- Title
- Exploring how Grade 10 Biology teachers implement practical activities on food tests in Otjozondjupa Region, Namibia
- Creator
- Shoopala, Julia Nelago
- Subject
- Pedagogical content knowledge
- Subject
- Biology Study and teaching (Secondary) Namibia
- Subject
- Biology Study and teaching Activity programs Namibia
- Subject
- Food Testing
- Subject
- Visual learning
- Subject
- Biology teachers In-service training Namibia
- Date Issued
- 2022-10-14
- Date
- 2022-10-14
- Type
- Academic theses
- Type
- Master's theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/405401
- Identifier
- vital:70168
- Description
- The Namibian examiners’ reports have repeatedly reported that Biology is generally poorly performed in most schools and the topic on food tests has been identified as one of the problematic areas. My assumption is that this could be due in part to the lack of inadequate hands-on practical activities that are conducted in most schools in Namibia. In my view, for students to understand food tests and its associated concepts, they need to do hands-on practical activities. It is against this background that in this study I explored enablers and/or constraints when Grade 10 Biology teachers mediate learning of food tests using hands-on practical activities. This study is underpinned by an interpretive paradigm, within which a qualitative case study approach was employed. For my baseline data, I used a questionnaire and I also interviewed two Grade 10 Biology teachers using semi-structured interviews. Afterwards, the two Grade 10 Biology teachers were observed while teaching the topic of food tests. The lessons were videotaped and thereafter I conducted a stimulated recall interview watching the videos with each of these teachers. Further, we also discussed and reflected as a group on the mediation of learning on food tests. I used Shulman’s Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) as my theoretical framework. Within PCK, I used the five Topic-Specific Pedagogical Knowledge (TSPCK) components by Mavhunga and Rollnick as my analytical framework. A thematic approach to data analysis was employed to come up with categories, sub-themes and themes. The findings revealed that Biology teachers do not have a dedicated laboratory for conducting Biology practicals and would instead conduct them in a common laboratory that is employed for both Physical Science and Biology or in their classrooms. There are inadequate resources to complement hands-on activities and teachers lack the capacity, skills and necessary knowledge needed to deliver practical work. The two participants did not bother to do enough practical work and instead taught Biology as a very theoretical topic, which disadvantaged learners for Paper 3, which serves as an alternative to course work. The study also revealed that teachers failed to conduct Biology practicals. They claimed to be doing so, but there were few practicals/experiments being carried out in those schools. The participants stated that the issue of time to conduct practical experiments for food tests was not sufficient. They complained that the processes were exhausting and tiresome and left them drained as they ran around trying to implement the practical experiments. Furthermore, a large number of learners results in overcrowded Biology classes and makes it difficult for the teachers to control them, which affected the teachers’ ability to perform practical experiments. The participants said that the high number of learners makes it difficult for them to accommodate all students in the laboratories, and that the laboratories themselves do not accommodate many learners. The study, thus, recommends that there should be continuous professional development programmes in schools to assist Biology teachers who have challenges in doing hands-on practical activities. Additionally, improvisation in terms of field trips that deal with biological aspects such as food and chemical manufacturers and hospitals should be carried out to allow learners to gain appreciation of the practical aspects of Biology in education.
- Description
- Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, Education, 2022
- Format
- computer
- Format
- online resource
- Format
- application/pdf
- Format
- 1 online resource (149 pages)
- Format
- Publisher
- Rhodes University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Education, Education
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Shoopala, Julia Nelago
- Rights
- Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons "Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike" License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/)
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | SHOOPALA-MED-TR22-238.pdf | 1 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |