This paper reports on a study that explored the subject and pedagogical content knowledge displayed by high school mathematics teachers in the Khomas education region in Namibia. The study was based on a quantitative approach using a survey design. A stratified random sampling method was used to select the participants in all the four school…

Problem-based learning (PBL) is considered to be an effective teaching and learning strategy as it leads to longer retention of concepts learnt, improves problem-solving skills and enhances critical thinking. However, teachers often find it difficult to implement as they do not receive guidance during their initial training. A professional…

It has recently been suggested that pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has a concept-specific nature, beyond the topic-specific level of PCK. This paper reports a case study of three pre-service teachers' reported PCK about three fundamental concepts within the topic of electrostatics, namely electrostatic force, electric field and electric field…

This paper reports on a study conducted with Grade 11 learners as participants, in four public high schools in a rural district of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The central objective was to investigate the mathematical discourses of Grade 11 learners related to the word, algebraic and graphic representations of asymptotes of the…

This paper is about using a 'Two-Eyed Seeing' approach as the process of co-learning for incorporating elements of indigenous knowledge into school science teaching. Two groups of 150 Form 3 integrated science learners drawn from six high schools in Mutare, Zimbabwe, comprised the study sample. One group of learners, the control group, was taught…

There is a scarcity of studies that focus on how South African high school physical sciences teachers are grappling with chemical laboratory safety (CLS). This is despite the fact that the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements in the South African school system increased emphasis on laboratory activities in the physical sciences. Department…

This article explores teachers' knowledge and views on the role of learners' socio-cultural background when teaching Natural Sciences to Grade 9 learners at three South African township schools. Within a socio-cultural framework, the research investigated how teachers accommodate learners' cultural norms and values, religion and beliefs,…

This paper explores teachers' perceptions of their learners' proficiency in statistical literacy, reasoning and thinking. Research in Statistics education has prompted a move away from the teaching of statistical skills, towards focusing on the development of statistical literacy, reasoning and thinking. The recent South African Grade 10-12…

The study reported in this article sought to explore and observe how grade 9 learners solve real-wor(l)d problems (a) without real context and (b) without real meaning. Learners' abilities to make sense of the decontextualised word problems set in the real world were investigated with regard to learners' use of common sense in relation to problem…

Identifying an instructional tool for merging scientific and indigenous knowledge (IK) is problematic as there is no clear guidance on how this can be achieved. Argumentation is recommended as a possible integrative instructional theoretical methodology as it imbues notions of dialogue and persuasion, while at the same time embracing the…

More than a thousand Grade 10 Physical Science learners from four South African provinces participated in a study that probed their conceptions of energy. The purpose was to determine the learners' conceptual resources, i.e. their initial conceptions, and identify the potentially productive resources from which they may construct physics concepts.…