Problem Solving, Beliefs About Mathematics, And The Long Arm Of Examinations.

A ZJER journal article.The recent, almost global, shift in emphasis from computation towards problem solving skills in mathematics education curricula has opened up fresh areas of research. As one of the factors now widely acknowledged as having a tremendous influence on the course and quality of the problem solving process, beliefs about mathematics have been the subject of a number of studies including the present one. The main objective of this study was to explore and uncover the kinds of beliefs Zimbabwean secondary school students hold concerning the nature of mathematics, the leaning of mathematics, and the doing of mathematics. The study focused on Form 4 students (11th graders, typically 16 years old) and used in-depth individual interviews of 10 students (4 of them males) to gather data. A preliminary survey was used to structure the interviews, and video-taped observations of classroom sessions were done to explore the relationship between the beliefs and the context in which most of the mathematics is learned. Analysis uncovered 46 beliefs. The nature of the beliefs suggests that the students simultaneously and mostly subconsciously hold two distinct views of mathematics. The views, which can be characterized as "discipline" mathematics and "examination” mathematics, overlap to varying degrees in different individuals and have conflicting characteristics in some aspects. Furthermore, the views appear to be strongly influenced and dominated largely by an evaluation effect originating from the practice and culture of summative national examinations and, to some extent, by the nature of the mathematics curriculum and a lack of exposure to genuine problem solving activities in the students’learning experiences

Types of Humour Categories Used to Generate and Maintain Interest in Mathematics Among Secondary School Students in South Sudan’s Displaced and Re-settled Communities

While there has been appreciable consensus among humour researchers as well as classroom teachers that the use of humour in the classroom setting can be an effective teaching tool, there is still, however, a dearth of literature available that classroom practitioners could use as a guide in actual practice. Most of the literature currently available tends to address the potential use of classroom humour in general, and does not go into the specifics of exactly “what types of humour forms” are effective. This article addresses this question in the context of a secondary school mathematics classroom in South Sudan’s displaced and re-settled communities, where the lesson plans used in the intervention were infused and laced with instructional humour–humour related to the mathematics concepts being discussed–for the purpose of generating and maintaining student interest in mathematics. Using a researcher constructed observation sheet (RCOS) as the research instrument for capturing the desired qualitative data, five specific literature recommended humour types or categories (namely: mathematical jokes, puns, riddles, related stories and funny-multiple choice items) were used and identified as the ones that generated and maintained interest among the South Sudanese secondary school students. Classroom teachers who would like to use classroom humour for the purpose of motivating and inspiring their students may find the information contained in this article useful, as a practical-reference classroom guide

Humour-Supported Instructional Approach: A Method for Generating and Maintaining Interest in Mathematics for Secondary School Students in South Sudan Re-settled Communities

This article reports the findings from the main study that investigated relative effects of an instructional approach aimed at generating and maintaining interest in mathematics for secondary school students living in South Sudan’s displaced and re-settled communities. The study compared interest-generating effects of two different instructional approaches on two groups of Grade 11 students over a twelve-week period. While the Humour-supported Instructional Approach (H-SIA) was applied to the experimental group (E-group; n = 53), the control group (C-group; n = 59) was taught using Regular Instructional Approach (RIA). No significant differences were found in the two approaches’ effects in generating and maintaining interest. A four (4) week pilot study conducted prior to the main study produced similar results. However, some new insights from the main study suggest that teachers’ teaching traits play a heavier and more central role in both methods than had been initially realised. This led to the conclusion that the two methods (H-SIA and RIA) have similar effects on learner interest. The equivalence appears strongly dependent on the teachers’ teaching traits, characteristics and teaching qualities for marshalling teachers’ teaching techniques or strategies which include humour into their pedagogical toolkit. H-SIA method, however, is more recommended because the literature indicates-and this is confirmed in this study-that the use of humour in the classroom setting provides students with additional reason, motivation and inspiration to learn

Independent and combined effects of improved water, sanitation, and hygiene, and improved complementary feeding, on child stunting and anaemia in rural Zimbabwe: a cluster-randomised trial.

BACKGROUND: Child stunting reduces survival and impairs neurodevelopment. We tested the independent and combined effects of improved water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), and improved infant and young child feeding (IYCF) on stunting and anaemia in in Zimbabwe. METHODS: We did a cluster-randomised, community-based, 2 × 2 factorial trial in two rural districts in Zimbabwe. Clusters were defined as the catchment area of between one and four village health workers employed by the Zimbabwe Ministry of Health and Child Care. Women were eligible for inclusion if they permanently lived in clusters and were confirmed pregnant. Clusters were randomly assigned (1:1:1:1) to standard of care (52 clusters), IYCF (20 g of a small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplement per day from age 6 to 18 months plus complementary feeding counselling; 53 clusters), WASH (construction of a ventilated improved pit latrine, provision of two handwashing stations, liquid soap, chlorine, and play space plus hygiene counselling; 53 clusters), or IYCF plus WASH (53 clusters). A constrained randomisation technique was used to achieve balance across the groups for 14 variables related to geography, demography, water access, and community-level sanitation coverage. Masking of participants and fieldworkers was not possible. The primary outcomes were infant length-for-age Z score and haemoglobin concentrations at 18 months of age among children born to mothers who were HIV negative during pregnancy. These outcomes were analysed in the intention-to-treat population. We estimated the effects of the interventions by comparing the two IYCF groups with the two non-IYCF groups and the two WASH groups with the two non-WASH groups, except for outcomes that had an important statistical interaction between the interventions. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01824940. FINDINGS: Between Nov 22, 2012, and March 27, 2015, 5280 pregnant women were enrolled from 211 clusters. 3686 children born to HIV-negative mothers were assessed at age 18 months (884 in the standard of care group from 52 clusters, 893 in the IYCF group from 53 clusters, 918 in the WASH group from 53 clusters, and 991 in the IYCF plus WASH group from 51 clusters). In the IYCF intervention groups, the mean length-for-age Z score was 0·16 (95% CI 0·08-0·23) higher and the mean haemoglobin concentration was 2·03 g/L (1·28-2·79) higher than those in the non-IYCF intervention groups. The IYCF intervention reduced the number of stunted children from 620 (35%) of 1792 to 514 (27%) of 1879, and the number of children with anaemia from 245 (13·9%) of 1759 to 193 (10·5%) of 1845. The WASH intervention had no effect on either primary outcome. Neither intervention reduced the prevalence of diarrhoea at 12 or 18 months. No trial-related serious adverse events, and only three trial-related adverse events, were reported. INTERPRETATION: Household-level elementary WASH interventions implemented in rural areas in low-income countries are unlikely to reduce stunting or anaemia and might not reduce diarrhoea. Implementation of these WASH interventions in combination with IYCF interventions is unlikely to reduce stunting or anaemia more than implementation of IYCF alone. FUNDING: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UK Department for International Development, Wellcome Trust, Swiss Development Cooperation, UNICEF, and US National Institutes of Health.The SHINE trial is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP1021542 and OPP113707); UK Department for International Development; Wellcome Trust, UK (093768/Z/10/Z, 108065/Z/15/Z and 203905/Z/16/Z); Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation; US National Institutes of Health (2R01HD060338-06); and UNICEF (PCA-2017-0002)

In-service mathematics teacher's effective reflective actions during enactment of social constructivist strategies in their teaching

This study documents two case studies of in-service teachers whose reflective actions during teaching belonged to the effective category. Stratified sampling was used to select the in-service teachers whose reflective actions during teaching achieved effective reflection category in the first round of assessments. The sampled in-service teachers were jointly observed by two researchers whilst teaching high school mathematics classes in the second and third rounds of assessment visits to determine their teaching actions whilst enacting effective reflective actions. Classroom observations were followed by post lesson reflective interviews. The in-service teachers' effective reflective actions during teaching were noted as aligning learners' prior knowledge with activities to develop new concepts, sensitivity to learners' needs, using multiple pedagogical methods, and causing cognitive conflicts that facilitated learners' reflections on the solutions that they produced. These findings provide insight into theorising in-service teachers' reflective actions that informs reform on appropriate enactment of social constructivist strategies in mathematics classrooms