Module on Numeracy Enhancement

Abstract

Introduction to the module athematics is a vital discipline in our daily life as most of the activities we carry out require application Mof mathematical skills involving measuring, estimating, working with numbers doing business and many others. The teaching and learning of mathematics should enable learners to develop the skills for use in daily life experiences. However, the current practices by teachers in schools do not allow learners to attain desired achievement levels. There are a number of factors attributed to this poor performance ranging from negative attitude towards the subject by both teachers and learners, to poor teaching methods employed by teachers in teaching, mathematics. At national level several studies have been conducted to assess learners' achievement in numeracy and literacy. Example of such studies includes the National Assessment and Progress in Education (NAPE) conducted annually by UNEB. National Assessment of Teachers (NAT) by Ministry of Education and Sports in 2012. The research study by the Ministry of Education and Sports was intended to find out why the recurring poor performance in Numeracy and Literacy in schools. Major findings by the study indicated that learners achieved very low on some competences. Interaction with the teachers revealed that teachers find difficulty to teach some mathematical concepts such as geometry, measures, fractions, integers and data handling. This suggests that teachers lack content pedagogical skills to train learners to develop the competences. It is on the basis of the recommendations in the study report that ministry of Education and Sports through Teacher Instructor Education and Training Department, developed a self study module. The module aims at addressing primary curriculum areas of conceptual difficulty for teachers and serves as a teachers' resource. The module suggests learning activities and procedures for teaching/learning the problematic mathematical concepts to improve on the teachers delivery, learners' perception, and attitude of both teachers and learners towards mathematics as a subject. It also suggests instructional materials that teachers need to use in teaching to increase on learners' involvement in learning and practically develop mathematical concepts. General Objectives of this module a) To enhance the teacher's competences to employ appropriate approaches, methods and techniques when handling various concepts in mathematics. b) To develop positive attitude amongst teachers, learners and other stakeholders towards teaching and learning Mathematics c) To design activities that help to address individual learners' needs. d) To design and use learning activities that integrates assessment for learning. Module lay out Content in the module covers five problematic areas to both teachers and learners. These areas are treated separately under units. Each unit is presented in sections including a brief introduction to the unit, learning outcome, content outline with competences to be developed by teachers, study requirement and procedures. The procedures are presented for specific topics and suggest learning activities and instructional materials which can be enriched by the teacher. However, the procedures are NOT teaching steps for a specific lesson.