With the increased global awareness of the negative impact of scientific, technological and industrial activities on the environment and copious examples of sustainable practices existing in many an indigenous community, the new South African science curriculum statement has called on science teachers to integrate school science with the Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS). In response to this call, this study used an Argumentation-Based course (A-B course) to enhance teachers’ understanding of the Nature of Science (NOS) and IKS and their ability to integrate science and IKS in their classrooms. Nine teachers participated in the course over a six-month period. Using questionnaires and interviews, the teachers’ conceptions of, and awareness about the NOS and IKS were assessed before and after the course. Altogether, five of the teachers were interviewed and three of them completed a delayed questionnaire nearly two years after the course. After participating in the course, the teachers were: 1) more willing to accept IKS as a potentially legitimate aspect of a science curriculum; 2) more able to distinguish between science and IKS; and 3) more aware of the appropriate context to use the scientific or IKS worldview than was the case before the course. Although the teachers were enthusiastic about the value of the course as part of their training at the tertiary level, they were less optimistic about its success at the primary or secondary school level.

In this decade of Education for Sustainable Development, it is timely to consider the methodological issues associated with researching this topic not only with adults but also with the young children who, as members of the next generation, will experience the success or otherwise of current environmental sustainability efforts. We argue that it is important when making methodological choices to recognize that both the sustainability issues themselves and the way individuals learn about these issues, are socially and culturally constructed. In this article we are interested in ways of gaining representations of individuals’ mental constructions of environmental sustainability issues. We recount experiences from two projects, one which used the approach of analyzing children's drawings to gain representations of how children in Mexico understand environmental issues and the other which employed adult participant-directed photography as the principal data collection method conducted mainly in the north of South Africa.

This paper draws attention to the literature in the areas of learning, specifically, constructivism, conceptual change and cognitive development. It emphasizes the contribution of such research to our understanding of the learning process. This literature provides guidelines for teachers, at all levels, in their attempt to have their students achieve learning with understanding. Research about the constructive nature of students’ learning processes, about students’ mental models, and students’ misconceptions have important implications for teachers who wish to model scientific reasoning in an effective fashion for their students. This paper aims to communicate this research to teachers, textbook authors, and college professors who involved in the preparation of science teachers. This paper is divided into two major parts. The first part concentrates on a critical review of the three most influential learning theories and constructivist view of learning and discusses the foundation upon which the constructivist theory of learning has been rooted. It seeks an answer to the question of  “What are some guiding principles of constructivist thinking that we must keep in mind when we consider our role as science teachers?”. The second part of this paper moves toward describing the nature of students’ alternative conceptions, the ways of changing cognitive structure, and cognitive aspects of learning and teaching science.

The purpose of this study was to establish the nature and extent of scientific literacy (SL) themes coverage in Zambian national high school biology curriculum. The three data sources are biology textbooks, biology syllabi, and grade twelve national biology examination papers for a five-year period (2000–2004). These data sources were analyzed using the framework and procedure developed by Chiappetta, Fillman, and Sethna. The framework has four themes of SL namely: Science as a body of knowledge; Science as a way of investigating; science as a way of knowing; and Interaction between science, technology and society. The results show that the biology textbooks and syllabi content objectives emphasized basic knowledge of science while the biology examination papers, and the syllabi aims and assessment objectives emphasized science as a way of knowing. The interaction between science, technology and society theme was the least represented in the biology course.  The results also suggest lack of curriculum and instructional validity in biology examinations with respect to the four themes of SL. The inadequate coverage of interaction of science, technology and society theme in the curriculum materials may be a barrier to a better preparation of scientifically literate citizens. Some recommendations have been made.