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The majority of children in mainstream (no fee, poorly resourced, African language dominant) public schools in South Africa fall significantly behind curricular norms in mathematics by Grade 3; the early learning gap grows across time. The provision of quality instructional materials is a well-recognised component of effective strategies to improve early grade mathematics in low- and middle-income contexts. However, there has been little explication of what constitutes quality instructional materials, nor long-term design work to contribute theory to this instructional design challenge. Across 15 years, the author has been working in an education design hub with teacher educators and teachers in the rural Eastern Cape, with the goal of improving early grade mathematics. The gains in mathematics performance have been among the most significant reported in research literature. This paper presents the design principles emerging from the work. Engaging the theoretical layers discussed by diSessa and Cobb, the paper contributes to design theory by emphasising the relationship between explicit instructional assumptions and design principles, integrating four ontological categories (motive, pedagogy, language use and mathematical meaning-making). Since 2011, the Department of Basic Education has provided learner workbooks to support teaching and learning in foundation phase mathematics at system scale. It is hoped that this paper will contribute to the ongoing development of this vital national resource. The paper makes explicit instructional assumptions and design principles (available for critique, adaptation, and refinement), and provides a more nuanced framework through which to assess and improve materials across time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the effects of technology integration in the learning and teaching of Mathematics in first- and second-year mathematics students. The technology-based learning environment has been the demand in groundwork learning to shape a more active approach to students' learning process. The South African government has made an obligation to advance its people's Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills and to connect the digital gap by targeting previously disadvantaged groups. The interpretive approach was used with face-to-face interviews to collect data from ten participants. Six participants were interviewed by the lecturers teaching mathematics and four students doing mathematics in one of the rural universities in the Eastern Cape. Findings confirmed that (i) Teacher technology competence and lack of resources are barriers to technology learning implementation. (ii) Consequently, it became evident that learners had a robust positive perception of computer usage in Mathematics learning and teaching even though almost all had little or no access to computers in their schools. It is recommended that the university should ensure that all students have the data card loaded with uncapped data for learning and teaching to run smoothly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The time has come to think of alternate methodologies of teaching mathematics and sciences, crucial skills required for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). Because of significant socioeconomic disparities that exist in mathematics and science education today, alternative teaching methodologies are required for success within 4IR. This article reports on mathematics teaching practices using techno-blended methodologies offered by a sample of six fourth-year mathematics education student teachers. The students were exposed to teaching mathematics through a mini-PC device pre-installed with customized interactive software, called GammaTutor, established in 2019. A Techno-blended Teaching and Learning Model (TBM) was offered through a collaborative project between the authors. Reflections on the use of the presentation device and accompanying software by the sample in rural schools in the Eastern Cape constituted the data for the study. The data suggested that the TBM using GammaTutor shows great promise as a sustainable model for teaching and learning in under-resourced schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key intervention of the South African Numeracy Chair Project (SANCP) since 2011 has been the introduction of mathematics (or maths) clubs, which occur in the out-of-school time space. In 2016 the maths club concept was developed into a 15-week Pushing for Progression (PfP) teacher development programme which supports primary school mathematics teachers to run clubs beyond the SANCP local area. Expanding intervention models beyond local schools is imperative in the second phase of the SANCP (2016–2020). Working from a mixed methods methodological approach, the researchers collected pre- and post-data for a 4-operations assessment of the entire PfP programme. In this article they share learner data from one of the nine teachers who participated in the PfP maths club programme in the Uitenhague District, Eastern Cape, South Africa, to illuminate how partnerships between academics, district officials and teachers can enable powerful student learning in the club space. They argue further that within the tightly focused development programme run by teachers in this one district, it is possible for learners to make substantive progress in mathematical proficiency (MP) (especially procedural fluency and conceptual understanding) when comparing scores and learner methods between a pre- and post- assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]