Most South African township science teachers’ subject matter knowledge is
not sufficient when compared to their counterparts in well developed
countries. This disadvantages many Physical Science learners because
teachers find it difficult to use their subject matter knowledge flexibly so
that learners can understand basic concepts within the learning area.
Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) is a term used to label the knowledge
that is used by teachers to make learning concepts easier. This study sought
to investigate teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge of the mole in two
high school township schools of teachers in Gauteng. This was done by
interviewing two high school teachers in Katlehong, a township south of
Gauteng near Johannesburg, and observing their classroom practice and thus
analyzing the role played by their content knowledge in developing their
pedagogical content knowledge (PCK).
The teachers were also exposed to a three hour workshop in conceptual
approaches to teaching the mole. The study drew on the literature on PCK
which helped to (1) analyse the responses obtained from the teachers, and
(2) develop Professional and Pedagogical Representations (PaPe-Rs) and
Content Representation (CoRe) of the two teachers who participated in the
study. The CoRe is about representing the educators’ understanding of PCK,
namely, the different aspects that educators consider when preparing and
presenting a particular content in their field of teaching, whilst PaPeRs are
like a window into a teaching and learning situation wherein it is the content
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that shapes the pedagogy. This was achieved by employing a case study
approach.
Findings in this study indicate that both teachers preferred to use
prescribed and study manuals that are examination orientated which
promote algorithmic approach; both teachers’ subject knowledge of the mole
was insufficient and described the mole as a number; that they preferred
methods that promote memorization of definition and to use algorithmic
rather than conceptual approach when teaching the mole. Some traces of
elements of PCK could be identified although not well developed. One of
teachers attempted to teach for conceptual understanding, a strategy that
was suggested in a workshop, but was unable to link it to algorithmic
approach, an approach that she was comfortable to use. The findings of this
study imply that algorithmic approaches to the teaching of chemistry abound
in South African schools. There is a need to move from algorithmic to
conceptual approach. However, moves to conceptual approaches will involve
far more than short presentation of packages using conceptual approaches.
Teachers need to come to understand the importance of conceptual
approaches to a meaningful understanding of chemistry and this can be
achieved by long term exposure of teachers to such practices.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/6779 |
| Date | 24 March 2009 |
| Creators | Ndlovu, Thandi Brenda |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf |
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