Elementary School Science Teachers’ Understanding of The Concept of the Earth’s Rotation

The teaching of science in elementary/primary schools is problematic in many different countries because pre-service teachers often lack a deep understanding of science content knowledge. In Australia, research and national reports indicate that this lack of science content knowledge decreases the pre-service teachers' confidence and results in science being one of the most neglected subjects in the primary curriculum. For example, research has shown that science is the least taught subject in Australian primary schools (except for languages other than English) averaging 41 minutes or 2.7% of teaching time each week. The same, I believe can be said about the teaching of science in Ghana and consequently, students’ performance in the subject. A fact file from ‘Ghana Nsem’ a website primarily for information on Ghana and analysis of its past, present and future in the context of Africa and the world indicated that in 2009 there were no science teachers in the Sissala East district of Ghana. The purpose of this study would be to identify elementary/primary school science teachers’ understanding of the concept of the earth’s rotation bringing about day and night and consequently, its impact on their students’ understanding of the concept. The target population of the study would be forty primary school science teachers and one hundred pupils in the Effutu Municipal of the Central Region of Ghana.

Key words: Elementary, School teacher, Concepts, Misconceptions,  Rotation, Basic school pupils