- Title
- An evaluation of the impact of the Rhodes University Master of Education in Mathematics Education Programme in Namibia from the perspectives of its graduates
- Creator
- David, Johannes
- ThesisAdvisor
- Schäfer, Marc
- ThesisAdvisor
- Wilmot, D
- Subject
- Master of education degree Namibia
- Subject
- Rhodes University. Department of Education
- Subject
- Mathematics Study and teaching
- Subject
- Critical thinking
- Subject
- Master of education degree Evaluation
- Subject
- Career development Namibia
- Subject
- Educational change Namibia
- Subject
- College students Attitudes
- Date
- 2021-10-29
- Type
- Master's theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/191942
- Identifier
- vital:45181
- Description
- Rhodes University (RU) has been offering a MEdME (Masters in Education, Mathematics Education) degree in Namibia for over 12 years without evaluating its success and impact. This study aimed to evaluate the MEdME programme’s impact on the graduates and on mathematics education in Namibia from the perspectives of its graduates. The study also evaluated the factors that enabled or limited the impact of the programme from the perspective of RU staff members. A three-phased research study was implemented to achieve this. Phase I was a MEdME theses audit to analyze what each graduate researched which then guided the sampling process. Phase II was a distribution of a questionnaire to willing MEdME graduates to elicit their views about the programme's impact. In Phase III, selected graduates were interviewed to follow up on the questionnaire. The RU academic staff members were also interviewed about the programme's design and rationale, as well as their perspectives on its impact on graduates' professional lives. The study found that graduates believed that the programme made them more critical reflexive practitioners (CRPs) who: are now self-introspective, can reflect in context and are competent researchers. This is a sign of the programme attaining its objectives of developing and growing CRPs and graduates, who have advanced in their fields, including their ability to do research. The programme also created opportunities for graduates to study further and/or publish papers. The programme further opened up opportunities for graduates’ promotion into positions of influence in the Ministry of Education where they can positively impact on mathematics education transformation in Namibia (METN). The graduates consequently noticed improvements in some areas but they also noticed room for improvement in other areas of mathematics education in Namibia. This study therefore suggests that more mathematics teachers study further, improve their research capacity and contribute more to METN. The study also suggests a national campaign to increase mathematics teachers' content knowledge. Furthermore, the programme should reintroduce coursework to address students’ subject content knowledge. RU is also advised to explore offering a Professional MEd in Namibia for students who want to focus more on improving their mathematics content knowledge. It is also proposed that Namibia establish a research bank where researchers can upload their theses for wider dissemination.
- Description
- Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, Education, 2021
- Format
- computer, online resource, application/pdf, 1 online resource (185 pages), pdf
- Publisher
- Rhodes University, Faculty of Education, Education
- Language
- English
- Rights
- David, Johannes
- Rights
- Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
- Rights
- Open Access
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RU Department of Education
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | DAID-MED-TR21-282.pdf | 1 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |