Abstract:

The purpose of this research was to establish factors impacting the application of formal assessments in intermediate phase mathematics in South Africa. The research was elicited by several reports on the underperformance of South African learners in mathematics. Assessment drives learning and formal assessments have a profound influence on getting feedback from learners’ achievements and monitoring whether objectives are attainable. The study embraced constructivist philosophy specifically, Piaget’s cognitive constructivism and Vygotsky’s social constructivism. This was a phenomenological study which gathered information on the views of teachers regarding the application of formal assessments in intermediate phase mathematics. The participants were nine intermediate phase mathematics teachers who were purposefully sampled from different selected primary schools. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to seek clarity on the teachers’ execution of formal assessments. Data were analyzed using the themes that emerged in the participants’ description of their experiences. Results reveal that lack of teaching and learning resources, high teacher workload, overcrowded class sizes, lack of parental involvement, language barrier, learners’ beliefs and attitudes towards mathematics as a subject, and contextual factors impact the application of formal assessments in intermediate phase mathematics. The study recommends that curriculum developers should consult teachers, who are curriculum implementers, about the challenges they encounter when applying formal assessments. Teachers must fulfil their role of being ‘life-long learners’ and acquaint themselves with new developments in mathematics teaching and learning.

Keywords:

Assessment, cognitive constructivism, constructivist theory, Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement, formal assessment, intermediate phase, mathematics.