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Provisional Title: An action research study of how a visualisation approach to teaching used in an intervention programme can address issues of mathematics anxiety. Research Goal and Question(s).
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Provisional Title: An action research study of how a visualisation approach to teaching used in an intervention programme can address issues of mathematics anxiety
Research Goal and Question(s) The goal is to study how a visualisation approach to teaching used in an intervention programme can address issues of mathematics anxiety. Questions • What are the type(s) and levels of anxiety do teachers of Grades 9 -10 have when teaching the content that is meant for the additional mathematics syllabus? • Does the use of GeoGebraas a visualisation tool enhance conceptual understanding and productive disposition to ease mathematics anxiety?
Background and Context • The Junior Secondary Phase mathematics syllabus(Grades 8 – 10) is divided into Mathematics and Additional Mathematics (Namibia. Ministry of Education, 2010). • Additional Mathematics is taught from Grade 9 to 10. Most of the schools in the Kavango East Region had not implemented the said content/syllabus, especially for Geometry and Algebra. • The revised Junior Secondary Phase Syllabus (grades 8 – 9) (2016) still includes some of the objectives previously meant for additional mathematics in Grade 9 (2010). • Therefore in my opinion, the content meant for additional mathematics causes anxiety.
Background and context continue… • I believe that if teachers have effective strategies to teach for proficiency (Kilpatrick, Swafford & Findell, 2001), they will teach the content meant for the additional mathematics syllabus. • The teaching of mathematics requires new strategies, such as the use of ICT. • ICT can help teachers to visualise how concepts are connected and represented, for example, in geometry. • A Namibian GeoGebra Initiative Programme (NGIP) will be introduced.
Concepts & Theoretical Framework The key concepts of the study are: • Visualisation: • Teaching visuality • Visual representations • Visualisers & non-visualisers (Presmeg, 1986) • Mathematical Proficiency (Kilpatrick et al., 2001) • Conceptual understanding & Productive Disposition • (Confidence, motivation, etc) • MathematicsAnxiety: general anxiety & teaching anxiety (Bandura, 1986; Hembree, 1990; Aschraft, 2002, etc) • ICT-Tool (GeoGebra) • Teacher Professional development : • Pedagogy content knowledge (Shulman, 1986)
Theory The proposed study will be informed by the theory of Community of Practice (CoP) (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998; Wenger, McDermott & Snyder, 2002). • The theory refers to “groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis”. • The three modes of belonging to a CoP are: • Engagement-doing things together, talking, and producing artifacts • Imagination-constructing image of ourselves, of our communities, and of the world • Alignment- to ensure that the local activities are aligned in order to fit in within the broader structures and contribute to the broader enterprise.
Research Design • An interpretive paradigm • Mixed methods: Quantitative & Qualitative (Creswell, 2003) • The study will be conducted in the Kavango East Region • The researcher and two teachers will attend a training on GeoGebra • Pre-Survey: Questionnaire (Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale: for Grades: 9 -10 teachers)(Hembree, 1990; Ashcraft, 2002) • Participants (about 10) will be selected as per their anxiety rating scores. The intervention programme will last for the whole of 2018 • Method: Action Research (a number of applets will be developed): Plan Act(Implement) Observe Reflect (Zuber-Skerrit, 1992) Lesson observations :Teachers’ use of GeoGebra as visualisation tool to solve problems in Geometry and Algebra (Presmeg, 1986 pp. 42 – 43; Kashefi, Alias, Kahar, Buhari & Othman, 2015 p.579 ). • Interviews (teachers’ mathematics anxiety & teaching visuality) • Post- survey: to compare with the initial findings