An exploration of grade 7 teachers’ topic specific pedagogical content knowledge when teaching electric circuits at lower Umvoti Circuit of the Ilembe District of KwaZulu-Natal.

Abstract

This study offered insight into the teachers' Topic Specific Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TSPCK) when teaching electric circuits. There was a need of conducting this study to ascertain the grade 7 teachers’ TSPCK since the researcher is responsible for supporting the teachers when teaching electric circuits. In addition, the research in this regard is limited. The TSPCK involves changing what is taught to a form that could be comprehended by the learners at topic level. The study focused on TSPCK and electric circuits as a topic since this topic is regarded as difficult and abstract, hence it was anticipated that the teachers benefitted from this study. The researcher also benefited from the study in terms of understanding the teachers’ TSPCK when teaching electric circuits. The research questions for this study read: What is the level of grade 7 teachers’ content knowledge when teaching electric circuits? What is the nature of grade 7 teachers’ topic specific pedagogical content knowledge when teaching electric circuits? What is the correlation between grade 7 teachers’ content knowledge and topic specific pedagogical content knowledge when teaching electric circuits? The first research question assisted in capturing the teachers’ content knowledge (CK) of electric circuits. The second research question helped in capturing teachers’ TSPCK when teaching electric circuits. The third question aided in ascertaining the correlation between TSPCK and CK when teaching electric circuits. The paradigm that was employed in this study is pragmatic paradigm. A pragmatic paradigm was used in this research because it was a mixed methods approach. Qualitative and qualitative methods are employed to comprehend the problem and to answer the research questions. In this study, the teachers’ experiences and views involving their knowledge were taken into cognisance to understand their TSPCK. The study involved multiple case studies that focused on the teachers’ TSPCK when teaching electric circuits. The case studies were used for comparing and getting insight into the teacher’s TSPCK. A sample of four teachers was used to collect data. Data collection employed a mixed methods approach in which the qualitative and quantitative data were collected. The convergent method was used since quantitative and qualitative data were collected independently, and the results were compared. TSPCK data were collected using a TSPCK assessment tool questionnaire, and CK data were collected using a CK assessment tool questionnaire. The questions on a TSPCK questionnaire were aligned to categories, including learner prior knowledge and misconceptions; curriculum saliency, difficult ideas to teach in electric circuits, representations, conceptual teaching strategies of electric circuits, learners' diversity for inclusive teaching of electric circuits, technologies for teaching electric circuits, various contexts in which teaching electric circuits takes place, assessing electric circuits and teaching resources for electric circuits. These categories were intended to ascertain the teachers' TSPCK when teaching electric circuits. These categories became the themes of this study. The rubric was used to rate qualitatively TSPCK questionnaires’ responses. The questions in the CK assessment tool were linked to misconceptions and intended to ascertain the teachers misunderstanding when teaching electric circuits. The memorandum was used to score CK assessment tool questions. Data analysis involved analysing TSPCK and CK assessment tools qualitatively and quantitatively independently. CK and TSPCK data were compared using the Pearson moment correlation and regression correlation. The results revealed that the teachers’ TSPCK is developing and CK is at level 2. The relationship between CK and TSPCK is a positive weak relationship, which means TSPCK predict CK even though the relationship is weak. The gaps and good practices were identified. The study recommended that workshops should be conducted to capacitate the teachers with regards to electric circuits. This study also contributes to the literature considering teachers’ TSPCK when teaching electric circuits in grade 7.