The Place of Subject Matter Knowledge in Pedagogical Content Knowledge: A case study of South African teachers teaching the amount of substance and chemical equilibrium

This paper presents two South African case studies designed to explore the influence of subject matter knowledge on pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). In the first case study on teaching the mole in two township schools, the findings illustrate that the participant teachers favoured procedural app...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of science education 2008-08, Vol.30 (10), p.1365-1387
Main Authors: Rollnick, Marissa, Bennett, Judith, Rhemtula, Mariam, Dharsey, Nadine, Ndlovu, Thandi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Case Studies
Chemistry
Foreign Countries
Pedagogical Content Knowledge
Postsecondary Education
Science Instruction
Secondary Education
South Africa
Teacher Characteristics
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Summary:This paper presents two South African case studies designed to explore the influence of subject matter knowledge on pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). In the first case study on teaching the mole in two township schools, the findings illustrate that the participant teachers favoured procedural approaches at the expense of conceptual understanding. The second case study examines the teaching of chemical equilibrium to students on a bridging programme in a tertiary institution. Through these data the authors present a model to assist in understanding the amalgamation of subject matter knowledge (SMK) with other teacher knowledge domains to produce what we describe as 'manifestations'. The model was useful in interpreting the teachers' practice, especially to highlight the role of SMK, and therefore offers interesting insights into the nature of PCK and its influence on science teaching.
ISSN:0950-0693
1464-5289
DOI:10.1080/09500690802187025