An analysis of South African Grade 9 natural sciences textbooks for their representation of nature of science

ABSTRACT

This article reports on an analysis and comparison of three South African Grade 9 (13–14 years) Natural Sciences textbooks for the representation of nature of science (NOS). The analysis was framed by an analytical tool developed and validated by Abd-El-Khalick and a team of researchers in a large-scale study on the high school textbooks in the USA. The three textbooks were scored on targeted NOS aspects on a scale of −3 to +3 that reflected the explicitness with which these aspects were addressed. The analysis revealed that the textbooks poorly depict NOS, and in particular, there was scant attention given to the social dimension of science, science versus pseudoscience and the ‘myth of the scientific method’. The findings of this study are incommensurate with the strong emphasis in a reformed school science curriculum that underlies the need for learners to understand the scientific enterprise, and how scientific knowledge develops. In view of this, the findings of this research reinforce the need for a review on the mandate given to textbook publishers and writers so that a stronger focus be placed on the development of materials that better represent the tenets of NOS.

KEYWORDS:

• Nature of science
• natural sciences textbooks
• textbook analysis
• curriculum documents

Notes on contributors

Umesh Ramnarain is a professor of science education in the Department of Science and Technology Education, Faculty of Education at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa. He is an established researcher on the nature of science and inquiry-based science education at the school level. He has many publications in high impact factor science education journals, and his work has also been disseminated at international conferences.

Tarisai Chanetsa teaches Mathematics and Physical Sciences at a high school in Johannesburg, South Africa. She is interested in teacher development and is pursuing a PhD study that focuses on the nature of science and the professional development of teachers.