GRADE 12 LIFE SCIENCES TEACHERS' UNDERSTANDING OF SMARTBOARD AFFORDANCES IN TEACHING GENETICS

Genetics, the study of heredity and inheritance, is a fundamental discipline in modern biology.Its significance extends far beyond the classroom, influencing various aspects of life from medicine, agriculture to biotechnology and forensic sciences.Understanding genetic concepts is crucial for addressing pressing global challenges such as disease diagnosis and treatment, crop production, and conservation of biodiversity, hence it is fundamental for learners to understand genetics.However, genetics concepts are often complex and abstract, posing challenges for both teachers and learners when teaching these concepts.Traditional teaching methods fail to provide dynamic and interactive learner engagement opportunities during the learning process, leading to difficulties in conceptual understanding of genetics concepts.To address these challenges, innovative technologies such as smartboards have been found to enhance the teaching and learning of genetics.Smartboards offer a range of interactive tools and multimedia capabilities that can facilitate immersive and interactive learning experiences.The study herein reported explored grade 12 teachers' understanding of the affordances of smartboards for teaching genetics concepts.The study was framed by the Technological Acceptance Model as the theoretical framework in interpreting findings of the data collected.Through a quantitative research approach, 40 grade 12 life sciences teachers were purposefully selected to participate in the study.These teachers used smartboards and were presumed to possess the requisite content knowledge in genetics as stipulated by the South African Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement.To collect data a questionnaire designed by researchers was administered to the teachers to determine their understanding of smartboards affordances and their competencies in using the smartboards to teach genetics concepts.Data analysis involved computation of descriptive statistics.The findings revealed that teachers have limited understanding of the usefulness of smartboards to teach genetics concepts due to insufficient technological knowledge and skills.This is despite them holding positive perceptions on smartboard affordances, citing its potential to promote collaborative learning, autonomous learning, and learner-centred approaches.The findings showed that insufficient technological knowledge hinders teachers' ability to effectively utilise and explore the interactive tools that smartboard can provide when teaching genetics.The findings provide implications for the design of focused interventions and teacher professional development and provision of technical support to enable meaningful utilisation of smartboards in teaching abstract science concepts.