Journal Articles

Permanent URI for this collection

https://uwispace.sta.uwi.edu/handle/2139/6039

Browse

Browsing Journal Articles by Author "Maharaj-Sharma, Rawatee"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    A case study of five teachers' understandings of classroom research and their willingness to become active classroom researchers
    (Canadian Center of Science and Education, 2011-09) Maharaj-Sharma, Rawatee
    This article reports on the views of five secondary school science teachers who accepted the challenge to explore the self-assessment aspect of their practice, with specific respect to their understandings of classroom research and their willingness to actively initiate and engage in classroom research. The approach is an explorative one, and the accounts outline the context in which the teachers work, provide brief descriptions of their work, and consider what lessons from these case studies might guide or inform teachers and teacher educators in the personal and professional development of science teachers as researchers
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    A comparative study of the impact of students' feelings regarding the use of nuclear energy
    (International Council of Associations for Science Education, 2011-03) Maharaj-Sharma, Rawatee
    This article presents the results of a comparative study of two groups of learners--group 1 (25 non-science students) and group 2 (25 A-level physics students). It explores the extent to which their feelings and emotions, in conjunction with their knowledge of nuclear energy, impact and influence their views and feelings about the use of nuclear energy as an alternative source of energy. The findings reveal that, after exposure to learning about topics in nuclear energy, the non-science students were more accepting and open in respect of the use of nuclear energy than the science students. In fact, over 80 percent of the non-science students indicated that they would support nuclear energy as a viable alternative energy source, while only about 45 percent of the physics students said that they would
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    An examination of types and usefulness of analogies generated by upper primary school students - A case study
    (Science Teachers Association of Nigeria, 2011-12) Maharaj-Sharma, Rawatee
    This article discusses the nature, type, and usefulness of analogies generated by upper primary school students. It looks at the range of analogies upper primary school students generate and how they use them to develop conceptual understandings. Fifty-five Standard 4 students were asked to generate analogies during a science unit of work and to complete a Perceptions Questionnaire about the instructional utility of the analogies they generated. A number of different analogies were generated by the students and while many students indicated that analogies represented a fun and interesting way to learn science concepts, some of the students preferred the use of summaries and worked examples, and suggested that these were more effective in helping them to develop scientific conceptual understandings
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Observations from secondary school classrooms in Trinidad and Tobago: Science teachers’ use of analogies
    (International Council of Associations for Science Education (ICASE)., 2015-12) Maharaj-Sharma, Rawatee; Sharma, A.
    This study sought to examine and interpret how science teachers in Trinidad and Tobago used analogies in their science teaching. A total of 30 lessons taught by five different teachers were observed and analysed, using an interpretative research methodology to develop generalized observations. The findings revealed that, in general, science teachers used few analogies in their teaching; and that the analogies used ranged from simple to technical. Interviews following the classroom observations revealed that the teachers were knowledgeable about analogy use in science teaching, and about some of the benefits and challenges of using analogies to teach science. The research suggests that effective use of analogies in classroom science teaching is an area that needs attention from two perspectives: 1) development or acquisition of relevant analogies for use by teachers, and 2) reorientation of teachers through professional training into a view of learners as constructors of knowledge instead of passive knowledge receptors.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Solar variablity of the daytime atomic oxygen O(¹S) emission in the middle and lower thermosphere.
    (The American Geophysical Union, 2004-03-13) Maharaj-Sharma, Rawatee; Shepherd, Gordon G.
    [1] The Wind Imaging Interferometer (WINDII) on board the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) measures winds from the Doppler shifts of airglow emissions, and as a by-product the volume emission rates (photon cm־³ sˉ¹) of those emissions. This includes the atomic oxygen O(¹S) emission at 557.7 nm, which during the daytime is emitted over a large altitude range from about 85 km to over 250 km. Two distinct peaks in altitude are formed, one near 100 km (herein denoted the E region) and one near 150 km (herein the F region). The daytime E region emission was virtually unknown prior to WINDII - it resembles its nighttime counterpart, but the emission rate is much higher and it is broader in vertical extent. Both regions are produced by direct and indirect processes, but the WINDII data show that both behave as Chapman layers, corresponding to production of emission by absorption of solar radiation. The F region processes are fairly well understood, but the direct E region process has not previously been identified. The data are consistent with excitation by photodissociation of O2 dominantly by Lyman-β. The solar influence is investigated through correlations of daily values of emission rate with six solar indices; the E region yields higher coefficients than the F region, with the highest value for solar Ly-α at 0.82, which is consistent with the Ly-β process. For one of the six indices, the GOES xl x-rays (0.1-0.8 nm), no correlation is evident, in part because the radiances are too low to produce the observed emission, but also because the radiances are seemingly random, not following the solar cycle variation. Variations of atmospheric origin with latitude and longitude are briefly reported upon, and an F region emission rate scale height correlation with temperature is also found.