Department of Dietetics

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Browsing by Author "Julie, Cyril"

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    Attitudes towards Mathematics, Achievement in Mathematics Aptitude Problems and Concomitant Teacher Practices in Ugandan Secondary Schools
    (University of the Western Cape, 2004) Opolot, Charles; Julie, Cyril
    The purpose of this study was to investigate students' attitudes toward Mathematics, achievements in Mathematics problem-solving, and the nature of teacher practices in Ugandan secondary schools. The study was intended to determine if there are any relationships between students attitudes toward Mathematics and achievements in Mathematics problem-solving. And to explore the nature of teacher practices in high-performing and low-performing schools. The study used a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods. Two hundred fifty- four students from nine secondary schools and four mathematics teachers participated in the study. The data examined were from (]) senior three (ninth-grade) students' responses to a student's attitude towards mathematics questionnaire modified from the Fennema-Sherman attitudinal Scales ming, High-Performing schools, Lowitudes towards Mathematics, student attitudes towards mathematics, are achievement g and the nature of teacher practices in Ugandan secondary intended to determine if there are any relationships between student attitudes towards mathematics and achievement in mathematics problem-solving. And to explore the nature of teacher practices in high-performing and low-performing schools. The study used a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods. Two hundred fifty- four students from nine secondary schools and four mathematics teachers participated in the study. The data examined were from (]) senior three (ninth-grade) students' responses to a student's attitude towards mathematics questionnaire modified from the Fennema-Sherman attitudinal Scales and (2) students' solutions to a mathematics problem-solving test that the researcher developed. The reliability of the instrument was examined by computing Cronbach alpha internal reliability coefficient.
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    Prospective Zimbabwean "A" Level mathematics teachers' knowledge of the concept of a function
    (University of the Western Cape, 2006) Nyikahadzoyi, Maroni Runesu; Julie, Cyril
    The purpose of the study was to investigate prospective 'A' level mathematics teachers' knowledge of the concept of a function. The study was a case study of six prospective Zimbabwean teachers who were majoring in mathematics with the intention of completing a programme leading to certification as secondary mathematics teachers. At the time of the study the six prospective teachers were in their final year of study. Prospective teachers' knowledge of the concept of a function was assessed through task-based interviews and reflective interviews. These interviews, which were done over a period of three months, were structured to capture the prospective teachers' subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge for teaching the concept of a function. The interviews were also meant to capture the prospective teachers' underlining pedagogical reasons for their choices of the examples, representations and teaching approaches when planning to teach the concept. As part of the study a theoretical framework for understanding prospective teachers' knowledge of the concept of a function was developed. The framework, which was developed, was used as an analytical tool in analyzing prospective teachers knowledge of the concept of a function. The results of the study indicated that the prospective teachers had a process conception of a function although some of them had given a set-theoretic definition of a function in which a function is perceived as a mathematical object. They also confined the notion of a function to sets of real numbers. Functions defined on other mathematical objects (for example, the differential operator and the determinant function) were not considered as functions by five of the six prospective teachers.