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Many Zimbabwean mathematics classrooms have student populations from diverse cultural backgrounds who speak diverse Shona dialects. Most of the mathematics teaching is not related to the learners’ ...

The ability of students in mathematical modeling was enhanced through activities that involved systems of linear equations with two variables. Students involved were in form four, at the final year of the ordinary secondary school level where they were expected to have mastered the knowledge on systems of linear equations with two variables. Students’ knowledge on ill-conditioned linear systems was explored as well as their knowledge on practical problems in linear equations. Then after, mathematics subject teachers guided students to identify practical problems in linear equations of two variables. Students were put into groups to think of problems in real life and come up with solutions. The solutions were related to the real situations in the environment and each group had to make a presentation in the class. Problems in transportation, manufacturing, production and diet were identified by students and the results presented for discussion. It came out clearly that students acquired knowledge on solving real life problems at the end of the activities. Before these activities, students had theoretical knowledge on solving problems with two unknowns without relating these to real life problems. While knowledge on independent and inconsistent systems was known to students, enthusiasm was noted among students at the end of the activities when they got involved in real aspects of solutions obtained. It was concluded that with more time availed in the school curricula, students can acquire useful knowledge on mathematical modeling to achieve problem-thinking skills that involve real life situations.

KEYWORDS Indigenous Materials. Communication. Mathematics Teaching. Technology. Curriculum Development ABSTRACT This paper explores the use of indigenous materials to promote better communication and understanding of mathematical concepts among learners in classroom teaching. It is illustrated on how to use local materials to construct figures that results into proof of mathematical theorems and also examples given are illustrated using Sketchpad program to explore how this technology tool can be used to renovate traditional artefacts in teaching and learning mathematics. The authors argue that such an approach, of using local materials to teach mathematics content by relating what is taught in the classroom to the environment where the learners live, can be an effective way of communication in mathematics teaching. It is recommended that the curriculum development process include indigenous materials in the school syllabus for better understanding of mathematics content taught in class.

This study explored instructors' conceptions of teaching in view of the existing calls for improving the quality of teaching at higher education in Ethiopia. Twenty university instructors were interviewed using a phenomenographic approach, a popular research procedure to explore variation in the ways instructors experience and understand teaching. The study revealed categorization and conceptualization of conceptions that substantiate recent investigations. From the analysis, categories of conceptions that are related hierarchically from the more teacher-centred to the more student-centred emerged. A higher category in a hierarchy hence included the awareness of the lower category but not vice versa. From this, it is concluded that instructors in the higher category are likely to adopt alternative conceptions in teaching whereas instructors in the lower category are unlikely to adopt conceptions of teaching beyond their category unless their conceptions are developed. Therefore, academic development progr...

This paper surveys various theories and models that have been used in the implementation of mathematics professional development programs in different countries for the past thirty years. The paper also reflects on the ongoing Mathematics Continuous Professional Development (MCPD) project's pilot study findings (reported in another paper of this special issue) that sought for an appropriate MCPD framework for South Africa. The South African study examined the status of existing MCPD practice and the challenges practitioners experienced in the implementation of MCPD programmes. The paper concludes that MCPD models can be categorized into two frameworks that should be considered for effective MCPD programs. These are the Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (MKT) framework and the Organizational Framework of the MCPD that should also involve evaluation aspects in these frameworks. It is recommended that a framework that develops mathematics teachers and subject specialists in MKT combined with effective organizational structure at district level involving school principals, district officials, service providers and school based professional development activities could suit the current operational structure in the South African education system for effective MCPD.

KEYWORDS Mathematics Professional Development.Mathematics Teaching.Teacher Practices.Mathematics Teacher Development.Mathematics Teacher Knowledge ABSTRACT This paper reports on a pilot study on Mathematics Continuous Professional Development (MCPD) programmes in the post-apartheid era South Africa. The study examined current practices in mathematics professional development programmes and the challenges practitioners experience in the implementation of such programmes. The study involved five of the nine provinces in South Africa and the population of the study was 55 that consisted of teachers, principals, subject advisors, district officials, ministry of education and service providers. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire and interviews which were analysed using qualitative methods. The study found that the implementation of MCPD programmes was characterized by different factors such as relations between labour unions and the employer, the political legacy of the country and others. The study also established that different participating groups experienced different challenges regarding the implementation of MCPD programmes. The findings from this pilot study were also useful in the modification of some of the research instruments for main data collection.

The dissemination and utilisation of research knowledge produced at universities has been debated in recent times. Recent changes and developments at universities suggest an entrepreneurial model of academic research production in which universities have the responsibility not only to carry out research and teaching but also to disseminate research outputs directly to the users for economic growth of the society. In this paper, we present findings on the nature of ICT research studies conducted, the dissemination and utilisation of the research findings in the past five years at the three universities in Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. A major finding of the study was that many ICT studies conducted at these universities did not target particular community groups for dissemination of knowledge generated and consequently, research outputs from these projects were not delivered to their potential end-users. The ICT research knowledge findings remained located mostly in university departments, librar...

In this paper, as a case study, the teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) was determined by analyzing how teachers taught a topic on mathematics and their responses to the questions on the same topic. Data was collected using face-to-face interview schedules with short-answer and multiple-choice type items. A one sample t-test was used to analyze the collected data. The items that were open ended were compiled to generate quantitative data which were then subjected to quantitative analysis. The findings showed that many teachers had no adequate PCK to understand well the characteristics of the problems tackled, solutions obtained by different methods, their interpretation and lack of understanding of students' problems in learning. It was concluded that teachers needed improvement in their mathematical PCK for effective teaching of the subject.

In this article, the knowledge of traditional artifacts used by the Tchokwe tribe in Angola is explored and then related to the mathematical content learned in the classroom. Examples of artifacts provided in this article illustrate how knowledge extracted from the traditional artifact structures can be used to generate knowledge of concepts for the school mathematics curriculum. These illustrations show the advantage of the use of artifacts to develop ideas that lead to the determination of mathematical rules and principles. The process illustrated is contrary to the teaching of mathematics that involved remembering or following of the rules to obtain solutions. It is concluded that through illustrated processes, learners can learn and develop mathematical interest through reflecting and appreciating on what exists in their traditions. It is recommended that curriculum designs processes should include indigenous knowledge in school curricula for clear understanding of concepts and for long-term retention of knowledge.

This paper focuses on the extent to which university-based research on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) addressed and impacted the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in education, social and economic development in the countries of Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. Twentytwo ICT-related projects were selected on the basis of (a) having a focus on ICT research knowledge production, (b) intensive involvement of ICTs, and (c) not being more than five years old. The study was descriptive in nature and used both qualitative and quantitative in design using questionnaires, structured interviews and documentary schedules. The data collected was qualitatively analyzed. The findings of the study showed that ICT applications were a means to extend access to wider educational opportunities and this added value to productivity-related socio-economic activities. It was concluded that the studies surveyed did make some positive contributions and education was the base for socio-economic development in attainment of MDG’s agenda through the use of ICT. © Kamla-Raj 2013 J Communication, 4(1): 33-40 (2013)

In this paper, as a case study, the researcher looks at the performance of one mathematics module offered through Open distance learning (ODL) to student-teachers. The student-teachers' examination results for the past four years were analyzed and the set examination as well as performance for the year 2011 were analyzed in the six levels of the Bloom's taxonomy of the cognitive domain. The findings showed that the set paper reflected lower levels of the cognitive domain and the average performance in the past years was generally good. The findings also indicated that most students performed well in the lower levels indicating that they had not achieved adequate knowledge in higher levels important for critical thinking and problem solving. It was concluded that lower levels in the set examination and the poor performance in higher levels did not reflect quality in the module offered.

Geometer Sketchpad and MSW Logo programs have been introduced in Bachelor of Science Education degree courses along with other software programs including a course on ICT in mathematics education at the University of Botswana. Sketchpad is known as a tool of dynamic geometry and Logo, basically as a programming language. Current trends of instruction involving technology tend to avoid programming language and some critics argue that the language was now given less prominence in enhancement of thinking skills. In this paper, both programs are used to illustrate how to integrate ICT into the teaching the topic on Rotational Symmetry from the Botswana General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE). While the programs indicate that the topic can be taught in two ways that were not similar, it is illustrated that the two programs can be used to describe and investigate rotational geometry to achieve the same stipulated objectives with a difference. At the end of the paper, some differences in inst...

In this paper, we report the findings of a study on the impact of school category and parental assistance with homework on the mathematics attitude and achievement of senior secondary school students in Botswana. We adopted a quantile regression (QReg) method to analyse the relationship between attitudes and achievement, and also adopted a chi-square and independent sample t-test analyses. The advantage of the quantile regression (QReg) is that it establishes the relationship at the quantile (percentile) levels and does not require the parametric assumptions usually used in the Ordinary Least Square Regression (OReg). The findings showed that positive attitude significantly influenced the mathematics achievement of students across all the achievement quantiles of the QReg. The QReg also indicated that the school category had an effect across all quantiles except at the 5th percentile. Furthermore, the QReg indicated that at the 95th percentile, parental assistance with homework was very crucial in mathematics achievement. These findings implied that the OLS did not sufficiently capture the extreme tail characteristics of the mathematics achievement-attitude relationship. In particular, we observed that at the uppermost tail of mathematics achievements, parental assistance with homework explained better mathematics achievements than attitude. The authors concluded that the QReg method was an innovation to bridge the methodological gaps in previous similar studies. DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2014.v4n6p221

The mathematics student-teacher portfolio is used to document information about mathematics teaching, student-teacher progress through stages of experimentation and achievements during the teacher preparation period. Generally, portfolios have been considered to be reflective tools where student- teachers reflect on why, what and how they teach to meet set objectives. This theoretical paper provides a background on the use of a portfolio in student-teacher teaching practice and its significance in teacher preparation by referring to the mathematics subject. The portfolio assessment procedures are outlined and the portfolio assessment instruments developed and discussed. At the end, the portfolio assessment manual is presented. The author recommends the use of a portfolio in assessing mathematics student-teachers to form a greater part of teaching practice assessment. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n15p267

This paper reports on the findings of the study that assessed the capacity of the School Governing Body (SGB) and School Management team - SMT ( school principal, deputy principal and HODs) to support the teaching and learning of mathematics and science subjects at one school in Mpumalanga Province in South Africa. In this paper, only findings of the mathematical literacy component are reported and findings on the other subjects are reported in other papers. A case study was conducted in one FET school and used a mixed- methods research design whereby qualitative and quantitative data was collected. The learners were from Grades 10 to 12. The data was collected in the year 2012 from the SGB, SMT, school learners, teachers, and general assistants at the school. The findings showed that though the students were enthusiastic to learn mathematical literacy subject, the SGB and School Management comprised of a weak team to support the students in pertinent areas needed to master the subject. It was concluded that lack of communication between the school administration, SGB, teachers, students and parents on issues pertaining to the execution of school policies, activities and security, could have contributed to lack of students’ engagement and assistance to master the subject. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n1p579

This chapter analyzes the contribution of academic research outputs in ICTs towards the improvement of economic and social development of communities in Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe. The findings reported emanate from a study that examined ICT projects undertaken at the universities of these countries and how the projects benefited the communities to realize the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The findings indicate that studies in ICTs were used as either an object or instrument of inquiry, and a number of challenges were associated with the dissemination and utilization of research outputs. In addition, the MDGs were not deliberately factored in the ICT research agenda, and their treatment was by accident rather than design. The authors recommend that in order for research outputs to address the MDGs, the universities should put in place explicit policies that emphasize production of knowledge relevant to community, and dissemination and utilization strategy policies for research outputs.

Different educational efforts have been employed to minimize or eliminate gender differences by using various learning means. One of these efforts has been the use of computers in classrooms instruction because of the nature of qualities these facilities possess. This article analyzes students' gender attitudes towards learning by using computers in Botswana junior and senior secondary schools. Attitudinal variables considered are usefulness and enjoyment of using computers in learning. The findings showed that gender differences existed in the variables used when this facility was used. Girls and boys differed on the usefulness of using computers in learning and girls had less enjoyment in learning using computers than boys. While the use of computers did not meet the expectations in the variables studied, it is concluded that (i) the nature of computer studies curricula offered at both junior and senior secondary schools levels, and the way the subject was taught could have an impact on students' views on usefulness and enjoyment of learning using computers, and (ii) further efforts should be encouraged to explore the use computers in studying the gender gap. Gender & Behaviour Vol. 6 (2) 2008: pp. 1841-1857

The introduction of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) into the school curricula raised some hopes that it could minimize gender differences in learning. The interactive nature of ICT materials was believed to provide a favorable environment especially for girls to learn. This article reports the findings of the study that analyzed students’ gender differences in learning using computers in Botswana junior secondary schools in the year 2006. Variables considered were usefulness and enjoyment of using computers in learning, anxiety in learning when using computers and interaction among students of both sexes. Data were collected using structured interviews with closed and open-ended questions, and analyzed using qualitative and quantitative techniques. The findings of the study indicated that while gender differences existed in anxiety and usefulness variables, some positive aspects in learning were visible when computers were used. At the end, suggestions on the way forward are outlined.