The purpose of this study was to explore Agricultural Sciences teachers’ topic specific pedagogical content knowledge in teaching organic compounds. Accordingly, my study is based on PCK. There are several groups of researchers in the field of PCK and TS-PCK, such as Gess-Newsome and Lederman (2001), Grossman (1990), Loughran, Mulhall, and Berry (2004), Magnusson et al. (1999), Mavhunga and Rollnick (2013), Shulman (1986), Van Driel and Berry (2010). Shulman’s seminal work, developed further by others, is based on teachers’ knowledge and this is used as the theoretical framework of this study. It includes seven categories of knowledge needed by a teacher, which in relation to leaching science are pedagogical content knowledge, knowledge of science instructional strategies and the science curriculum, knowledge of learners’ preconceptions and learning challenges, knowledge of assessment in science, and knowledge of the context of the school. Shulman (1986) describes pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) as the knowledge that is unique to a teacher and that differentiates him or her from a subject expert. He asserts that it is concerned with teaching instruction that takes into consideration the learning requirements and difficulties of learners in a subject topic. However, Grossman (1990)
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reconsidered Shulman’s work or model to show the interaction between PCK and PK, SMK, and knowledge of the context (where the school is situated). Grossman further pointed out that knowledge of context relates to each individual school or district curriculum requirements, the support provided to learners in the school, teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge which determines how one teaches, and their abilities to teach. However, I adopted the full components of PCK from Magnusson et al. (1999), who added further components to build upon Grossman’s work. For the purpose of data collection and analysis for my study, I will use this model as a theoretical framework. Magnusson et al. (1999) outlined the components which I have summarized below for this study.
Orientation towards teaching in science refers to the teacher’s information about the objectives for teaching science in a specific grade. Magnusson et al. (1999) expound that “The significance of this component is that these knowledge and beliefs serve as a conceptual map that guides instructional decisions about issues such as daily objectives, the content of student assignments, the use of textbooks and other curricular materials, and the evaluation of student learning” (p. 97). For example, teaching of organic compounds should help learners to understand the chemical properties of food (Yang & Xing, 2010). As chemistry has many abstract concepts, ranging from simple to complex. Therefore in teachers’ orientation, they would need to plan the design their teaching in a different and relevant way for each grade level (Duis, 2011).
Knowledge of science instructional strategies refers to knowledge about the science learning area instructional strategies and topic specific instructional strategies. Topic strategies are specifically for the topic and subject specific strategies focus only on teaching the science subject. Teaching of chemistry requires different instructional strategies for different topics, for instance, the use
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of practical work in topics like bonding may need demonstrations and practical experience to be acquired by learners (Park & Oliver, 2008). Espinosa, Nueva España, and Marasigan (2016) add that chemistry teachers should possess a repertoire of teaching strategies to teach different difficult concepts.
Knowledge of assessment methods in scientific disciplines refers to teachers’ knowledge of approaches for assessing learners and how to assess them in relation to topic objectives. Teachers should be engaged in both assessment for learning (formative) and assessment of learning (summative). According to Gafoor and Shilna (2014), the use of assessment in organic chemistry helps to identify any learners’ alternative conceptions in topics like bonding and chemical reactions. The use of concept maps or multiple choice questions could be used to this end.
Knowledge of learners’ preconceptions and alternative conceptions in science topic refers to teachers’ knowledge about possible learners’ preconceptions and alternative conceptions in this topic; what is required of them in learning the content of the topic; how to facilitate their learning; and what challenges they face while learning the topic. According to Duis (2011), learners normally hold alternative conceptions in science, which are identified by the few teachers who know their content knowledge and can then design ways to correct them. Sendur and Toprak (2013) add that alternative conceptions normally held by learners in organic chemistry concern the physical properties of alcohols, structural isomerism and oxidation and synthesis of alcohols.
Knowledge of the science curriculum includes knowledge about the science curriculum stated goals, material to be used in each topic and the instructional strategies to be used. In addition, this aspect includes knowledge about the arrangement and sequence of the topics in the curriculum. As it is represented in
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Agricultural Sciences, the first topic is basic agricultural chemistry, which includes organic compounds. This is normally an area of difficulty for some learners (Jain et al., 2016; Rice & Kitchel, 2015a). The content to be taught in each topic is influenced by the big ideas and concepts that it contains. The depth of content knowledge that each teacher possesses may differ between topics. It is a common view nowadays that knowledge of ways of transforming content knowledge differ among teachers. Therefore, a teacher who has a good TS-PCK is the one who displays suitable ways of transforming content knowledge in each topic so that learners may understand the concepts easily. In this study, the researcher planned the study through the lens of the critical research paradigm. Therefore the research methodology used was qualitative action research in an attempt to bring about some transformation of content knowledge among the teachers.
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Chapter 3
Methodology
3.1 IntroductionHenning, Van Rensburg, and Smit (2004) and Vosloo (2015) define methodology as a combination of logically understandable methods that complement each other and which are suited to generating data and making findings that address the research questions.
For this study, the researcher chose the critical research paradigm. Critical research talks to emancipation of teachers who have total freedom to practice educational day to day duties and the best skills to teach content and transform it to ways that are easy for learners to grasp. The research methods that are used in this study are informed by the chosen. This chapter will outline the methods of collecting data, the research questions, methods of sampling and action research, the trustworthiness of the study and the research cycles.