Educación a distancia

The main goal of this study was to understand how Grade 11 Physical Science teachers mediate learning of the topic distillation.

The findings indicate that both teachers attempted to practice a learner-centred approach during their teaching of the topic distillation. However, the intention of using learner-centred approach was only partially fulfilled. The study revealed that both teachers used the question and answer method, group work and activities to help the learners grasp the lesson content on distillation. The teachers’ usage of different teaching strategies is important in the classroom where a learner-centred approach is being practiced to strive towards learning the concepts related to distillation with understanding (Nyambe, 2008).

Additionally, it was clear that the use of everyday life examples by both teachers and learners during the presented lessons helped the learners to make sense of the topic experimental techniques which includes distillation (see Appendix H (vi)). Oloruntegbe and Ikpe (2011) support the idea that everyday activities make learners aware of the importance of science which in turn helps them to understand key ideas in science. The integration of Kashipembe made in the Kavango regions by teachers during the lessons showed that some teachers do

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incorporate learners’ knowledge and experiences during teaching to make sense of the topic distillation. The making of Kashipembe which was conducted by the community member improved the teaching of the topic distillation by the two teachers. The use of everyday knowledge in the classroom increases the levels of engagement of learners, and the learners’ enjoy making connections between different experiences which facilitates learning (Stears, et al., 2003)

The use of practical activities when teaching the topic distillation was also raised by both the teachers and learners who were involved in this study. The findings of my study showed that practical activities help learners to be hands-on and enhances their participation during the lesson and this is supported by Maselwa and Ngcoza (2003). When the learners are more involved in practical work where they can use and observe real life substances they make more sense of the concepts like distillation (Millar, 2008).

The study further indicates that the two teachers gave a limited number of activities to aid the learners’ understanding of the topic distillation. Consequently, the findings show that both teachers did not conduct hands-on experiment with learners in the classroom as science is supposed to be taught. In this research I have learned that the use of practical work during the teaching of the topic distillation depends on the science teacher and how these practicals are designed. This affected the learners’ conceptual understanding of scientific concepts like distillation.

The study revealed that the use of learning and teaching support materials (LTSMs) help the learners to make sense of the topic distillation. It was noticed that the LTSMs like charts, chalkboard and textbooks used by the by the teachers during the teaching of distillation supported teaching and learning science, more especially the topic distillation (Czerniewicz, et al., 2000; Mdlungu, 2006: 32). However, the drawback was that the materials for practical work were not available in the schools.

The findings revealed that elicitation of learners’ prior everyday knowledge (PEK) can help the teachers to build on this knowledge for effective teaching and learning of distillation in the classroom (see Section 2.6). Both teachers considered learners’ PEK when they taught distillation which helped learners to make sense of the topic (Roschelle, 1995). The study found that the brainstorming session and discussion with the learners about their PEK and

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experiences about making Kashipembe, was in itself educative. The study clearly indicates that the practices of both teachers in using the learners’ PEK facilitated learning and contributed to a better understanding of the concepts related to distillation.

Moreover, it emerged from the study that incorporating learners’ PEK about making

Kashipembe as an example; developed the sense making of concepts related to distillation.

Rennie (2011) supported that there is a need for teachers to have didactic knowledge in order to assist learners to benefit from their everyday experiences, and I strongly agree with him as the subject content knowledge plays a role in teaching science.

The learners engaged in the lessons presentation actively and also did some written activities both in groups and individually in both schools. Thus, engaging learners in learning through discovery as Mr. Gaps did can arouse the learners’ interest in learning science and help to boost the learners’ confidence both inside and outside the classroom.

The findings indicate that learners understood the topic distillation through the use of community or indigenous knowledge incorporated during the making of Kashipembe by a community member. This was supported by one of the participating teachers (see Appendices H (v) and (vi)). Kashipembe can be used in teaching experimental techniques to describe separating of mixtures which involve distillation in chemistry section. Therefore, the practices of making Kashipembe can be fruitful in the context where it is being practiced where the learning and teaching materials are not adequate enough, thus agreeing with Czerniewicz, et al. (2000).

The lesson we developed on the topic distillation and the integration of making Kashipembe was aimed at enhancing and improving the teaching of the topic distillation in the classroom. It is hoped that the suggestions we made about how science teachers can use teaching strategies when teaching the topic distillation in rural areas would improve the teaching of the topic distillation. And the integration of contextual scientific knowledge in the classroom with community knowledge of making Kashipembe served as a sense making of the topic distillation. Overall, the co-development of a lesson and demonstration of making

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