As the political milieu in South Africa changed in 1990, a new curriculum framework guided
by the principles of Outcomes Based Education (OBE) emerged. The paradigm shift from a
traditional to an OBE curriculum was difficult for many teachers, especially the shift away
from the traditional paper and pencil methods of assessment to using formative assessments
methods.
The issues of assessment are further compounded in Technology Education because of its
unique methodology. Within the South African context, Technology Education must include
conceptual knowledge of technology products as well as procedural knowledge on the
designing and manufacturing of such products. Technology Education is thus concerned with
developing learners’ capability. As a result, assessment in Technology becomes complex
because we are looking for more than just a display of knowledge, understanding and manual
skills.
It is against this backdrop that this study aims to explore Grade 7 teacher assessment
practices in Technology Education within the Pinetown District and to gain a better
understanding of what teachers assess in Technology Education. This was done by
examining how they carried out their assessments and by exploring the reasons for such
practices.
The research questions addressed in this study were: What are Grade 7 teachers assessing in
Technology Education? ; How do Grade 7 teachers carry out these assessments? ; Why are
Grade 7 teachers employing particular assessment strategies?
Middleton’s revised concept of problem space, as well as the influence of social constructive
influence on learning and assessment that forms the theoretical framework of this study.
Guided by the interpretive paradigm, this research was qualitative in nature and a case study
approach was used to explore it aims. The case study approach allowed the researcher an
opportunity to study the participants’ common and unique features in depth within a limited
time scale. Participants for this study were selected by purposive sampling by virtue of their
professional experience in teaching Grade 7 Technology Education within the senior phase.
Data collection methods used to obtain data relevant to the research questions were
observation of Technology lessons, document analysis of learners’ books and educators’
portfolios, as well as semi-structured interviews.
It has emerged from the findings that although Technology Education has gained momentum
over the years in South Africa. Greater attention needs to be paid towards assessment of the
learning area because no proper guidelines regarding assessments have been provided for
teachers. Teachers are assessing aspects of Technology Education that they feel are relevant
and which they are comfortable with. Greater emphasis is placed on completed tangible
products rather than the designing and the learning process that the learner engages in.
Emphasis is placed on assessment for attainment of marks and not for life-long learning.
Lack of pedagogical knowledge in the field of Technology Education and limited knowledge
of appropriate assessment strategies in Technology Education have also emerged as major
contributing factors for Grade 7 teachers for assessing Technology Education in the manner
that they are.
It is recommended that appropriate and adequate professional development workshops be
held for teachers of Technology Education so that these short coming are addressed. Subject
advisors need to play a more active role in the development of Technology Educations and
meet on a regular basis with the teachers to keep abreast of new trends and to tackle
challenges. This is necessary so that Technology Education in South Africa can reach its true
potential in developing enterprising, creative problem solvers as envisaged in the
constitution. / Thesis (M. Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/9411 |
| Date | 07 August 2013 |
| Creators | Naidoo, Narishnee. |
| Contributors | Moodley, Mervin P., Combrink, Martin D. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en_ZA |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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