| Summary: | Dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree
Master of Education
in the Faculty of Education and Social Sciences at the
Cape Peninsula University of Technology
2008 === This study was prompted by concerns regarding the state of mathematics teaching and
learning in the South African education system. One of the contributory factors to this
situation is the lack of qualified and competent mathematics teachers. The problem is
exacerbated by matriculants who enter teacher education programmes with a poor grasp of
mathematical concepts and, in some cases, an associated dislike for the subject. Such
students are described as being at risk of failing their first year mathematics courses in the
teacher education programme. Although these at risk students are exposed to mathematics
education within teacher education programmes, many of them graduate and return to the
classroom, without having overcome their innate dislike for the subject. This has resulted in a
vicious cycle in which newly graduated teachers return to the classroom and continue to
contribute to the production of matriculants who produce poor mathematics results and have
an aversion for the subject.
This dissertation reports on a case study of first year at risk student teachers studying
towards a Bachelor of Education (GET phase) at a South African university. The study
investigated how a mathematics intervention programme (MIP), shaped student teachers’
perceptions of learning and teaching mathematics. The theoretical background to the
research problem was acquired by examining four areas of the following literature, viz.
students’ perceptions of learning and teaching mathematics; effective mathematics
intervention programmes; theoretical perspectives of learning and teaching strategies
associated with mathematics; and activity theory as a theoretical framework in examining the
study of learning activities of student teachers.
The empirical investigation which was underpinned by an interpretivist paradigm collected
and analysed qualitative data from amongst a sample of the student teachers in the MIP.
The principal source of evidence was interview transcripts, which was supplemented by test
scores, and written and graphical reflections of the student teachers experiences. Activity
theory was used as a lens to analyse the evidence. The research findings are therefore
contextualized within an activity theory (AT) framework.
Insofar as the outcomes of the MIP are concerned, the evidence confirms that the at risk
student teachers’ perceptions of learning and teaching mathematics, in the sample that was
selected for the study, had changed. There are three indicators of this, namely: the results of
the final component of the interviews during which the subjects’ responses, through the use
of sort cards, indicate that their motivation, attitude and confidence to learn mathematics had
improved since they commenced participating in the MIP; the improved mathematics marks
amongst the subjects; and the written and graphical reflections of the subjects on their
mathematics experiences in the MIP which portrayed a positive attitude towards
mathematics and mathematics learning. The results also reveal that the student teachers’
activities within the various components of the activity system did not exist in isolation from
one another but rather within a system of dynamic and continuous change. Thus the
usefulness of AT is borne out.
This study concludes that the mathematics intervention programme had a positive effect on
the at risk student teachers’ perceptions with regard to the following: Firstly, improving the
student teachers’ attitudes to, and level of confidence in learning mathematics. Secondly by
providing student teachers an opportunity to be exposed to teaching strategies that could be
used when conducting mathematics lessons during practice teaching or as future
mathematics teachers. Thirdly, improving student teachers’ mathematics performance.
Overall the study provides insight into how interventions can work in elevating the confidence
of at risk students in a South African context. In particular the study highlights that it is indeed
possible to break the vicious cycle of returning graduated student teachers with negative
perceptions of mathematics into our classrooms.
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