Abstract
The purpose of the study reported on in this chapter is to evaluate how effectively physical sciences secondary school teachers are integrating information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the context of Education 4.0 and one of the northern districts in the city of Tshwane, Gauteng province, South Africa. Against the background of exploring intersectionality and women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), the chapter will be exploring enablers and constraints in this regard.
TopIntroduction
This section will describe the general perspective of the chapter and end by specifically stating the aim and objectives.
Exploring Intersectionality and Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
Incorporating the gender perspective and its intersectionality in various areas of knowledge is necessary to determine inequalities, and social exclusions, among others, in addition to strengthening a transdisciplinary and diverse vision for incorporating more women in science. Women are an important asset for research, innovation, and the future of global development.
There is an increasing global call to adopt information and communication technologies (ICTs) in teaching and learning. ICTs have become so essential that the South African government has introduced the e-education policy (Chisango, Marongwe, Mtsi, & Matyedi, 2020). However, for several decades now, researchers in South Africa and elsewhere have continued to present evidence of low levels of learner achievement and underperformance, especially in science and mathematics subjects (Venkat & Mathews, 2019). These low levels of learner achievement are associated with the poor quality of teaching, which has not changed over a number of decades (Mlachila & Moeletsi, 2019). This phenomenon exists despite the integration of information and communication technologies in teaching and learning (Dixon, 2019; Tachie, 2019). The instability and inconsistency of teaching practices in classrooms are not unique to South Africa but have been observed (for decades) in other countries, as well (Mikeska, Holtzman, McCaffrey, Liu, & Shattuck, 2019). Consequently, there has been an upsurge in efforts, locally and internationally, which prioritize the search for strategies to improve the teaching of science subjects (among other subjects) in schools (Arends, Winnaar & Mosimege, 2017; Michos & Hernández-Leo, 2020). It is against this background that ICTs, due to their potential, have come to be a contender to improve the quality of teaching in science classrooms across the globe, including those in South Africa (Gui, Parma & Comi, 2018; Singh, Sharma & Kaur, 2020; Umugiraneza, Bansilal & North, 2018). However, Daya and Laher (2020) noted that what takes place in individual schools indicate that the ICT integration agenda in South Africa is yet to achieve satisfactory results holistically. Therefore, this proposed study seeks to evaluate the integration of ICTs by Physical Sciences teachers in secondary school contexts in South Africa. The investigation will also determine the ICT ‘enablers’ and ‘constraints’ Physical Sciences educators are confronted with.
Target Audience
Like that of the book that it proposes to form part of, the target audience of this chapter includes researchers, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) students and practitioners.
Recommended Topics
From the recommended topics suggested for this book, the chapter will focus especially on Physical Sciences, but will also discuss Mathematics, Life Sciences, Computer Science, and Health Sciences.
Key Terms in this Chapter
ICT Integration: In the context of this study, ICT integration refers to the extent to which information and communication technologies have been adopted into the school environment and the degree of impact on the classroom pedagogies.
Information Communication Technologies (ICTs): An umbrella terms referring to a wide range of software and hardware technology components such as computer, telecommunication, internet, video and digital cameras that can be used by teachers to support their work.
ICT Intensity: ICT intensity refers to the degree, volume or magnitude of the use of ICTs in the teaching and learning process.
ICT Constraints: Constraint is a constraining condition, agency or force that limits the systems’ performance in a given context or environment. In this study, constraints are operationalized as anything that limits or hinders Physical Sciences teachers from integrating ICTs in the teaching and learning process.
ICT Tools: ICT tools refers to hardware and software communication resources such as computers (desktops, laptops), photocopy machines, data projectors, interactive whiteboards, Word Processing, Internet, tape recorders, cell phones and social media apps, specifically WhatsApp which are used for the purpose of teaching and learning.
ICT Enablers: The term ICT enablers refers to critical success factors or elements that are required to ensure effective integration of ICTs in the teaching and learning of Physical Sciences.