In an ideal instructional context, one would expect the components (teacher, content and instructional strategy) to operate in harmony, in tandem and in a complementary manner. When these components are not in harmony, they are said to be in a state of 'instructional contextual contestation'. The components compete rather than complement each…

The purpose of this study was to find out teachers' preferred teaching sequence for basic chemistry topics in Physical Science in South Africa, to obtain their reasons underpinning their preferred sequence, and to compare these sequences with the prescribed sequences in the current curriculum. The study was located within a pragmatic paradigm and…

This paper reflects on the difficulties students have in understanding, designing and constructing electrical circuits through an analysis of errors they have made in drawing wiring and circuit diagrams. Prior to wiring a model house, a sample of 114 primary school teacher trainees were taken through a programme of instruction in current…