PiE 2020 Volume 38 Issue 1

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http://hdl.handle.net/11660/11290

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Open Access
Strategies used by Grade Four educators to decode science terminology: a case study
(University of the Free State, 2020) Kazeni, Monde; Maleka, Morongwa
In this paper, we discuss the results of a case study about the teaching strategies used by three primary school educators to decode Grade 4 science terminology. In South Africa, the study of science is formally introduced to learners in Grade 4. Additionally, Grade 4 is the year when learners transition from being taught in their native languages in Grades 1 to 3 to being taught in English. This presents the challenge of learning a new subject in an unfamiliar language. Research shows that the majority of South African primary school learners find science terminology difficult to comprehend due to linguistic challenges, which could account for their poor performance in science assessments. The way educators decode science terminology during science lessons could affect learners’ comprehension of science vocabulary and consequently their performance in science. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data in a qualitative case study in order to determine the strategies used by three science educators to teach and decode science terminology in Grade 4. The study findings suggest that the participating educators use ad hoc, teacher-centered teaching strategies to decode science concepts. These findings have implications for the preparation of primary school science educators in teacher training institutions.
Open Access
Investigating the use of podcasts in an open, distance and e-learning environment
(University of the Free State, 2020) Makina, A.
In a world where the podcast stands out as one of the important support technologies for online learning, lecturers face great challenges in delivering podcasts qualitatively and productively. The introduction of technology into distance teaching and learning has often failed to meet the expected outcomes, and the educational landscape contains evidence of students who have been unable to benefit from this particular innovation (Dede, 2008). The increasing importance of the podcast as a support technology for online learning has led to intense discussions about how to preserve and enhance its use for all kinds of expected student knowledge. Therefore, this paper aimed to explore the types of podcasts that lecturers at an open, distance and e-learning (ODeL) institution use for teaching and learning. The focus was to explore the practices of the lecturers in the use of podcasts for teaching and learning in an ODeL institution.In a world where the podcast stands out as one of the important support technologies for online learning, lecturers face great challenges in delivering podcasts qualitatively and productively. The introduction of technology into distance teaching and learning has often failed to meet the expected outcomes, and the educational landscape contains evidence of students who have been unable to benefit from this particular innovation (Dede, 2008). The increasing importance of the podcast as a support technology for online learning has led to intense discussions about how to preserve and enhance its use for all kinds of expected student knowledge. Therefore, this paper aimed to explore the types of podcasts that lecturers at an open, distance and e-learning (ODeL) institution use for teaching and learning. The focus was to explore the practices of the lecturers in the use of podcasts for teaching and learning in an ODeL institution. From 200 participants, a total of 431 podcast scripts (generated during staff development sessions) from different modules, departments and subjects at an ODeL institution were collected for data use. The number of podcasts per purpose or type was tallied and recorded in a table. Results provided readers with a snapshot of how an ODeL institution uses podcasts for teaching and learning, the gaps in the effective use of podcasts were discussed and recommendations were provided for a better and future use of podcasts for teaching and learning. The paper offers guidance to better utilisation of podcasts in ODeL environments in higher education institutions.
Open Access
Turning a new page
(University of the Free State, 2020) Nieuwenhuis, Jan
Welcome to a new look Perspectives in Education. Not only did the cover of Perspectives in Education change, but also its Editor in Chief, Managing Editor, Editorial Board and a new reviewer team. In addition, we have moved online to offer our authors and reviewers a much better system of tracking the progress of articles and an ease of communication with the editorial team. May I use this opportunity to thank everyone who was part of this turning a new page. I trust that we will be able to offer our authors a much better system as we move towards the ideal of providing authors with an outcome on their articles submitted within six months. You are always welcome to provide us with your ideas to improve and better our service to the education fraternity. In line with all the technological changes and advances that PiE adopted, it also found a new home at the University’s technological hub and campus for Open Distance Learning, the South Campus in Bloemfontein.
Open Access
Exploring agency in marginalised occupations: school administrative clerks' deployment of "participatory capital" in establishing practice-based agency
(University of the Free State, 2020) Bayat, Abdullah; Fataar, Aslam;
Popular conceptions of school administrative clerks and school secretaries imply that they have little agency because they are deemed as subordinate support staff. However, the literature across a range of fields suggests that these subordinates exercise agency. We set out in this article to explore the workings of subordinate agency. The article suggests that it is through their involvement and interaction in the socio-cultural context of the school that school administrative clerks are able to expand the range of their agency and thereby reposition themselves at school. We employ the analytical construct “participatory capital” to analyse how these clerks establish their agency and renegotiate their roles and places in the school. Based on a qualitative research study, we interviewed and observed three purposively selected administrative clerks in three primary schools in Cape Town. This article argues that, while the occupational identity of administrative clerks remains one of subordination within the bureaucratic discourse and their places of work, the selected school administrative clerks were able to extend the scope of their agency through their participatory capital.
Open Access
Book review "Fault lines: a primer on race, science and society"
(University of the Free State, 2020) Madiope, Maria Marinkie
Open Access
Representation of the Zimbabwean 2015-2022 social studies curriculum: teachers' perspectives on challenges and "ubuntulising" curriculum change and implementation
(University of the Free State, 2020) Chimbunde, P.; Kgari-Masondo, M. C.
The new 2015–2022 Zimbabwean curriculum in which Social Studies is engrained was driven by the need among others to transform the Zimbabweans’ demeanour and etiquette by employing Ubuntu as its philosophical base. Through the Ubuntu lens, this qualitative case study explores how Ubuntu values could be applied to mollify challenges of curriculum reform and implementation. We purposively sampled 12 teachers who participated in semistructured interviews, observations and a focus group discussion (FGD) to generate data for this study. The findings established that employing the top-down approach in the dissemination of the Zimbabwean curriculum, devoid of the teachers’ consultations and participation, catalyses the manifestation of acerbic and innumerable challenges that included inadequate resources, lack of consultation, lack of training for teachers and poor public relations, which led to poor implementation of the Social Studies curriculum. The study discovered that the basis of Ubuntu, which the Zimbabwean curriculum claims to hinge on, is merely a paper exercise but practically it is not applied. The study recommends the rekindling of the Ubuntu values that capture the traditional African customs, work ethics and beliefs and applies them to curriculum reform and implementation in order to inform educational policy and practice as uncovered from the fieldwork undertaken for this study. This study is a contribution to the current topical issue about decolonisation globally.
Open Access
The affective affordances of frugal science using foldscopes during a Life Sciences water quality practical
(University of the Free State, 2020) Jackson, Cherine; De Beer, Josef; White, Lounell
Manu Prakash, the developer of the foldscope microscope reported on in this paper, stated that it is important to use tools that can support open-ended inquiry in the classroom, without dumbing down those tools. Scientific equipment in the school laboratory is often very expensive and only available to those who can afford it. “Frugal science” is a trend in education that researches, develops and introduces economical and quality scientific resources to developing countries. In South Africa, many underprivileged schools lack quality practical and laboratory resources to perform simple tasks, such as microscopy. Furthermore, the absence of laboratory investigations could lead to learners not enjoying Life Sciences nor developing a more nuanced understanding of the nature (tenets) of science. As part of an indigenous knowledge intervention hosted by the North-West University, teachers were provided with $1 foldscopes (paper microscope) to use in their classrooms. This research reports on the views of Life Sciences learners and teachers on the use of foldscopes in the Life Sciences classroom during a practical lesson. The focus of the research is to illuminate how such problem-based approaches could enhance affective outcomes. This generic qualitative research study has elements of design-based research (DBR) as well as classroom action research (CAR), carried out by participating teachers to investigate the affordances of foldscopes. Data was collected using observations, teacher reflections, learner reflections, photographs and personal interviews. From an affective stance, this qualitative study used Engeström’s third-generation Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) as a research lens in order to identify factors that promote or inhibit the use of foldscopes in the Life Sciences classroom during a practical lesson.
Open Access
Strategic support to students' competency development in the mathematical modelling process: a qualitative study
(University of the Free State, 2020) Durandt, Rina; Lautenbach, Geoffrey
This article reports on third-year mathematics students’ competency and sub-competency development through providing intentional support in the learning of mathematical modelling. Students often experience modelling as difficult, and obstructions in the modelling process can lead to a dead end. Literature reports confirm that the modelling task is central in the modelling experience and a carefully planned task, aligned with a suitable activity sheet, can be used as a scaffold in learning mathematical modelling. Hence, this inquiry was conducted to provide a scaffold, as strategic support, for students’ mathematical modelling competency development in the early stages of a modelling cycle. Guided by the framework of the Zone of Proximal Development, key elements suggested by the metaphor scaffolding are considered in the learning experience. Based on an analysis of activity sheets collected through group work, an example of a realistic and an unrealistic solution is presented, and students’ development of mathematical modelling competencies is argued. Finally, suggestions for intentional support in the modelling process are discussed.
Open Access
Kenyan doctoral students' success: roles of motivation and self-efficacy
(University of the Free State, 2020) Matheka, H. M.; Jansen, E. P. W. A.; Hofman, W. H. A.
Doctor of philosophy (PhD) degree holders are highly regarded in Kenya, especially in academia, and the Kenyan economy needs them to undertake administrative, research and innovation roles in academia and industry. However, attaining this qualification is arduous and Kenyan PhD programmes are characterised by low enrolment numbers, long degree completion times and low graduation rates. In other countries, PhD students’ success has been linked to motivation and self-efficacy. This cross-sectional study explores the extents to which motivation and self-efficacy relate to PhD student success in Kenya and to which this relationship differs across background and programme characteristics. Using multiple linear regression, the authors analyse data from an online questionnaire administered to 628 PhD students enrolled between 2010 and 2018. The findings indicate that extrinsic motivation does not predict PhD students’ pace. Intrinsic motivation positively predicts students’ pace in the Medical Sciences programme cluster and for those aged 51 years or older. Self-efficacy negatively predicts students’ pace in the Medical Sciences programme cluster.
Open Access
Transactional ethics and "damage-centred" research: of banality and oblivion
(University of the Free State, 2020) Maistry, S. M.
The recent article by Nieuwoudt, Dickie, Coetsee, Engelbrecht and Terblanche (2019) entitled “Age- and education-related effects on cognitive functioning in Colored South African women” published in the journal Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, attracted considerable negative attention, leading to its official withdrawal from circulation. While it may be argued that this unfortunate piece of “scholarship” had “slipped through the cracks”, there is certainly a need for a more nuanced analysis of what constitutes ethical social research practice. In this article, the issue of intentionality and (un)witting Othering is contemplated by invoking Tuck’s notion of “damage-centred” research, an approach that continues to frame contemporary investigations in the name of social justice. It is argued that there is a need to reconsider the practice of transactional ethics. Arendt’s concept of the banality (of evil) has resonance, as it speaks to the notion of “blissful oblivion of complicity”, even in the context of a widespread contemporary discourse of social transformation and decolonisation in South African higher education.
Open Access
The importance of shepherd leadership practices on easing the textbook burden on South African university students
(University of the Free State, 2020) Mutekwa, Edmore
The argument advanced in this article is that excellent shepherd leadership practices serve as a condition necessary for affording South African university students easy access to the required book chapters instead of enduring the burden of having to buy the full books. In order to embellish this viewpoint, relevant data were collected through focus group interview discussion sessions (FGIDs) with a sample of 40 purposefully sampled participants from a target population of university students, lecturers and local textbooks sales personnel. These participants were first categorised into 4 focus groups of 10 members each and were interviewed for a duration of between 40 minutes and one hour per focus group. By adopting an interpretivist paradigm, utilising a qualitative research approach and descriptive phenomenology as a strategy of enquiry (design genre), the study was able to explore the lived experiences of the participants. The two key research questions guiding the study were; how can the key university lecturers as curriculum leaders and shepherd leaders ease the textbook burden on South African university students? and What role can textbook publishing companies play towards easing the textbook burdens on university students? Deploying shepherd leadership as the theoretical lens for viewing and analysing the data through inductive and/or thematic approach, the study’s main finding was that since the biggest cost that university students have is books and given that most of the books are only used for one semester, their exorbitant prices more often than not, lead students to resort to photocopying while publishers lose out. The study concluded that using such new platforms as E-llumin 8, can help students alleviate their textbook burden since it allows them access to specifically prescribed book chapters at a time instead of buying the full books. The chief recommendation from the study was that university lecturers need to work in cooperation with the key book publishing companies to embrace any new and innovative ways to ease the textbook burden on students whilst also ensuring that publishers do not lose out.
Open Access
Educating the always-on generation in an instant(gram) #blendedlearning
(University of the Free State, 2020) Swanepoel, G. P.; Bruwer, A.
The anticipated Fourth Industrial Revolution and the non-linear sharing of information have afforded tertiary education institutions with opportunities to apply new technology to their pedagogy model. The prominence of social networking sites (SNSs), specifically Instagram, calls for educational institutions to innovate and acknowledge, as well as apply, these SNSs within an innovative blended learning approach. This study aimed to analyse students’ perspectives on the use of Instagram as a blended learning educational and administrative tool in tertiary education. While the use of Facebook as an educational tool is widely researched, limited studies exist on the use of Instagram in tertiary education. The expectation is therefore set on tertiary education to apply Instagram for effective communication and an enhanced teaching experience. The Instagram account created by the research team as a blended learning tool had more than 270 student followers. Their perceptions of the use of Instagram in tertiary education were evaluated using a questionnaire approach and analysed as continuous data on a five-point Likert scale. By using a one-way t-test, the preferred blended learning approach to be implemented on Instagram was determined. Open-ended questions were asked to obtain a better understanding of what students expect and prefer from the use of SNSs, specifically Instagram, in tertiary education. While previous research only focused on the possibility of the implementation of Instagram and the use of videos on Instagram, this study indicates how tertiary education can apply the various functions of Instagram within an innovative blended learning approach. The study found that Instagram creates an always-on learner, who thinks about the module outside of lectures. Students perceive it as an effective educational tool in aiding them to understand difficult topics better, as well as an administrative tool that complements the current administrative systems. The overall perception was concluded to be that Instagram is welcome in tertiary education, with both the lecturer and the student as the driving force.
Open Access
The views and experiences of Grade 10 Life Sciences teachers on the compulsory practical examination
(University of the Free State, 2020) Furiwai, S.; Singh-Pillay, A.
With the introduction of the Curriculum Assessment and Policy Statement (CAPS) for Life Sciences (LS) in 2012 in South African schools, a practical examination has become compulsory in grades 10 and 11. The LS CAPS policy stipulates the types of practical work that needs to be conducted to develop specific process skills in learners. This case study explored grade 10 LS teachers’ views and experiences of the practical examination. This study was underpinned by two constructs from Rogan and Grayson’s theory of curriculum implementation, namely the profile of implementation pertaining to practical work and the capacity to innovate. Purposive sampling was used to generate data via questionnaires and individual interviews with grade 10 LS teachers at selected schools of the Umtshezi ward of Estcourt region. The findings highlight how physical resources, the mismatch between the medium of instruction and the learners’ home language, the culture of teaching and learning, teacher uncertainty and lack of confidence in performing practical work affect the kinds of practical work engaged in and their experiences of the practical examination. In addition, the dissonance between the intended LS CAPS policy document regarding types of practical work and the kinds of science process skills that ought to be developed in learners and the enacted LS CAPS policy document is exposed. Subsequently the disjuncture between policy intention and practice emphasises the need for continuous teacher professional development and a supportive school ethos.
Open Access
Accounting teachers' readiness for e-learning in the Fourth Industrial Revolution: a case of selected high schools in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
(University of the Free State, 2020) Skhephe, Melikhaya; Caga, Ntombekhaya Princess; Boadzo, Robert Mauli Kwasi
This study sought to explore Accounting teachers’ readiness to implement e-learning in their classrooms during the Fourth Industrial Revolution, specifically in schools in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. To this end, the authors employed a qualitative approach and a case study research design. Interviews and observation were used to gather data from Accounting teachers with sampling consisting of six educators being purposively and conveniently selected. The findings revealed that Accounting classrooms are not designed in a way that supports e-learning. Another finding was that Accounting teachers do not understand e-learning or the benefit associated with an e-learning classroom. The recommendation made here is that information and communication technology officials at the district level should establish educational platforms at the cluster level to service teachers, advising them on how to use helpful technologies in practice. The Department of Basic Education needs to establish relationships with local universities so that the universities’ specialists might assist teachers in implementing e-learning in practice.
Open Access
Why teaching? Perspectives from first-year South African pre-service teachers
(University of the Free State, 2020) Moosa, Moeniera
South African initial teacher education institutes are currently experiencing an annual increase in admissions of first-year students. In addition, the increasing attrition rate of newly qualified teachers is of concern globally. This begs the question of why students are opting for teaching as a profession. This study focuses on reasons why first-year students have opted to study teaching at a South African university. The theoretical lens used is linked to the expectancyvalue theory of achievement motivation (Wigfield & Eccles, 2000). Five hundred and eighty first year students participated in a mixed methods research study. Data were analysed by using theories of career motivation categories, namely: altruistic, extrinsic, and intrinsic reasons. Trustworthiness was ensured by a side-by-side comparison which collated quantitative and qualitative data. All ethical principles were adhered to. The findings indicate that more than half (60%) of the participants were motivated to pursue teaching for altruistic reasons, followed by almost a quarter (23%) choosing teaching for extrinsic reasons, and 17% opting to become teachers for intrinsic reasons. This paper argues that it would be prudent for initial teacher education institutes to understand students’ rationales for selecting teaching to support them to complete their qualification and remain in the profession.
Open Access
Promoting quality education by addressing ethical challenges in high school football at circuit level in Durban, South Africa
(University of the Free State, 2020) Ndlovu, Ayanda; Proches, Cecile N. Gerwel; Naidoo, Rowena
The sport of football, also commonly referred to as soccer in South Africa, has become a socio-cultural phenomenon and its popularity manifests itself in school football. The study aimed to identify ethical challenges in high school football at circuit level in Durban, South Africa, in order to promote quality education. A phenomenological paradigm, drawing on a qualitative research approach, was used. A purposive sample of 16 high school football coaches and administrators from a particular region, or circuit, were selected to participate in this study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted. All interviews were recorded and transcribed for analysis, and an inductive approach was used to identify patterns in the collected data by employing thematic analysis. Age cheating and identity document fraud were perceived as the leading ways unethical leadership in the circuit facilitates cheating. The study also found that the environment in which school football operates in the circuit is not conducive to promoting ethical leadership. This study highlighted that governmental structures should focus on ethics and leadership in school football, thereby ensuring quality education. This study has shown that ethical leadership is a key contributor to the holistic development and socialisation of learners.
Open Access
Designing for vibrant and robust communities of practice in blended learning environments
(University of the Free State, 2020) Batchelor, Jacqueline
This paper provides insight into the thinking that informed the design of a programme delivered in blended learning mode with the explicit intent to establish a learning environment conducive to the development of vibrant and robust communities of practices (CoPs). Within the higher education context, the explicit articulation of learning design principles as derived from theory is not often offered for dissemination and are regarded as implicit to programme development. This paper begins by exploring the association between CoPs and learning design; considers various approaches to blended learning; offers a blended learning programme as an exemplar for interrogation and then presents learning design principles that informed the development of vibrant and robust CoPs within the blended learning programme. Placing CoPs central to the design of the blended learning programme afforded students an authentic learning experience with an opportunity to make design decisions explicit, thereby contributing to the overall impact of the programme in the education sector. Four emerging learning design principles that underpin the design decisions in this programme are offered for interrogation: provide opportunities to model professional behaviour; develop social foundations from which to build the CoP; sustain guided and self-regulated learning; and realign and reinforce the course objectives. Drawing from the knowledge gained in their vibrant and robust CoPs, institutional leaders – as students in this programme – embraced new models of professional development to bring sustainable change at schools in all districts across South Africa.
Open Access
Assets teachers identify for the teaching of accounting education in a rural secondary school in KwaZulu-Natal
(University of the Free State, 2020) Ngwenya, J. C.
This paper explores the resources Accounting teachers draw on and how they use the identified resources in the teaching of Accounting in a rural school. The study adopted an interpretive qualitative case study and employed semi-structured individual interviews to collect data from the Accounting teachers. Thematic analysis revealed that Accounting teachers used capacities, skills and resources from the school, neighbouring schools and wider community outside the school to improve their teaching practices. Despite the continuous curriculum changes, the nature of the discipline of Accounting and the school’s context, Accounting teachers were able to identify and utilise assets at different levels, starting from the talents and capacities of learners. The paper concludes that instead of using the deficits as a starting point in development of Accounting teachers, development must build upon the capacities and strengths that exist within the school community.
Open Access
Professional development of technology teachers: does their training meet their needs?
(University of the Free State, 2020) Gumbo, M. T.
The phenomenological study on which this article is based inquired into Grade 9 Technology teachers’ professional development through workshops on pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) as well as their training needs. The workshops took place in Nelspruit in Mpumalanga, South Africa. Data were gathered from two groups of teachers who attended the workshops on two different days, but who were trained in the same way and were subsequently conveniently selected to participate in the study. Semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted with these teachers and the workshop facilitator was also interviewed. The training manual was scrutinised, the facilitation of the workshops was observed and a follow-up visit was done at two schools where the workshop participants taught. The findings revealed that while the teachers felt that the workshops developed them, such training did not fully meet their needs or expand their PCK repertoires. This study will inform the Mathematics, Science and Technology Academy (MSTA), which is tasked with offering in-service training to subject teachers in the province, about whether the workshops meet the needs of the attendees, thereby possibly necessitating a review of the training.
Open Access
The values learners consider as important in the learning of mathematics
(University of the Free State, 2020) Madosi, Tendai; Spangenberg, Erica Dorethea; Ramdhany, Viren
Learners have different values that could affect their learning and eventually their performance in mathematics. However, many teachers are unaware of these values. Therefore, this paper reports on a study that established the values learners consider as important in the learning of mathematics. The participants were 274 Grade 9 learners, selected purposively from one school in Gauteng, South Africa. An exploratory quantitative research method was adopted and data were collected with a standardised questionnaire developed by Seah (2011b). The results revealed that learners value 1) Hard work and effort when doing mathematics; 2) Numerous different methods to obtain the answer to a mathematics problem; 3) Authentic examples of shapes to understand their properties; 4) Demonstration and explanation of mathematics concepts and proofs; and 5) Teaching and explaining mathematical concepts. This paper highlights the values teachers should consider in the teaching and learning of mathematics in order to ensure better learner performance in mathematics. Furthermore, the paper adds to research on values in Mathematics Education within a South African context.