Browsing by Author "Van der Merwe, Denise"

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Examining pre-service teachers' reflections on their classroom teaching in order to identify topic specific pedagogical content knowledge in their practice
(2017) Van der Merwe, Denise
The gap between theory and practice in education remains a persistent problem identified by some researchers as today’s “Achilles heel of teacher education”. The experience in science education is no different. Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has emerged as a theoretical construct that offers science education practitioners a framework to bridge the theory-practice divide because of its ability to transform content knowledge. However, little is known about how the complexity of classroom practice influences PCK acquired by pre-service teachers from structured courses. The purpose of this study was to illuminate pre-service teachers’ PCK as it develops from a point of reasoning about teaching a specific topic into classroom delivery. This study was performed as a qualitative case study of 23 final year pre-service science teachers. It was located in a methodology class that had a specific objective to develop PCK in core topics of science. The students were exposed to an explict intervention on developing PCK in teaching stochiometry then placed in various High Schools around Johannesburg during teaching experience. Data collected was largely during their placement in schools. It consisted of qualitative data such as lesson plans, audio recordings of classroom teaching and self - analysis reports submitted after the teaching experience. Analysis was based on a qualitative in-depth method for identification of evidence of teaching segments illustrating pedagogical transformation. These are segments where there is evidence of two or more topic specific components of PCK defined as Topic Specific Content Knowledge (TSPCK). These were called TSPCK episodes. The TSPCK episodes identified in lessons plans and in recorded lessons were analysed for identificaton of components present and the nature of interactions. These were turned into pictorial TSPCK MAPS. The analysis of pre-service teachers’ views on TSPCK were analysed through a combination of open statements and a science teacher belief tool. The findings indicated that TSPCK episodes identified in lessons plans experience an authentic expansion, blossoming into a cluster of episodes which still carried out the original intention. In some cases the intention could be seen through a similar TSPCK episode in some cases the component sequence and identity had changed. Furthermore, pre-service teachers showed positive awareness of their own level of teacher development and credited their development to the TSPCK framework. Recommendations in this report include promotion of the implementation of the TSPCK framework in Initial Teacher Education, particularly in the methodology courses with reference to classroom complexity.
The conceptualization of teacher professional knowledge for enabling digital pedagogical transformation of content using animations for the topic of electromagnetism
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Van der Merwe, Denise; Mavhunga, Elizabeth
Electromagnetism as a topic in the Grade 11 Physical Sciences syllabus in South Africa appears to be a difficult topic to teach and understand. The abstract nature of the concepts and the two dimensional representations in textbooks have contributed to the difficulty in teaching the topic. The COVID-19 pandemic brought home the need to adapt teaching and learning at a faster rate than before, demanding that teaching and learning move onto online platforms at an exponential rate. Traditional theoretical constructs for teacher knowledge like TSPCK have been useful in traditional classrooms settings, however, are becoming insufficient to support the teacher effectively in digital classroom settings. Thus, this study explored the conceptualization and implementation of a refined conceptual framework that acknowledges the development of teacher digital competences and the cognitive load demand on learners who learn through multimedia. Firstly, a new construct was argued for which had its foundation in TSPCK but harnessed the technological knowledge required to digitally transform content and learning principles of multimedia learning. An iterative literature meta-synthesis enabled the amalgamation of three complementary frameworks to promote content transformation on a digital platform. Secondly, the new construct informed an intervention with practising Physical Sciences teachers with knowledge of using technology in the classroom. Results indicated that the participating teachers only possessed TSPCK, a requirement for the development of digital-TSPCK, before the intervention. The analysis of their animation planning, creation and reflections of the process indicated emerging levels of digital-TSPCK in each of the participating teachers. The nature of the component interactions of the amalgamated frameworks indicated that, not only did the components within each framework act together in the planning and creation of the animations, but III also there was visible interaction between the components of the different frameworks, which held potential for further investigation across other science topics. In conclusion, this new construct could empower teachers to become the creators of their own pedagogically reasoned online content in the form of animations. Furthermore, this study opens the floor for future studies in other science topics, and with pre-service teachers to enable them to enter the teaching profession armed with the knowledge to teach as content creators in the 4th Industrial revolution.