Pre-service teachers' competences for teaching science through information and communication technologies during teaching practice - Jita, Thuthukile (University of the Free State, 2016)
Most observers, curriculum designers and policy makers agree that ICTs are an important competency for university students to have in order to compete and perform successfully in their careers in the 21st century. Teacher education students or pre-service teachers are no exception. While some universities, including the one I studied at, encourage ICT usage in their policies and seek to integrate ICTs in all teacher education modules, there is neither a guideline on how pre-service teachers should integrate the ICT tools in their own subject teaching nor a set of performance standards or expectations for teacher educators in South Africa to assess and support the integration of ICTs by students, especially during teaching practice. This study arises out of the concerns that the majority of teachers in schools, some of whom are recent university graduates, struggle to integrate ICTs in their teaching of specific subjects and/or topics. In trying to explore the role of universities generally and the teacher education programmes specifically in the development of ICT capacities and identities of newly qualified teachers, the present study investigated the opportunities to learn and the perceived competences of pre-service teachers in the use ICTs for teaching science in schools. Using a sample of 103 final year science pre-service teachers at one university in South Africa, this concurrent mixed methods study used an adapted version of the TPACK survey for pre-service teachers, developed by Schmidt and colleagues in the USA (Schmidt, Baran, Thompson, Mishra, Koehler, & Shin 2009), with lesson plan analysis and focus group interviews to map out the perceived competences of pre-service teachers on ICT knowledge and skills, their opportunities to learn these skills in the teacher education programme and their use of ICT tools for teaching science during school placement in the final semester before graduation to become newly qualified teachers. Overall, the key findings in the study suggest that there are significant variations in the ICT competences of the final-year science pre-service teachers from even a single university and/or a common teacher education programme. These variations largely result from the uneven opportunities to learn that are provided to the pre-service teachers, especially during their school placement period. While the differences in ICT module requirements for the various groups of pre-service teachers account for some of the variation in competence, the bulk of the explanation seem to come from the differences that accrue from the in-school experience during teaching practice, where some students are assigned to schools with no facilities or opportunities at all to use ICTs for teaching and/or are assigned to mentors who are themselves not adept users of ICTs, let alone being able to mentor them in the use ICTs for teaching. The study also found that most pre-service teachers were, however, aware of the range of ICT tools that are available for use in teaching science as a result of their ICT lecturers’ use of these tools and particularly their use by the subject methodology lecturers. During teaching practice, though, many of the pre-service teachers who ventured into using ICTs tended to opt for low-technology tools such as over-head projectors and printers as opposed to the use of multi-media tools such as cell phones and other digital devices. The study found no instances of ICT use for teaching science in ways that engage learners in scientific investigations and/or with activities from their real-life experiences. Interestingly, where mobile technology devices were used, they were commonly for knowledge enhancement by pre-service teachers, not for actual teaching of science. These findings call for a more carefully considered and structured teacher education programme, based on the principles of quality, equity and access. Programmes should be structured such that ICT modules are accessed by all students in the programme, coupled with a deliberate choice of teaching practice schools that offer opportunities for student teachers to practice with cutting edge ICTs for teaching science and to receive mentoring from school-based mentors who are themselves competent and able to offer support to novices in the use of such tools. Thus, the central thesis of this study is that the richer the quality of opportunities to learn, as defined by both the university-based coursework and the in- school-based opportunities for practice in the use of ICTs, the better the chances for developing competence among all pre-service teachers to use ICTs for subject teaching.

Die meeste waarnemers, kurrikulumontwerpers en beleidsmakers stem saam dat IKT ’n belangrike vaardigheid is waaroor universiteitstudente moet beskik om mededingend en suksesvol in hul loopbane in die 21ste eeu te wees. Onderwysstudente of onderwysers in opleiding is geen uitsondering nie. Terwyl sommige universiteite, insluitende die een waar ek gestudeer het, IKT-gebruik in hul beleid aanmoedig en onderneem om IKT in alle onderwyseronderrigmodules te integreer, is daar nie ’n riglyn oor hoe onderwysers in opleiding IKT-instrumente in hul eie vakonderrig moet integreer nie. Daar is ook nie ’n stel uitvoeringstandaarde of verwagtinge vir onderwysers/opvoeders in Suid-Afrika om die integrasie van IKT deur studente te assesseer en te ondersteun nie, veral gedurende onderwysopleiding. Hierdie studie spruit voort uit die bekommernis dat die meerderheid onderwysers in skole, waarvan sommige onlangs hul universiteitsopleiding voltooi het, probleme ervaar met die integrasie van IKT in hul aanbieding van spesifieke vakke en/of onderwerpe. In die verkenning van die rol van universiteite oor die algemeen en in besonder die onderwyseronderrigprogramme, spesifiek ten opsigte van die ontwikkeling van IKT-kapasiteite en -identiteite van nuutgekwalifiseerde onderwysers, het die huidige studie ondersoek ingestel na die geleenthede om te leer en die waargeneemde vaardighede van onderwysers wat opgelei word in die gebruik van IKTs vir wetenskaponderwys in skole. Met ’n steekproef van 103 wetenskaponderwysers in hul finale jaar van opleiding aan een universiteit in Suid-Afrika, het hierdie samelopende studie met gemengde metodes ’n aangepaste weergawe van die TPACK-opname vir onderwysers wat opgelei word, ontwikkel deur Schmidt en kollegas in die VSA (Schmidt, Baran, Thompson, Mishra, Koehler & Shin 2009), met lesplananalise en fokusgroeponderhoude gebruik om die waargeneemde vaardighede van onderwysers wat opgelei word se IKT-kennis en -vaardighede, hul geleenthede om hierdie vaardighede in die onderwyseropleidingsprogram te leer en hul gebruik van IKT-instrumente vir wetenskaponderrig gedurende plasing in skole in die laaste semester voor die graduering om nuutgekwalifiseerde onderwysers te word, vas te stel. Oor die algemeen suggereer die sleutelbevindings in die studie dat daar beduidende variasies in die IKT-vaardighede van die wetenskaponderwysers in hul finale jaar van opleiding was, selfs binne ’n enkele universiteit en/of ’n gemene onderwyseropleidingsprogram. Hierdie variasies is grootliks as gevolg van die ongelyke leergeleenthede wat aan onderwysers gedurende hul opleiding verskaf word, veral gedurende die periode van plasing in skole. Terwyl die verskille in IKT-modulevereistes vir die verskillende groepe van onderwysers gedurende hul opleiding deels die variasie in vaardigheid verklaar, kom die grootste deel van die verduideliking skynbaar uit die verskille wat vanweë die ervaring binne skole gedurende onderwysopleiding opbou, waar sommige studente in skole geplaas word waar daar geen fasiliteite of geleenthede is om IKT vir onderwys te gebruik nie, en/of hul mentors self nie vaardige gebruikers van IKT is nie en glad nie in staat is om hulle in die gebruik van IKT te mentor nie. Die studie het ook bevind dat die meeste onderwysers wat opgelei word, egter bewus is van die verskeidenheid IKT-instrumente tot hul beskikking vir gebruik in wetenskaponderwys, vanweë hul IKT-dosente se gebruik van hierdie instrumente en in besonder hul gebruik deur die dosente in vakmetodologie. Gedurende onderwyspraktyk het baie van die onderwysstudente wat die gebruik van IKT aangedurf het, geneig om basiese tegnologie te gebruik, soos oorhoofse projektors en drukkers, eerder as multimedia-instrumente soos selfone en ander digitale toestelle. Die studie het geen gevalle gevind waar IKT in wetenskaponderwys op ’n manier gebruik word wat leerders by wetenskaplike ondersoeke of ervarings uit hul daaglikse lewe betrek nie. Dit is interessant dat, waar mobiele toestelle gebruik is, hulle oor die algemeen vir kennisversterking deur onderwysstudente gebruik is en nie vir daadwerklike onderwys in wetenskap nie. Hierdie bevindings vra vir ’n meer versigtig oorweegde en gestruktureerde onderwyseropleidingprogram, gebaseer op die beginsels van gehalte, gelykheid en toegang. Programme moet op so ’n manier gestruktureer wees dat IKT-modules deur alle studente in die program gebruik kan word, tesame met ’n doelbewuste keuse van onderwysopleidingskole wat geleenthede vir onderwysstudente bied om met die nuutste IKTs vir wetenskaponderwys te oefen en om mentorskap te ontvang van skoolgebaseerde mentors wat self vaardig is en in staat is om ondersteuning aan nuwelinggebruikers te bied. Die sentrale tesis van hierdie studie is dus dat hoe ryker die gehalte van leergeleenthede is, soos gedefinieer deur beide die universiteitsgebaseerde kursuswerk en die skoolgebaseerde geleenthede vir oefening in die gebruik van IKTs, hoe beter is die kanse op die ontwikkeling van vaardigheid onder onderwysstudente om IKT vir vakonderwys te gebruik.
Thesis (Ph.D. (Education Studies))--University of the Free State, 2016
Keywords: Pre-service teachers; Science education; Information and communication technology; Teaching practice; Teacher education; Competence; Science -- Study and teaching; Curriculum planning; Teachers -- Training of