3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item The impact of a learning study on the practice of experienced Physical Sciences teachers topic specific PCK in Stoichiometry(2018) Malcolm, Stephen AndrewThe topic of stoichiometry, which deals with the quantitative aspects of chemical reactions, is considered difficult to teach. Students’ poor performance in the topic is also well documented in the literature. In the South African context, students’ poor performance in final exit examinations, particularly on the mole, have sparked concerns over the teaching and learning of the topic, which has, in turn, highlighted the need for professional development. This thesis reports on a study conducted to determine the potential of a Learning Study as a professional development activity to develop teachers’ topic-specific pedagogical content knowledge in the mole. The study was conducted using a mixed methods research methodology in two distinct phases. In the first phase, the quality of experienced teachers’ topic-specific PCK was determined using instruments to measure teachers’ TSPCK and content knowledge. Responses to the instrument were used to determine the quality of teachers’ teaching approaches when teaching stoichiometry. This phase of the study highlighted that most teachers teach stoichiometry algorithmically. These results were used to inform the second phase of the study, particularly the focus of the professional development activity. During the second phase of the study, a Professional Learning Community was formed with three teachers selected from those who had completed the instruments in the first phase of the study. These teachers were enrolled in a post-graduate program, with the Professional Learning Community forming part of their own research component. Together with their supervisors as experts, we planned a lesson on the mole, explicitly using the construct of TSPCK in a Learning Study. During the Learning Study, the lesson was critically discussed and improved on over three cycles. These discussions formed the basis of determining the development of teachers’ TSPCK. The study found that the critical engagement of the lessons resulted in an improvement of the teachers’ TSPCK in the topic of stoichiometry. The impact of the Learning Study, in terms of the collective topic-specific PCK evident in a Professional Learning Community being enacted in the teaching practices of the teachers in the Learning Study highlighted that they delivered significantly better lessons than a comparison group that did not work together collaboratively. Participation in a Learning Study with the explicit inclusion of TSPCK not only develops teachers’ TSPCK but has a significant impact on the lessons delivered by the teachers working collaboratively. The study also contributes to the understanding of TSPCK enactment, and provides empirical evidence in terms of the emerging patterns during TSPCK enactment that supports the consensus model of teacher knowledge.Item The relationship between the philosophy of scientific knowledge and curriculum in Molecular Bioscience teaching at a tertiary learning institution(2018) Legg-E’Silva, Derryn AudreyThe relationship between teacher beliefs about the nature of science and scientific knowledge and pedagogical practice has been well studied. However, this has mainly been for teachers at school level. This study examined this relationship, in lecturers, at a university level where a single course is taught by multiple lecturers, each with their own beliefs and teaching practices. Anecdotal evidence suggests that science students are receiving mixed messages about the nature of science and scientific knowledge, these are contradictory to what they should be learning in order to think and reason like true scientists. Data was collected from four lecturers who lecture across the same Molecular Biosciences course in the form of interviews, classroom observations and text analyses in order to ascertain the relationship between the beliefs, practices and assessment approaches of each lecturer. The findings indicate that coherence exists between lecturers ’ beliefs and practices and is in agreement with previous research. However, this coherence does not occur between the lecturers. One lecturer was found to be positivist, two lecturers transitional and one lecturer reform-based in their beliefs and teaching approaches. An interesting finding with regards to assessment was revealed and provided an explanation for mixed messages science students may be receiving regarding the nature of science and scientific knowledge. It can therefore be concluded that lecturers’ beliefs about the nature of science and scientific knowledge are mirrored in their practices. This information may be useful for lecturer and teacher training and can be included in university and school discussions about views of teaching and assessment.Item 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, DeniseThe 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.Item Examining the development of topic specific pedagogical content knowledge in stoichiometry in pre-service teachers(2017) Ndlovu, Bongani PrinceOver the past three years, National Senior Certificate diagnostic reports reported that learner performance in key chemistry topics remains an aspect for concern. In these reports, poor understanding of stoichiometry is identified as an underlying factor. On the other hand, the status of mathematics and science teaching has been under critique by several education researchers, pointing to poor teacher training in the subjects. One possible way to respond to the challenge in science education is to introduce and emphasize the development of Topic Specific Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TSPCK) as the professional knowledge for teaching science topics in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programme. TSPCK is renowned for enabling teachers to pedagogically transform difficult content of specific science topics into forms best understandable by learners. This study examined the impact on the quality of TSPCK following an intervention that explicitly targeted the development of the competence to transform content knowledge using stoichiometry as a topic of learning. This examination happened as teacher plan to teach the topic. The study followed a Mixed Method research design and a case study as a research strategy. It was located in the methodology class of physical science IV. The participants were 10 pre-service teachers who were in their final year of Bachelor study in education (B. Ed). They were bound by the requirements of the course and their common choice of physical science as their major subject. These pre-service teachers were exposed to a TSPCK based intervention that explicitly targeted the development of TSPCK component interaction. More evidence of component interactions was comprehended as developing quality of TSPCK. Quantitative data was collected as a set of pre- and post-intervention TSPCK tests using existing, specially designed tools that were developed and validated in a separate study. Five (5) of the then pre-service were followed a year later after the intervention to measure the quality of TSPCK in the topic of intervention in order to determine the extent of retention of the quality of TSPCK since the intervention. Qualitative data was collected through face to face interviews to confirm observed patterns of retention. The findings in this study indicated that pre-service teachers experienced a visible improvement in the quality of their TSPCK in stoichiometry as a direct result of the intervention. Pre-service teachers showed more evidence of component interactions post the intervention. The results further indicated that pre-service teachers experienced the components of TSPCK to have different levels of difficulty when using them to transform the content in stoichiometry during planning. The component of ―conceptual teaching strategies‖ was found to be the most difficult. A year later, the quality of TSPCK in planning to teach the topic of the intervention was found to have been retained by the then pre-service teachers. Recommendations about the implementation of TSPCK in core topics in ITE are made. Firstly, for initial teacher education, it is recommended that courses such as methodology for teaching chemistry be structured as TSPCK based intervention. Secondly, more work need to be done in the examination of retention span of TSPCK. Thus, similar studies must be conducted in an effort to increase empirical evidence about the extent at which TSPCK is retained by beginning teachers.Item Exploring teacher talk and its role in learner understanding of science content(2016-09-13) Khoza, Hlologelo ClimantIn order for educational researchers to make informed decisions about science education, careful attention should be given to what happens in science classrooms. What teachers do shapes the interaction and influences learner cognitive development. Classroom talk is an important part of what goes on in science classrooms. Research has shown that teacher facilitation of talk is important for learner understanding of science content. The purpose of this study was to explore how teachers facilitate talk in their science classrooms for learner understanding of content. However, I looked at their views on classroom talk first. Teachers have the ability to either open up or close learner interaction through talk. The interaction triggers certain kinds of engagement which may or may not promote understanding. The participants in this study were three male science teachers from an independent school with their Grade 11 learners. Teachers were chosen based on their availability. I interviewed teachers for their views on classroom talk. The interviews were audio recorded. Teachers were also observed teaching and the observations were video-recorded and transcribed. Classroom observations were analyzed using Mortimer and Scott’s analytical framework on teacher communicative approaches. Findings suggest that although teachers value interaction and engage learners in dialogue, teachers use interactive authoritative approach more than interactive dialogic approach in their classrooms. The recommendation is that teacher education needs to find ways to make teachers aware of engaging learners in dialogic discourse in a science classroom