The objectives of this study were to; explore the possibilities and feasibilities of an online assessment of students' scientific inquiry skills; examine the psychometric properties of the test; ascertain the ability level of the 9 th and 11 th graders scientific inquiry skills. The sample consisted of the ninth and eleventh graders (N=118, 44 boys and 74 girls; age mean=16.42, and (SD) =1.25). In the test of scientific inquiry skills, students were required to use their cognitive skills to answer questions based on different subscales of scientific inquiry processes. The online assessment tool for scientific inquiry skills consisted of 99 items. The Cronbach alpha was .87 α, and two subscales emerged with better reliability of .93 α and .90 α respectively. No significant differences were found between grades and genders concerning performances. The online assessment instrument for students' scientific inquiry skills proved to be feasible and reliable. The findings indicate that online assessment may provide teachers with an easyto-use instrument for monitoring the development of students' scientific inquiry and reasoning skills. However, for this to be realized in Namibian, the government should try to improve the ICT infrastructures in most public schools as per their blueprint.

Teacher quality is a crucial element of quality education, and it is dependent on the quality of teacher education. Thus, this study analyses the teacher training programme at a Namibian university to determine its quality. Four quality determining components were analysed: students and teacher educator qualities; curriculum materials; teaching and learning process; and teaching practice. This qualitative study employed a single case study design. Four research instruments were used to collect data: document analysis, focus group interviews, questionnaires, and observations. The sample comprised one hundred and sixty (160) pre-service students, one (1) focus group of fifteen (15) graduates, sixteen (16) teacher educators, and three (3) focus groups with a total of thirty (30) pre-service students. The significant findings of this study were that average students enrol for the teacher education programme because of extrinsic and other motives other than intrinsic and altruistic reasons. In addition, the teacher education curriculum was found to be overcrowded with fragmented modules. Further, the subject matter content was not aligned with the school curriculum; students exit with little subject matter knowledge. The study also found that the assessment of pre-service students lacked authenticity as assessment questions do not test the understanding and application of knowledge. Additionally, the lecture method dominated the pedagogies employed, promoting rote learning. Another factor was poor teaching practices characterised by inadequate time allocation and lack of mentoring support from the school. Thus, a lot is desired from the teacher education programme; hence, the study recommends a longitudinal study to be carried out involving all higher education institutions in Namibia that offer a teacher education programme to see if the findings would be the same.

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This study investigates factors that motivated the first year undergraduate student teachers for choosing teaching as a career and also explores their perceptions about the teaching profession in Namibia. The study consists of 80 First year student teachers, 40 from Hifikepunye Pohamba campus, and 40 from Khomasdal campus. Quantitative approach was used to identify some of the factors that motivated students to choose teaching as a career. Factor Influencing Teaching choices scale (FIT scale: Watt & Richardson, 2007) was used to investigate the student teachers’ motivation and perception of teaching as a career. Analysis of the data reveals that most of the participants value making social contribution and shaping children’s future. Moreover, factors such as university admission requirements, gender, stereotype of different grade level specialization, finance and the general socio-cultural image of teaching as a career in Namibia, among others, shaped the participants’ motivations and perceptions.

This study aimed to assess students’ scientific reasoning skills using an online assessment method and explore the relationship between their reasoning skills and motivation to learn science. Research participants were 270 Grade 5 and 346 Grade 7 students in the Oshana region of Namibia. The online reasoning skills test consisted of 36 items with 16 tasks assessing conservation, proportional, correlational and probabilistic reasoning, and logical operations in a science context. The five point Likert scale Science Motivation Questionnaire II consisted of 25 items with five subscales. Tasks were developed within and delivered by the eDia platform via the Internet. The reliability of the reasoning skills test was acceptable (Cronbach’s alpha=.74), and it was very good for the Science Motivation Questionnaire (Cronbach’s alpha=.91). The reasoning skill tasks were moderately difficult for the students: M=40.56%; SD=13.47%. One-parameter Rasch analyses showed that there were few items to differentiate students at the low skill levels. Task analysis showed major obstacles in students’ reasoning skills for science learning. Students reported that they were moderately motivated to learn science. A weak correlation was found between the tested scientific reasoning skills and motivation to learn science (r=.21, p<.01). The study suggests that the basic ICT infrastructures in Namibian schools should be improved to exploit the advantages of online assessment.