A pedagogical perspective on the annual national assessment tests in Grade 9 Mathematics

[摘要] English: Teaching, learning and assessment of Mathematics in South African schools is interspersed with problems and inadequacies. National tests have shown that South African learners do not have the Mathematical knowledge and skills that are expected of a Grade 9 learner. The aim of this study was to investigate the nature and extent of the influence of the ANA on the Mathematics pedagogy in Grade 9 classrooms. The achievement of the aim was facilitated by the achievement of a number of objectives. The study investigated Grade 9 Mathematics teachers�?and learners�?view and interpretation of teaching, learning and assessment and determined to what extent the ANA has an influence on the Mathematics pedagogy in a Grade 9 Mathematics classroom. This study utilized a qualitative research approach. The data was collected using three data collection strategies namely interviews with five teachers; focus-group interviews with learners and document analyses of various documents. The population of this study consisted of all schools teaching Grade 9 Mathematics in the General Education and Training (GET) phase in the Free State Province. The sampling decisions were made specifically for the explicit purpose of obtaining the best possible source of information to respond to the research questions. All educators were selected on the basis that they were qualified to teach Mathematics and had at least one year of „ANA experience�? The interpretation of the data showed that teachers were pressurized to complete the work schedule before the ANA test was written in September 2014. The intended purpose of the ANA test, as envisioned by the Department of Basic Education is pure. However, it may be sensible to let the learners write the ANA test later on in the year or at the start of the next year. The work schedule specified in the CAPS document of the Department of Basic Education is too wide-ranged. This contributed to uncertainty on what can be tested in the ANA test.Most of the teachers interviewed did not focus on the ANA test as such, they continued with the syllabus. Teachers had a negative perspective towards the ANA test and this negative perception streamed down towards the learners. The teachers�?and learners�?responses indicated that most of the learners saw the ANA test as unimportant because the ANA test did not count towards their final grade. This was reflected in the marks of the ANA 2014 test. Feedback on the ANA 2014 test was questionable. Because of this, various shortcomings were identified regarding feedback on the ANA. The majority of teachers did not receive the Diagnostic Report from the Department of Basic Education and therefore could not assist learners with proper feedback on areas of weakness and areas of strength. Assessment was not executed on the appropriate cognitive levels by all schools. Some teachers concentrated on factual answers that had little to do with developing creative thinking and creative abilities that could provide learners with opportunities to practice Mathematics and answer higher level questions. Teachers align their teaching-learning and assessment processes in the Grade 9 Mathematics classroom but the poor performance in the ANA test together with the inefficient knowledge of Grade 9 Mathematics learners might be an indicator that what is expected of learners does not align with the teaching, learning and assessment in the Grade 9 Mathematics classroom.

[发布机构] University of the Free State