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This study investigated the effect of in-service training in the use of the ripple tank equipment on science teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) about the topic of waves. Three Grade 10 P...

This paper reports on topic-specific pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) enacted by three pre-service science teachers during their final year school-based internship. An interpretive, qualitative case study was conducted to investigate to what extent the pre-service teachers applied the knowledge taught during a preceding physical science method course, when teaching electromagnetism for the first time. The study is rooted in the revised consensus model of PCK with focus on the enacted PCK (ePCK) of pre-service teachers. Five topic-specific PCK components informed the design of an ePCK rubric used to assess the extent to which the pre-service teachers’ PCK manifested in their practice. Data were captured by written content representations (CoRes), lesson observations and interviews. The rubric, together with further qualitative analysis, was used to determine how the pre-service teachers translated the knowledge taught during training into practice. Findings indicate that the participating pre-service teachers enacted certain components of the taught PCK and reasoned pedagogically about their teaching, though not at the same level for all main ideas in the topic. After teaching the topic, the pre-service teachers indicated that they would like to improve their sequencing of key concepts. It was concluded that the teaching experience contributed to a better understanding of conceptual teaching strategies. The findings of the study may inform PCK development in teacher education.

It has recently been suggested that pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has a concept-specific nature, beyond the topic-specific level of PCK. This paper reports a case study of three pre-service t...

This paper reports a case study that explored teachers’ dynamic pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) across three big ideas of electrostatics namely the electrostatic force, electric field, and electric field strength. Two pre-service and two in-service teachers participated in the study. The refined consensus model of PCK was adopted as the theoretical framework for the study. We studied PCK as enacted during classroom teaching using observations and interviews. Data was analyzed alongside a four-point scale grand PCK rubric used to score the competence of the teachers for every big idea. The results showed that PCK of the teachers varied across the big ideas, which is attributed to the nature of concepts, as well as teachers’ content knowledge in each. The findings imply that pre-service teacher education programs should involve focus on teaching specific concepts to support the development of holistic PCK for a topic.

This study aimed to understand teachers’ classroom practices using computer-based simulations (CBS) when teaching electrolysis. The study was framed by the Consensus Model of Pedagogical Content Kn...

This paper reports a case study of four grade 10 physical sciences teachers’ PCK about graphs of motion. We used three data collection strategies, namely teachers’ written accounts, captured by the content representation (CoRe) tool, interviews and classroom observations. We conceptualised the PCK displayed in the CoRe tool and the interviews as reported PCK and the PCK demonstrated during teaching as enacted PCK. These two manifestations of PCK were compared to establish the extent of agreement between reported and enacted PCK. We adopted the topic-specific PCK (TSPCK) model as the framework that guided this study. This model describes TSPCK in terms of five components of teacher knowledge. Guided by the model, we designed two rubrics to assess these manifestations of TSPCK on a four-point scale. The results of this study indicated that the reported PCK was not necessarily a reflection of the PCK enacted during teaching. The levels of PCK in the components were seldom higher in the enacted PCK, but tended to be similar or lower than in the reported PCK. The study implies that the enactment of PCK should be emphasised in teacher education.

There are many challenges associated with Inquiry-Based Practical Work (IBPW), scattered in the school and post-school natural sciences education research literature. The goal of the systematic review presented in this paper, was to gather the contextual teaching challenges in the said literature, and then to create a detailed multi-perspective description of these challenges. The result shows that, the challenges occur mostly in the northern hemisphere, the highest proportion is in the Upper- and Post-secondary education levels, and more than half of the challenges are in integrated natural sciences education settings. In addition, the challenges are deeply divided between the school- and system-levels of the education framework, with the emergence of seven categories that have not been reported before. While significantly increasing knowledge, the results can be used when supporting teachers implementing IBPW. This is in addition to informing future research, around teacher support and the further unravelling of the challenges.

An exploratory case study involving six grade 9 science teachers was undertaken to probe how teachers’ understanding of learners’ misconceptions relate to their perceptions about teaching simple circuits. The participants’ understanding of documented misconceptions in electricity were explored by means of a questionnaire, while their perceptions about teaching electric circuits were also explored in the questionnaire, followed by a semi-structured interview. Results were analysed using content analysis and interpreted using pedagogical content knowledge as a theoretical lens. The results indicated that understanding learners’ misconceptions did not always correlate with conceptual perceptions about teaching electric circuits. While fair understanding of misconceptions was demonstrated by teachers who studied Physics at undergraduate level, only those who also held qualifications in Education showed conceptual perceptions about teaching electricity. Teachers who did not study Science Education revealed technical perceptions, focused on facts, demonstrations and calculations. From these results, a developmental model for pedagogical content knowledge was proposed. It was recommended that teacher education programs should involve misconceptions and also facilitate the development of conceptual perceptions about teaching.

A qualitative pre-/post-test case study was conducted to explore the influence of inquiry-based education in eliciting learners’ understanding of the particulate nature of matter in the gaseous phase. Two grade four classes (n=116) were conveniently and purposively sampled from two farm schools in Pretoria, South Africa. Data was collected through pre-test, initial group interviews, post-test, final group interviews and field notes. The pre-intervention data indicated that the continuous, continuous-animistic and the continuous empty models of matter in the gaseous phase dominated learners’ understanding in all the four classes. A considerable decrease in the continuous model was observed in the inquiry classes rather than in the lecture classes post-intervention.

This study explored teachers’ experiences in the teaching of electricity and magnetism during a Lesson Study intervention. Using a case study research design, a sample of 4 physical sciences teachers was conveniently selected from schools in rural and suburban areas. Due to logistical challenges, the 4 participants were grouped into 2 separately functioning lesson study pairs. Data were collected through multiple sources including semi-structured interviews, observations of classroom teaching and Lesson Study meetings, field notes, participants’ initial lesson plans and reflective writings. It was found that collaboration through Lesson Study enhanced teachers’ professional teaching strategies, networking skills, lesson plan writing, classroom management, self-efficacy and positive attitudes towards teaching. However, challenges such as lack of time, lack of institutional support and insufficient instructional materials pose a threat to teachers’ participation in Lesson Study. It is therefore recommended that policy makers develop strategic plans to promote the use of Lesson Study as a school-based professional development initiative. Further research on Lesson Study in pre-service science teacher education may pave the way towards professional collaboration as a sustainable practice amongst science teachers. This may ultimately improve the performance levels of science learners in South Africa. Keywords: electricity and magnetism; lesson study; physical sciences; professional development; science teaching

This study explored the perceptions of teachers and learners regarding the use of Process Oriented Guided Learning Inquiry Learning (POGIL) to teach stoichiometry. A qualitative case study was carried out at two conveniently and purposively sampled township schools in Pretoria, South Africa. For this purpose, two Grade 11 physical sciences classes were identified where 48 learners and their respective teachers, who had previously been trained to teach using POGIL, gave consent to participate in the study. Data were collected using lesson observations, focus group interviews for learners and interviews for teachers. All data were transcribed and analysed with the aid of ATLAS.ti software for qualitative data analysis. The findings from the observations indicate that the learners were excited, motivated, and actively engaged in their work. They assisted one another by attempting to answer questions supported with justification. The findings from the focus group interviews indicate that the learners were excited to learn using POGIL and wished to use the method in other subjects, including mathematics. The learners had noticed improvements in their grades and understanding of abstract topics. The findings from the teacher interviews indicated that they appreciated POGIL because they found it useful in reducing misconceptions, increasing learner participation, increasing understanding and achievement, and that their learners were more engaged. The results indicate that POGIL increased learners’ interest, participation and active learning, while seemingly also improving the learners’ understanding of and achievement in abstract topics like stoichiometry. POGIL may be useful in increasing active learning and participation of learners which may lead to increased understanding and achievement.

Although understandings of scientific inquiry (as opposed to conducting inquiry) are included in science education reform documents around the world, little is known about what students have learned about inquiry during their elementary school years. This is partially due to the lack of any assessment instrument to measure understandings about scientific inquiry. However, a valid and reliable assessment has recently been developed and published, Views About Scientific Inquiry (VASI; Lederman et al. [2014], Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 51, 65–83). The purpose of this large-scale international project was to collect the first baseline data on what beginning middle school students have learned about scientific inquiry during their elementary school years. Eighteen countries/regions spanning six continents including 2,634 students participated in the study. The participating countries/regions were: Australia, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, England, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Mainland China, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United States. In many countries, science is not formally taught until middle school, which is the rationale for choosing seventh grade students for this investigation. This baseline data will simultaneously provide information on what, if anything, students learn about inquiry in elementary school, as well as their beginning knowledge as they enter secondary school. It is important to note that collecting data from all of the approximately 200 countries globally was not humanly possible, and it was also not possible to collect data from every region of each country. The results overwhelmingly show that students around the world at the beginning of grade seven have very little understandings about scientific inquiry. Some countries do show reasonable understandings in certain aspects but the overall picture of understandings of scientific inquiry is not what is hoped for after completing 6 years of elementary education in any country.

This article reports a study aiming to understand the classroom practice of four grade 7 science teachers following an in-service teacher-development programme. Such studies are needed to contribute to knowledge about the effectiveness of professional development programmes. Clarke and Hollingsworth’s model of professional growth was used as a theoretical framework. Data were collected by means of interviews, lesson observations and document analysis. It was found that each teacher experienced professional growth in a personalised way, such as increased confidence, improved content knowledge, teaching strategies, practical skills, and valuing professional collaboration. All the teachers reported that their classroom practices have improved. Lesson observations revealed that three of the four teachers were enthusiastic and engaged their learners in practical work. Challenges such as lack of resources, poor language skills, and lack of higher cognitive levels in activities and questions were observed for all the teachers. An adapted model of professional growth has been proposed to represent the professional development of science teachers in poorly resourced schools.

This paper reports a study on South African learners' knowledge about scientific inquiry using the Views About Scientific Inquiry (VASI) Questionnaire. The sample consisted of 105 grade 11 learners from 7 schools across the socio-economic spectrum in a South African city. A rubric for scoring the VASI Questionnaire was developed and refined during the process of coding and is presented. Results showed that the learners held more informed views than that reported in previous international studies, except for particularly naive views regarding multiple methods of investigation. The results are discussed in terms of the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS) that was taught from 2003 to 2010 in South African schools. This curriculum was founded on outcomes-based principles, valuing process skills rather than content. The study found that examples provided in the RNCS document correspond closely to the aspects of inquiry as described by the National Research Council. It is argued that the RNCS contribut...

This study explored how Technology teachers in medium- and well-resourced schools use commercially prepared textbooks in their classrooms. A qualitative-interpretive design was used with a purposively selected sample of four schools from a city in the Gauteng province, South Africa. Data were analysed according to the conceptual framework of didactical transposition, focusing on textbook content, activities, context and teaching strategies. It was found that teachers in well-resourced schools adapt textbooks by adding content, thus expecting a higher standard from textbook content, and preferring learners to work individually, while teachers in medium-resourced schools follow textbooks without adapting them, therefore accepting the standard set by the textbooks. It is recommended that teachers in both contexts be assisted by specialists to interpret the curriculum so as to be sure how they are expected to use textbooks to improve their classroom practices.

Hierdie artikel beskryf ’n gevallestudie wat bydra tot die navorsingsliteratuur oor die ontwikkeling van 21ste-eeuse vaardighede in wetenskapklasse in Suid-Afrika. Die studie ondersoek die wyse waarop vier ervare natuurwetenskaponderwysers praktiese lesse in hulle Graad 7-klasse in die Limpopo-provinsie integreer. Data is deur middel van dokumentontleding, leswaarneming en semigestruktureerde onderhoude ingesamel. Die studie is gebaseer op ’n teorie van kurrikulumimplementering vir wetenskaponderrrig in ontwikkelende lande. Die resultate word ten opsigte van voorbereiding, aanbieding en assessering van praktiese lesse bespreek. Die studie het aan die lig gebring dat hierdie onderwysers praktiese lesse op ’n tradisionele manier aanbied, eerder as om 21ste-eeuse benaderings te volg. In die meeste gevalle ontbreek noodsaaklike besonderhede tydens lesvoorbereidings, terwyl die leerders passiewe waarnemers is en die assessering op kennis eerder as vaardighede fokus. Verder is die volgende probleemareas geïdentifiseer: die onvoldoende toekenning van tyd vir die onderrig van natuurwetenskappe, asook ’n gebrek aan toepaslike hulpbronne. Die insig waartoe in die studie gekom is, kan gebruik word om die implementering van die kurrikulum te verbeter en om leiding aan die onderwysers te bied ten opsigte van die integrasie van praktiese lesse in natuurwetenskap.

This paper reports on secondary analysis of TIMSS 2003 data, based on a sound conceptual model, aiming to explain differential science achievement in South Africa from the perspective of educational effectiveness research. The conceptual framework was developed by refining existing school effectiveness models and including factors related to science achievement. The refined model integrated psychological and sociological aspects and reflected the multilevel-structure of schools. The model added resources and climate to the quality factors at class/school level. It was applied to the South African results of TIMSS 2003. Data from the student (n=8,952), teacher (n=255) and school questionnaires (n=255) were analysed in conjunction with achievement data by means of factor, reliability, correlation and multilevel analysis. The multilevel analysis revealed that at student level the strongest predictor of science achievement is attitude towards science. At classroom/school level, the strongest predictor...

This study investigated the use of performance–confidence relationships to signal the presence of alternative conceptions and inadequate problem‐solving skills in mechanics. A group of 33 students entering physics at a South African university participated in the project. The test instrument consisted of 20 items derived from existing standardised tests from literature, each of which was followed by a self‐reported measure of confidence of students in the correctness of their answers. Data collected for this study included students’ responses to multiple‐choice questions and open‐ended explanations for their chosen answers. Fixed response physics and confidence data were logarithmically transformed according to the Rasch model to linear measures of performance and confidence. The free response explanations were carefully analysed for accuracy of conceptual understanding. Comparison of these results with raw score data and transformed measures of performance and confidence allowed a re‐evaluation of the mo...

Teachers’ insight into misconceptions about simple circuits. Many studies on learners’ misconceptions about electricity have been published internationally, but studies on teachers’ awareness of these misconceptions are few. This article reports on a case study to investigate to what extent South African teachers understand learners’ misconceptions about series and parallel circuits, and to what extent such understandings are integrated into their pedagogical content knowledge. Nine teachers from public schools were purposefully selected to participate in the study. Qualitative data were collected from questionnaires and interviews. It was found that teachers often indicate simple misconceptions as sources of learners’ mistakes, but that misconceptions related to incorrect analysis are seldom mentioned. Furthermore, it was found that these teachers’ knowledge about misconceptions was fragmented and not integrated with their understanding of basic concepts. The results indicate that these teachers display inadequate pedagogical content knowledge regarding misconceptions about series and parallel circuits. It is recommended that pedagogical content knowledge regarding misconceptions should be developed during teacher training.

A study on the effect of a structured problem‐solving strategy on problem‐solving skills and conceptual understanding of physics was undertaken with 189 students in 16 disadvantaged South African schools. This paper focuses on the development of conceptual understanding. New instruments, namely a solutions map and a conceptual index, are introduced to assess conceptual understanding demonstrated in students’ written solutions to examination problems. The process of the development of conceptual understanding is then explored within the framework of Greeno’s model of scientific problem‐solving and reasoning. It was found that students who had been exposed to the structured problem‐solving strategy demonstrated better conceptual understanding of physics and tended to adopt a conceptual approach to problem‐solving.

A quasi-experimental study was undertaken to extend first-world research on physics problem solving into disadvantaged South African classrooms. Sixteen urban high schools, involving 189 learners, participated in the study, investigating the effect of a structured problem solving strategy on performance and conceptual understanding. This article focuses on the enhancement of problem solving performance in classroom tests and the midyear examination. The treatment group outperformed the control group by 8% in the midyear examination. Using ANOVA, this increased average score was statistically significant at the .001 level, indicating enhanced problem solving skills. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the strategy was not transferred successfully to topics studied prior to implementation of the problem solving strategy. A theory is presented to explain the results in terms of the co-development of conceptual understanding and problem solving skill.

Reconstruction on (111) Si and diamond surfaces is investigated by employing the MINDO/3 quantum chemistry procedure to optimise the geometries of clusters representing these surfaces. Localised molecular orbitals are constructed to interpret the reconstruction mechanisms in terms of bond changes. The clusters consist of eight Si or C atoms together with bond saturating hydrogens. Since two of the eight Si/C atoms represent first layer atoms, the cluster can spontaneously discriminate between these two atoms and therefore both 1 × 1 and 2 × 1 reconstruction can be modelled. It is found that the Si cluster indeed experiences an asymmetrical distortion in which one atom is raised with respect to the surface while the other is lowered. These displacements are accompanied by asymmetric dehybridisation of surface bonds and a transfer of charge between the two surface atoms as expected for such a Jahn-Teller distortion. Intra-atomic Coulomb repulsion in the raised, negatively charged atom is shown to be an important factor in opposing the reconstruction. In contrast to the Si cluster, the diamond cluster hardly shows any buckling, but considerable relaxation occurs. The structure does not differ substantially from a 1 × 1 reconstructed configuration. The reluctance of the diamond surface to undergo a Jahn-Teller distortion is ascribed to partial graphitisation of this surface.