The influence of indigenous knowledge on chemistry metacognition : a focus on pre-service science teachers in Zimbabwe

Abstract

The teaching and learning of Chemistry concepts are detached from the socio-economic daily life experiences of pre-service science teachers. Pre-service science teachers find Chemistry difficult and challenging as they struggle with the Chemistry concepts resulting in poor academic performance in Chemistry at the teachers’ college. Most of the pre-service science teachers in Zimbabwean teachers’ colleges also find Chemistry to be a difficult and challenging subject. The aim of this research was to explore the use of culturally contextualised indigenous Chemistry knowledge by pre-service science teachers in Chemistry metacognition. The study was guided by the following questions: (i) What is the indigenous Chemistry knowledge possessed by pre-service science teachers? (ii) How relevant is the indigenous knowledge to chemistry metacognition? (iii) How effective is the indigenous Chemistry knowledge in Chemistry metacognition? (iv) What are the attitudes of pre-service science teachers towards the use the use of indigenous Chemistry knowledge in Chemistry metacognition. The embedded mixed methods case study was underpinned by the social constructivist theoretical framework which was used to collect and analyse the data. Social constructivist theory assumes that knowledge, reality and learning are cognitive functions which are social processes acquired through interaction with other individuals and the environment. Twenty-nine post ordinary level pre-service science teachers in their first year at college were purposively sampled. Their metacognition awareness was determined through focus group interviews which are triangulated with a test. The indigenous Chemistry knowledge possessed by the pre-service science teachers was collected using focus group interviews which was then used in the intervention stage for Chemistry metacognition. The findings of the study suggested that; (i) pre-service science teachers possessed a vast amount of indigenous Chemistry knowledge, (ii) there was a relevance of indigenous Chemistry knowledge to Chemistry metacognition, (iii) indigenous Chemistry knowledge was quite effective in improving metacognition awareness, (iv) indigenous Chemistry knowledge improved the performance of pre-service science teachers in Chemistry after the intervention and (v) there was a positive attitude towards the use of indigenous Chemistry knowledge in Chemistry metacognition by pre-service science teachers. These findings suggested that indigenous knowledge influences Chemistry metacognition in a positive way. The positive interaction of indigenous Chemistry knowledge and Chemistry metacognition has been shown by this study. Further research is required on the relationship between indigenous Chemistry knowledge and Chemistry metacognition. It was recommended that the indigenous Chemistry knowledge of Chemistry learners should be identified and applied in the Chemistry curriculum at teachers’ colleges. It was further recommended that Chemistry educators be capacitated with skills for identifying indigenous Chemistry knowledge that is relevant to Chemistry metacognition.