Postgraduate Science Students’ Impressions and Experiences of Online Pedagogical Practices: Implications for Technology-Enhanced Pedagogy

Abstract

This study explores the postgraduate science teachers’ conceptions and experiences of online pedagogical practices in diverse school contexts. Embracing technology-enhanced pedagogy remains a key strategic imperative within the context of evolving pedagogical benefits associated with the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). As key agents of educational change, science teachers face the key imperative to harness the pedagogical affordances of online platforms with a view to realizing the achievement of envisaged educational outcomes. Furthermore, research studies on online teaching have predominantly focused on technological aspects and very little on their impact on humans. The empirical investigation adopted a qualitative case study design and involved 20 purposively selected postgraduate science students from diverse school contexts in South Africa. Data were collected through the administration of an open-ended survey questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. Key findings emanating from the empirical investigation indicated that postgraduate science teachers’ coherent adoption of appropriate online pedagogical strategies was largely hampered by a lack of technological resources and inadequate professional capacity to implement online teaching and learning in diverse school contexts. Sustainable teacher professional development opportunities on the utilization of virtual digital platforms ought to be provided with a view to enabling postgraduate science teachers to harness the pedagogical affordances of online teaching and learning.