This study used diagnostic tests, questionnaires and interviews to investigate explore teachers’ subject content knowledge (SCK) and pedagogical subject knowledge (PCK). It also explored teachers’ and learners’ misconceptions within the topic of graphicacy and how teachers’ SCK and PCK possibly affect learner achievement. A small sample of teachers were drawn from the Keiskammahoek region; a deep rural area of the Eastern Cape. These teachers were part of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) Amathole Cluster Schools Project who were registered for a three-year BEd (FET) in-service programme in mathematics education. As part of the programme they studied mathematics 1 and 2 at university level and received quarterly non-formal workshops on teaching mathematics at FET level. The findings of this study suggest that teachers with insufficient SCK will probably have limited PCK, although the two are not entirely dependent on each other. In cases where teachers’ displayed low levels of SCK and PCK, their learners were more likely to perform poorly and their results often indicated similar misconceptions as displayed by their teachers. This implies that we have to look at what teachers know and what they need to know in terms of SCK and PCK if we are to plan effectively for effective teacher development aimed at improving learner performance.
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nmmu/vital:9515 |
Date | January 2009 |
Creators | Stewart, Joyce |
Publisher | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Faculty of Education |
Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
Language | English |
Detected Language | English |
Type | Thesis, Masters, MEd |
Format | xi, 161 leaves ; 31 cm, pdf |
Rights | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University |
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