School Science Practical Work in Africa

Experiences and Challenges

Umesh Ramnarain

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9780367202798
• eBook ISBN: 9780429536250
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

School Science Practical Work in Africa presents the scope of research and practice of science practical work in African schools. It brings together prominent science educators and researchers from Africa to share their experience and findings on pedagogical innovations and research-informed practices on school science practical work.

The book highlights trends and patterns in the enactment and role of practical work across African countries. Practical work is regarded as intrinsic to science teaching and learning and the form of practical work that is strongly advocated is inquiry-based learning, which signals a definite paradigm shift from the traditional teacher-dominated to a learner-centered approach. The book provides empirical research on approaches to practical work, contextual factors in the enactment of practical work, and professional development in teaching practical work.

This book will be of great interest to academics, researchers and post-graduate students in the fields of science education and educational policy.

Chapter 1

Inquiry-based learning in South African schools

Umesh Ramnarain

Introduction

One of the key imperatives in the transformation of education in South Africa is the need to provide quality education for all (Department of Education, 2001). A framework for transformation of the education system is the Department of National Education’s White Paper 1 on Education and Training (1994), which articulates the main objective for science education: the improvement in the quality of school science for Black students. Research on the impact of inquiry-based learning suggests that this approach can result in an improvement in science performance. A number of studies provide evidence that teaching science using a scientific inquiry method can improve learners’ performance in science (Maxwell & Lambert, 2015; Minner, Levy & Century, 2010). A strong force giving impetus to change in science education was the assertion that the previous curriculum was both inaccessible and irrelevant to Black students (Naidoo & Lewin, 1998). One of the major changes advocated in this curriculum reform is a new conception of the role and form that practical work should assume. The importance that is given to practical work is highlighted in the new Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) where it is stated that practical work “must be integrated with theory to strengthen the concepts being taught” (Department of Basic Education, 2011, p. 11).

Inquiry-based science education is posited as the means by which the challenges of the previous curriculum related to inaccessibility, irrelevance and incompatibility with the nature of science can be negotiated (Department of Basic Education, 2011). Scientific inquiry has been advocated as a common curriculum goal in school science education in South Africa, and also throughout the world. Inquiry-based learning allows learners to develop “key scientific ideas through learning how to investigate and build their knowledge and understanding of the world” by using “skills employed by scientists such as raising questions, collecting data, reasoning and reviewing evidence in the light of what is already known, drawing conclusions and discussing results” ((Inter-Academy Panel, 2012, p. 19). Inquiry is a multifaceted activity, the essence of which is captured in the following widely quoted description in the National Science Education Standards of the United States:

Inquiry is a multifaceted activity that involves making observations; posing questions; examining books and other sources of information to see what is already known; planning investigations; reviewing what is already known in light of experimental evidence; using tools to gather, analyze, and interpret data; proposing answers, explanations, and predictions; and communicating the results. Inquiry requires identification of assumptions, use of critical and logical thinking, and consideration of alternative explanations.

(NRC, 1996, p. 23)

In South Africa, the National Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) is a single, comprehensive and concise policy document introduced by the Department of Basic Education that gives detailed guidance for teachers on what they should teach and how to assess. One of the principles of the curriculum is “Active and critical learning: encouraging an active and critical approach to learning, rather than rote and uncritical learning of given truth” (Department of Basic Education, 2011, p. 4). Inquiry-based learning is an approach that gives expression to this principle in science classroom teaching and learning practice. In South Africa, this notion of an inquiry-based science curriculum is underlined through the statement of curricular aims. Specific Aim One states that “the purpose of Physical Sciences is to make learners aware of their environment and to equip learners with investigating skills relating to physical and chemical phenomena” (Department of Basic Education, 2011, p. 8). This curriculum goal is also highlighted in Specific Aim Two of the same CAPS document where it is stated that Physical Sciences “promotes knowledge and skills in scientific inquiry and problem solving; the construction and application of scientific and technological knowledge; an understanding of the nature of science and its relationships to technology, society and the environment” (Department of Basic Education, 2011, p. 8). Similar aims that reinforce the idea of an inquiry-based pedagogy are reflected in curriculum documents for other science subjects such as Life Sciences and Natural Sciences.

The curricular underpinnings of an inquiry-based approach become most evident when this approach is contrasted with a traditional approach to science teaching. The traditional science curriculum, which placed much emphasis on the transmission of scientific knowledge, was teacher-centred, and portrayed the learner in a passive role. Here, learners slavishly follow teacher directions and procedures without much thought (Hodson, 1993). Experimental tasks in this mode often embody a cookbook approach, where learners followed recipes for the execution of procedures handed down by teachers, and gathered and recorded data without a clear sense of purpose (Roth, 1994). In such a teacher-centred science classroom, communication flows from the teacher to the learner and teacher talk dominates the lesson. It was anticipated that the infusion of inquiry-based learning would redefine this prevailing science teacher–learner relationship and, thereby, shift the communication pattern in the classroom towards more learner-centredness.

In a typical South African classroom, learners might sit in straight rows of desks facing the front of the class and have few opportunities to interact or work in collaborative learning groups. Many of the activities carried out by learners merely confirm or illustrate science concepts, laws or principles (Hobden, 2005). Although these prescriptive exercises teach basic science process skills such as observing, inferring, measuring, communicating, classifying and predicting, the most crucial drawback of such an approach is that it does not address the conceptual, epistemic, social and/or procedural domains of scientific knowledge. A pedagogical framework on inquiry developed by van Uum, Verhoeff and Peeters (2016) describes how these four domains may be accessed in the different phases of inquiry learning. The conceptual domain of science describes a “body of knowledge that represents current understanding of natural systems” (NRC, 2007, p. 26). The epistemic domain refers to the nature of science and the way scientific knowledge is generated (Duschl, 2008). The social domain of science refers to research collaboration and communication, and the critical review of work within a disciplinary community of practice (Furtak et al., 2012). The procedural domain addresses inquiry procedures, such as formulating research questions and drawing conclusions to answer the research questions (Furtak et al., 2012). The traditional practice of practical work in South Africa that is characterized by the ‘cookbook’ approach has denied learners access to the tenets of science encapsulated within these four domains of knowledge. This conception of practical work was not compatible with the nature of science. The learners were exposed only to the products of the scientific enterprise in the form of facts, concepts, principles and laws of the physical world. This knowledge is referred to as the substantive aspects of science. This static view of science has in no small part contributed to the rote learning in South African science classrooms.

Scientific inquiry can provide a viable context for addressing the nature of science in the classroom (Schwartz & Crawford, 2006), amongst other benefits. Studies worldwide have reported the benefits of inquiry-based teaching and learning. These benefits include stimulating an interest in science and increased motivation (Potvin & Hasni, 2014), improved understanding of concepts (White & Frederiksen, 1998), an understanding of the nature of science (Gaigher, Lederman & Lederman, 2014; Schwartz & Crawford, 2006), the development of higher-order thinking (Conklin, 2012), and facilitating collaboration between learners (Hofstein & Lunetta, 2003). Accordingly, these benefits have been recognized by science teachers in South Africa. A study by Ramnarain (2010b) reported on how teachers and learners perceive the benefits of autonomous science investigative inquiries in the grade 9 (age 13–14 years) in Natural Sciences. The study adopted a mixed methods research design involving the collection of both quantitative and qualitative data. The three perceived benefits reported are that it is motivational, it facilitates conceptual understanding, and it leads to the development of scientific skills.

Another study investigated the effect of inquiry-based learning on the achievement goal orientation of grade 10 Physical Sciences learners at historically disadvantaged township schools in South Africa (Mupira & Ramnarain, 2018). Achievement goal theory focuses on understanding the different goals in learning and identifies two main goal orientations. The first is mastery goal orientation where the intrinsic value of learning is key (Meece, Herman & McCombs, 2003) and the focus is on the challenge and mastery of a science task (Velayutham, Aldridge & Fraser, 2012). Students with a mastery goals orientation are not concerned about how many mistakes they make or how they appear to others but view mistakes as learning opportunities and as something that can help them to learn (Koballa & Glynn, 2007). In contrast to a mastery goal orientation, students who adopt performance goals are expected to minimally persist in the face of difficulty, avoid challenging tasks, and to have low intrinsic motivation (Ames, 1992). The findings showed that learners who experienced inquiry-based learning significantly gained in mastery goal orientation, while the control group that were taught through a traditional direct didactic approach showed insignificant change in their mastery goal orientation. From these results, it can be concluded that inquiry-based learning does support a mastery goal orientation in learners. This orientation is regarded as desirable because mastery approach goals could support positive outcomes in conceptual learning, leading to an improvement in the science achievement of learners.

Emerging framework for types of inquiry in South Africa

Various models and classification frameworks have been presented for inquiry-based learning that can help teachers organize and sequence investigative learning experiences for their learners. By means of a model, the features of scientific inquiry may be combined in a series of coherent learning experiences that help learners build new understandings and develop their investigative skills over time (NRC, 2000). They also provide opportunities for learners to extend, apply and evaluate what they have learned (Bybee, 1997). A key feature in each of these models and frameworks is the openness or closure of the inquiry. In terms of the degree of learner autonomy and the extent of teacher control, scientific inquiry may lie along a spectrum from open to closed depending upon who makes the decisions in the investigation process (Abraham, 1982; Hackling & Fairbrother, 1996).

Informed by the preceding literature and guided by the outcomes and assessment standards of the new curriculum, the author formulated a classification framework for inquiry types (Ramnarain & Hobden, 2015). In this framework, five stages of inquiry are reflected, namely: choosing the topic; formulating the question; planning; collecting data; and analysing data and drawing a conclusion. The five stages indicated in the framework cohere well with scientific inquiry skills such as “identifying problems and issues, raising questions, planning, doing investigations, interpreting data, and communicating results and conclusions” that are specified for assessment in the South African Curriculum and Assessment and Policy Statement (CAPS) for Physical Sciences (Department of Basic Education, 2011, p. 16). Based on the degree of autonomy that is entrusted to learners, and the extent of teacher involvement, the inquiry can be classified into five levels. These levels are described in terms of the interplay between learner autonomy and teacher control over the stages of inquiry.

Table 1.1 Framework for types of inquiry

Inquiry level	Inquiry stages
	Choosing the topic	Formulating the question	Planning data collection	Collecting data	Analysing data and drawing a conclusion
1	T	T	T	T	L
2	T	T	T	L	L
3	T	T	L	L	L
4	T	L	L	L	L
5	L	L	L	L	L

L = Learner has autonomy and responsibility to carry out the inquiry

T = Teacher controls and carries out the inquiry

For example, an inquiry at level 2 means that the teacher chooses the topic, provides a question to investigate and provides a plan for data collection, while the learner is entrusted with collecting the data, and analysing the data and drawing a conclusion. The classification framework constructed is useful as it allows for the type of inquiry to be determined based on the degree of autonomy given to learners at each of the stages. It was felt that such differentiation was necessary so that the openness or closure of the inquiry could be described in a clear and unambiguous manner.

Implementation of inquiry-based learning and a proposed learning progression

Research that has been conducted by the author suggests that learners enjoyed only limited autonomy in the enactment of inquiry. For example, in a survey of 55 teachers of grade 9 Natural Sciences, it was found that scientific inquiries are la...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of illustrations
• List of contributors
• Series Editor’s foreword
• 1. Inquiry-based learning in South African schools
• 2. The use of easily accessible resources during hands-on practical activities in rural under-resourced Namibian schools
• 3. Advances in inquiry-based science education in Zimbabwean schools
• 4. The role of practical work in the teaching of science in Nigerian schools
• 5. The pedagogical orientations of Malawian science teachers towards practical work
• 6. Enactment of practical work in Kenyan secondary schools: Findings in a narrative inquiry
• 7. Science practical work and its assessment in Ugandan secondary schools
• 8. Science and engineering practices coverage in science practical work: Analysis of Zambia’s Integrated Science Curriculum materials
• 9. Ways to implement “practical work” in STEM subjects in Tanzania’s secondary schools
• 10. Reflections and future directions in the implementation of practical work in African schools
• Index