Exploring teachers’ experiences of constructive alignment between learning outcomes, activities, and assessment in electrostatics and electrical circuits in the grade 12 Physical Sciences curriculum.

Abstract

Constructively aligned curriculum seeks to optimize learning by ensuring congruence between the intended learning outcomes, teaching and learning activities, and assessment. Constructively aligned curriculum emphasizes three key aspects of learning: For teachers: what teachers are expected to achieve, what are they teaching and how they teach it, and what they assess. For learners: what learners are expected to learn, what they learn, and how they will be expected to make that learning evident. The literature on constructive alignment (CA) advocates for the congruence between intended learning outcomes, teaching and learning activities, and assessment. However, not much is known about Physical Sciences teachers' experiences of constructive alignment. This study explored Physical Sciences teachers' experiences of constructive alignment between intended learning outcomes, teaching and learning activities, and assessment in Electrostatics and Electrical Circuits within the grade 12 Physical Sciences curriculum. The qualitative case study was conducted in three schools around Umlazi township, in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Convenient sampling was used to choose schools around the township as it was convenient for the researcher to work in these schools. Purposive sampling for choosing Physical Sciences teachers was utilized. A variety of data collected from pre-observation interviews, observations, document analysis as well and post-observation interviews provided detailed themes of knowledge necessary to answer the main research question while allowing for triangulation of findings to increase the trustworthiness of the results. The participants were interviewed before observations using individual semi-structured interview questions to find their understanding of constructive alignment. Observation of lessons was conducted at the convenience of the participant and teaching documents were also analysed to find out how Physical Sciences teachers constructively align the curriculum in grade12 Electrostatics and Electrical Circuits. After a thorough analysis of teaching documents, individual semi-structured post-observation interviews were conducted to understand Physical Sciences teachers’ rationale for constructive alignment. Among the variety of discoveries, this study discovered that there is a discrepancy between understanding and application of constructive alignment by Physical Sciences teachers. Moreover, lack of transparency in the communication of intended learning outcomes was a notable factor on the teachers’ side. Findings revealed that teachers tend to keep the intended learning outcomes to themselves and did not share them with learners. The literature revealed learners’ learning experiences and performances can be improved if they are involved in the learning path and the intended learning outcomes (ILOs) are made clear to them by teachers. Furthermore, findings revealed that teacher beliefs and values impact on their pedagogical practices and result in blurred assessment skills in their teaching. The study concluded by placing importance on the value of the institutionalization of transparent communication practices of ILOs to learners, incorporating continuous assessment and feedback as key pedagogical tools, teacher professional development for practical constructive alignment skills, and the establishment of regular teacher reflective sessions within schools and districts to build constructive alignment capacity of teachers.