Professional training in mathematics education: a study of programmes, practices and prospects
Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education in the Department of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2012.
Factors associated with high school learners' poor performance : a spotlight on mathematics and physical science
This study, using a non-experimental, exploratory and descriptive method, established learners' and educators' views about factors that contribute to poor performance in mathematics and physical science. Participants were purposefully selected from seven schools with poor pass rates in District 3 of Tshwane North. Focused group interviews with ten Grade 11 learners from each school were used as a means to collect data. In addition, one-on-one semistructured interviews were conducted with ten educators from the participating schools. Results indicated that two factors were identifiable. The first identified to have a direct influence related to teaching strategies, content knowledge, motivation, laboratory use, and non-completion of the syllabus in a year. The second factor, associated with indirect influences, was attributed to the role played by parents in their children's education, and general language usage together with its understanding in the two subjects. Recommendations as well as suggestions for further research aimed at addressing the identified factors are advanced. South African Journal of Education Vol. 26(2) 2006: 253–266
Black secondary school pupils' problems with mathematical concepts
This study examined problems experienced by black secondary school pupils in learning mathematics through the medium of the English language. To this end, three achievement tests were construted, validated and administered. These three respective tests were designed to measure understanding of the meaning of mathematical concepts, the level of difficulty experienced by pupils and the ability to identify mathematical concepts from given descriptions. Findings confirmed problems of black pupils in understanding mathematical concepts which were taught in English. The study revealed that black pupils have problems in language processing abilities. In this aces, pupils displayed difficulty with problems requiring abstraction. Furthermore, the findings revealed that pupils have difficulty with concept identification in mathematical tasks. these findings are discussed and implementations for classroom practice suggested