Overcrowded classrooms and its association with South African learners’ mathematics achievement

dc.contributor.authorGraham, Marien Alet
dc.contributor.emailmarien.graham@up.ac.zaen_US
dc.date.accessioned2024-01-17T05:42:46Z
dc.date.issued2023
dc.description.abstractThere is growing global concern concerning South African learners’ mathematics achievement, with research identifying many factors contributing to poor mathematics achievement, with class size being one of them. When classrooms are overcrowded, this may lead to a stressful environment which can negatively impact the quality of teaching and learning that is possible. The purpose of this study was to gain a holistic understanding of the problem of overcrowded classrooms by using an explanatory sequential mixed-methods approach. We first investigate the association between large classes and mathematics achievement using the TIMSS 2019 data for Grade 9 mathematics. This is followed by the qualitative phase, which elicited educators’ perceptions of the relationship between overcrowded classrooms and achievement. The quantitative results showed a significant negative correlation between the two, indicating that the larger the class size, the worse the achievement. It also showed that learners taught by teachers who strongly believed that there were too many learners in a class performed significantly worse than learners taught by teachers who did not feel this way. The qualitative results showed that participants believed that overcrowded classes led to limited personalised individual interaction with learners, didactic neglect and poor time management, which are associated with poorer mathematics performance. Recommendations include that the issue of overcrowded classes should be prioritised by all stakeholders at the different levels.en_US
dc.description.departmentScience, Mathematics and Technology Educationen_US
dc.description.embargo2024-11-05
dc.description.librarianhj2024en_US
dc.description.sdgSDG-04:Quality Educationen_US
dc.description.urihttp://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rmse20en_US
dc.identifier.citationMarien Alet Graham (2023) Overcrowded Classrooms and their Association with South African Learners’ Mathematics Achievement, African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 27:2, 169-179, DOI: 10.1080/18117295.2023.2244217.en_US
dc.identifier.issn1028-8457 (print)
dc.identifier.issn1811-7295 (online)
dc.identifier.other10.1080/18117295.2023.2244217
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/93993
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherRoutledgeen_US
dc.rights© 2023 Southern African Association for Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education (SAARMSTE). This is an electronic version of an article published in African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 169-179, 2023. doi : 10.1080/18117295.2023.2244217. African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education is available online at : http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rmse20.en_US
dc.subjectMathematics achievementen_US
dc.subjectClass sizeen_US
dc.subjectThematic analysisen_US
dc.subjectTrends in international mathematics and science studies (TIMSS)en_US
dc.subjectTIMSS 2019en_US
dc.subjectSDG-04: Quality educationen_US
dc.titleOvercrowded classrooms and its association with South African learners’ mathematics achievementen_US
dc.typePostprint Articleen_US

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