Documents

Documents used as a data source included learners’ responses on the diagnostic test, summative test responses, and completed worksheets from an echo and waves activity; these provided insight into how learners make sense of different concepts on the topic of sound. Additionally, the examiners’ reports were analysed to strengthen the context of the study.

3.6.1.1 Diagnostic test responses

Cohen et al. (2011) defined a diagnostic test as an in-depth check to discover particular strengths, weaknesses and difficulties that a learner experiences, and is designed to expose causes and specific areas of weaknesses or strength. Based on the definition, it is evident that a diagnostic test can be administered at any stage of the topic discussion. In this study, a diagnostic test was used at the beginning of the research process, to elicit learners’ prior knowledge in order to inform the intervention lessons.

Grade 10 Physical Science learners at the research site were informed about the purpose of the diagnostic test before it was conducted. Learners were also made aware of the subject content area to be covered in preparation for the diagnostic test. This subject area comprised echo and waves under the topic of sound. The diagnostic test was informed by the National Curriculum for Basic Education known as Curriculum 2010 (C2010) and considered the grade 10 Physical Science content on sound - echo and waves. The diagnostic test (see Appendix F) was administered to 30 grade 10 learners.

The learners’ scores from the diagnostic test were used to categorize learners into achievement levels The 15 research participants were selected from all the achievements. The data gathered from the diagnostic test was presented and analysed in chapter 4. Strengths and weaknesses in the learners’ prior knowledge of echoes and sound were identified. Such weaknesses might come from misconceptions or alternative conceptions or an inability to make sense of echo and waves concepts and/or an inability to link the required information with prior knowledge. Weaknesses identified from the diagnostic test were considered to be addressed in the planned intervention lessons. The areas where learners showed understanding were also covered in the planned lessons so as to show content progression. After that, the intervention lessons were drawn from the unit of work. The unit of work consisted of a collection of intervention lessons which I taught throughout the research study process.

Centrally, the diagnostic test responses were presented and to answer the research question: What factors enable or constrain grade 10 Physical Science learners’ understanding on the concept of wave and echo, on the topic of sound? Data obtained from the diagnostic test responses served as a foundation for the presentation of Grade 10 content on sound. At the end of the research process particularly the lesson presentations, the focus group members were given a summative test.

3.6.1.2 Summative test responses

According to Biggs (1998), a summative test/assessment can give insight on the understanding of the content presented. This assessment checks the impact of the teaching and learning process as well as evaluating learners’ performance (Stiggins, 2005). In Stiggin’s (2005) terms, the rating of learners’ performance informs the scores which appear on school report cards; however, that was not the focus of this study. The purpose of the summative test was to determine the extent of achievement of the study’s goal as well as the challenges that learners experienced when the echo and waves concepts were mediated through traditional music and dance.

The summative test was set and administered to the 15 focus group learners at the end of all the lesson presentations. The learners were chosen purposively based on their diagnostic test achievement levels. The test was aimed at checking on the effect of the intervention on learners’

cognitive development, so answering the research question and providing data to be used in selecting interviewees.

The types of questions set in the summative test were mostly designed to probe deeper into the content. It consisted of multiple choice questions (MCQ) and structured questions (SQ). The MCQ that required explanations encouraged more thinking, and structured questions also challenged the critical thinking of the participants. The responses that learners gave were presented, analysed and interpreted to determine the role played by traditional performance together with an interventional activity in learners’ sense-making of the concepts of echo and waves, on the topic of sound. The data were also used to indicate the effect of learning in an environment where learners were allowed to share their thoughts. The indicated end product to learning was critical to strengths, weaknesses and possible opportunities for incorporating the two central meditational tools under study. The data gathered from the summative test were used in selecting interviewees as discussed below (see Section 3.6.4).

The selection of interviewees was based on the difference in scores between the diagnostic test and summative test. The deviation between the two tests was used to gauge the measure of development the study had on learners’ thoughts. The nature of answers pointed to how learners were constructing their ideas at the end of the study, which measured the effect of scaffolding and ZPD (an element of the theoretical framework). Ultimately, summative assessment was used to find out the effectiveness of the study goal.