This paper presents two South African case studies designed to explore the influence of subject matter knowledge on pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). In the first case study on teaching the mole in two township schools, the findings illustrate that the participant teachers favoured procedural approaches at the expense of conceptual…

The purpose of this study was to develop and apply a scheme for the analysis of flow diagrams. The flow diagrams in question are a schematic representation of written instructions that require students to process the text of their practical manual. It was hoped that an analysis of the flow diagrams would provide insight into students'…

Uses an action research approach to investigate how different modes of pre-laboratory preparation contribute to a fruitful laboratory experience for first year students on an access program. Concludes that the ability to prepare depended upon conceptual and procedural understanding of the laboratory as a whole. (Author/MM)