An investigation of how a visual teaching approach can possibly address issues of mathematics anxiety at a selected school in the Oshikoto region of Namibia
- Ngonga, Daniel Nghifikepunye
- Authors: Ngonga, Daniel Nghifikepunye
- Date: 2022-04-08
- Subjects: Visual learning Namibia , Math anxiety Namibia , Mathematics Study and teaching Namibia , After-school programs Namibia , Mathematics Study and teaching Activity programs
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/290637 , vital:56770
- Description: This Namibian case study aimed to explore a visual teaching approach (VTA) used by three selected teachers to address issues of mathematics anxiety (MA). The three teachers took part in an intervention program that was looking at how a VTA could be grown in the context of an after-school club (ASC) at my school. The selected teachers were the senior primary teachers at my school. The focus of the research was on how they taught mathematics using visuals after participating in an intervention programme. Their VTA made use of manipulatives, visuals, and concrete materials. The learners of the participating teachers completed a big MA pre-test, small MA tests, and a big MA post-test to determine their levels of MA as the teaching programme unfolded. The study hoped to create awareness amongst teachers and education researchers about the significant use of a VTA in the teaching and learning of mathematics to address issues of MA among the learners. It aimed to answer three research questions. One was on teachers’ use of a VTA in the context of an ASC; the second one was on comparisons of learners’ MA big pre and post-tests to detect any change of MA, and the last was on the enabling and constraining factors encountered when using a VTA. The main argument was that a VTA can encourage learners to be more confident and less anxious about doing mathematics. This study was framed by a constructivist perspective and its design and methodology were underpinned by an interpretive paradigm. This mixed-method research study employed video-recorded observations and stimulated recall interviews, learners’ MA test results, and the teachers’ focus group interviews as the means of collecting data. To generate rich data and support validity, four lessons per selected teacher were observed and video recorded; 54 learners completed the MA tests of 16 questions, and three teachers answered seven questions each in the focus group interview (FGI) after the stimulus recall interviews (SRI) which were done immediately after the lesson presentations. The study found that the participating teachers incorporated a variety of visuals into their lessons to make the mathematics fun, inspiring, visible, hands-on, and activity-oriented. They engaged the learners and also found that the use of visuals motivated learners and reduced their MA. , Thesis (MED) -- Faculty of Education, Education, 2022
- Full Text:
- Authors: Ngonga, Daniel Nghifikepunye
- Date: 2022-04-08
- Subjects: Visual learning Namibia , Math anxiety Namibia , Mathematics Study and teaching Namibia , After-school programs Namibia , Mathematics Study and teaching Activity programs
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/290637 , vital:56770
- Description: This Namibian case study aimed to explore a visual teaching approach (VTA) used by three selected teachers to address issues of mathematics anxiety (MA). The three teachers took part in an intervention program that was looking at how a VTA could be grown in the context of an after-school club (ASC) at my school. The selected teachers were the senior primary teachers at my school. The focus of the research was on how they taught mathematics using visuals after participating in an intervention programme. Their VTA made use of manipulatives, visuals, and concrete materials. The learners of the participating teachers completed a big MA pre-test, small MA tests, and a big MA post-test to determine their levels of MA as the teaching programme unfolded. The study hoped to create awareness amongst teachers and education researchers about the significant use of a VTA in the teaching and learning of mathematics to address issues of MA among the learners. It aimed to answer three research questions. One was on teachers’ use of a VTA in the context of an ASC; the second one was on comparisons of learners’ MA big pre and post-tests to detect any change of MA, and the last was on the enabling and constraining factors encountered when using a VTA. The main argument was that a VTA can encourage learners to be more confident and less anxious about doing mathematics. This study was framed by a constructivist perspective and its design and methodology were underpinned by an interpretive paradigm. This mixed-method research study employed video-recorded observations and stimulated recall interviews, learners’ MA test results, and the teachers’ focus group interviews as the means of collecting data. To generate rich data and support validity, four lessons per selected teacher were observed and video recorded; 54 learners completed the MA tests of 16 questions, and three teachers answered seven questions each in the focus group interview (FGI) after the stimulus recall interviews (SRI) which were done immediately after the lesson presentations. The study found that the participating teachers incorporated a variety of visuals into their lessons to make the mathematics fun, inspiring, visible, hands-on, and activity-oriented. They engaged the learners and also found that the use of visuals motivated learners and reduced their MA. , Thesis (MED) -- Faculty of Education, Education, 2022
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The use of smartphones and visualisation processes for conceptual understanding of mensuration: a case study of the Mathcitymap Project in Namibia
- Authors: Shimakeleni, Liina
- Date: 2022-04-08
- Subjects: Mathematics Study and teaching (Secondary) Namibia Oshana , Smartphones , Visual learning , Measurement , Concept learning , MathCityMap (MCM) project
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/290649 , vital:56771
- Description: The aim of this study was to investigate and analyse the potential use of smartphones as visualisation tools by learners to enhance conceptual understanding through mathematics trails developed using the MathCityMap (MCM) project. This research study is part of the VIPROmaths project which seeks to research the effective use of visualisation processes in mathematics classrooms in South Africa, Namibia, Zambia, Switzerland and Germany. This study adopted a case of twelve purposively selected Grade 9 learners from a school in the Eheke circuit of the Oshana region, Namibia. This study was framed within a social constructivist perspective and sought to investigate visualisation processes as well as conceptual understanding of learners as they conceptualised the MCM tasks in new, outdoor and collaborative learning situations. The MCM app was installed on selected learners’ smartphones to access and to walk the MCM trails located in various places in the schoolyard. Three MCM trails based on three key themes of mensuration (perimeter, area and volume) were created. Each consisted of four tasks that were sourced and developed in line with the Grade 9 Namibian mathematics syllabus. This study is oriented in an interpretive paradigm and employed video-recorded observations and focus group interviews as qualitative data collection methods. Data collected were analysed first using the themes developed from Ho’s (2010) work on visualisation processes and Kilpatrick, Swafford, and Findell’s (2001) conceptual understanding. During analysis, some themes emerged from the data and were considered. Findings from this study revealed that smartphones afforded learners ample opportunities to enhance the visualisation processes that they went through as they learned the concepts of measurement. In addition to this, some learners were initially pessimistic regarding the use of smartphones for learning purposes. This study recommends that resources such as MCM be effectively be used in formal school settings. The learning of measurement can be advanced in outdoor settings where learners have physical and spatial access to the learning content. Smartphone technology can be used as an additional tool to integrate Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in learning mathematics within the Namibian context. , Thesis (MED) -- Faculty of Education, Education, 2022
- Full Text:
- Authors: Shimakeleni, Liina
- Date: 2022-04-08
- Subjects: Mathematics Study and teaching (Secondary) Namibia Oshana , Smartphones , Visual learning , Measurement , Concept learning , MathCityMap (MCM) project
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/290649 , vital:56771
- Description: The aim of this study was to investigate and analyse the potential use of smartphones as visualisation tools by learners to enhance conceptual understanding through mathematics trails developed using the MathCityMap (MCM) project. This research study is part of the VIPROmaths project which seeks to research the effective use of visualisation processes in mathematics classrooms in South Africa, Namibia, Zambia, Switzerland and Germany. This study adopted a case of twelve purposively selected Grade 9 learners from a school in the Eheke circuit of the Oshana region, Namibia. This study was framed within a social constructivist perspective and sought to investigate visualisation processes as well as conceptual understanding of learners as they conceptualised the MCM tasks in new, outdoor and collaborative learning situations. The MCM app was installed on selected learners’ smartphones to access and to walk the MCM trails located in various places in the schoolyard. Three MCM trails based on three key themes of mensuration (perimeter, area and volume) were created. Each consisted of four tasks that were sourced and developed in line with the Grade 9 Namibian mathematics syllabus. This study is oriented in an interpretive paradigm and employed video-recorded observations and focus group interviews as qualitative data collection methods. Data collected were analysed first using the themes developed from Ho’s (2010) work on visualisation processes and Kilpatrick, Swafford, and Findell’s (2001) conceptual understanding. During analysis, some themes emerged from the data and were considered. Findings from this study revealed that smartphones afforded learners ample opportunities to enhance the visualisation processes that they went through as they learned the concepts of measurement. In addition to this, some learners were initially pessimistic regarding the use of smartphones for learning purposes. This study recommends that resources such as MCM be effectively be used in formal school settings. The learning of measurement can be advanced in outdoor settings where learners have physical and spatial access to the learning content. Smartphone technology can be used as an additional tool to integrate Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in learning mathematics within the Namibian context. , Thesis (MED) -- Faculty of Education, Education, 2022
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