Strategies to enhance performance of foundation phase grade 3 learners in diverse mathematics classrooms in the Waterberg District

Abstract

Worldwide, mathematics is regarded as one of the most important subjects, where ithas been recognised that basic mathematical and quantitative skills are becomingincreasingly important in all jobs and life skills, for tasks including budgeting and datahandling, and the changing nature of the international economy. The purpose of thisresearch was to explore the strategies that can enhance the performance ofFoundation Phase learners in diverse mathematics classrooms. The performance ofFoundation Phase learners in diverse mathematics classrooms is an issue of concernbecause teachers should identify different strategies that can accommodate theneeds of all learners in the Grade 3 class. The study was underpinned by theUniversal Design for Learning theory, which recognises the need of making educationmore responsive to learning differences between individuals, as well as increasing thepower of flexibility in teaching. The Universal Design for Learning also emphasisesthat the "what" of learning should be presented through a range of options, providingoptions for the "how" of learning, and providing multiple options for engaging the "why"of learning. The study infused ubuntu African philosophy because it focuses onhumanity, kindness, friendliness, respect, mutual communication, care, and supportduring teaching and learning. The research study followed a mixed-method researchdesign. Data collection techniques took place through conducting pre-test and post-test, using interviews and lesson observations. Excel was used for data management,and Stata Release 15 was used for statistical data analysis. A t-test was used tocompare the two study groups, the experimental and the control groups. The resultswere interpreted at 95% confidence limit (2-sided). In other words, the results weredeclared significant if the p-value was less than 0.05. The post-test results after theintervention strategy showed improvement for both experimental and control groups.In particular, the experimental group showed an improvement in the mean score(x̄ = 55.05455) as compared to the pre-test mean score of (x̄ = 40.70175). The results revealed that the experimental group improved significantly (x ̄= 0.0016) in pre-testand post-test, less than 0.05 at 95% confidence limit in the post-test, which suggeststhat the intervention strategy had a positive impact on learning numbers, operationsand relationships (NOR) concepts. From the qualitative data, different codes to formdifferent themes were identified and used to describe the collected data during lessonobservations and interviews. The group work had a positive impact on the changing ofP1's teaching practice, where the learners’ performance improved. It is envisaged that the findings of the study might provide teachers with strategies that can be used toenhance learners' performance in diverse mathematics classrooms.