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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Educ.
Sec. Digital Learning Innovations
Volume 9 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2024.1426451
This article is part of the Research Topic Trends in the digitization of education: approaches, innovations and scenarios View all 4 articles

Understanding Science Teachers' TPACK for Virtual Lab Adoption in Rural Schools in South Africa: A Mixed-Methods Approach

Provisionally accepted
BRIAN SHAMBARE BRIAN SHAMBARE *Thuthukile Jita Thuthukile Jita
  • University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This paper reports on a sequential explanatory mixed-methods study that assessed technological, pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) competency among life sciences teachers in the context of virtual lab adoption in rural schools in South Africa. Drawing from Koehler and Mishra's (2006) TPACK framework as the study's theoretical foundation, data gathered through questionnaires (N = 186) and in-depth semi-structured interviews (N = 4) were analysed using descriptive and thematic analysis. The study uncovered a ubiquitous deficiency in TPACK competency among the participating life sciences teachers. The teachers demonstrated significant expertise in conventional areas such as content knowledge (CK), pedagogical knowledge (PK), and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), mainly influenced by teaching experience. However, they exhibited a noticeable gap in technology-related TPACK domains, including technological knowledge (TK), technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK), and overall TPACK proficiency.This paper aspires to address a significant gap in educational research by spotlighting the oftenoverlooked rural teaching contexts. In addition, the paper advocates for tailored professional development initiatives to enhance teachers' overall TPACK proficiency. Such initiatives are crucial for empowering teachers to integrate technology into their teaching and improve learning outcomes effectively.

    Keywords: TPACK, virtual lab, Technology, Rural schools, science education

    Received: 01 May 2024; Accepted: 04 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 SHAMBARE and Jita. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: BRIAN SHAMBARE, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, 9300, Free State, South Africa

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