Mathematics education is a human activity that helps to develop mental processes in order to enhance logical and critical thinking which will contribute to one’s decision-making process and to solve problems (DBE, 2011c). For one to be able to do Mathematics, strategies should be generated in order to solve problems. The performance in Mathematics is very poor and educational researchers have identified various reasons for the poor performance in mathematics. Therefore, South Africa has developed an assessment tool known as the ANA, to determine the learners’ weaknesses in mathematics at national, provincial, district and school level (DBE, 2013). An approach research (in the South African context) was to explore Intermediate Phase Mathematics teacher’s awareness of their metacognitive strategy use. The main purpose of my research study was to understand, to what extent Intermediate Phase Mathematics teachers become aware of metacognitive strategies during an adapted lesson study process. To achieve this purpose, the study aims to investigate the teachers’ awareness of metacognitive strategies before and during an adapted lesson study process. Empirical qualitative research based on a design research approach took place within the interpretative paradigm. Descriptive data was generated by means of semi-structured focus group interviews and a reflective diary was held with double-medium participants who were selected. The data were analysed by means of content analyses which proceeded by using mind maps, where codes and themes were related to the literature. The results show that most of the teachers were aware of the metacognitive strategies, but it can be that they lack knowing when, where and how to use these metacognitive strategies as they do not plan their lessons on a regular basis. Teachers also feel more comfortable when planning lesson collaboratively as they feel that they learn from one another. In conclusion an adapted lesson study could be a positive plan of action to provide teachers with the opportunity to plan lessons collaboratively and reflect on one another’s’ ideas. Teachers can become more aware of their metacognitive strategies when planning lessons in order to implement these metacognitive strategies during their lessons. In this way learners could be empowered to become metacognitive (think about their thinking) and to reflect on their actions which might contribute to their performance of mathematics. / MEd (Mathematics Education), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Mathematics education is a human activity that helps to develop mental processes in order to enhance logical and critical thinking which will contribute to one’s decision-making process and to solve problems (DBE, 2011c). For one to be able to do Mathematics, strategies should be generated in order to solve problems. The performance in Mathematics is very poor and educational researchers have identified various reasons for the poor performance in mathematics. Therefore, South Africa has developed an assessment tool known as the ANA, to determine the learners’ weaknesses in mathematics at national, provincial, district and school level (DBE, 2013). An approach research (in the South African context) was to explore Intermediate Phase Mathematics teacher’s awareness of their metacognitive strategy use. The main purpose of my research study was to understand, to what extent Intermediate Phase Mathematics teachers become aware of metacognitive strategies during an adapted lesson study process. To achieve this purpose, the study aims to investigate the teachers’ awareness of metacognitive strategies before and during an adapted lesson study process. Empirical qualitative research based on a design research approach took place within the interpretative paradigm. Descriptive data was generated by means of semi-structured focus group interviews and a reflective diary was held with double-medium participants who were selected. The data were analysed by means of content analyses which proceeded by using mind maps, where codes and themes were related to the literature. The results show that most of the teachers were aware of the metacognitive strategies, but it can be that they lack knowing when, where and how to use these metacognitive strategies as they do not plan their lessons on a regular basis. Teachers also feel more comfortable when planning lesson collaboratively as they feel that they learn from one another. In conclusion an adapted lesson study could be a positive plan of action to provide teachers with the opportunity to plan lessons collaboratively and reflect on one another’s’ ideas. Teachers can become more aware of their metacognitive strategies when planning lessons in order to implement these metacognitive strategies during their lessons. In this way learners could be empowered to become metacognitive (think about their thinking) and to reflect on their actions which might contribute to their performance of mathematics. / MEd (Mathematics Education), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Thesis (M.Ed. (Mathematics)) ---University of Limpopo, 2016 / This research explored the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of algebra as held by a group of senior phase teachers in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Sixty-one teachers from different districts in the province participated in this study. This qualitative study used a case study design. Data was collected using a test and content representation (CoRe) matrix. The results were analysed through analysis of narratives. The study revealed that most of the teachers could not identify the main concepts that are taught in algebra. It was discovered that some could not differentiate between algebra and arithmetic. The findings also point out that the teachers had inadequate knowledge of algebra subject matter. The participants were able to identify some of the concepts that learners were supposed to do in the next grades. The findings revealed that most of the participants did not know the importance of teaching algebra. It was revealed that most participants could not identify the learners‘ difficulties; they could not specify the procedures they followed when teaching the identified main concepts in algebra, or give reasons for using those procedures. Furthermore, they could not specify factors that influenced their teaching. However, they were able to indicate different methods they used to assess learners‘ understanding. It was concluded that these teachers had inadequate PCK of senior phase algebra. The study recommends development programmes for both subject matter knowledge and PCK for practising teachers. Keywords: pedagogical content knowledge, content representations (CoRes), algebra, senior phase mathematics teachers.