proficiency presents challenges in learning science concepts regardless of whether learners are English first language speakers. The present study investigated language challenges in Grade 7 Natural Scien...

In South Africa, where multilingualism is prevalent, code-switching—a practice of alternating between languages—plays a significant role in shaping classroom dynamics and learning outcomes. This study explores the beliefs of both teachers and learners regarding code-switching in Life Sciences classrooms. Utilizing quantitative methods, the research...

Due to the technological advances of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), the South African education system revised its existing curricula to include robotics and coding. Such a development demands teachers to re-evaluate their pedagogical approaches to accommodate innovative technologies. However, using recent technology, such as robotics, in...

This study investigated the impact of robotics integration on the development of twenty-first-century skills and competencies within the context of Grade 5 natural sciences classrooms. As the twenty-first century unfolds, the demand for learners to acquire skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, and digital literacy has ne...

Ensuring the integration of various forms of knowledge in the teaching of Life Sciences is crucial due to the abstract and intricate nature of the subject matter, which poses challenges to learners' comprehension and academic achievement. The Department of Basic Education (DBE) through the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for Life...

This study aimed to establish how teachers were capacitated to integrate Information, Communication and Technologies (ICT) towards development of 21st century skills among Early Childhood Education level learners, in the Zimbabwean primary schools. This is in the face of a conglomerate of limitations based on teacher capacity, school culture and ac...

This chapter grapples with the nature of supervisory practices that can be embraced to support postgraduate students to engage in their studies. A reflection on the nature of these supervisory practices will enable supervisors to strike a healthy balance between work and life demands and to optimally manage concomitant relationship challenges. The...

The paper reports a study, which explored teachers’ perceptions and experiences on integration of cultural belief systems when teaching life sciences. Beliefs have been found to influence teachers’ pedagogical practices and ultimately impact on learning and understanding of concepts. These beliefs can be classified as originating from one’s religio...

The South African life sciences curriculum envisages a teacher who negotiates through controversial issues in the topic of evolution and helps learners reconcile the content and their religious or cultural aspects. Previous studies have found that teachers are conflicted to teach evolution concepts due to socioscientific issues (SSIs) emanating fro...

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has been a major concern all over the world and in a bid to limit and control the spread, several mechanisms were introduced including the usage of mask in serving as a barrier. The present study was set out to investigate factors affecting compliance to the usage of face mask among street vendors in Pretoria, Sout...

Measures that were put in place to combat the spread of COVID-19, such as lockdowns, movement restrictions, and social distancing, resulted in remarkable changes in the traditional educational systems. Online learning was implemented to replace face-to-face teaching and learning, albeit with several challenges and varying levels of unpreparedness....

This study explores the postgraduate science teachers' conceptions and experiences of online pedagogical practices in diverse school contexts. Embracing technology-enhanced pedagogy remains a key strategic imperative within the context of evolving pedagogical benefits associated with the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). As key agen...

This study examined Bachelor of Education science students’ beliefs, perceptions, and experiences of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The investigation adopted an explanatory mixed method research design and involved purposively selected students enrolled for Bachelor of Education degree specialising in Physical and Life Sciences at a...

Water treatment processes are designed to ensure that any pollutant’s adverse effects on the environment are reduced to the minimum allowable discharge limit. Water-literate individuals ought to effectively and constantly think about novel hydrologic concepts to improve the quality and sufficiency of water. Socio-hydrological issues remain the main...

A facile procedure, involving one-pot synthesis of CeVO 4 /BiVO 4 and in-situ reduction of graphene oxide (GO), has been used to prepare CeVO 4 /BiVO 4 /rGO nanocomposites. Different ratios of the CeVO 4-BiVO 4 were prepared to afford composites represented as CBVG3, CBVG5, and CBVG7. The ternary nanocomposite materials were characterized by using...

The study is premised on the belief that the intent and coherent integration of indigenous knowledge (IK) in science classrooms as advocated for by various curricula is not paying dividends. There is need to reimagine the nature, source and utility value of IK in multicultural science classrooms to ensure inclusivity. The study sought to explore te...

In the present study, binary (Cu9S5 and SnS2) and ternary (Cu2SnS3—CTS) have been prepared by a one-pot thermal decomposition of copper(II) bis (N-methyl-N-paramethoxyphenyl) dithiocarbamate, dimethyltin(IV) bis (N-methyl-N-paramethoxyphenyl) dithiocarbamate, and the co-thermal decomposition of both complexes in oleylamine, respectively. The crysta...

The study sought to establish science teachers’ perceptions about the learning environments and how they implemented constructivist teaching strategies. An explanatory mixed method research design was adopted. The Constructivist Learning Environment Survey was administered to 180 purposively selected grade 10-12 science teachers from 30 schools and...

"Physical Sciences is a complex subject with many abstract concepts. This complexity is magnified by the learners’ lack of the linguistic capacity to comprehend the concepts and engage actively in the teaching and learning process. Previous studies have alluded to the fact that science is a language on its own, which therefore makes it even more di...

"Teachers Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) has been found to be important for meaningful teaching and learning of any subject. Over the years research has focused more on English second language learners’ CALP needs and less on the teachers. Because teachers are the cornerstones who drive the process of teaching and learning in the cl...

"Debates have been going on regarding what the goals of science education are and how those goals could be achieved. Developing scientific literacy in learners has gained traction over the years among other goals. It has been documented that by engaging learners in socioscientific issues (SSIs) in the science classrooms learners acquire complex com...

"Questions have been asked about whether science is more special than any other subject in being less culture bound, and less subject to the usual differences between languages. At so many angles scientific language has been viewed as difficult because of its academic, authoritative and impersonal nature which makes it difficult for both teachers a...

"Language is not everything in the teaching and learning process, but without language education becomes worthless. A normal classroom in South Africa consists of learners of different cultures thus having different home languages. Previous studies showed that teaching has become a complex task for Life Sciences teachers who are responsible for mea...

Copper oxide nanoparticles were synthesized by a simple sol-gel route using copper (II) acetate monohydrate as a precursor at varying temperatures (300 °C, CuO(300); 350 °C, CuO(350) and 400 °C, CuO(400)), and were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and UV–visible...

Sn doped ZnO nanoparticles was synthesized by a sol-gel approach using different concentrations of Sn to afford ZnO-Sn(5%), ZnO-Sn(10%), and ZnO-Sn(20%). The ZnO-Sn(10%) was further composited with graphene oxide to form Sn-ZnO/GO for the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange (MO). The doped ZnO and nanocomposites were characterized by using...

Background: The COVID 19 pandemic has been a major concern all over the world and in a bid to limit and control the spread, several mechanisms were introduced including the usage of mask in serving as a barrier. The present study was set out to investigate factors affecting compliance to the usage of face mask among street vendors in Pretoria, Sout...

The study examined the role of COVID-19 pandemic as a catalyst for fostering reformed pedagogy in science education within the South African context. The prevalence of COVID-19 pandemic compelled teachers as key agents of educational change to fundamentally rethink their pedagogical practices with a view to bring about reformed pedagogy. The study...

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) obtained from sawdust were modified with chitosan (CHT), as green coagulant (CNC/CHT) for the removal of Erichrome black-T (EBT) dye from aqueous solution. The pristine CNC, CNC/CHT and CNC/CHT-EBT floccules formed after the coagulation process were characterized by different techniques. The diffraction pattern of CNC/C...

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) obtained from sawdust were modified with chitosan (CHT), as green coagulant (CNC/CHT) for the removal of Erichrome black-T (EBT) dye from aqueous solution. The pristine CNC, CNC/CHT and CNC/CHT-EBT floccules formed after the coagulation process were characterized by different techniques. The diffraction pattern of CNC/C...

African township schools are characterised by cultural and linguistic diversity, hence, teachers have the dual task of ensuring that learners grasp scientific concepts, while also catering for the diversity in the learners’ backgrounds. The study reported on here was aimed at investigating teachers’ beliefs and practices in teaching life sciences u...

The study sought to establish teachers’ views about scientific inquiry in teaching genetics whilst addressing socio-scientific issues (SSIs). The argument was if teachers do not fully understand the holistic nature of scientific inquiry, it prevents them from using SSIs effectively to facilitate learners’ understanding of abstract concepts. The stu...

A facile procedure, involving one-pot synthesis of CeVO4/BiVO4 and in-situ reduction of graphene oxide (GO), has been used to prepare CeVO4/BiVO4/rGO nanocomposites. Different ratios of the CeVO4–BiVO4 were prepared to afford composites represented as CBVG3, CBVG5, and CBVG7. The ternary nanocomposite materials were characterized by using powder X-...

In this paper, spherical-shaped pure phase djurleite (Cu31S16) and roxbyite (Cu7S4) nanoparticles were prepared by a solvothermal decomposition of copper(II) dithiocarbamate complex in dodecanthiol (DDT). The reaction temperature was used to control the phases of the samples, which were represented as Cu31S16 (120 °C), Cu31S16 (150 °C), Cu7S4 (220...

Pre-service teachers' preparedness and confidence levels to teach is a topical subject in higher education. Previous studies have commented on the role of teacher in-service training in preparing teachers for provision of meaningful classroom experiences to their learners, but many researchers regard pre-service teacher development as the cornersto...

The world has recently been attacked by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced the closure of higher institutions of learning across the globe. Following the measures taken to curb the spread of the corona virus which include social distancing, most universities transitioned to remote/online teaching and learning. Thus, courses at institutions of...

Late coming is an endemic problem in South African schools and has become increasingly difficult to eradicate. It has been identified as a major factor affecting learner academic performance and pass rate within the broader South African school context. This study examined factors that influence the late coming of both male and female learners in s...

The study sought to determine the levels of dialogic interactions in grade 10 and 11 Life Sciences classrooms. Dialogic teaching advocates for the interdependence between learners in the course of learning. It involves the use of cooperative talk between the teacher and learners that not only leads to better learner participation but broadens learn...

This article provides a reflection on the challenges and growth trajectory of the hospitality industry in South Africa during the period 1994 – 2020. The overview specifically focused on the challenges and growth in the hospitality sectors such as tourism, food and beverage and hotel industries. The review also captured general trends and perennial...

The outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic has not only caused fear and uncertainty in the education systems across the globe, but it brought about a fundamental paradigm shift in the mode of teaching and learning. Higher education drastically transitioned to remote/ online delivery even for the students who had enrolled for face-to-face mode of teaching an...

Language plays a pivotal role in science teaching and learning as it serves as both the medium through which the teachers and learners think and also communicate in the classrooms. Science and Life sciences in particular comprises of a unique scientific language register with a lot of technical words and terms borrowed from other languages other th...

The goal of science education is emphatically positioned on promoting science literacy. The rationale is learners should not only learn about scientific knowledge and processes but also on how to apply the knowledge when making decisions about heterogenous societal and personal issues. Previous research has indicated that by addressing socioscienti...

The complex roles teacher educators and teachers face require their ability to critically reflect on their practices. The question is on whether teachers are trained to make critical reflections of learning experiences for them to be able to critically reflect on their teaching practices. Based on constructivist approach, teacher educators continuo...

The presence of toxic metals in surface and natural waters, even at trace levels, poses a great danger to humans and the ecosystem. Although the combination of adsorption and coagulation techniques has the potential to eradicate this problem, the use of inappropriate media remains a major drawback. This study reports on the application of NaNO2/NaH...

This research reports the assessment of pre-service teachers’ reception and attitudes towards virtual laboratory experiments in Life Sciences with the aim of advancing adaptability to digital learning. Using sequential mixed-methods in a quasi-experimental design, 68 pre-service teachers in the 3rd year of a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) program wer...

This study investigated grade 4 learners’ understandings about the Nature of Scientific Inquiry (NOSI) in primary schools within the South African context. A qualitative methodology was employed using a framework of five knowledge aspects about the NOSI in assessing learners’ understandings about the ways scientists investigate the natural world. F...

In an effort to pursue and achieve quality and equity in science education, the South African National Curriculum Statement stipulates that learners should be accorded an opportunity to acquire and apply knowledge and skills in meaningful ways. Accordingly, the curriculum promotes knowledge in both local and global contexts. The study investigated...

Skill shortages within the hospitality sector is a major problem. The evaluation was undertaken to establish if the TVET colleges are well equipped to have a meaningful impact on the provision of appropriate skills required by the hospitality industry. The study adopted a mixed method approach as part of the survey design. The inherent structure of...

This article draws from an exploratory study of science teachers’ experiences when utilising learners’ home languages in teaching grade 9 learners in three South African high schools. This research investigated teacher use of learners’ home languages in science instruction, with a particular focus on the affordances and challenges of using learners...

The social context available to science teachers is known to influence their classroom practices or pedagogical orientation. This study investigated how social context influences pedagogical orientations at three township schools in South Africa. The study employed a qualitative case-study design involving three Grade 9 Natural Sciences teachers. D...

This article explores teachers’ knowledge and views on the role of learners’ socio-cultural background when teaching Natural Sciences to Grade 9 learners at three South African township schools. Within a socio-cultural framework, the research investigated how teachers accommodate learners’ cultural norms and values, religion and beliefs, socio-econ...