Transformation of organic chemistry for teaching and learning: an analysis of Grade 12 South African textbooks and examination guidelines.

Abstract
In the context of educational transformation in South Africa the organic chemistry content of science textbooks needs to be mediated by the authors of the books profoundly and flexibly so as to provide for the diverse abilities and backgrounds of South African learners. This mediation requires critical interpretation of the curriculum documents [examination guidelines], representation and selection of the instructional ideas by using pedagogical content knowledge [PCK] so as to make the content accessible to the learners and to help them prepare for examinations. The purpose of this content analysis which used PCK as a theoretical framework was to establish how the grade12 organic chemistry content has been transformed for teaching and learning by the textbook authors and what teaching methods have been used, as not all the textbooks seem to cover the same content. To capture the PCK of the authors a representation of the content or CoRe was used for each of the books analysed using the Big Ideas from the text as well as the Bishop and Denley’s six knowledge bases of PCK. The study showed that although all the books analysed showed evidence of the authors’ PCK none of them mediated the content sufficiently to cater adequately for the learners’ needs.
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