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The decline in learner performance in science education in South Africa is a perennial problem. Resource paucity in government schools is ubiquitous and reflects inherent challenges that pervade science classrooms. Scientific resources are imperative to the success of content delivery; however, South African government schools need help in procuring these standardised instruments and resources. Therefore, educators must innovate by employing improvised resources. This study illuminates the relationship between improvised resources and learner performance. A quasi-experimental design is adopted. A local school in Gauteng was used for this study, with 40 Grade 11 Life Science students and 1 Life Science educator participating in the project. A pre-test and post-test were administered to evaluate the effect of improvise resources comparatively. The ANOVA two-factor analysis tool demonstrated significant results of performance between the experimental and controlled groups as a statistical difference is seen in the mean scores, further accentuating the invaluable use of improvised resources.

In the analysis of the South African NSC diagnostic reports, the Department of Education prepared areas of learners’ struggle have proved to repeat themselves from 2017 to 2020. The classroom practices of Life Sciences teachers, focusing on teacher knowledge, were observed in a sample of schools in the province of Gauteng, South Africa. The investigation aimed to investigate these practices of Life Sciences teachers and consequently diagnose teaching difficulties. Data was collected through interviews and observations in a multi-case study approach and analyzed using Mudau’s (2016) Classroom Practice Diagnostic Framework. This study reveals that teachers’ classroom practices contribute to the teaching difficulties they experience when considering teachers’ knowledge of the Life Sciences content, the teaching context, and learner understanding.

The aim of this paper was to present reflections on the teaching of physical science using the topic of projectile motion as a launch pad. It focused on the teaching model and what the Department of Basic Education expects from teaching physical science subjects. Furthermore, it looked at some of the challenges regarding teaching physical science in general and in particular to the projectile motion topic. It looked at empirical studies in projectile motion to situate the current research interest to articulate gaps in the topic and the subject. It concludes with recommendations and highlights a need to focus on all grades when teaching physical science subjects, particularly projectile motion than only in grade 12 as stipulated by Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement. The team teaching approach amongst curriculum implementers and subject teachers is also accentuated, and further investigations are proposed.

This is a qualitative interpretative case study. Its aim is to explore how instructional strategies shape the teaching practices of Natural Sciences teachers in the classroom. The following question guided the study: How do instructional strategies shape the teaching practices of Natural Sciences teachers in the classroom? Semi-structured interviews and observations were used to collect data from two purposefully sampled participants. The findings reveal that instructional strategies have a more significant effect on the teaching practices of natural science teachers. Further, Natural Sciences teachers still use the old way of teaching, which is the rote-learning which promotes meditation instead of understating scientific concepts. This consequently led to the learner’s lack of interest and poor performance in the subject. It is thus sensible to recommend that the Department of Basic Education (DBE) provides adequate support in terms of workshops to teachers on instructional strategies.

This paper investigated interaction and discourse during teacher classroom practices in the Senior Phase Natural Sciences in some rural schools positioned in the Vhembe District of the Limpopo Province, South Africa. The research method employed was a qualitative interpretative multiple case study design. Two schools were selected, and one Natural Science teacher from each school participated in this study. Classroom observations and interviews were used to collect data from Senior phase Natural Sciences teachers. Natural sciences teachers were interviewed in their schools and observed during classroom practice. The findings of the study show that the type of discourse observed from Natural Sciences teachers was authoritative discourse and the pattern of discourse employed was Initiation Response Evaluation. Teacher questioning was used to develop the lesson and evaluate learner understanding. Teachers used an interactive-authoritative communicative approach during their lesson presentations. The consequences of the approaches the teachers use limit the opportunities for learners to interact amongst themselves and the subject content. It is recommended that besides focusing on subject matter knowledge during continuous development programs, there is a need to focus on interactions and discourse. Furthermore, there is a need to conduct further studies on a large scale so that a suitable intervention program can be designed for in-service teachers.