Attitudes of pre-service mathematics teachers towards modelling : a South African inquiry

Abstract: This study explores the attitudes of mathematics pre-service teachers, based on their initial exposure to a model-eliciting challenge. The new Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement determines that mathematics students should be able to identify, investigate and solve problems via modelling. The unpreparedness of mathematics teachers in teaching modelling is widely recognized. Modelling was thus included for the first time in the mathematics education curriculum of a South African university. Based on their modelling exposure, the participants revealed their attitudes via an Attitudes towards Mathematics Modelling Inventory. The Mann Whitney U-test detected significant differences between gender and achievement groups. Most participants displayed positive attitudes towards modelling, even after this brief exposure. The main implications of the study are that the modelling competencies of mathematics pre-service-teachers could be strengthened during their formal education by lecturers that adopt an appropriate modelling pedagogy that takes cognizance of their attitudes, while gradually building their confidence

Rolpersepsies van dosente van eerstejaars in die natuurwetenskappe : ’n fokus op geslagsverskille

Role perceptions of lecturers of first year science students: A focus on gender differences. A marked increase in student enrolments in South African public universities over the last two decades, allowed substantially more ‘nontraditional’ students into the sector. These students typically have unsatisfactory levels of school performance, lack communication skills (especially in English) and mostly have first-generation status. The Faculty of Science at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) established its First Year Academy (FYA) in 2007. The FYA, a community of practice for lecturers of first-year students, promotes optimal student learning, and expects lecturers to optimise their facilitation of learning strategies. Not much is known (research-wise) about role adaptions that lecturers of first-year students (especially in science faculties) are expected (forced?) to make in such circumstances. A literature-validated Likert-type questionnaire, involving 53 first-year lecturers (almost 60% females), was subsequently administered. The survey gathered perceptions in respect of eight literature-based roles that lecturers (could or should) play when dealing with first-year students, as well as their self-appraised competence in fulfilling these roles. The Mann-Whitney U-test revealed significant differences between the perceived role importance and competence of male and female lecturers in respect of certain roles. The study revealed a significant relationship between the gender and opinions (and also behaviours) of science lecturers for first-year students at UJ. Capacity building geared at the more proficient execution of the roles of course designer, teacher, course manager and peer consultant is regarded as vital. A tailor-made professional development programme is offered by the Faculty of Science’s FYA as of 2014

Developing a measure for student perspectives on institutional effectiveness in higher education

Orientation: This study outlines institutional effectiveness (IE) in higher education (HE) and interrogates its underlying elements from a student perspective. Following a review of contemporary perspectives on student educational outcomes, the study identifies and explores the importance of four pertinent indicators of IE in the context of a South African (SA) higher education institution (HEI).   Research purpose: This study aimed to explore the structural validity and reliability of the Student Educational Outcomes Effectiveness Questionnaire (SEEQ), administered to students at an SA HEI, collecting data on their perceptions of IE.   Motivation for the study: Institutional effectiveness is a contested concept in HE and several approaches to define it, using various sets of underpinning elements, can be found. The conceptualisation and measuring of IE within the SA HE sector is a hugely neglected area of research. This study therefore attempted to delineate and to gauge IE, utilising the perceptions and preferences of students at an SA HEI.   Research design, approach and method: Data for this study were collected using a self-selection sample (N = 807) of students from four schools at the selected HEI. Reliability and exploratory factor analyses were performed to explore the internal consistency and structural validity of the above-mentioned SEEQ.   Main findings: The reliability of SEEQ is deemed to be acceptable and the validity of the four theoretical constructs (or dimensions) hypothesised in respect of IE from a student perspective were supported.   Practical/managerial implications: Preliminary empirical evidence suggests that SEEQ could be employed in a cautious manner by HEIs (especially in SA), with a view to gauge IE, as well as to promoting the scholarship and management of institutional performance and student success.   Contribution or value-add: This article presents a multidimensional approach to the depiction and measurement of IE from a student perspective. It makes a handy initial contribution to a grossly under-researched phenomenon in the SA HE sector