Stand van wiskundeonderwys in Afrikaanse skole

Abstract

Hoërordedenkvaardighede is noodsaaklike basiese vaardighede vir die een-en-twintigste eeu aangesien rekenaars berekeninge en algoritmes baie vinniger en akkurater kan doen as mense. Dit beteken dat skole leerders moet toerus om logies te dink, patrone te ontdek, bewyse te lewer, asook om nieroetineprobleme op te los. Hierdie fasette wat as hoërordedenke geklassifiseer word, is die kern van wiskundige denke en ontwikkeling. Suid-Afrika neem aan verskeie internasionaal vergelykende studies deel. Met behulp van hierdie vergelykende studies kan bepaal word hoe die Afrikaanse wiskundeleerders in Suid-Afrika se prestasie met dié van leerders in ander lande vergelyk en ook wat die tekortkominge in die wiskundeonderwys is. Volgens die 2003-TIMSS-uitslae is die probleem in Afrikaanse skole juis dié vrae wat hoërordedenke vereis. Dit beteken dat die Afrikaanse skole ’n doelbewuste poging sal moet aanwend om hoërordedenke te ontwikkel. Die 1999-TIMSS-videostudie toon dat die lande wat die beste presteer, soos Japan, tydens onderrig meer tyd wy aan die ontwikkeling van begripsvorming en aan die oplos van moeiliker probleme. Die fokus in die presterende lande is op die ontwikkeling van hoërordedenke deur probleemoplossing. Daar word dus minder tyd afgestaan aan herhaling van roetine- of soortgelyke oefeninge wat ’n rekenaar ook kan doen. Die omgekeerde hiervan is ’n tipiese verskynsel in Afrikaanse skole, waar ’n onderwyser byvoorbeeld een of meer voorbeelde op die bord doen waarna die leerders ’n hele aantal soortgelyke roetine-oefeninge doen.

Higher-order thinking skills are essential basic skills for the 21st century as computers can do calculations and algorithms faster and more accurately than people. This means that schools should equip students to think logically, search for patterns, do proofs and solve non-routine problems. These activities are part of higher-order thinking, which is the essence of mathematical thinking and development. South Africa participates in several international comparative studies. Using these comparative studies, it has been possible to determine how the performance of Afrikaans mathematics learners in South Africa compares to that of learners of other countries and also to highlight possible deficiencies in mathematics education. According to the TIMSS 2003 results, Afrikaans learners perform poorly in the TIMSS advanced level questions, where higher-order thinking is required. This means that Afrikaans schools should purposely develop higher-order thinking. The TIMSS 1999 Video Study shows that the best performing countries like Japan spend more time in class on the development of conceptual understanding and working on complex problems. High-performing countries are focused on the development of higher-order thinking through problem solving. They also spend less time on doing routine or repetition exercises which can rather be done by a computer. The contrary is typically the case in Afrikaans schools where a teacher will for example do one or more examples on the blackboard and the students will follow and do a number of similar routine exercises.