An investigation into the attitudes, perceptions and factors affecting the implementation of the consumer studies teaching portfolio in the Western Cape Education Department
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Date
2008
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Publisher
University of the Western Cape
Abstract
Assessment is a critical element for achieving the desired outcomes in out comes based education (OBE). In the subject area of Consumer Studies each teacher is required to compile a teaching portfolio about the assessment and classroom activities conducted in a given year. However, there is a paucity of research in the field of portfolio development for teaching Consumer Studies in the secondary school.
The main objective of this study was to investigate the attitudes, perceptions and factors affecting the implementation of the Consumer Studies teaching portfolio in the Educational Management Developmental Centres (EMDCs) of the Western Cape Education Department (WCED). The sub-objectives were firstly to assess the teachers' attitudes toward the Consumer Studies teaching portfolio as an assessment
tool. A second aim was to describe teachers' perceptions of assessment methods in the Consumer Studies teaching portfolio, while a third was to identify the factors that affect the development of the said portfolio. A structured questionnaire was used to determine the attitudes, perceptions and factors affecting the implementation of the Consumer Studies teaching portfolio. The questionnaire contained three sections, the first of which related to the participants' demographic information. The second section comprised three parts. The first dealt with factors that influenced the choice of the assessment method used in Consumer Studies. The second part focused on the participants' attitudes toward the assessment process, and the third on teachers' perceptions of constraints or barriers that impact on
the assessment process. Section three centred around factors that relate to the process of compiling the teaching portfolio, such as. skills required for this purpose, activities that need to be reconsidered in the course of compiling the portfolio, and the benefits of the teaching portfolio as such. The SAS statistical package was used for an analysis of the data in this study. Therefore various statistical methods were applied. The independent variables were illustrated by using frequency tables. The non-parametric Friedman's test was used for analysis, because the data was not on an interval scale, and was therefore ranked. The pairwise comparison test was used to determine the association between factors for each assessment method used in the Consumer Studies teaching portfolio. Results were achieved by applying these methods of data analysis. Withregard to demographics, the mean age of the teachers in the study were female and 40, holding a Higher Diploma in the Education of Home Economics !Needlework. The results of the factors influencing the selection of an assessment method showed that no single factor could be linked to a particular assessment method. There are several factors that influence the selection of one specific assessment method. Choosing the learner portfolio as an assessment method is influenced by various factors such as planning for instruction, diagnosing student weaknesses, monitoring student progress, communicating student achievement,
motivating students and assigning grades. These factors are selected among the assessment methods for observation-based, test-based and task-based assessment. The teachers displayed a positive attitude toward the assessment process, because they rated the assessment process as valuable, successful, efficient, important, good, fair, reputable, flexible and relaxed. There was a large percentage of teachers who felt that the assessment process was tense instead of relaxed. The teachers did not perceive any of the constraints or barriers as having a negative impact on the assessment process. The factors relating to the teaching portfolio included all the skills, activities and benefits required for compiling a teaching portfolio. Those demanding particular attention are self-reflection, journal writing, writing a teaching philosophy and self evaluation. Recommendations offered in this study are that training programmes be run for preservice and in-service teachers so that teachers can feel more confident when compiling a teaching portfolio. The National Department of Education should provide structure and assessment criteria to guide teachers in the development of a teaching portfolio. Published material about teaching portfolios should be made available to teachers. The teaching portfolio is a valuable assessment tool that can be used not only in the
development of the teacher's teaching strategy, but also for determining a teacher's strengths and weaknesses m his or her professional career.
Description
Magister Artium (Human Ecology) - MA(HE)
Keywords
Assessment, Assessment methods, Attitudes, Consumer Studies, Leamer, Outcomes-based education, Perceptions, Teacher, Teaching portfolio