Pedagogical content knowledge is considered a valuable knowledge base for all science teachers. Thus, promoting its development in all pre-service teacher programmes including a short 1 year Physical Science postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) course is desirable. This paper focuses on the comparison of topic-specific pedagogical content…

Research in the past decades has repeatedly revealed that first year university students struggle to understand two-dimensional projectile motion concepts. In contrast to high school, projectile motion frequently makes use of components and it requires at least a basic understanding of trigonometry concepts. To follow the lessons and generate…

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…

A new Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) was introduced in South Africa in 2012 to, among others, drive a learner-centred and constructivist approach to practical work in the high school subject Physical Sciences. This study investigates teachers' concerns with the implementation of practical work in Physical Sciences. A survey of…

The context of the township school provides several hurdles for learners engaging in school science, including low achievement and self-confidence. The use of multiple representations has been advocated for the development of conceptual understanding in physics. The study reported in this paper explores the relationship between learner academic…

The purpose of this study was to explore whether chemistry lesson sequences can indicate the level of teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). The sequencing of lessons for teaching chemical bonding is taken as the case for this study. The correct sequencing of concepts in teaching chemical bonding is key to learners' conceptual…

Previous research on students' difficulties in learning chemical equilibrium has shown that students hold misconceptions about this topic, and this often results in unintended learning. However, recent developments in human learning from the behavioural sciences perspective indicate that students' difficulties in learning are much more than…

The study aimed to determine the most effective of three pedagogies to improve Grade 12 learners' understanding of the photoelectric effect when the teaching was done using chalk and talk, guided learning with computer simulations (CS) as a demonstration tool and semi-autonomous learning where the learners used the CS individually with limited…

This paper reports the results of a study that compared two approaches to developing in-service teachers' subject matter knowledge and strategies for teaching nature of science. A treatment post-test only quasi-experimental research design was used. One group of in-service teachers (n = 15) was taught using what is called a capsular approach. In…

This article aims to investigate how science teachers engaged with the macroscopic, sub-microscopic and symbolic levels of representations in their Chemistry teaching. Data were collected in Limpopo province in South Africa from 15 "lead" teachers and this paper reports on five lessons presented by the teachers during professional…

Worldwide science education is a national priority due to the role played by science performance in economic growth and the supply and quality of the human capital pool in scientific fields. One factor that may impact on the motivation to learn science is family experiences. This study therefore explored the relationship between family experiences…

The valuing of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) is one of the principles on which the South African school curriculum is supposed to be based. The purpose of this paper is to critique the treatment of indigenous knowledge in the South African secondary Physical Sciences curriculum against a backdrop of international debates on the relationship…

This study investigated and compared the pedagogical orientations of physical sciences teachers in Malawi and South Africa towards inquiry or direct methods of science teaching. Pedagogical orientation has been theorized as a component of pedagogical content knowledge. Orientations were characterized along a spectrum of two variants of inquiry and…

Science Expos are intended to develop and empower learners to identify local problems and hence find solutions thereof using scientific processes. Science Expos are perceived as spaces for sharing experiences of science which engender love for science so that learners may ultimately pursue science-related careers. Despite these ideals, there is…

The literature on science education reveals a worldwide decline in young people's interest in the study of sciences. This lack of interest has resulted in low enrolment rates in science-related courses at tertiary level. Researchers have suggested, among other innovations, the use of context-based teaching approaches as a way of motivating…