Pub Date : 2023-11-09DOI: 10.1080/18117295.2023.2275859
Lindelani Mnguni, Moleboheng Ramulumo, Indah Juwita Sari, R. Ahmad Zaky El Islami
AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of a multifaceted public health approach. Promoting health literacy and safe behaviour to reduce disease spread can be an effective social vaccine. However, the role of science teachers as part of a social vaccine is unclear. Similarly, their responses to health crises and the factors affecting such responses are poorly understood. We investigated the relationship between the COVID-19 vaccination status and the reliance on different sources of information among pre-service science teachers from South African and Indonesian universities as a preliminary effort to understand the role that teachers could play in promoting health literacy and safe behavioural practices. We conducted a survey using a comparative quantitative approach to gather data from 87 South African and 93 Indonesian pre-service science teachers through a closed-ended questionnaire. Different statistical tests were performed using SPSS to analyse the data, including the Mann–Whitney U test, Levene’s test for equality of variance, t-test, regression analysis and analysis of variance. The results show that South African pre-service science teachers reported a lower COVID-19 vaccine uptake than Indonesians. Both sets of participants rely on social media, research articles, textbooks and friends and family to learn about COVID-19. However, reliance on these sources is not significantly associated with vaccination status. We conclude that contextual factors may affect vaccination status. We recommend further research into science teachers’ role in promoting health literacy and safe behavioural practices to reduce the spread of diseases. We also recommend using social media to share scientific information for health education.Keywords: COVID-19pre-service science teacherssocial vaccinesources of informationvaccination Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
{"title":"The Relationship Between the Covid-19 Vaccination Status and the Reliance on Different Sources of Information Among Pre-service Science Teachers from South African and Indonesian Universities","authors":"Lindelani Mnguni, Moleboheng Ramulumo, Indah Juwita Sari, R. Ahmad Zaky El Islami","doi":"10.1080/18117295.2023.2275859","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/18117295.2023.2275859","url":null,"abstract":"AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of a multifaceted public health approach. Promoting health literacy and safe behaviour to reduce disease spread can be an effective social vaccine. However, the role of science teachers as part of a social vaccine is unclear. Similarly, their responses to health crises and the factors affecting such responses are poorly understood. We investigated the relationship between the COVID-19 vaccination status and the reliance on different sources of information among pre-service science teachers from South African and Indonesian universities as a preliminary effort to understand the role that teachers could play in promoting health literacy and safe behavioural practices. We conducted a survey using a comparative quantitative approach to gather data from 87 South African and 93 Indonesian pre-service science teachers through a closed-ended questionnaire. Different statistical tests were performed using SPSS to analyse the data, including the Mann–Whitney U test, Levene’s test for equality of variance, t-test, regression analysis and analysis of variance. The results show that South African pre-service science teachers reported a lower COVID-19 vaccine uptake than Indonesians. Both sets of participants rely on social media, research articles, textbooks and friends and family to learn about COVID-19. However, reliance on these sources is not significantly associated with vaccination status. We conclude that contextual factors may affect vaccination status. We recommend further research into science teachers’ role in promoting health literacy and safe behavioural practices to reduce the spread of diseases. We also recommend using social media to share scientific information for health education.Keywords: COVID-19pre-service science teacherssocial vaccinesources of informationvaccination Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).","PeriodicalId":44353,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Research in Mathematics Science and Technology Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135290752","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-11-05DOI: 10.1080/18117295.2023.2255375
Kimberley Porteus
The majority of children in mainstream (no fee, poorly resourced, African language dominant) public schools in South Africa fall significantly behind curricular norms in mathematics by Grade 3; the early learning gap grows across time. The provision of quality instructional materials is a well-recognised component of effective strategies to improve early grade mathematics in low- and middle-income contexts. However, there has been little explication of what constitutes quality instructional materials, nor long-term design work to contribute theory to this instructional design challenge. Across 15 years, the author has been working in an education design hub with teacher educators and teachers in the rural Eastern Cape, with the goal of improving early grade mathematics. The gains in mathematics performance have been among the most significant reported in research literature. This paper presents the design principles emerging from the work. Engaging the theoretical layers discussed by diSessa and Cobb, the paper contributes to design theory by emphasising the relationship between explicit instructional assumptions and design principles, integrating four ontological categories (motive, pedagogy, language use and mathematical meaning-making). Since 2011, the Department of Basic Education has provided learner workbooks to support teaching and learning in foundation phase mathematics at system scale. It is hoped that this paper will contribute to the ongoing development of this vital national resource. The paper makes explicit instructional assumptions and design principles (available for critique, adaptation, and refinement), and provides a more nuanced framework through which to assess and improve materials across time.
{"title":"Mapping Design Principles to Instructional Realities in Early Grade Mathematics in South Africa: A Framework for Designing and Evaluating Learning and Teaching Support Materials","authors":"Kimberley Porteus","doi":"10.1080/18117295.2023.2255375","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/18117295.2023.2255375","url":null,"abstract":"The majority of children in mainstream (no fee, poorly resourced, African language dominant) public schools in South Africa fall significantly behind curricular norms in mathematics by Grade 3; the early learning gap grows across time. The provision of quality instructional materials is a well-recognised component of effective strategies to improve early grade mathematics in low- and middle-income contexts. However, there has been little explication of what constitutes quality instructional materials, nor long-term design work to contribute theory to this instructional design challenge. Across 15 years, the author has been working in an education design hub with teacher educators and teachers in the rural Eastern Cape, with the goal of improving early grade mathematics. The gains in mathematics performance have been among the most significant reported in research literature. This paper presents the design principles emerging from the work. Engaging the theoretical layers discussed by diSessa and Cobb, the paper contributes to design theory by emphasising the relationship between explicit instructional assumptions and design principles, integrating four ontological categories (motive, pedagogy, language use and mathematical meaning-making). Since 2011, the Department of Basic Education has provided learner workbooks to support teaching and learning in foundation phase mathematics at system scale. It is hoped that this paper will contribute to the ongoing development of this vital national resource. The paper makes explicit instructional assumptions and design principles (available for critique, adaptation, and refinement), and provides a more nuanced framework through which to assess and improve materials across time.","PeriodicalId":44353,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Research in Mathematics Science and Technology Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135725678","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-19DOI: 10.1080/18117295.2023.2265241
Emmanuel Agyei, Douglas Darko Agyei, Isaac Benning
AbstractIn spite of the proliferation of educational technologies, teacher surveys have indicated relatively low levels of technology integration in mathematics lesson delivery in Ghanaian Senior High Schools. This study examined how Senior High School mathematics teachers use the available technology resources in their pedagogy in Ghana. Drawing on the substitution, augmentation, modification and redefinition model, an explanatory sequential mixed methods design was employed for the study. A questionnaire, classroom observation and semi-structured interview guide were used in gathering data for the study. A total of 202 mathematics teachers were selected using a stratified sampling technique. The quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations) whereas the qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis. The results showed relatively low levels of technology usage as modification or redefinition in mathematics lesson delivery; however, the calculator was reported as the predominant technology frequently used by mathematics teachers as substitution and augmentation in their classrooms. The results also revealed that mathematics teachers could only use technology to facilitate their pedagogical activities. They used digital technologies to prepare for lessons, assist in computational tasks during class (substitution) and validate mathematical solutions (augmentation). Consequently, the study emphasises the necessity of training and enhancing teachers’ skills to enable them to employ technology for the transformation (modification and redefinition) of their pedagogical practices within the classroom. This transformation would allow students to utilise technology not only for computation and solution verification but also to develop mathematical concepts and critical thinking skills.Keywords: Technology usagecalculatormathematics teachersSAMR model Disclosure StatementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
{"title":"Teaching Mathematics with Digital Technologies: A Situational Analysis of High School Teachers’ Experiences in Ghana","authors":"Emmanuel Agyei, Douglas Darko Agyei, Isaac Benning","doi":"10.1080/18117295.2023.2265241","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/18117295.2023.2265241","url":null,"abstract":"AbstractIn spite of the proliferation of educational technologies, teacher surveys have indicated relatively low levels of technology integration in mathematics lesson delivery in Ghanaian Senior High Schools. This study examined how Senior High School mathematics teachers use the available technology resources in their pedagogy in Ghana. Drawing on the substitution, augmentation, modification and redefinition model, an explanatory sequential mixed methods design was employed for the study. A questionnaire, classroom observation and semi-structured interview guide were used in gathering data for the study. A total of 202 mathematics teachers were selected using a stratified sampling technique. The quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations) whereas the qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis. The results showed relatively low levels of technology usage as modification or redefinition in mathematics lesson delivery; however, the calculator was reported as the predominant technology frequently used by mathematics teachers as substitution and augmentation in their classrooms. The results also revealed that mathematics teachers could only use technology to facilitate their pedagogical activities. They used digital technologies to prepare for lessons, assist in computational tasks during class (substitution) and validate mathematical solutions (augmentation). Consequently, the study emphasises the necessity of training and enhancing teachers’ skills to enable them to employ technology for the transformation (modification and redefinition) of their pedagogical practices within the classroom. This transformation would allow students to utilise technology not only for computation and solution verification but also to develop mathematical concepts and critical thinking skills.Keywords: Technology usagecalculatormathematics teachersSAMR model Disclosure StatementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).","PeriodicalId":44353,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Research in Mathematics Science and Technology Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135779964","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-25DOI: 10.1080/18117295.2023.2224138
Roxanne Long, Mellony Graven
AbstractThis paper explores Grade R teacher expressions of themselves as teachers of numeracy, and as teachers working in the transition phase of schooling, after their participation in a research-informed numeracy-focused professional development (PD) intervention. The Early Number Fun (ENF) programme had 33 teachers from 17 Eastern Cape schools participating monthly over 18 months. Inclusion of Grade R to schooling is relatively new following policy changes in Early Childhood Development. In-service support tends to be subsumed within the Foundation Phase without attention to the specialised nature of Grade R that emphasises learning through play. ENF focused on the development of specialised teacher knowledge to support the development of early number sense through play, particularly with conceptual manipulatives. Data sources include three pre-, during, and post-PD questionnaires. Findings reveal that participation in ENF, and access to multiple research informed numeracy resources, supported teachers in their relationship with numeracy and the teaching thereof. Questionnaire responses indicate greater confidence in themselves as knowledgeable teachers of numeracy and that belonging to the ENF community supported navigation of positive professional identities within the mixed messages of policy. The findings contribute to the community-supported field of Grade R PD research and early numeracy teaching and learning. In concluding we discuss implications of this research for Grade R PD and for policy.Keywords: Professional developmentCommunity of practiceGrade R teachersMathematics educationEarly Childhood Development AcknowledgementThis work is based on research supported by the South African Research Chairs Initiative of the National Research Foundation (grant no. 74658).Disclosure StatementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
摘要本文探讨了R级教师在参与以研究为导向的以数学为中心的专业发展(PD)干预后，作为数学教师和在学校过渡阶段工作的教师的自我表达。早期数字娱乐(ENF)项目有来自17所东开普省学校的33名教师在18个月内每月参加。随着儿童早期发展政策的变化，将R年级纳入学校教育相对较新。在职支持往往被纳入基础阶段，而没有注意到强调通过游戏学习的R级的专业性。ENF专注于教师专业知识的发展，通过游戏，特别是概念操作来支持早期数字感的发展。数据来源包括pd前、pd中、pd后三份问卷。研究结果显示，参与ENF，并获得多种关于计算的研究资源，有助于教师与计算及其教学的关系。问卷调查结果表明，他们对自己作为知识渊博的数学教师有更大的信心，并且属于ENF社区的人在混杂的政策信息中支持积极的职业身份导航。研究结果有助于社区支持的R级PD研究和早期计算教学领域。最后，我们讨论了本研究对R级PD和政策的影响。关键词:专业developmentCommunity practiceGrade R teachersMathematics educationEarly童年发展AcknowledgementThis支持的工作是基于研究南非国家研究基金会的研究联席计划(批准号74658)。披露声明作者未报告潜在的利益冲突。
{"title":"Grade R Teacher Expressions of Themselves as Teachers of Early Numeracy Participating in an Intervention Programme","authors":"Roxanne Long, Mellony Graven","doi":"10.1080/18117295.2023.2224138","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/18117295.2023.2224138","url":null,"abstract":"AbstractThis paper explores Grade R teacher expressions of themselves as teachers of numeracy, and as teachers working in the transition phase of schooling, after their participation in a research-informed numeracy-focused professional development (PD) intervention. The Early Number Fun (ENF) programme had 33 teachers from 17 Eastern Cape schools participating monthly over 18 months. Inclusion of Grade R to schooling is relatively new following policy changes in Early Childhood Development. In-service support tends to be subsumed within the Foundation Phase without attention to the specialised nature of Grade R that emphasises learning through play. ENF focused on the development of specialised teacher knowledge to support the development of early number sense through play, particularly with conceptual manipulatives. Data sources include three pre-, during, and post-PD questionnaires. Findings reveal that participation in ENF, and access to multiple research informed numeracy resources, supported teachers in their relationship with numeracy and the teaching thereof. Questionnaire responses indicate greater confidence in themselves as knowledgeable teachers of numeracy and that belonging to the ENF community supported navigation of positive professional identities within the mixed messages of policy. The findings contribute to the community-supported field of Grade R PD research and early numeracy teaching and learning. In concluding we discuss implications of this research for Grade R PD and for policy.Keywords: Professional developmentCommunity of practiceGrade R teachersMathematics educationEarly Childhood Development AcknowledgementThis work is based on research supported by the South African Research Chairs Initiative of the National Research Foundation (grant no. 74658).Disclosure StatementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).","PeriodicalId":44353,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Research in Mathematics Science and Technology Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135864462","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sarah Adkins, Kynadi Brasfield, Tam Tran, J. Jeffrey Morris, Samiksha Raut
Undergraduate students in large enrollment gateway courses like introductory biology are often inundated with different study resources to enhance their success on course exams. A good performance on these exams as measured by course grades is a strong determinant of their downstream success in the biology major and ultimately retention in STEM fields. Previous studies have suggested best-practices like pre-class reading guides or Supplemental Instruction. However, many of these studies do not also corroborate student course outcomes with Student Approaches to Learning (SAL). We investigated the association between specific resources and how they correlated with higher exam grades. We further investigated the degree to which SAL also correlated with student outcomes. We collected data over a span of two years from a large introductory biology course (N= 307) from a southeastern university by using a post-semester resource questionnaire. This questionnaire asked the students to describe the study resources they had utilized during the course of the semester and further assessed SAL via the Revised Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F). Our results indicate that students who earned a higher overall grade in the course were significantly more likely to self-report higher attendance in optional peer-led Supplemental Instruction meetings and, unexpectedly, were less likely to use pre-class reading guides. These students were more likely to report finding course material interesting, whereas students with lower overall final grades were more likely to report trying to memorize course material. However, we also found that students with higher course grades and high previous college GPAs also reported using rote memorization. Given that the efficacy of resources can vary based on the student, we not only encourage the promotion of resources supported by empirical evidence, but also encourage a deeper understanding of the SAL which shapes resource use.
{"title":"Which course resources and student approaches to learning are related to higher grades in introductory biology?","authors":"Sarah Adkins, Kynadi Brasfield, Tam Tran, J. Jeffrey Morris, Samiksha Raut","doi":"10.31756/jrsmte.633","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31756/jrsmte.633","url":null,"abstract":"Undergraduate students in large enrollment gateway courses like introductory biology are often inundated with different study resources to enhance their success on course exams. A good performance on these exams as measured by course grades is a strong determinant of their downstream success in the biology major and ultimately retention in STEM fields. Previous studies have suggested best-practices like pre-class reading guides or Supplemental Instruction. However, many of these studies do not also corroborate student course outcomes with Student Approaches to Learning (SAL). We investigated the association between specific resources and how they correlated with higher exam grades. We further investigated the degree to which SAL also correlated with student outcomes. We collected data over a span of two years from a large introductory biology course (N= 307) from a southeastern university by using a post-semester resource questionnaire. This questionnaire asked the students to describe the study resources they had utilized during the course of the semester and further assessed SAL via the Revised Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F). Our results indicate that students who earned a higher overall grade in the course were significantly more likely to self-report higher attendance in optional peer-led Supplemental Instruction meetings and, unexpectedly, were less likely to use pre-class reading guides. These students were more likely to report finding course material interesting, whereas students with lower overall final grades were more likely to report trying to memorize course material. However, we also found that students with higher course grades and high previous college GPAs also reported using rote memorization. Given that the efficacy of resources can vary based on the student, we not only encourage the promotion of resources supported by empirical evidence, but also encourage a deeper understanding of the SAL which shapes resource use.","PeriodicalId":44353,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Research in Mathematics Science and Technology Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136071995","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-31DOI: 10.1080/18117295.2023.2245997
M. Manyilizu
Gender inequality is strongly linked with poor performance in science and mathematics for female students in secondary schools owing to socio-economic and cultural issues as well as learning strategies. According to the Certificate of Secondary Education Examination results of 2021 in Tanzania, the failure rate for female students was higher than that for male students, and such failure in chemistry was associated with inadequate knowledge about the tested concepts, failure to identify the requirements of the respective questions and lack of adequate mathematical skills. Real practical sessions are integral parts of chemistry to enhance the learning environments for both female and male students. However, the real laboratory practices especially for chemistry are challenged with the costs of the construction of physical laboratory infrastructure and reagents, and the time-consuming and physical demands on personnel during real practical sessions. Thus, this study explores gender-based effects of the chemistry virtual laboratory against a paper-based approach towards a real chemistry practical in Tanzanian secondary schools. The results indicate that the combined exposures of virtual laboratory and paper-based practicals improve real practical performance for both female and male students. Moreover, the performance of real practical practices progressively improved for female students when they were first exposed to the virtual laboratory and then the paper-based practical. Such improvements can be associated with the virtual laboratory providing interactive learning environments which support female students to connect and engage.
{"title":"Exploring gender-based effects of virtual laboratory against paper-based practices towards real chemistry practical in Tanzanian secondary schools","authors":"M. Manyilizu","doi":"10.1080/18117295.2023.2245997","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/18117295.2023.2245997","url":null,"abstract":"Gender inequality is strongly linked with poor performance in science and mathematics for female students in secondary schools owing to socio-economic and cultural issues as well as learning strategies. According to the Certificate of Secondary Education Examination results of 2021 in Tanzania, the failure rate for female students was higher than that for male students, and such failure in chemistry was associated with inadequate knowledge about the tested concepts, failure to identify the requirements of the respective questions and lack of adequate mathematical skills. Real practical sessions are integral parts of chemistry to enhance the learning environments for both female and male students. However, the real laboratory practices especially for chemistry are challenged with the costs of the construction of physical laboratory infrastructure and reagents, and the time-consuming and physical demands on personnel during real practical sessions. Thus, this study explores gender-based effects of the chemistry virtual laboratory against a paper-based approach towards a real chemistry practical in Tanzanian secondary schools. The results indicate that the combined exposures of virtual laboratory and paper-based practicals improve real practical performance for both female and male students. Moreover, the performance of real practical practices progressively improved for female students when they were first exposed to the virtual laboratory and then the paper-based practical. Such improvements can be associated with the virtual laboratory providing interactive learning environments which support female students to connect and engage.","PeriodicalId":44353,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Research in Mathematics Science and Technology Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2023-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76613098","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-29DOI: 10.1080/18117295.2023.2245602
N. Omilani, Ime Ajibola
This study surveyed 19 chemistry teachers’ stoichiometry pedagogical content knowledge (SPCK) in Ijebu Ode local government area of Ogun state, Nigeria using Malcolm’s Physical Science Teachers’ SPCK test. The qualitative data were transformed to scores, which revealed the level of chemistry teachers’ knowledge of students’ prior knowledge, curriculum saliency, what makes stoichiometry easy or difficult to understand representations and conceptual teaching strategies. In addition, the study determined how the level of teachers’ SPCK is related to students’ stoichiometry achievement. The results showed that 89% of the chemistry teachers provided novice or basic responses for all the five components of SPCK. The group mean of teachers’ responses for each of the SPCK components revealed that the teachers had the highest knowledge level for the component of what makes stoichiometry easy or difficult to understand. The group means for the other four SPCK components are below the basic level; specifically, the knowledge of representations and analogies used in stoichiometry teaching and of conceptual teaching strategies were at a very low SPCK level. Out of the 19 teachers, six are classified as novices, eleven are basic and two are developing experts. The results also showed that the teachers’ SPCK level is associated with students’ achievement in stoichiometry, in that, the students of the developing expert teachers had a significantly higher achievement than their peers taught by the novice and basic level SPCK teachers. Therefore, it is recommended that in-service and pre-service chemistry teachers are exposed to training that will improve their SPCK specifically regarding students’ prior knowledge, curriculum saliency, representations and conceptual teaching strategies.
{"title":"Chemistry Teachers’ Stoichiometry Pedagogical Content Knowledge and its Relationship with Chemistry Students’ Achievement in Stoichiometry","authors":"N. Omilani, Ime Ajibola","doi":"10.1080/18117295.2023.2245602","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/18117295.2023.2245602","url":null,"abstract":"This study surveyed 19 chemistry teachers’ stoichiometry pedagogical content knowledge (SPCK) in Ijebu Ode local government area of Ogun state, Nigeria using Malcolm’s Physical Science Teachers’ SPCK test. The qualitative data were transformed to scores, which revealed the level of chemistry teachers’ knowledge of students’ prior knowledge, curriculum saliency, what makes stoichiometry easy or difficult to understand representations and conceptual teaching strategies. In addition, the study determined how the level of teachers’ SPCK is related to students’ stoichiometry achievement. The results showed that 89% of the chemistry teachers provided novice or basic responses for all the five components of SPCK. The group mean of teachers’ responses for each of the SPCK components revealed that the teachers had the highest knowledge level for the component of what makes stoichiometry easy or difficult to understand. The group means for the other four SPCK components are below the basic level; specifically, the knowledge of representations and analogies used in stoichiometry teaching and of conceptual teaching strategies were at a very low SPCK level. Out of the 19 teachers, six are classified as novices, eleven are basic and two are developing experts. The results also showed that the teachers’ SPCK level is associated with students’ achievement in stoichiometry, in that, the students of the developing expert teachers had a significantly higher achievement than their peers taught by the novice and basic level SPCK teachers. Therefore, it is recommended that in-service and pre-service chemistry teachers are exposed to training that will improve their SPCK specifically regarding students’ prior knowledge, curriculum saliency, representations and conceptual teaching strategies.","PeriodicalId":44353,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Research in Mathematics Science and Technology Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2023-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86821528","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A 20-year review of South African Early Grade Mathematics Research Articles","authors":"Samantha Morrison, Mellony Graven, Hamsa Venkat, Pamela Vale","doi":"10.1080/18117295.2023.2226547","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/18117295.2023.2226547","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44353,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Research in Mathematics Science and Technology Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2023-08-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79471112","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-22DOI: 10.1080/18117295.2023.2247711
Elizabeth Mavhunga, B. Ndlovu
This paper addresses the important question of the nature of the subject matter (content knowledge) that should be a base for a science teacher education curriculum. We present our argument in two parts. Firstly, we report an argument conceptualising the nature of content knowledge for science teaching that we called TerSCK. This is followed by a presentation on the shape of a science teacher education curriculum for developing TerSCK, introduced as a TerSCK-based teacher education curriculum. Our conceptualisation argument is built on a systematic analysis of previous qualitative arguments about the nature of content knowledge for teaching school science subjects. It is influenced by Deng’s foundational work critiquing the grip of the doctrine of academic disciplines in theorising content knowledge for teaching, as the base from which teachers pedagogically transform their content knowledge. While acknowledging this criticism, we present the appropriate content knowledge for science teachers (TerSCK) to reflect the complex relationship between the academic and the school science kinds of content knowledge through three of Deng’s relational dimensions: logical, epistemological and social dimensions that constitute TerSCK. Drawing on Schwab’s curriculum faces, these relational dimensions of TerSCK were translated into a TerSCK-based curriculum comprising five elements: (i) the fundamental concepts of the topic within the discipline; (ii) interconnections between the concepts that make up the fundamental concepts; (iii) tensions from the process of extracting the discipline fundamentals into the school curriculum constraints; (iv) scientific and other modes of inquiry from non-science disciplines; and (v) cultivating social agency. We close our argument by illustrating the implementation of the TerSCK-based curriculum using the organic chemistry topic. Our recommendations call for further studies exploring the validation of a TerSCK-based curriculum across different science topics.
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Pub Date : 2023-08-20DOI: 10.1080/18117295.2023.2226545
Lise Westaway, L. Webb, Maria Weitz, H. Botha
{"title":"Exploring Conceptions of ‘Number Sense’ Evident in Pre-service Programmes for Primary School Teachers: A Review of Texts Used Across 11 University Programmes","authors":"Lise Westaway, L. Webb, Maria Weitz, H. Botha","doi":"10.1080/18117295.2023.2226545","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/18117295.2023.2226545","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44353,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Research in Mathematics Science and Technology Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2023-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88946548","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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