Abstract:

Numerous research studies have been undertaken to understand learners' poor performance in science. A more in-depth view of the problem of poor science performance, as examined in this study, is that students are struggling to transition from the Senior Phase to the Further Education and Training Phase. Most of the studies attribute this failure to the style of teaching employed by Senior Phase teachers, that is, science teachers’ lack of self-confidence concerning the Natural Science content knowledge. The National Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) introduced was introduced to improve pass rates. This was expected to have a significant bearing on the learning and teaching of Natural Sciences. The CAPS emphasise the teaching and learning of Natural Science that promotes hands-on approaches by utilising practical work as well as using it as a tool for assessment. The study utilised a deductive approach based on interpretivism. Social constructivism theory was used as the main theoretical framework of the study Data to assess the teaching practical work was gathered employing interviews as well as document analysis of three purposively sampled Grade 9 Natural Science teachers’ portfolios. Data was analysed qualitatively. The study found that teachers' perceptions about the importance of practical work in the teaching and learning of Natural Sciences were positive even but used this pedagogy infrequently. The study found that teachers faced many challenges such as inadequate resources, big classroom sizes, lack of functional laboratories and time constraints resulting in them not effectively conducting practical work daily.

Keywords:

Active, experiential learning, Natural Sciences, Secondary Education, STEM, CAPS (Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement).