Science Education in Schools and at Tertiary Level: Status Quo or Embracing Change?

Abstract

Society is changing as the influence of technologies and the implementation of innovative practices are driving change. Change and innovation are not simple processes for all (Rogers, 2003). Yet, companies, corporates and small business are managed and lead to ensure not only efficiency, but also to yield the best possible financial gain. When one analises change in the world of commerce, one does not have to be a rocket scientist to come to the conclusion that there have been tremendous changes. Not only has the ergonomics of buildings and factories changed, there has also been change pertaining to the number of people employed, as technologies afford opportunities to make certain positions that people occupied, redundant. Robotic tools are used more and more in the manufacturing chain to increase productivity and to ensure greater quality, or so we are informed.

In the search for the ideal mentor by applying the ‘Mentoring for effective teaching practice instrument’

“…According to previous research (Ploj Pšunder and Ploj Virtič 2010;Šorgo, Verčkovnik, and Kocijančič 2010;Šumak et al 2017), we can conclude that the most likely reason is that mentors simply don't use ICT in the classroom currently, possibly due to resistance to change, i.e. still embracing the status quo without using such tools (Du Plessis 2018).…”

“…From the data, it was evident that the utilisation of ICT tools for teaching and learning purposes is indeed an area that necessitates action, since one has to make the decision to remain with the status quo or embrace change and move into the future (Du Plessis 2016, 2018Du Plessis and Blignaut 2020).…”