Steyn, E. M. (2022). An analysis of primary school teachers’ current levels of technological pedagogical content knowledge [Master’s thesis, University of Johannesburg]. University of Johannesburg Institutional Repository (UJIR). https://hdl.handle.net/10210/503269

Abstract:

“A radical transformation in educational practices is needed in order to adequately prepare learners to be successful in the 21st century and thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Learners need more than content knowledge, they need to have the skills to think critically, creatively and be able to communicate and collaborate effectively. By 2030 young adults, who started school in 2018 must be prepared for jobs that have not yet been created, have the knowledge and skills to work with newly invented technologies, and be able to find solutions for unknown problems. The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework offers an integrated way of how content, pedagogy, and technology could be integrated in order to meet the needs of the 21st century classroom. Unfortunately, there is a gap between these goals and how teachers use technologies in their educational practices. The question this research aimed to answers is how can technology use by selected primary school teachers be explained using the TPACK framework as a heuristic. In order to answer the research question, the researcher analysed and discussed how selected primary school teachers make use of technologies using the TPACK framework. A set of guidelines for primary school teachers to support their use of technologies for teaching and learning was generated. A mixed-method survey study was chosen for the study in order to collect quantitative as well as qualitative data from primary school teachers in the Johannesburg West, D12 District. The survey of Preservice Teachers’ Knowledge of Teaching and Technology was used combined with closed ended as well as open-ended questions developed by the researcher. From the responses of the thirteen primary school teachers’ themes were identified and used to develop proposed guidelines for teachers to support their use of technologies for teaching and learning.”