South African grade 11 Physical Sciences learners’ perceptions of scientific inquiry

Abstract: This study explored South African Grade 11 Physical Sciences learners’ perceptions of their experiences of scientific inquiry within the context of science classrooms. The study adopted a case study design and involved purposively selected Grade 11 physical sciences learners from two South African township schools. Data was collected by administering a validated Learner Perceptions of Classroom Inquiry (LPCI) instrument developed by Dudu and Vhurumuku (2012) with the participants. The study revealed that the learners held mixed conceptions about the nature of scientific inquiry. A substantial number of learners held naïve and incoherent views about the nature of scientific inquiry. The findings have profound implications for meaningful enactment of contemporary pedagogic approaches such as inquiry-based learning in various instructional settings. Theoretical implications for coherent development of scientific literacy within the broader South African educational context are discussed