Practices That Help Grade 12 Learners To Improve Their Performance In Physical Science: A Case Of Omusati Region, Namibia

ABSTRACT

In Namibia, Omusati Region is one of the poorly performing regions in Physical Science Grade 12 national examinations (Omusati Regional Advisory Services (ORAS), 2015). Despite the poor performance, there are few schools in this region which have been ranked among the top six performing schools in the country. These schools are located in the same geographic region with other schools with a poor performance record. Therefore, this study investigated practices that could help improve the academic performance of learners in the Physical Science subject. The study employed a QUALquan research approach of a concurrent nested design by using a case study for an indepth investigation. An extreme case sampling strategy was used to draw a sample of two schools from a population of seventeen secondary schools in the region. The four domains: planning and preparation, the classroom observation, instruction and professional responsibilities were used in data collection. Six Physical Science teachers from both schools were part of the study and were observed over five different occasions. Interviews were used to collect data for domain four while domain one, two and three data were collected using a classroom observation. Thirty classroom observations were conducted at both selected schools. Field notes assisted the researcher to come up with mitigation strategies to be employed by School B.