The essence of each of the preceding chapters is summarised below.
5.2.1 Chapter 1
The rationale and context of the thesis was described in this chapter. The research questions that the thesis addresses were formulated based on the reasons for the research. Contextual limitations were also taken into account when the research questions were formulated.
South Africa has been performing dismally on a global scale in the so called gateway subjects, Mathematics and the Sciences. The situation in South Africa was sketched using the Mathematics and Sciences results from the National Senior Certificate and areas in need of improvement were highlighted. South Africa’s poor performance in global tests suggests that the standard of education in South Africa is not up to standard. In an effort to address the standard of Mathematics and the Sciences teaching and learning IMSTUS (The Institute of Mathematics and Sciences Teaching at the University of Stellenbosch) initiated an intervention project called SMILES (Sciences and Mathematics Initiative for Learners and EducatorS). As the name implies the focus was on both teaching and learning. This research thesis aims to evaluate the SMILES project and based on this evaluation to make conclusions
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recommendations for future interventions that seek to enhance teaching and learning of Mathematics and the Sciences.
The following research question and sub questions were formulated:
What was the impact of the SMILES intervention model on teaching effectiveness? a) What were the perceptions of the teachers regarding the impact of the
intervention?
b) What were the perceptions of the School Management Teams (SMTs) regarding the impact of the intervention?
c) What were the perceptions of the learners regarding the impact of the intervention? d) What was the impact of the intervention on learning outcomes, if any?
e) What other factors were significantly at play during the intervention?
Definitions of key terms, limitations, and delimitations of the study were sketched out, and an outline of the rest of the thesis was given.
5.2.2 Chapter 2
In chapter two a literature study is undertaken to explore teacher professional development which was the crux of the SMILES project. Teacher professional development was introduced and relevant literature was analysed and presented as it pertained to this study. The purpose of teacher professional development was presented as well as the characteristics of effective professional development.
Shulman’s ideas relating to professional development and to pedagogical content knowledge underpin the study. Courtney’s characteristics for effective professional development were discussed. Guskey’s (2003) five levels of professional development evaluation were introduced as a major component of the theoretical framework for this study. The questions to ask if these evaluation levels are satisfied were: firstly, what were the participants’ reactions to the programme? Secondly, did the participants’ learn new knowledge and skills? Thirdly, was there organisational support and change in the organisation? Fourthly, did the participants use and implement the new knowledge and skills and fifthly what was the impact on student learning outcomes?
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The main goals of the SMILES project were discussed which were to promote constructivist learning environments, an understanding of the nature of science (NOS) among teachers, and the development of scientific argumentation as the process by which scientific knowledge ought to be constructed in mathematics and science classrooms. Professional development was defined from and the critical features of effective professional development drawing from various authorities including Courtney, Desimone and Guskey. From these various theoretical frameworks a conceptual framework for this study was synthesised.
5.2.3 Chapter 3
In this chapter the research design and methodology of the evaluation research regarding the SMILES project was discussed. The concurrent mixed methods approach was adopted combining and triangulating the strengths of qualitative and quantitative paradigms to obtain a more complete picture of phenomena. The different methods and respective instruments used in this research were defined, justified and described and their strengths and weaknesses analysed. Data collection and analysis procedures together with sampling techniques used for each design or research method were described.
Examples of qualitative methods included structured interviews using open ended questions and learner responses to open ended questions of the survey questionnaire. Quantitative data were collected from the Likert type questions of the survey questionnaire and the DBE reports on the National Senior Certificate results for the years 2009 to 2013 to complement data obtained from schools.
5.3.4 Chapter 4
In chapter four the results from the Likert surveys conducted with the teachers reading the project were discussed. The results were very positive so they were broken up further to make a distinction between agree and strongly agree. The statements that had the most responses for agree were then explained. The transcripts from the interviews with the principals were analysed and coded. These statements were unpacked and the context was sketched when needed.
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The questionnaires given to the learners were analysed and bar graphs were drawn for the Likert survey. Each of the statements was then discussed. The responses to the open ended questions were transcribed and then fed into a word cloud generator. Key words that came out of the word clouds were made clear and the context was explained.
The archival results of the five schools NSC examinations were graphed and trends were discussed. These results were also compared with the province and the country. Results from the National Senior Certificate were presented for the five schools for the duration of the project and one year extra. Possible reasons for trends and anomalies were discussed.