The overall aim of this study is to analyse history teachers’ understanding of the school subject history. The aim have also been to uncover what factors the history teachers say have affected their understanding of the school subject. Based on survey and interview methods, the question that this study deals with is: in the light of which general understanding of the school subject history, do the teachers make didactic choices on a daily basis? The first theme is biographical. The teachers’ life-history is taken into consideration and several factors in the teachers’ background and the school environment have been identified. It also seems as if the teachers’ understanding of the school subject goes from an elementary and searching approach to one that is more complex and convinced. The second theme is a more structural approach. The results shows three major orientations among the teachers’ general understanding namely, educational (bildung) orientation, critical orientation and identity orientation. Even though a main orientation can be seen among the teachers, an important result is also that the orientation is overall complex. At the most general level some patterns can be seen. First the connection between the teachers’ biography and their general understanding of the school subject. In the understanding of the school subject, it is also notable that teachers relate in different ways to history as science, history as identity and history from an ideological viewpoint. It is also possible to note some signs of change in the school subject history that follows a lager historiographical context.

The purpose of this study was to examine topic-specific nature of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). Two experienced chemistry teachers&rsquo / PCK was examined in electrochemistry and radioactivity. To capture participants&rsquo / PCK, all PCK components were studied. To get deep and rich answers to research questions asked, qualitative methodology was used. Participants were selected through purposeful sampling. Data were gathered through card-sorting activity, Content Representation (CoRe), semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and field notes. Results revealed that participants had two types of PCK, namely, PCK A for teaching electrochemistry and PCK B for teaching radioactivity. PCK A included content-based and teacher-centered instruction, many links to other topics in chemistry and in physics. The assessment was coherent which included different types of assessment strategies used at the beginning, during, and at the end of teaching. In PCK B, it was less teacher-centered. The link to other topics was limited. Additionally, teachers used fragmented assessment and were less knowledgeable about learners&rsquo / difficulties and misconceptions in radioactivity than they were in electrochemistry. Differences between PCK A and B may be related to nature of the topics. Learners need to have much pre-requisite knowledge both from chemistry and physics to learn electrochemistry. Also, there are more concepts in electrochemistry than there are in radioactivity. It seems that when teachers have to focus on more concepts to teach, they may have a tendency to teach more-teacher centered to save time. Teacher education programs should focus on topic-specific nature of PCK and provide topic-specific training to teachers.

The purpose of this study was to examine topic-specific nature of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). Two experienced chemistry teachers&rsquo / PCK was examined in electrochemistry and radioactivity. To capture participants&rsquo / PCK, all PCK components were studied. To get deep and rich answers to research questions asked, qualitative methodology was used. Participants were selected through purposeful sampling. Data were gathered through card-sorting activity, Content Representation (CoRe), semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and field notes. Results revealed that participants had two types of PCK, namely, PCK A for teaching electrochemistry and PCK B for teaching radioactivity. PCK A included content-based and teacher-centered instruction, many links to other topics in chemistry and in physics. The assessment was coherent which included different types of assessment strategies used at the beginning, during, and at the end of teaching. In PCK B, it was less teacher-centered. The link to other topics was limited. Additionally, teachers used fragmented assessment and were less knowledgeable about learners&rsquo / difficulties and misconceptions in radioactivity than they were in electrochemistry. Differences between PCK A and B may be related to nature of the topics. Learners need to have much pre-requisite knowledge both from chemistry and physics to learn electrochemistry. Also, there are more concepts in electrochemistry than there are in radioactivity. It seems that when teachers have to focus on more concepts to teach, they may have a tendency to teach more-teacher centered to save time. Teacher education programs should focus on topic-specific nature of PCK and provide topic-specific training to teachers.

South African learners underachieve in mathematics. The many different factors that influence this underachievement include mathematics teachers' role in teaching mathematics with understanding. The question arises as to how teachers' mathematical content knowledge states can be transformed to positively impact learners' achievement in mathematics. In this study, different kinds of teachers' knowledge needed for teaching mathematics were discussed against the background of research in this area, which included the work of Shulman, Ma and Ball. From this study an important kind of knowledge, namely mathematical content knowledge for teaching (MCKfT), was identified and a teacher's ability to unpack mathematical knowledge and understanding was highlighted as a vital characteristic of MCKfT. To determine further characteristics of MCKfT, the study focussed on the nature of mathematics, different kinds of mathematical content knowledge (procedural and conceptual), cognitive processes (problem solving, reasoning, communication, connections and representations) involved in doing mathematics and the development of mathematical understanding (instrumental vs. relational understanding). The influence of understanding different problem contexts and teachers' ability to develop reflective practices in teaching and learning mathematics were discussed and connected to a teacher's ability to unpack mathematical knowledge and understanding. In this regard, the role of teachers' prior knowledge or current mathematical content knowledge states was discussed extensively. These theoretical investigations led to identifying the characteristics of MCKfT, which in turn resulted in theoretical criteria for the development of MCKfT. The theoretical study provided criteria with which teachers' current mathematical content knowledge states could be analysed. This prompted the development of a diagnostic instrument consisting of questions on proportional reasoning and functions. A qualitative study was undertaken in the form of a diagnostic content analysis on teachers' current mathematical content knowledge states. A group of secondary school mathematics teachers (N=128) involved in the Sediba Project formed the study population. The Sediba Project is an in-service teacher training program for mathematics teachers over a period of two years. These teachers were divided into three sub-groups according to the number of years they had been involved in the Sediba Project at that stage. The teachers' current mathematical content knowledge states were analysed with respect to the theoretically determined characteristics of and criteria for the development of MCKfT. These criteria led to a theoretical framework for assessing teachers' current mathematical content knowledge states. The first four attributes consisted of the steps involved in mathematical problem solving skills, namely conceptual knowledge (which implies a deep understanding of the problem), procedural knowledge (which is reflected in the correct choice of a procedure), the ability to correctly execute the procedure and the insight to give a valid interpretation of the answer. Attribute five constituted the completion of these four attributes. The final six attributes were an understanding of different representations, communication of understanding in writing, reasoning skills, recognition of connections among different mathematical ideas, the ability to unpack mathematical understanding and understanding the context a problem is set in. Quantitative analyses were done on the obtained results for the diagnostic content analysis to determine the reliability of the constructed diagnostic instrument and to search for statistically significant differences among the responses of the different sub-groups. Results seemed to indicate that those teachers involved in the Sediba Project for one or two years had benefited from the in-service teacher training program. However, the impact of this teachers' training program was clearly influenced by the teachers' prior knowledge of mathematics. It became clear that conceptual understanding of foundation, intermediate and senior phase school mathematics that should form a sound mathematical knowledge base for more advanced topics in the school curriculum, is for the most part procedurally based with little or no conceptual understanding. The conclusion was that these teachers' current mathematical content knowledge states did not correspond to the characteristics of MCKfT and therefore displayed a need for the development of teachers' current mathematical content knowledge states according to the proposed criteria and model for the development of MCKfT. The recommendations were based on the fact that the training that these teachers had been receiving with respect to the development of MCKfT is inadequate to prepare them to teach mathematics with understanding. Teachers' prior knowledge should be exposed so that training can focus on the transformation of current mathematical content knowledge states according to the characteristics of MCKfT. A model for the development of MCKfT was proposed. The innermost idea behind this model is that a habit of reflective practices should be developed with respect to the characteristics of MCKfT to enable a mathematics teacher to communicate and unpack mathematical knowledge and understanding and consequently solve mathematical problems and teach mathematics with understanding. Key words for indexing: school mathematics, teacher knowledge, mathematical content knowledge, mathematical content knowledge for teaching, mathematical knowledge acquisition, mathematics teacher education / Thesis (Ph.D. (Education))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Recent trends show that learners’ enrolment and performance in science at secondary school level is dwindling. Some science topics including genetics in biology are said to be difficult for learners to learn and thus they perform poorly in examinations. Teacher knowledge base, particularly topic-specific pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), has been identified by many researchers as an important factor that is linked with learner understanding and achievement in science. This qualitative study was an attempt to explore the PCK of four successful biology teachers and how they developed it in the context of teaching genetics. The purposive sampling technique was employed to select the participating teachers based on their schools’ performance in biology public examinations and recommendations by science specialists and school principals. Pedagogical content knowledge was used as a theoretical framework for the study, which guided the inquiry in data collection, analysis and discussion of the research findings. The study adopted the case study method and various sources of evidence including concept maps, lesson plans, pre-lesson interviews, lesson observations, post-teaching teacher questionnaire, post-lesson interviews and document analysis were used to collect data on teachers’ PCK as well as how PCK was assumed to have developed. The data were analysed in an attempt to determine the individual teachers’ school genetics’ content knowledge, related knowledge of instructional strategies and knowledge of learners’ preconceptions and learning difficulties. The analysis involved an iterative process of coding data into PCK categories of content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and knowledge of learners’ preconceptions and learning difficulties. The findings of the study indicate that the four successful biology teachers generally have the necessary content knowledge of school genetics, used certain topic-specific instructional strategies, but lacked knowledge of genetics-related learners’ preconceptions and learning difficulties despite having taught the topic for many years. There were some instructional deficits in their approaches and techniques in teaching genetics. The teachers failed to use physical models, teacher demonstration and/or learner experimentation in their lessons (or include them in their lesson plans) to assist learners in visualizing or internalizing the genetics concepts or processes located at the sub-microscopic level. The teachers’ PCK in genetics teaching was assumed to have developed mainly through formal university education programmes, classroom teaching experiences, peer support and participation in in-service workshops. The implications for biology teacher education are also discussed. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lk2014 / Humanities Education / PhD / Unrestricted

This study investigated the teaching experiences of six elementary preservice teachers (EPTs), three with high mathematics anxiety and three with low mathematics anxiety, during their student teaching semester. The EPTs were selected from an initial pool of 121 EPTs who took the Abbreviated Mathematics Anxiety Scale. The cases were compared in a cross case analysis to highlight mathematics teaching experiences among EPTs. Data sources included EPT and researcher journal entries, interview transcripts, pre-lesson surveys, field notes, lesson plans, and artifacts of observed lessons. Data were coded using Shulman’s content knowledge, Graeber’s mathematics pedagogical content knowledge, and mathematics anxiety characteristics. Findings revealed both similarities and differences across EPTs as related to four major categories: (a) planning and resources used, (b) role of the cooperating teacher, (c) content knowledge, and (d) pedagogical content knowledge. All EPTs used mostly direct instruction and relied on the course textbook and their respective cooperating teacher as their primary resources for planning. Additionally, across participants, the cooperating teacher influenced EPTs’ perceptions of students and teaching. Also, EPTs with high mathematics anxiety were weaker with respect to content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. Findings suggest a need to re-design methods courses to address improving the pedagogical content knowledge of EPTs with mathematics anxiety. Findings also suggest a need to develop content specific mathematics courses for EPTs to improve their content knowledge. Future studies could include a longitudinal study to follow highly anxious EPTs who take content specific elementary mathematics courses to observe their content knowledge and mathematics anxiety.

This study is concerned with the development of subject knowledge in pre-service teachers of secondary physical education (PE) during their one year Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) course. It investigates the knowledge bases for teaching which pre-service teachers recognised, developed and prioritised, as well as the key influences that impacted on their subject knowledge development. Adopting an interpretive methodology informed by constructivist grounded theory, the study employed interviews, lesson observations and post-lesson reflections as principal research methods. Pre-service teachers were seen to make wide-ranging progress in their subject knowledge, including the development of content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, general pedagogical knowledge, knowledge of curriculum and knowledge of pupils. Through this they advanced their view of the nature of PE and how they wanted to teach it. The research highlights, that the process of knowledge development in PETE is socially constructed and complex. Much of the pre-service teachers development was influenced by various communities of practice, particularly their school placements PE departments, but also their University-based learning community. Of these, the legitimised practices within the PE departments were found to be especially important to pre-service teachers development. University-based learning was credited by pre-service teachers with enhancing their holistic understanding of the learning process, developing those aspects of critical pedagogy that were under-developed in schools. The impact of different subject knowledge profiles and the consequences of knowledge deficits are identified. This raises questions about the role and development of subject knowledge within PETE and calls for a re-vitalised debate on the nature of the knowledge in PE. Framed within an ever-changing policy landscape is the need for enhanced and stable partnerships that promote shared visions of PETE, an essential part of which is the need to collaboratively design and evaluate explicit knowledge development pathways which allow pre-service teachers to fulfil their potential and genuinely decide how they want to teach PE.

The overall aim of this study is to analyse history teachers’ understanding of the school subject history. The aim have also been to uncover what factors the history teachers say have affected their understanding of the school subject. Based on survey and interview methods, the question that this study deals with is: in the light of which general understanding of the school subject history, do the teachers make didactic choices on a daily basis? The first theme is biographical. The teachers’ life-history is taken into consideration and several factors in the teachers’ background and the school environment have been identified. It also seems as if the teachers’ understanding of the school subject goes from an elementary and searching approach to one that is more complex and convinced. The second theme is a more structural approach. The results shows three major orientations among the teachers’ general understanding namely, educational (bildung) orientation, critical orientation and identity orientation. Even though a main orientation can be seen among the teachers, an important result is also that the orientation is overall complex. At the most general level some patterns can be seen. First the connection between the teachers’ biography and their general understanding of the school subject. In the understanding of the school subject, it is also notable that teachers relate in different ways to history as science, history as identity and history from an ideological viewpoint. It is also possible to note some signs of change in the school subject history that follows a lager historiographical context.

This study investigated the effect of training in equipment use on science teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) about the wave concept. The levels of teachers' reported PCK was explored before and after in-service training through interviews and Content Representations (CoRe). Furthermore, the study extended to investigating how the teachers enacted PCK when teaching the wave concept in their classrooms after the training. This qualitative research followed a case study method with three Grade 10 Physical Sciences teachers who were selected purposefully and pragmatically. Their pedagogical reasoning was elicited through a Video Stimulated Recall (VSR) interview and their general views about the training were obtained through a post-training interview. The framework was adapted from the Refined Consensus Model (RCM) and considered PCK at a topic and concept level, with each realm of PCK being underpinned by the Topic-Specific Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TSPCK) components, namely, the learners’ prior knowledge, the curricular saliency, representations, what is difficult and/or easy to teach and understand, and the conceptual teaching strategies. However, all five TSPCK components were considered. The study was centred on three key ideas in the topic of waves, namely: wavelength; frequency; and superposition. The participants' reported PCK improved and the footprint of the training was visible in the enacted PCK of all of the participants. This study suggests that training on the use of equipment improves teachers’ enacted PCK and this may ultimately lead to improved learner performance. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / MEd / Unrestricted

South Africa is the first country in the world to offer Mathematical Literacy as a school subject. This subject was introduced in 2006 as an alternative to Mathematics in the Further Education and Training band. The purpose of this subject is to provide learners with an awareness and understanding of the role that mathematics plays in the modern world, but also with opportunities to engage in real-life problems in different contexts. A problem is the beliefs some people in and outside the classroom have regarding this subject such as teachers believing ML is the dumping ground for mathematics underperformers (Mbekwa, 2007). Another problem is the belief of some principals that any nonmathematics teacher can teach ML. In practice there is Mathematics teachers who teach ML in the same way that they teach Mathematics; non-Mathematics teachers who in many cases lack the necessary mathematical content knowledge and skills to teach ML competently; and Mathematics teachers who adapted their practices to teach ML using different approaches than those required for teaching Mathematics. Limited in-depth research has been done on the ML teachers, what they believe and what knowledge is required to teach this subject effectively and proficiently. The purpose of this study is to investigate the way in which ML is taught in a limited number of classrooms with the view to exploring the relationship between ML teachers’ knowledge and beliefs and their instructional practices. According to Artzt, Armour-Thomas and Curcio (2008) the instructional practice of the teacher plays out in the classroom where teachers’ goals, knowledge and beliefs serve as the driving force behind their instructional efforts to guide and mentor learners in their search for knowledge. To accomplish this aim, an in-depth case study was conducted to explore the nature of teachers’ knowledge and beliefs about ML as manifested in their instructional practices. A qualitative research approach was used in which observations and interviews served as data collection techniques enabling me to interpret the reality as I became part of the lives of the teachers. My study revealed that there is a dynamic but complex relationship between ML teachers’ knowledge and beliefs and their instructional practices. The teachers’ knowledge, but not their stated beliefs were reflected in their instructional practices. Conversely, in one case, the teacher’s instructional practice also had a positive influence on her knowledge and beliefs. It was further revealed that mathematics teacher training and teaching experience played a significant role in the productivity of the teachers’ practices. The findings suggest that although mathematical content knowledge is required to develop PCK, it is teaching experience that plays a crucial role in the development of teachers’ PCK. Although the study’s results cannot be generalised due to the small sample, I believe that the findings concerning the value of teachers’ knowledge and the contradictions between their stated beliefs and practices could possibly contribute to teacher training. Curriculum decision-makers should realise that the teaching of ML requires specially trained, competent, dedicated teachers who value the subject. This exploratory study concludes with recommendations for further research. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / unrestricted