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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.