Investigating how chemistry teachers in Grade 11 utilize the periodic table of elements to facilitate the learning process of writing and balancing chemical equations

Abstract

The periodic table of elements is central to the study of chemistry and other disciplines of science, yet Namibian learners do not perform  satisfactorily in topics which require its use in answering questions. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to explore how Grade 11  chemistry teachers make use of the periodic table of elements to mediate the learning of writingand balancing chemical equations. The  study was carried out with two chemistry teachers in two rural schools in the northern partof Namibia. It was underpinned by an  interpretive paradigm, within which a qualitative case study approach was employed. Data were collected through in-depth interviews (semi- structured) and observations. Shulman’s Pedagogical Content Knowledge is used as theoretical framework in this study and the  data sets were analyzed using the three of the five Topic Specific Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TSPCK) components adapted from  Mavhunga and Rollnick. The findings revealed that teachers demonstrated positive attitudes towards the use of the periodic table of  elements when teaching the writing and balancing of chemical equations. However, challenges regarding inadequate materials that  hindered the teaching and learning process were observed. Another finding of this study was that teachers used a variety of mediation  tools such as prior knowledge and appropriate representations to enhance learning. The study therefore recommends continuing  professional development for chemistry teachers in order to provide teachers with opportunities and spaces to share subject matter  knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and easily accessible resources that they can use to improve chemistry classroom instruction.