Assessing the Impact of Content Knowledge of Economic and Management Sciences Teaching and Learning: A Case Study of Second Year Student-teachers in a South African University
Berington Zanoxolo Gobingca 
Issue: Vol.6 No.6 Article 10 pp. 792 – 802
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20256610 | Published online 13th May, 2025
© 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
The purpose of this research was to assess the impact of content knowledge on Economic and Management Sciences (EMS) teaching and learning for second-year student-teachers of one selected South African University. It was observed that during the teaching practice, some student-teachers were struggling to impart appropriately some EMS topics like financial literacy to mention a few, in explaining and responding properly and convincingly to learners’ questions. This observation triggers the quest to assess the impact of content knowledge of EMS teaching and learning on second-year student-teachers of a selected South African university. Technological pedagogical content knowledge theoretical framework underpinned this research. An interpretivism research paradigm was adopted for this study. A purposive sampling method was used to select six student-teachers enrolled in the Bachelor of Education in Senior Phase and Further Education and Training with specialisation in commerce stream programme in the 2024 academic year. Semi-structured interviews were conducted face-to-face as a data collection method to gather data after permission was sought from participants. A thematic approach was used to analyse the data from the participants. The findings revealed that several participants lacked the financial literacy background content knowledge necessary to effectively address the EMS subject. Additionally, omitting EMS themes was found to be a contributing factor in student-teachers’ difficulties in effectively teaching the subject. It is recommended that the curriculum offered to student-teachers in the commerce stream be reviewed to enable all of them to gain graduate attributes.
Keywords: Economic and Management Sciences, Accounting, Content Knowledge, Financial Literacy, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Pre-Service Teachers.
Apau, S. K. “ Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Preparedness of Student-Teachers of the Department of Arts and Social Sciences Education (DASSE) of University of Cape Coast.” University of Cape Coast, 2016.
Arnal-Palacián, Mónica, and Javier Claros-Mellado. “Specialized Content Knowledge of Pre-Service Teachers on the Infinite Limit of a Sequence.” Mathematics Teaching Research Journal 14, no. 1 (2022): 169–89.
Ataş Akdemir, Öznur. “Academic Procrastination Behaviors of Preservice Teachers in Turkish Context.” World Journal of Education 9, no. 2 (March 13, 2019): 13. https://doi.org/10.5430/wje.v9n2p13.
Banks, Frank, Ann Shelton Mayes, Malcolm Oakes, and Dennis Sutton. “Teacher Early Professional Development: The Context.” In Early Professional Development for Teachers, edited by F. Banks and A.S. Mayes, 1–9. David Fulton Publishers, 2012.
Boyer, Ernest L. Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate. ERIC, 1990.
Braun, Virginia, and Victoria Clarke. “Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology.” Qualitative Research in Psychology 3, no. 2 (2006): 77–101.
Cheng, May M.H., Annie Y.N. Cheng, and Sylvia Y.F. Tang. “Closing the Gap between the Theory and Practice of Teaching: Implications for Teacher Education Programmes in Hong Kong.” Journal of Education for Teaching 36, no. 1 (February 25, 2010): 91–104. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607470903462222.
Chowdhury, Muhammad Faisol. “Interpretivism in Aiding Our Understanding of the Contemporary Social World.” Open Journal of Philosophy 04, no. 03 (2014): 432–38. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojpp.2014.43047.
Clarke, Victoria, and Virginia Braun. “Thematic Analysis.” The Journal of Positive Psychology 12, no. 3 (May 4, 2017): 297–98. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2016.1262613.
Cross, Michael, and Amasa Ndofirepi. Knowledge and Change in African Universities: Volume 1 – Current Debates, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6300-842-6.
Glennie, Jenny, Ken Harley, Neil Butcher, and Trudi Van Wyk. Perspectives on Open and Distance Learning: Open Educational Resources and Change in Higher Education: Reflection from Practice. Commonwealth of Learning (COL) and UNESCO, 2012.
Hosal‐Akman, Nazli, and Can Simga‐Mugan. “An Assessment of the Effects of Teaching Methods on Academic Performance of Students in Accounting Courses.” Innovations in Education and Teaching International 47, no. 3 (August 2010): 251–60. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2010.498176.
Ibrahim, Ali, and Najwa Alhosani. “Impact of Language and Curriculum on Student International Exam Performances in the United Arab Emirates.” Cogent Education 7, no. 1 (2020): 1808284.
Jaffri, Hadijah, Narina A. Samah, and Lokman Mohd Tahir. “Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: How Does It Perceive by Engineering Lecturers?” In 2014 International Conference on Teaching and Learning in Computing and Engineering, 186–89. IEEE, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1109/LaTiCE.2014.43.
Junjie, Ma, and Ma Yingxin. “The Discussions of Positivism and Interpretivism.” Online Submission 4, no. 1 (2022): 10–14.
Macmillan, J.H., and S. Schumacher. Research in Education. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., 2006.
Maree, K. First Step in Research. Pretoria. .: Van Schilk, 2007.
McGrath, Cormac, Per J. Palmgren, and Matilda Liljedahl. “Twelve Tips for Conducting Qualitative Research Interviews.” Medical Teacher 41, no. 9 (September 2, 2019): 1002–6. https://doi.org/10.1080/0142159X.2018.1497149.
Mokofe, William Manga. “The Fourth Industrial Revolution and Unemployment in South Africa: A Continuing Challenge.” Kazan University Law Review 9, no. 1 (2024): 7–27.
Morris, Anne K, and James Hiebert. “Effects of Teacher Preparation Courses: Do Graduates Use What They Learned to Plan Mathematics Lessons?” American Educational Research Journal 54, no. 3 (2017): 524–67.
Schreuder, Glynis Rholeen. “Teacher Professional Development: The Case of Quality Teaching in Accounting at Selected Western Cape Secondary Schools.” Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2014.
Sentsho, Tsholofelo Audrey, and Patience Kelebogile Mudau. “Teachers’ Experiences of Teaching the Financial Literacy Component to Enhance Learner Performance in Economic and Management Sciences.” Journal of Curriculum Studies Research 5, no. 3 (2023): 29–43.
Shawer, Saad F. “Classroom-Level Curriculum Development: EFL Teachers as Curriculum-Developers, Curriculum-Makers and Curriculum-Transmitters.” Teaching and Teacher Education 26, no. 2 (2010): 173–84.
Shulman, Lee S. “Those Who Understand: Knowledge Growth in Teaching.” Educational Researcher 15, no. 2 (February 1, 1986): 4–14. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X015002004.
Sofat, R. and Hiro P. 2008. “Basic Accounting. .” South African Council of Educators,PHI Learning Pty Ltd., 1998.
Soudien, Crain. Report on the National Review of Academic and Professional Programmes in Education. Council on Higher Education, 2010.
Steenkamp, L.P., Baard, R.S. and Frick, B.L. “Department of Curriculum Studies: University of Stellenbosch.” SAJAR, 2009.
Suri, Harsh. “Purposeful Sampling in Qualitative Research Synthesis.” Qualitative Research Journal 11, no. 2 (2011): 63–75.
Tight, Malcolm. “Tracking the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.” Policy Reviews in Higher Education 2, no. 1 (January 2, 2018): 61–78. https://doi.org/10.1080/23322969.2017.1390690.
Prof. Berington Zanoxolo Gobingca holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Education, Master of Education (MEd), Bachelor of Education (BEd), Bachelor of Commerce in Education (B. Com Educ) and Diploma in Agriculture. Currently, he is a senior lecturer in the Business and Management Education Department (BME Dep.) in the Faculty of Education (FE) at Walter Sisulu University (WSU) geographically located in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. His research focuses on Curriculum development, Governance, Leadership and Management and specializes in the Commerce stream.
Gobingca, Berington Zanoxolo. “Assessing the Impact of Content Knowledge of Economic and Management Sciences Teaching and Learning: A Case Study of Second Year Student-teachers in a South African University,” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 6, no.6 (2025): 792 – 802. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20256610
© 2025 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
