THE VISUAL LITERACY OF GRADE 10 LIFE SCIENCES LEARNERS IN CYTOLOGY

Abstract

In Life Sciences Education, the use of educational external representations (ERs) such as diagrams, models and animations is increasingly appearing in learning and teaching resources. However, their effectiveness is limited if learners experience learning difficulties due to lack of visual literacy and spatial ability skills to work with ERs. This quantitative study explored the level of visual literacy of 225 Grade 10 Life Sciences learners in cytology across six high schools in Pretoria, South Africa. Through quantitative research method a Life Sciences visual literacy questionnaire and a spatial ability test were used to collect data. Collected data was analysed descriptively and inferentially through SPSS Version 23. The results showed that most Grade 10 Life Sciences learners lack average visual literacy skills. Furthermore, the results showed that gender doesn’t play a role on the learners’ performance in visual literacy skills as both genders performed approximately equally in both tests. Teachers need to incorporate different ERs that would stimulate different senses, and which will also enhance learners’ visual literacy and spatial ability skills in their lessons. It is recommended that the use of ERs should be reinforced by providing the ERs to both teachers and learners and helping the teachers with necessary workshops to equip them with skills needed to explicitly teach learners using ERs that will stimulate different senses.